What are you reading the week of May 29, 2010?

Walt Whitman (May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist, journalist, and humanist. He was a part of the transition between Transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse. His work was very controversial in its time, particularly his poetry collection Leaves of Grass, which was described as obscene for its overt sexuality.

Song of Myself by: Walt Whitman (1819-1892)
1
I celebrate myself, and sing myself,
And what I assume you shall assume,
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.

I loafe and invite my soul,
I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass.

My tongue, every atom of my blood, form'd from this soil, this air,
Born here of parents born here from parents the same, and their
parents the same,
I, now thirty-seven years old in perfect health begin,
Hoping to cease not till death.

Creeds and schools in abeyance,
Retiring back a while sufficed at what they are, but never forgotten,
I harbor for good or bad, I permit to speak at every hazard,
Nature without check with original energy.

More

Also with birthdays this week:

Colleen McCullough, Thomas Hardy, Allen Ginsberg, Carol Shields, Larry McMurtry, Jacques Roumain, Dorothy West, G.K. Chesterton, Countee Cullen

Barbara Pym

Checking in: Bluestockings, At Large and At Small, A Reliable Wife and From Reliable Sources: an Introduction to Historical Methods.

I'm reading The City and The City by China Mieville; The Mabinogion translated by Lady Charlotte Guest and The Celtic Alternative by Shirley Toulson.

I'm continuing with Virgil's Aeneid. It's mostly good but it feels like it's bogging down a bit right now.

With a three-day weekend, I hope to finish:
Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism by Susan Jacoby
In the Empire of Ice: Encounters in a Changing Landscape by Gretel Ehrlich
Wandering Star by J.M.G. Le Clezio

Finished the delightful Operation Mincemeat, almost finished The Hidden Life of Deer, still wrestling with the beginning of Terra Nostra and wondering if I'm really going to read it.

I'm going to review Austin City Blue today, a mystery set in my hometown, which I *finally* read (owned for at least 8yrs) as a result of the 75-Books Challenge's "Take It or Leave It" subchallenge this month.

ETA review is in my thread...post #210.

I am reading Elizabeth Street and so far it's really good.

I am still reading Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe. It is a great book. The author has such a wonderful story and awesome characters. Thoroughly enjoying. I also picked up a copy of My Booky Wook By Russell Brand. I flipped through a few pages and read some passages to my fiance and we were already laughing. I love Russell Brand. (Touchstones being difficult).

I'm reading News From Home, a collection of short stories by the Nigerian author Sefi Atta, which I'll review for issue 6 of Belletrista. I'm also reading The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell and Selected Cronicas by Clarice Lispector.

I'm reading The Post-office Girl by Stefan Zweig, and also When the Mississippi Ran Backwards by Jay Feldman for the Missouri Readers group read in June. It is about the New Madrid earthquakes that happened back in 1811/1812.

In a strange series of events very early this morning, I went from finishing Spirit Bound and being thoroughly peeved that I have *no* clue what might happen in the last book since everything is so up in the air it's insane, to finishing The Taste of Sorrow which immediately led me to pick up The Life of Charlotte Bronte and read as far as the introduction before the realisation that as it was nearly 5:30am I probably ought to go to sleep instead of reading any more. I am therefore an idiot because my sleeping pattern is now more messed up than it was before! *sigh*

Still reading Changeless by Gail Carriger.

Have 5 bags of books to enter before the end of month, so may not get much reading done for the holiday.

#11 The Post Office Girl is another one that is on my TBR pile (what isn't?). I'd love to know what you think of it.

Just finished A Reliable Wife, which I loved.

Re-read The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side by Agatha Christie as a part of my ongoing Miss Marple marathon. My review is here,

http://www.librarything.com/review/60519369

Or my 50 books challenge thread,

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

Started Flow which I'm finding an excellent read that sits at the corner between self-help and academic psychology. It's very readable and has all of the citations at the back of the book.

I've been behaving very badly lately, like a teenage girl who's dating too many boys at the same time.

Last week, I started When Christ and His Saints Slept, which I am loving, but one evening I was sitting in the living room, too tired to go to the bedroom where I left it, so picked up The Secret Magdalene which was on a table right there next to the couch and which I've been wanting to read for ages since learning about it here on LT. I got hooked and left it on the couch for my "living room reading." Then a day or two later I went to the library to return a few books. I ended up bringing home an armful that I'd put on hold and was seduced into "trying just a taste" of the new Amelia Peabody mystery A River in the Sky and the third Felix Castro novel, Dead Men's Boots by Mike Carey, both of which I am now reading. All this on top of Black Hills by Dan Simmons (of Drood fame) on audio, which is an irresistable story read by a wonderful reader and which I need to finish and review soon.

I'm turning 62 this summer (!) and think it might be anxiety that has me reading in so many directions. So many good books, so little time.

ETA my thanks to Teelgee for the Walt Whitman treat. Timeless stuff! I remember reading some of his poetry when I was young and still living in Chicago. Time to read him again.

Edited again to fix a touchstone.

Reading The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson. I have been waiting for it to come out in the U.S. and so far it is great.

Finishing Iain Pears' An Instance of the Fingerpost. So good, I've just ordered Stone's Fall from amazon.co.uk...

Currently reading my ER book The Doctor and the Diva by Adrienne McDonnell.

#21 Looking forward to hearing about that one.

I *just* returned home to Chicago from New York, where I was for BEA. I've got between 30 and 40 books that came home with me now, and another 20-30 coming, so I'm reading Ah-Choo!: The Uncommon Life of Your Common Cold by Jennifer Ackerman, which is a September release from Hachette. I am also probably going to start The Whole World by Emily Winslow, because I really need to get it reviewed soon.

Sounds like a good trip DevourerOfBooks!

I finished The Glass Castle this morning. As a teacher it was difficult for me to read. Children are very good at hiding things from others, even when it's not in their best interest to do so. It's very frustrating when you want to help but you can't.

Now I've begun Breaking the Tongue by Vyvyane Loh which my book club is reading. (I can't get the touchstones to come up.) Seems like every other book I read lately has something to do with World War II.

I'm re-reading my own crappy second novel from ten years ago and wondering what the hell I was thinking when I wrote such drivel.

In celebration of the NBA playoffs, I'm taking a break from reading fiction and currently devouring The Book of Basketball by Bill Simmons. That man is hilarious!

#14 Booksloth, I'm in the middle of A Reliable Wife on audio, and so far I'm not loving it. I'm finding it hard to like a single character and wondering where this is going - I will persist with it though, I think the narrator is affecting my judgment of it, unfortunately.

#14 Booksloth, #28 ktleyed, I was not a fan of A Reliable Wife at all -- I thought the author told us much too much of what characters were thinking and much too much of the back story.

#28 I hope it improves for you - I just finished it and enjoyed it a lot but I don't always find it necessary to like the characters as long as the plot or situation intrigues me as was the case here. I'm now moving on to Stiff.

Ed for typos

Just picked up a copy of Aldous Huxley's "The Devils of Loudon" at a flea market today. Looks like an enterrtaining story.

Still reading Quicksilver, but I have progressed to the last book and will finish this week.

12: Lady Violet, I understand only too well about reading at all hours, as well as totally messed up sleep patterns. *sigh* My commiserations.

Finished Death in the Clouds last night and immediately started Death on the Nile.

Today I've gotten back to The Fabric of the Cosmos and shall also be continuing with Bright Sunny Morning.I too have a whole raft of books that I've started and need to finish. So, I'm going to try very hard not to start any more till I've finished at least some. Of course, in some cases that will mean beginning again, but I'm really going to try to be good.

I usually turn out the light about midnight, but I didn't look up at my clock until 1 a.m. reading Kafka on the Shore, a strange thing for a book I think is okay but not special at 300 pages.

Robert

I'm about halfway into Paddy Clarke Ha ha ha by Roddy Doyle and enjoying it.

#34 mr. Durick

I loved Kafka on the Shore but will admit that it took me about 2/3 of the book to really get into it. After I finished I couldn't quit talking about it. I loved all the quirkiness of the characters. Of course the librarian intrigued me, as did the truck-drive. And who would have thought about Colonel Sanders? Then there are the cats. Weird stuff but the mystery gets solved in the end.

I just finished reading Norwegian Wood for the group read and found that book hopeless and dull. I have long had Wind-up Bird Chronicle on my shelves but think I will give Murakami a rest for awhile simply because Norwegian Wood was such a trudge to read. I think that Murakami is a great writer and there is no doubt I will read more of him in the future. Somebody said earlier that we shouldn't expect every book by an author to be great. I think I liked Kafka so much that I was that much more let down by Norwegian Wood.

I am deep into listening to Shadow Divers and loving that book. I also have a good start on Foucault's Pendulum. This is a book that I have had for a long time and just kept putting it back and it is for a group read here on LT. I have read about 200 pages and am finding it a hard slog. So far. I think it will get better.

I first read Patricia Hampl's A Romantic Education back in the early 80s -- my mother's great-grandparents had come to America from a small town near Prague in the late 1800s and, like Hampl, I was interested in knowing more about my cultural heritage. Several years ago I bought an updated edition of the book -- Hampl had revisited the region after the Velvet Revolution and written an afterword for her book -- but I'd put it in the tbr pile and there it stayed.

Last year Howard Norman's novel Devotion reminded me of Josef Sudek's photographs of Prague (which I'd originally discovered because of Hampl's book) and after finding several online sites for his photos, I decided it was time to read the newer edition of Hampl's book. Another example of one good book leading me back to another.

Now I'm reading Tim Gautreaux's novel, The Missing. I'm not very far along, but already I feel as I did when I read his earlier book, The Clearing: I'm in the hands of a remarkable storyteller.

Does anybody know if the Librarything people had a booth at BEA? I am wondering if they will be at the ALA conference in June? Also wondering if LTer's in the D.C. area are planning an LT gathering?

# 33 How did you like Death in the Clouds, Catreona? I found it to be quite unique and interesting. Hope you enjoy Death on the Nile. I read it last year and really liked it!

I'm reading Rebecca and loving it! Also reading Rascal by Sterling North, and we're about halfway through our current read aloud: Tom Sawyer.

This week I am reading Confederates by Thomas Keneally. I hope it will be as good as The March by E. L. Doctorow.

Anna Dale, Magical Mischief
Children's book to review for the Bookbag, about magic running amok in a bookshop and the characters trying to solve it. Good fun and might appeal to fans of Diana Wynne Jones.

Rob Sheffield, Love is a Mix Tape
A memoir by a music journalist about the soundtracks of his life and of his marriage - his wife died very suddenly and very young after just a few years together.

Rose Macaulay, Told by an Idiot
I've been meaning to reread her books for ages - I finally read a biography of her this year that I wanted to read for years. Tells the story of a family between 1879 and 1920. This is also my June Virago Modern Classic read. Quite enjoying it so far.

Sue Townsend, The Public Confessions of a Middle Aged Woman Aged 55 3/4 A collection of magazine column type pieces from the author of Adrian Mole. Ok, but probably of interest when you've read everything she's written.

Joan Aiken, The Whispering Mountain
Children's book. Story about Owen Hughes, who appears as does his father, briefly in some of the Wolves of Willoughby Chase books.

Mollie Panter-Downes, Minnie's Room - post war short stories - my Persephone read for June

ed Laura Lippman, Baltimore Noir
Akashic anthology for June (aiming to read one a month this year)

Jane Emery, Rose Macaulay
Biography of a writer

Andrew Taylor, Bleeding Heart Square
Historical crime novel set in the 1930s by one of my favourite authors.

Reading The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Murakami Haruki.

Still reading My Husband Betty which is interesting, but enough already. I want to get on to something else. I hope I'll finish in the next couple of days.

I'm still listening to Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond and just never end my amazement at this guy's view of the "big picture". A word of advice, don't let your livestock live in the house with you, evidently that was a big part of the spread of human epidemics. Dogs, on the other hand, seem to be fine.

I've just finished Adriana Trigiani's Rococo and Catharine Arnold's Bedlam: London and Its Mad, and I reshelved a couple of books I'd half-started a while back (I was about three pages into each), so for the first time in ages I'm only reading two books! I've finally returned to The Count of Monte Cristo, and I'm smiling happily over 84, Charing Cross Road as a light read at the shop. I think it's going to be a firm favourite of mine in years to come!

Just finished The Chicago Way by Michael Harvey
Just started Let The Great World Spin by Colum McCann
And am continuing working on A Practical Guide to Ubuntu Linux by Mark Sobell

Finishing up Moscow 1941 and starting on The Girl Who Played with Fire.

>9 leperdbunny: leperdbunny - I'm glad you said that! I read My Booky Wook a while back and thought it was really excellent as a memoir. Russell Brand is definitely larger than life and he's a bit of a Marmite character - you love him or hate him! - but you can't fault his eloquence and I found the book to be superbly written, amusing, honest and appealingly self-deprecating. Hope you enjoy it!

Finished up My Cousin Rachel last night. I have read Rebecca several times over the years but had never tried her other books. What a treat I was missing. I have really enjoyed the above and The House on the Strand. Am now beginning The Sheltering Sky

I'm mesmerized by Laundry by the Israeli author Suzanne Adam. It's a creepy page-turner (but especially not recommended for people sensitive to reading about harm to children or animals).

I finished the excellent When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, my review of which can be found on the book's work page and on my own 50-Book Challenge thread.

I've started on the long (145 pages) short story "Fattening for Gabon" from Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpan.

Next I'll be reading The Girl Who Played with Fire. Did anybody else see the very long article in the New York Times about Larsson and the phenomenon of these books? Evidently, there is some debate about who really wrote them, with his longtime girlfriend being very cagey about discussing her own possible participation (because--you guessed it--she has a memoir about her time with Larsson in the works). As I said, the article was very long, and I only got about halfway through it. Interesting stuff, though.

Well I read all of Paper Towns this morning when I did another insane all-nighter just to try and get my sleeping pattern back to normal (the theory being I'm so shattered tonight that I fall instantly asleep at 9pm and wake up at 8am tomorrow feeling less like death).
I've also started on Cranford after all the talk about it over on Stasia's threads. My copy is a gorgeous blue leather hardback that feels rather authentic and even smells like it!
I may also read a bit more of The Life of Charlotte Bronte later before I pass out.

I've been MIA here for a while, but it's nice to be back. I got bogged down with The Zookeeper's Wife, which I read for a RL book club. I did not like it. It was beautifully written, but kept all of the emotion at arms length.

I took a break by re-reading Eclipse (embarrassing, but an easy read it is!). Now I'm reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, so now I get what all the fuss is about. Loving it!

#52- I read the article as well- aaparently there's a great deal of conflict between the girlfriend and his family over who the rightful beneficairy is.. she eluded to a 4th book being in a computer somewhere as well

I finished Changeless by Gail Carriger. Don't really like how the book ended, don't mind the cliff hanger, but some things once broken can't be mended.

I am now reading Wesley the Owl by Stacey O'Brien

Non-fiction about a Caltech researcher and her relationship with a young damaged barn owl.

>56 FicusFan:, I really enjoyed Wesley the Owl. I love owls, and thought her story was really interesting and touching. My daughter loved it as well.

I read Rascal by Sterling North nearly in one sitting, and was completely enchanted by it. It's the story of an 11-year old boy who raises a baby raccoon in 1918 Wisconsin, and their adventures together. A wonderfully old-fashioned kind of story about a bygone era, with some breathtaking descriptions of Wisconsin. My daughters' school librarian let me check this one out for the weekend, even though check-out has ended (school's out this week). I'll return it Tuesday as promised, but I'll also be buying my own copy, and reading it to the girls!

Trying to start London Lavender by E.V. Lucas. I don’t know what this book is all about. Picked it up because it contains the classic short story The Face on the Wall.

I am reading Molly Fox's Birthday by Deirdre Madden. It is a quick read too. If I had more time to read it, I would have been finished by now. It is different that is for sure.

I'm reading Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake. Last year, I read Titus Groan, the first book in the trilogy.

After deliberately spreading out the books so I wouldn't run through them so quickly, I sort of forgot how great they are.

Still working on Fallen Founder. Though I may root out something else tomorrow.

> 57 AMQS

I am enjoying Wesley the Owl so far. Interesting, fun and sweet.

>60 kittycatpurr: kittycatpurr I read Gormenghast about 30 years ago and you remind me again that I promise myself just about every year to reread it! I remember it (and the whole trilogy) as being remarkable and without peer.

Myself, I'm now reading The Emergence of Memory:Conversations with W.G. Sebald

Thanks SqueakyChu for the disclaimer about Laundry
(but especially not recommended for people sensitive to reading about harm to children or animals) You kind of had me with Israeli author and creepy, but now forewarned I'll know not to read it.

I finally finished and reviewed My Husband Betty so get to start on a little fiction somewhat along the same lines, The James Tiptree Award Anthology 3: Subversive Stories about Sex and Gender edited by Karen Joy Fowler.

Started Fahrenheit 451 an hour ago. Liking it, prolly finish tonight or tm.

I finished Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder and it was excellent. Another top read of the year! I just started the audio of Columbine, (I know I'm way behind on this one!) and it begins superbly. It establishes an appropriately menacing tone, right from the start.
I'm also getting ready to crack The Yiddish Policemen's Union, which has been stuck in the tbr pile forever!

I finished the hauntingly beautiful No Great Mischief by Alistair MacLeod, my new favorite author. Now I'm reading the raucously entertaining The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman.

Thank you, Elliepotten!

I've got the audiobook of A Tale of Two Cities going during my daily commute. It took me a while to get into it, but I'm starting to enjoy it. So far, I'm finding Dickens' social commentary to be the most powerful part of his fiction.

I'm also finishing up Best Ghost Stories of Algernon Blackwood, which are pretty good. He's in the sort of well-written British horror tradition of Robert Aickman and Ramsey Campbell. Once I'm done with that, I'll be starting on City of Saints and Madmen.

# 66: msf59

I hope you like The Yiddish Policemen's Union as much as I did. Chabon makes a completely believable alternate history.

Today I finished News from Home, a collection of short stories by the Nigerian author Sefi Atta, and the outstanding novella The Hour of the Star by the late Brasilian author Clarice Lispector.

Tomorrow I'll resume reading Selected Cronicas, a collection of newspaper chronicles by Clarice Lispector, and the novel The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell.

I finished A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick and cannot say I liked it at all. Found the flowery, unecessary and overly descriptive preoccupation with sex laughable. I didn't have one iota of sympathy for a single person in this novel, and didn't like a single character either. Cannot understand the rave reviews, a waste of time.

I've finished reading Love is a Mix Tape and Magical Mischief - my primary book is now Whatever You Love by Louise Doughty, for review for The Bookbag. There will probably be a few reviews coming soon as it was offered in the most recent bunch of Early Reviewer books - I unrequested it when I received my review copy from a different source.

Bluestockings and Stiff were both wonderful books. Moving on now to Dancing Backwards.

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand is my favorite read of the year so far. What a guy, what a book.

The Last Summer of the Death Warriors is a good YA title by the author of Marcelo in the Real World, and timely for me, as I have a family member in that situation.

Not sure what I'm reading next. I started Angelology and just didn't get caught up in it.

re #14 - Booksloth, The Post-Office Girl is amazing - unputdownable. (You might want to take that with a grain of salt, since so far I've loved everything I've read by Stefan Zweig.) This is my favorite of the lot, so far. He's such an amazing writer - it is so easy to get caught up in the story. You should bump it up higher on your TBR list; it's pretty short, and a quick read.

#76 I'm taking it off the shelf and moving it to the pile beside the sofa as we speak - thank you for the feedback!

ETA - BTW, this will be the first of his books for me so if it works out you'll have introduced me to a whole new author and that's always exciting.

Joe- I have Major Pettigrew's Last Stand on the list! If you think it's the best book of the year, I have to check it out! BTW- a friend just picked up Angelology, so it might come my way in a couple of months. Sorry you had a tough time getting into it!

>jfetting & Booksloth- I read Zweig's Chess Story recently, my first by him and loved it. I'm looking forward to The Post-Office Girl, especially since I'm Post-Office Man.

AMQS - I'll have to get Rascal too. I loved stories like that as a child.

I finished and loved Strength in what Remains. My review is: right here

I just read the opening pages of The Yiddish Policemen's Union and can tell that is going to be a joyride!

(Still) slogging through two: Alraune by Hanns Heinz Ewers....old-world German horror (is that redundant?)..and Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson....Dystopian Toronto with Afro-Caribbean overtones....even a Duppy, mon....a killer-Duppy to your boots...but that's probably redundant too!

>80 msf59: (Mark)

I own The Yiddish Policeman's Union...unread (of course)...but The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay was excellent. The little I read before my copy got nicked. The New copy is upstairs........somewhere

;-}

The Yiddish Policeman's Union was one of my very favorite reads of 2009. Excellent in just about every way, for me.

I finished the long (145 pages) short story "Fattening for Gabon" from Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpan last night. It was slow getting started but from about the one-third point on, extremely harrowing.

This morning I read the first few pages of The Girl Who Played with Fire.

Finished several books I was in the middle of:
Three Cups of Tea,
Unweaving the Rainbow and
One Beastly Beast which I was reading to my kids.

Started Lost in a Good Book over the weekend.

#75 Joe: I have to agree with you on Major Pettigrew's Last Stand; I think it's my fave so far this year too, although The Imperfectionists is a close second.
I'm listening to an amazing audio of Feed - a gripping sci fi tale. I don't normally go for sci fi but I am hooked!

Can't explain how I got as old as I am without having read To Kill a Mockingbird but at long last the deficit has been made up. It's a great story of a small southern town. By telling the story from a child's point of view, the reader gets to discover the sins and uglinesses of life starting from innocence. The reality revealed is multifaceted from racism to heroism, from narrow mindedness to broad. There were times that Atticus, Jem, Dill, and Calpurnia seemed too self aware and too good to be believable but then they were the people Scout, the narrator, loved. An excellent book. Now to watch the movie.

>85 snash: Can't explain how I got as old as I am without having read To Kill a Mockingbird

I asked myself the same question when I recently read Rebecca. I chalked it up to a woefully inadequate education. This summer I'll move on to another book in the same category Pride and Prejudice.

# 86 Pride and Prejudice is my all time favourite book. I’ve re-read it so many times but I still get butterflies in my stomach at certain points of the story. I simply love it! Hope you enjoy it as much as I did, brenzi!

Reading Owain Glyn Dwr Prince of Wales by R.R. Davies.

>79 jhedlund:, jhedlund, I think you'll love Rascal! Let me know what you think of it.

>86 brenzi:, brenzi, I just finished Rebecca this morning, and asked myself the same question. Wonderful.

Just started Under the Dome by Stephen King... first book that I am reading on my new Kindle. Yay!

Just finished Out of Eden by Beth Ciatta a nice chick lit romance. Not my usual fare but very nice characters. I enjoyed it.

I just started Naked Dragon by Annette Blair. I really enjoy her work.

Having finished Kafka on the Shore last night, I started Solaris and was able to read a couple of chapters before turning out the light. I hope to receive a couple of movies on DVD of Solaris in tomorrow's mail.

Robert

I am reading Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner. I find it interesting because it isn't one of those chicklit books that I am used to reading.

#90 JechtShot ~ I just started Under the Dome too! Actually, I just picked it up to look at because the book I'm reading (The Secret Magdalene) was on the opposite end of the couch and I was just too lazy at the moment to reach for it. (Don't say it; I know.) I was only going to, like, read the cover flaps and the preface. Haha. Got to page 87 before I knew what I was about.

Man, that guy can write!

Enjoy your new Kindle!

I have not yet Rebecca. It is on my TBR but I am so busy reading other books that I keep missing it. I have read Pride and Prejudice and seen the movies a gazillion times. I so love Mr. Darcy.

I finished Wesley the Owl by Stacey O'Brien, and am now reading Havemercy by Jaida Jones, fantasy with clockwork dragons.

Gonna snuggle down with Grave Sight by Charlaine Harris, since I love her Sookie Stackhouse books I think I'm fairly likely to get on well with this series and luckily there's only 4 books out so far and I have 3 already (Yay for the Works!)

LadyViolet, I read all of the Harper Connelly Series, I hope you will not be disappointed - it is a very good series! :)

I'm about to finish In the Woods. It is so good that I'm going to move right into French's second book -- The Likeness -- about Irish Detectives Cassie Maddox and (Adam) Rob Ryan.

I finished Quicksilver, my longest read in a long while. I am still not sure what to think, but I am leaning towards love. I will get The Confusion for sure, I need a little break though. I will start A long way down next.

>98 leperdbunny: Leperdbunny I finished Grave Sight a few hours ago (before I decided to bugger trying to get to sleep) and really enjoyed it- Harper is certainly a very different gal to Sookie but I am very intrigued by her and shall be happily moving onto the next book in due course.

Just started The Savage Garden by Mark Mills on Saturday.

Read and reviewed The Aeneid, I wasn't very impressed.

Next up will be Spook by Mary Roach. Definitely excited to get it started! =)

#103 Is that the one called Six Feet Over in the UK (according to touchstones, that's a yes)? I'm just starting it too. Race you!

I've finished my second read of Chasing Goldman Sachs and posted my review. It's also on my thread...post #145. I'd've posted it to Amazon but I can't yet; Powell's has it up, though.

Read it. You *should* be scared as you do!

104: I think so, as I saw a cover on the works page with that title.

And there's no way you're getting me to rush through a Mary Roach book! If it's anything like Stiff and Bonk I'll be luxuriously soaking up every little detail as slow as I can...which usually isn't very slow with her, since she makes you want to devour the pages as fast as possible!

We'll definitely have to compare thoughts/reviews though. :)

#106 You're right, they're hard to put down. I had no plans to read this one right now (only finished Stiff a few days ago) but I picked it up at my daughter's while waiting for her to put her shoes on and ended up begging to borrow it.

I've posted my review of The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman, a terrific debut novel, here.

I'm now reading The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell.

Just finished South of Broad. Loved it.. next in the stack to read - Alex Cross's Trial. Happy Reading :)

I'm about half way through Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde.

I just finished Bury Me Deep by Megan Abbott which was really pretty good, and am starting Broken Glass Park by Alina Bronsky which is fabulous so far.

Orchid Beach by Stuart Woods. I really like it. Of course, I think I have already figured out who the murder is by a comment made near the beginning of the book. Either the author is giving us a hint or he didn't pay attention to two sentences spoken by one of the characters. Of course, having a degree in Criminal Justice helped me see the 'mistake.' I'll let you know if I am right in my conclusion.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. It's an easy, enjoyable read.

Managed to finish London Lavender by E.V. Lucas in just a day. I liked the book very much. Easily may end up as one of my favourite reads this year.

My review is here,

http://www.librarything.com/review/60564932

Or my 50 book challenge thread,

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

I finished listening to Shadow Divers last night. I really liked this book. At first I thought it was going to be another macho he-man history book full of drama posing as history. It wasn't. The divers made the most amazing discovery and it wasn't all about the boat. It was about history and how history works - or in this case doesn't work. The majority of their time was spent in research. The kind with books and going to museums and archives. Of course there was diving and parts of the book reminded me of A Perfect Storm, with all the details about drowning, and other technical stuff, but on the whole it was a real thrill ride and good history with a great deal of humanity included.

It is good enough that I put it on my best of 2010 list. It may get bumped later but for the moment it is in my top ten of 2010 list. I highly recommend this book.

Finally, finally finished South of Broad for my RL book group. I thought it would never end. Sorry, Conroy fans, but I didn't care for this one, nor did most in my book group. We concluded that people don't talk or act like Conroy wrote them for this novel. Charleston was lovely, though.

Not sure what to read next. I'm waiting most impatiently for Amazon to deliver my hard copy of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. I'm trying not to give in and get it on my Kindle, but it's hard going. I've been trolling LT for titles to Kindle during the wait.

I am reading All Soul's Day by Cees Nooteboom and am enjoying it so far but am only 30 pages in.

Finished A Long Way Down and will start The Biographer's Tale next.

#106 I swear I wasn't racing but I had a sleepless night and read right the way through Six Feet Over/Spook. I didn't find it as laugh-out-loud funny as I have her other books but there's no denying she picks some fascinating subjects. My own preference is for Stiff but I'm still glad I read this one (and it may well be that my sense of humour dips at 4 in the morning). Now starting The Judgement Book from Simon Hall's TV Detective series - a series that deserves much more attention that it currently gets.

I finished listening to The Thirteenth Tale today and again can just say, I would probably have liked it even mor have I read it on my own. Now I need a bit more thinking about it, I cannot make a decision yet but I now, that the ending(s) were not suiting the rest of the book. It was too long (especially the part were she told what happened to Hester and the like, that was not good for the rest of the book). But for now I think I liked it.

Will start to listen to the audio of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban soon. This will be better I hope, because I know the book already (in german).
Apart from this, I keep reading Buddenbrooks. Not very far into it and not yet knowing what to expect.

I finished listening to The Thirteenth Tale today and again can just say, I would probably have liked it even mor have I read it on my own. Now I need a bit more thinking about it, I cannot make a decision yet but I now, that the ending(s) were not suiting the rest of the book. It was too long (especially the part were she told what happened to Hester and the like, that was not good for the rest of the book). But for now I think I liked it.

Will start to listen to the audio of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban soon. This will be better I hope, because I know the book already (in german).
Apart from this, I keep reading Buddenbrooks. Not very far into it and not yet knowing what to expect.

120: Holy smokes! And I haven't even started it yet! I'll be starting it later this morning, lookig forward to it. :)

I'm about halfway through The Small House at Allington by Anthony Trollope. I don't like it anywhere near as much as I did Barchester Towers or Framley Parsonage. I'm hoping bad things continue to happen to that jerk Crosbie, but I'm not all that sure that Lily Dale is much of a prize, either.

ETA: I also just finished reading How Right You Are, Jeeves. Good, but not nearly enough Jeeves in it for my taste.

I finished Louise Doughty's Whatever You Love this morning - will be interested to see if anyone else gets it as it's an Early Reviewer book in the batch that's just closed. Very disturbing. I've also finished a couple of the other books I had on the go.

Now reading:

N J Cooper, No Escape
N J Cooper is Natasha Cooper. The main character is working in forensics and is working with a man believed to have shot a picnicing family for no apparent reason. I've only just started this.

Rose Macaulay, Told by an Idiot
I've been meaning to reread her books for ages - I finally read a biography of her this year that I wanted to read for years. Tells the story of a family between 1879 and 1920. This is also my June Virago Modern Classic read. Quite enjoying it so far.

Jane Emery, Rose Macaulay
Biography of Told By An Idiot author

Sue Townsend, The Public Confessions of a Middle Aged Woman Aged 55 3/4
A collection of magazine column type pieces from the author of Adrian Mole. Ok, but probably of interest when you've read everything she's written.

Joan Aiken, The Whispering Mountain
Children's book. Story about Owen Hughes, who appears as does his father, briefly in some of the Wolves of Willoughby Chase books.

ed Laura Lippman, Baltimore Noir
Akashic crime anthology for June (aiming to read one a month this year)

Andrew Taylor, Bleeding Heart Square
Historical crime novel set in the 1930s by one of my favourite authors.

I'm now reading The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni.

I am reading Gasoline by Quim Monzo and listening to The Help by Kathryn Stockett.

Getting back to The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. Started it over a month ago, but put it aside to read a couple of other books. I'm enjoying it a lot, but it's kind of a long work, and I'm only about a third of the way through. But I'm determined to finish it up this week.

I started listening to Piano Tuner this morning. This one is for my Off the Shelve challenge. I have had this book forever and it just was languishing on the shelves. Then I went to the public library and found the unabridged cassette tape version on the shelf. I have a cassette player in my car and don't have a CD player, so it was screaming at me. I couldn't resist checking it out. I have a couple of short trips in the coming week so will have time to listen to it. It always amazes me that I get so much listened to just going back and forth to work and doing errands around town. So far the first couple of pages are interesting. I am not sure how this book escaped my reading for so long. Guess it was just buried in my TBR pile.

Since I was away this weekend I didn't get to add the book that I was reading before I left. I was reading Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane. I finished that book and then started Dolores Claiborne by Stephen King. I hope to finish Dolores Claiborne tonight. I have to say I am quite pleased with my first Stephen King book and hope to read more of his in the future. I don't know what I will be reading next.

I have just reviewed China Court, an elderly novel by Rumer Godden, in my thread...post #214.

She's a snoozer biddy from the mid-century, but this book is extremely involving.

Put brackets around the title as explained on the right under "Touchstones" when you post a message.

Touchstones are pretty screwed up.

HTML is another matter and works for links. See my profile page for links to instructions.

Good luck,

Robert

Thank you, Mr. Durick!!!! I am still learning the site.

Currently reading The Girl From Montana by Grace Livingston Hill. Just started it so I am not sure how I am going to like it, it seems like a short easy read.

By pure chance I picked up a gem my last trip to the library. I've just begun it but I'm thrilled with it so far. Ten Hills Farm tells the history of a farm established by John Winthrop, Puritan governor of Massachusetts, with a focus on the people who ran, lived, and worked on the farm through the years. What makes it particularly interesting is that the people and times are brought to life, and that includes all the people, masters, servants, and slaves. History the way I like it.

snash, it's a shame that's available only in hardcover. A Barny Noble's brick and mortar store that I expect to be at later today has it in stock. I've put it on my waiting-for-the-paperback wishlist.

Robert

Currently reading My Booky Wook by Russell Brand. There are some funny bits in the book for sure. . under the humor is some interesting childhood stories. . some of which I can relate to. Actually, I think this is the first autobiography I have ever read. Brand is actually a great writer, and his stories and style flow very well.

A chance comment by fellow LTer bonniebooks has inspired me to start a thread to discuss the question, "What book have you bought multiple copies of, intentionally, with the purpose of giving them to friends and loved ones, and what might it say about you?"

Come and play!

Hmm, in the past 24 hours I've started/continued reading:

The Freedom Writers Diary
The Indigo King by James A Owen
Mistress of the Empire by Raymond Feist
Shards of a Broken Crown by Raymond Feist

Not sharing an ereader and library with an equally voracious reader would help me read one book at a time, though it's great having bookshelves full of books I haven't read!

Oh, wait. I have one all to myself of books I've bought and haven't gotten to yet. Hmm...

Finished Negotiating With the Dead and will be moving on to Among Schoolchildren. This will be my third Tracy Kidder book? I can't wait!

Last night I finished Bright Sunny Morning by James Frey. I don't like the fragmented style but, beyond that, IMO the book is not well written. I gave it two and a half stars. It may actually deserve three, but I'm feeling grumpy.

Continuing with The Fabric of the Cosmos an interesting and satisfying read.

A new mystery author for me The Presence byHeather Graham.Several different little plots,eventually I am sure they will all tie in.

40: Death in the Clouds is not my favorite Poirot mystery. Haven't worked out why, but I just couldn't get into it.The mystery was ingenious, and Poirot was debonaire and even avuncular... I just didn't like it very much.

One thing I can identify is that, well, it annoyed me that the murderer turned out to be the good looking young dentist. Early on, I thought to myself that I hoped it wasn't him, but since there didn't seem to be any way it could be him, I dismissed him from my mind. Maybe I just wasn't watching sharply enough or thinking clearly enough, but the solution seemed very much like a rabbit pulled out of a hat, not sufficiently prepared for.

One fun point. As a Harry Potter fan, I know that a boomslang skin is an essential ingredient for Polyjuice Potion. But, I assumed that Rowling made up the boomslang. Imagine my astonishment to find that the murder weapon in Death in the Clouds was boomslang venim! You learn something new every day.

87: I understand where you could feel that way about Pride and Prejudice.I like it too, but my favorit Austen is Persuasion.

99: Having read In the Woods, I don't see how there can be a second book about Maddox and Ryan. I mean, the ending of In the Woods was definite about their split up, if about nothing else. Guess I'll have to get The Likeness and see.

121: I, too, had trouble knowing what to think about The Thirteenth Tale. Overall I enjoyed it, but there was something, something I can't put my finger on, that disturbed me about it. The author did tie up all the loose ends, though, which is something a lot of authors nowadays don't do. I appreciated that.

I'm sure you'll enjoy Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. It is probably my favorite Harry Potter.

I have just a few pages to go in John Hart's The Last Child and I can only say wow - what a great storyteller!

Then I'll be back into The Imperfectionists full time.

This evening I finished the historical fiction ER book The Doctor and the Diva by Adrienne McDonnell and have posed my review on the book page here: http://www.librarything.com/work/9764484/reviews/60408646

Next up is Cool Water by Dianne Warren.

Started City of Saints and Madmen a couple of days ago, and I've already read through "The Transformation of Martin Lake." This is a reread for me, so some of the twists don't surprise, but it's a blast.

# 144 Oh please do give spoiler warning on your post, Catreona! We’ve both read the book and know the solution but a lot of people haven’t. Yeah, I do agree with you. The solution was abrupt. I like Death in the Clouds because you know, it all happens up in the air. I haven’t read any other mystery (so far) where that happens.

*Possible Spoiler*

And yes the murderer was good looking. But hey a murderer is a murderer, good looking or not. ;-)

Persuasion is my second or third favourite Austen novel. With Pride and Prejudice being the first and Northanger Abbey coming second/third. Can’t make up my mind between Persuasion and Northanger Abbey. But I do LOVE all three of them!

I finished Elizabeth Street. I started on my April ER Goddess of Fried Okra.

I'm now beginning Devil's Brood by Sharon Kay Penman.

99/144 re Likeness by Tana French: Ryan is not in Likeness, only Maddox. I liked Likeness even more than In the Woods.

Now reading Island of the Lost and A TailorMade Bride by Karen Witemeyer. Finished Horns very dark. Probably wouldn't have bought it due to content had I known. OTOH, A Whisper on the Wind was fantastic and The Unquiet Bones was an interesting way to spend several hours.

>151 jbleil:: Yes, I see that. Most of the relationship references are to Sam (Detective O'Neil), the steady --and somewhat boring-- love interest. But there are quite a few longing-type memories of Rob Ryan. I can see them getting back together in a future book, although French doesn't seem to mind a few loose ends here and there. :-)

>145 Copperskye: Joanne
I envy you with The Imperfectionists, very fun!

Finished (and enjoyed) The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender, a gentle story of a girl's ability to sense emotions through food.

I just finished Broken Glass Park by Alina Bronsky, which was fabulous, and have started The Passage because, really, what is the point of having an ARC of a book with a ton of buzz if you don't read it before the book is released?

#124 I didn't like Lily, either, jfetting. But I think we may be too far removed from the Victorian mind set that made her so popular.

I am reading: CATHEDRAL OF THE SEA by Ildefonso Falcones.

Almost done and will post a review...I enjoyed it a lot.

Finished and really liked The Biographer's Tale by A.S. Byatt and will start Het Zeewezen (Människohamn in Swedish) by John Ajvide Lindqvist. It hasn't been translated yet so impatient me ordered the Dutch one for a change.

#155: I will be buying my copy of The Passage on Tuesday. Let us know what you think of it!

I started Dead In The Family by Charliane Harris, the latest in the Sookie Stackhouse series... I am eagerly awaiting the return of True Blood in just 10 days!!

*Possible spoiler-warning*

#144 Catreona:
I, for my part, dieslikd this tieing up of the losse ends. It rather annoyed me because the story was not founded in that way and some of the people, where the reader learned there end, where rather unimportant, so to say. (In comparison I really liked learning about Harry's future in the last book. That was really good and fitted the construction of the book)

*Spoiler warning end*

Furthermore, thanks for the wishes, I read the third Hary Potter books several years ago and know I like it, though it's not my favorite. I think that's the first. I am right now just re-reading or listening to the series.

I am currently reading:

The Monk by Matthew Lewis

The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

They are quite incredible.

I'm just starting Shakespeare's Champion by Charlaine Harris.

>DevourerOfBooks & tammathau- I pre-ordered my copy of The Passage from Amazon, (very good price), so I should have it shortly. I've heard great things!

I know I'm a bit late to the party on Columbine but I've been listening to the audio, I'm at least 2/3rds done and this book is outstanding!

I'm reading Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro.

Intriguing thus far.

I managed two whole books in the last five days. Doesn't happen often! I finished The Heretic's Daughter two days ago and Digital Fortress today. I haven't decided what book to start next, but I might have to go a few more days till my next one; real life is getting in my way. Wedding to plan, including a dress and veil to alter, banana bread to make, dishes to do, dogs to walk. *sigh*

148: Ooh, sorry about no spoiler warning!

It wasn't so much that he was good looking, *grin* as that his guilt seemed to come out of nowhere.

I do like Northanger Abbey too. Also like Emma. Mansfield Park didn't interest me very much and I definitely don't like Sense and Sensibility.

151: Thanks. That works for me, since I liked Maddox better than Ryan anyway.

161: Ah, now that's a point you and I differ on. I like knowing what happened to the main characters in a book. In The Thirteenth Tale, the author even told us what happened to the cat. Knowing all these things gave me a satisfying sense of closure. I suppose you and I just have different tastes.

**Not sure this is a spoiler, but just in case**
I agree that it is good to see Harry and his friends grown up at the very end of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I enjoyed that.
**End of possible spoiler**

This afternoon I finished The Fabric of the Cosmos by Brian Greene. Excellent book! Only thing is, I'm going to have to reread {The Elegant Universe now, not that that's a hardship, you understand.

Continuing with Death on the Nile.

I'm bringing Some Prefer Nettles by Junichiro Tanizaki and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot along on a plane ride tomorrow.

Finished The Presence by Heather Graham. Now reading the lost girls by jennifer Baggett,Holly C. Corbett and Amanda Pressner. The story of 3 friends that decided to travel 4 continents. So far the book is a lot better then my description.

Just started alison wonderland. Looks good so far. :)

I've realized that I don't want to be carrying The Passage around with me everywhere I go, so I'm starting My Name is Memory by Ann Brashares as my purse book. I read the opening page and it is phenomenal.

Also loading So Cold the River onto my Ipod for my audiobook.

I am reading Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver, I've read it before but I love this book! And I felt in need of a comfort read.

>170 slarsoncollins: Inspired by your 5-star review, I'm now reading Surviving An American Gulag; I found it, and you, when your author profile appeared on the home page.

ETA touchstone issue

I misjudged how long it would take me to read Confederates it had to go back to the library half-read. I will get it re-issued next week.

In the meantime I have started Lady Audley's Secretby M. E. Braddon for the June Author Group Read.

Just finished Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay and about to start The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson.

141 -- aliay
172 -- dancingstarfish

It's nice to see that you're reading two of my favorites:

Kingsolver's Prodigal Summer and Kidder's Among Schoolchildren

There's a passage in the Kidder book that I've read so often my copy of the book opens right to that page -- it expresses so much of what it means to be a teacher -- I used to pass copies of it along to colleagues who were feeling unappreciated and discouraged.

And the Kingsolver book is just pure pleasure. Enjoy.

I've finished and reviewed Charles Todd's mystery, Wings of Fire, in my thread...post #223.

I am about 75% done with American Salvage by Bonnie Jo Campbell. Absolutely flipping amazing. These stories of folks living on the lower rungs of the ladder in rural Michigan are full of emotional and literary knock-out punches. Unbelievable.

I could hug avaland for bringing this book to my attention.

>178 nancyewhite: What nancywhite said. I read it back in February and still can't get it out of my mind, especially "The Burn" and "King's Salvage".

Reviewed Brown Girl in the Ring here:

http://www.librarything.com/work/48199

;-}

*Working* my way through Perdido Street Station by China Miéville. This is one dense book. My first of his novels.

Also re-reading Riding the Iron Rooster by Paul Theroux. Love his travel books.

Just picked up Forever by Pete Hamill as a re-read.

#163, jennieg, Lily Bard is one of my favorite all time heroines.

#170, slarsoncollins, I hope you like Alison as much as I did. I got Helen Smith's follow up Being Light about another Alison Wonderland adventure, but I haven't read it yet. She's a good character, but it doesn't look like there's any more of her in the works. I hope I'm wrong.

Having got Lily settled for the time, I've moved on to Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution by Caroline Weber.

I've finished and reviewed Spook. It was my least favorite book by Mary Roach...and I still gave it 4 stars. It's a great book, and she is a great author. :)

I'll be waiting until tomorrow to start First Light by Richard Preston.

I started The Forge of Christendom by Tom Holland last night. I got only part way through the first chapter, but it promises to be replete.

Robert

#171 devourerofbooks

I just read a really good review of The Passage. It almost makes me want to read a apocalyptic vampire novel. And of course you talk of it in such glowing terms as well.

#175 seitherin

How was Under Heaven. This is a book I have been looking at with longing so I am curious about how others like it.

The Passage was my very first official ER book. No complaints here. :)

New thread is up for the new week.

#188 benitastrnad

Under Heaven is a light read. I thought it better than Ysabel but not nearly as good as some of his earlier works. It lacks passion but I think that may be a factor of where the story takes place - a mythical ancient China equivalent with strict codes of conduct, both personal and political. Neither the book nor any of the characters grabbed and held my attention, but it was certainly readable.