What are you reading the week of June 26, 2010?

Herman Hesse (July 2, 1877 – August 9, 1962) was a German-born Swiss poet, novelist, and painter. In 1946, he received the Nobel Prize in Literature. His best-known works include Steppenwolf, Siddhartha, and The Glass Bead Game (also known as Magister Ludi), each of which explores an individual's search for authenticity, self-knowledge and spirituality.

And in honor of her passing earlier this year:



Lucille Clifton (June 27, 1936 – February 13, 2010) was an American poet, writer, and educator from Buffalo, New York. Common topics in her poetry include the celebration of her African American heritage, and feminist themes, with particular emphasis on the female body.

Who could forget Clifton’s “Homage to My Hips”

these hips are big hips.
they need space to
move around in.
they don't fit into little
petty places. these hips
are free hips.
they don't like to be held back.
these hips have never been enslaved,
they go where they want to go
they do what they want to do.
these hips are mighty hips.
these hips are magic hips.
i have known them
to put a spell on a man and
spin him like a top

Other notable author birthdays this week: Pearl S. Buck, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Helen Keller, Alice McDermott, Luigi Pirandello, Mark Helprin, George Sand, William Strunk, Jean Stafford, Wislawa Szymborska, Juan Carlos Onetti, Judy Chicago, Antoine de Saint-Exupery.

I am reading the Norton Critical Edition of King Lear. I hope to move on Monday or Tuesday.

Robert

I'm still reading Lonesome Dove and loving it - hope to finish it by the 1st when Orange July starts!

I am reading Ash by Malinda Lo and it is an amazing book it had my every most all attention after just the first chapter!!!!!!

Checking in. Still enjoying Ghostheart. Never write Ellory off as 'just another writer of thrillers' - so much more to his books.

This week I will be reading The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie, Red Gold by Alan Furst, and for something lighter, The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella.

#3 teelgee, Lonesome Dove is one of my all-time favorite books, enjoy!

I'm reading The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Poor Oscar.

I'm still listening to A Great and Terrible Beauty (shades of the Mists of Avalon). Since my job with the census is now over and I won't be driving around all day, I'll have much less time to listen to audiobooks, but I'm going to try to finish it this month.

I'm into Do They Hear You When You Cry?. The main character was a pretty bratty child, so I can't really identify with her. I think I'm getting to the part where I can identify with her as a woman, so it should get better. She spends the whole first part of the book trying to show how special she was and how her father loved her more than anyone else. Probably it's just my American self that has a hard time with this kind of posturing. I just heard an interview with Stephen Prothero, the author of God Is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World--and Why Their Differences Matter. He says the central idea of Christianity is sin and the central idea of Islam is pride. So, maybe that's why I've been having a hard time with the beginning of the book.

I finished Archangel's Kiss by Nalini Singh. It was fluff, that at times bordered on the absurd with the turgid writing. Yet I enjoyed it and will keep reading the series. Every so often I like something different.

I also read Finger Lickin' Fifteen by Janet Evanovich. It was another fun romp with Stephanie. This one was a bit different though. The tone seemed different.

Stephanie is often ditzy and slutty, but never before cold or crude. The book was also padded to make it look longer.

I am now reading doubleblind by Ann Aguirre, a Space Opera series.

Continuing with Mad Kestrel. I'm about halfway through and loving it so far. :)

I'm planning to read two novels this weekend, maybe three. Today I'll finish Even the Dogs by Jon McGregor, and then start either To Mervas by Elisabeth Rynell or The President by Miguel Ángel Asturias.

Still reading The Passage and loving it!

I am still reading Unravelling by Elizabeth Graver. It is very a good, different, pondering kind of book, unlike anything I've read in a while.

#8 - It gets better. It's really an excellent life story/memoir that rose my awareness of asylum seekers (as a lawyer). I may have written a review, but stick with it, I think you'll appreciate it by its end.

I've just finished A Charming Mass Suicide (in Dutch translation from the Finnish Hurmaava joukkoitsemurha) by Arto Paasilinna.
I'm about to start The Secret History by Donna Tartt.

I finished the audio of WAR by Sebastian Junger. It was a truly excellent book and I highly recommended it. I also wrapped up The Beekeeper's Apprentice, which I also found to be very enjoyable and will look forward to the others in the series. I'll be starting American Salvage, due to high LT praise and have Blockade Billy, the latest by Stephen King loaded on the Ipod.
FYI- The Group Read of The Once and Future King will commence this Thursday. Be there or be square!

I've got to get to writing reviews for The Beebo Brinker Chronicles by Ann Bannon, Small g by Patricia Highsmith, and Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie; but I can't put down The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag!

I have put down Madame Bovary because I couldn't resist Shirley. It was calling to me.

So ends my Miss Marple marathon. I’ve enjoyed chronologically re-reading and reviewing them. Here is the review of the last of the Miss Marple book ever written, Nemesis.

The link to my review is here,

http://www.librarything.com/review/61547595

Or my 50 book challenge thread,

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

Porua, a Miss Marple Marathon sounds like fun. Have you been watching the PBS Mystery series featuring Miss Marple?

Terri, outstanding job on introducing this week's thread; esp. loved the Clifton poem.

I'm being astounded by the unfolding of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. I'll read Beloved for my book group, then jump in on Mark's GR of The Once and Future King and kick off Orange July with Fingersmith.

Thanks. Isn't it a wonderful poem, Donna? I had the privilege of hearing her read it years ago, I've never forgotten that!

You have some stellar reads on board! Wow!

#20 No. I have no interest in watching literary adaptations of my favourite works. Most adaptations manage to mutilate and disfigure the original plots beyond recognition. It makes my heart bleed!

And yes the Marple marathon was fun! I do that every few years but this is the first time I've reviewed each and every one of them.

In my thread, a chat got going about our local libraries that ended up with more than 10 photos of local branches being posted. Seems like we're all interested in sharing that with each other.

Since it seems the idea of sharing our spiritual homes with each other is really appealing, here's a thread where we can do that!

I'm reading Whiskey Sour by J.A. Konrath, Insatiable by Meg Cabot, Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, I Am Hutterite by Mary-Ann Kirkby, and Elantris by Brandon Sanderson. I seem to be in a bit of a book funk where I start a lot of books and then get distracted before I can finish them, so hopefully I will finish some, if not all, of these this week.

I'm *thisclose* to finishing The Double by José Saramago, which is fantastic. I also need to finish A Thousand Splendid Suns for my RL book group on Wednesday. It's ok so far, nothing special, and the writing certainly suffers in comparison to Saramago's.

I am still reading Terra Nostra by Carlos Fuentes, but the end is beginning to be in sight. I will finish my "subway read," Jewish Gauchos of the Pampas by Alberto Gerchunoff on Monday, and am not sure what will be next.

My current reads:

All the Pretty Horses
1001 Arabian Nights
Rousseau's Confessions
I Promessi Sposi
Le Morte d'Arthur
Waterless Mountain
Thomas Jefferson

I finished The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny last night (why has the spelling been changed only in the title? I don't understand...), which was fabulous. Why didn't I check out the next book from the library too?

I'm now reading Strokes of Genius in honor of Wimbledon. I thought the beginning was a little overwritten, but now that the author is describing Federer and Nadal's backgrounds and growing up, it's going much smoother for me.

Also listening to The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe before bed and Grim Tuesday on my daily commute.

I hope to finish Shanghai Girls by Lisa See today. Then I'll dive into The Once and Future King for the group read.

CarolynSchroeder, she's made it to America and I've finally met the lawyers. Much more comfortable reading for me now. I don't find the main character very believable or likeable, but that doesn't change the importance of helping her.

teelgee, loved loved Clifton’s “Homage to My Hips”. Thank you.

Echo #12, still reading The Passage and loving it. Just reached part five, and found an e-version to read on my iPad, so even more exciting reading for me.

Read The Day of the Triffids this week. That's several hours of my life that I'll never get back. The whole time that I was reading it, I was imagining a comic movie version. It's the only thing that made it bearable.

Now I'm reading The Fall of Berlin by Anthony Read and David Fischer.

I working on Paul is Undead. It's a really different book for me.

Listening to the marvelous George Guidall read Tony Hillerman's The Sinister Pig to me as I drive to work.

Finished today

Susan Hill, The Beacon
Sophie Hannah, Cordial and Corrosive

Currently reading:

Rose Tremain, Music and Silence
historical novel

Joan Aiken, Midnight is a Place
Children's historical novel - not part of the Wolves of Willoughby Chase series which I read/reread earlier this year but has some of the same subjects as some of those - children working in a terrible factory.

Kate Clanchy, Antigona and Me
Non fiction about a refugee in London

George Orwell, Down and Out in Paris and London
Orwell's adventures among the poor

Laura Lippman, No Good Deeds
PI novel - Tess Monaghan #9, set in Baltimore - interestingly the prologue is is in first person narrative by Tess' boyfriend Crow, whose appearances have always been through her eyes before, and she doesn't normally write first person narrative.

Deborah Kay Davies, True Things About Me
Early reviewers book which I'm already beginning to regret asking for.

I am just startint to read Distant Shores by Kristin Hannah

Just read The Art of Racing in the Rain in spare time at work today (shhh don't tell) and almost ended up crying into my keyboard. SO much sadder than I expected, but completely worth the read.

I've just started The Hundred-Foot Journey by Richard C. Morais, which I'm not entirely sure about just yet. I'm *loving* my current listen, though, which is Feed by Mira Grant.

@33.....what a coincidence, I was just flipping channels and the local PBS channel is showing the 1963 movie version of The Day of the Triffids. I didn't watch much but it looks like a pretty campy version to me!
I'm ready to start reading The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them. Then on to a biograpy of Francis Crick.

I'm w/in a few pages of the end of Troubles by J.G. Farrell and it's been an outstanding read.

Then I have a bunch of titles lined up for Orange July including The Lizard Cage by Karen Connelly, Fault Lines by Nancy Huston and Fingersmith; well, really, how could I not with all the chatter about it on last week's thread. I'm happy to be taking them off my shelf.

Starting The Night Watch after all this talk about Sarah Waters and her Fingersmith which I read a couple years ago and remember liking, so I hope this one is good too!

I loved The Night Watch. I knew so little about what England was like during WWII. It opens up that world completely. Very different from her Victorian stuff, but still very good.

I just finished White Cat by Holly Black. It is a great YA Urban fiction and the start of a series.

I started Murder on the Eightfold Path by Diana Killian. I really enjoy this series. This is the third book.

I've finished Mad Kestrel, posted my huge non-proofread(sorry!) review, and have already started Microterrors...which is basically a reference book, but I love the topic so dearly I'm reading it straight through, and really liking it so far!

teelgee - love Clifton's poem homage. Thank you for sharing this with everyone!

>17 richardderus: Richard, I cannot wait to get my hands on a copy of The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag. Glad to hear you cannot put it down!

I have had a good weekend of reading so far, and look forward to some time off later this week for more of my favorite pastime ;-)

I finished Anne Perry's The Cater Street Hangman, first book in the Victorian murder mystery series featuring Charlotte and Thomas Pitt. I loved the murder mystery plot but found the character building one-sided and slightly lacking, but not enough to deter me from reading the next book in the series, just not sure when I will get around to that.

Next was the unusual little book by Luis Fernando Verissimo, The Club of Angels. An intriguing literary murder mystery about the sins of gluttony. Overall a good tale and as there were only two reviews to date I have added my review of the book on the book page here: http://www.librarything.com/work/480360/reviews/61536511

I am currently reading Eden Springs, a fictitious account of a historical scandel involving the House of David community, a religiouis sect founded in 1903 in Benton Harbour, Michigan and its founder Benjamin Purnell. So far, it is really good!

I'm reading Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor by Stephanie Barron, first of her Jane Austen detective series.

I've finished and reviewed Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress in my thread...post #26.

I struggled for a day or so to find a book but finally chose Off-Season: Discovering America on Winter's Shore by Ken McAlpine. It seems like a good fit for me right now.

eta - apparently touchstones are not happy with my choice...

ape, great review of Mad Kestrel. Authors seem to think strong woman - a##hole man make the perfect couple. I looked at your profile and see you're a young man. Maybe there's hope that the younger generation will see the folly of sexist idiocy.

Ghostheart was a terrific read, though maybe not quite as good as Ellory's later books. Now I'm reading The Greatest Show on Earth, which is absolutely fascinating, in tandem with The Executor. Both are going well.

I'm reading the excellent American Salvage. I also started a YA book, (thanks to Wookie) called The Knife of Never Letting Go. It's the 1st book in a futuristic series. On audio I have Blockade Billy, another YA from "The Master".

50, Citizenjoyce: Thank you! I have similar hopes for the younger generation but...really, I wouldn't put too much stock in us. Maybe it was just testosterone-induced high school stupidity, but I suspect internet pornography is having devastating effects on young people's view of women, at least when it comes to sexuality... :(

Maybe people get better in adulthood, but I haven't been too impressed so far.

Yesterday I managed to finish Waterless Mountain, read George's Marvelous Medicine and now I'm about halfway through Young Fu.

I started reading Buddenbrooks, the translation by John Woods. It's much more readable than I expected.

I finished To Mervas by the Swedish author Elisabeth Rynell yesterday, which was published by Archipelago Books last month, and reviewed it here today.

I should finish Even the Dogs by Jon McGregor by the end of the month.

Started Good Omens, which I found at Half Price Books, much to my delight. Still working on the Roy Blount essays, but they don't deserve to be raced through.

>53 Ape: You are too modest, Stephen. Your generation is streets ahead of mine when it comes to relationship savvy at the same age.

I've been on a reviewing tear today:

Sabriel
Small g

And it's only noon!

Well, I finished Napoleon's Buttons this morning while still in an air-conditioned subway car. I have 200-odd back podcasts to listen to, which is more than enough to get me through lunch and trip the way home: my next book won't be posted before tomorrow.

Currently reading A. S. Byatt's "Possession", my first of her books. I'm about a hundred pages in and, whilst I am enjoying it well, enough the jury is still out.

Needed a light hearted break from Pasternak's "Doctor Zhivago", which have to say I am struggling with. The book seems overwritten and the characterisation weak, although this could be down to the translation of course.

58: Interesting, Richard. I imagine the only way you could know that is by hitting on people my age. *ahem* You devil, you! :P

Honestly, I think in terms of gender equality my generation is leaps and bounds beyond any other. That's not because my generation has done anything in particular to make it that way, just that equality is becoming more and more, well, equal. Subsequent generations will continue to get better of course. That seems to be the way things go. But, my problem is how men my age view women. Not only in internet pornography, but even in the movies teen boys tend to like (American Pie) women are just viewed as walking vaginas to be manipulated to do whatever the man wants. Not at all a good thing.

Of course, if the feeling is mutual and women view men the same way, as just a "piece of meat," then I guess that's great. I'm in the belief that casual sex is hugely beneficial in just about every way possible (almost, except in the spread of disease) so if men view women as walking vaginas and women view men as talking cocks, well, I guess that makes everyone happy.

*shrug*

Ok, anyone ready for a change of topic now. =P

I finished and reviewed Troubles by J. G. Farrell, an absolutely fabulous read. Now I'm reading my first Orange Prize book for Orange July, The Lizard Cage by Karen Connelly.

Just started A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn.

I finished Fingersmith, more than worthy of the kudos here on LT. Now I am doing a quick re-read of The Book Thief for my RL book group. It's always interesting reading a good book in short order after gulping it down the first time. In the first 40 pages so many details are making the story more meaningful already.

I finished Feed by Mira Grant and now I'm excited for the next book in the trilogy to be released. This one wasn't really a cliffhanger and was actually wrapped up pretty well, but in a way that makes me wonder where she's going with it next. Now I'm listening to Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater for an audio re-read before I get to Linger in the next couple of weeks.

Still plodding through The Hundred-Foot Journey and still not super excited about it, although I'm hoping it is about to pick up.

I am now reading Water Music by one of my favorite authors, T.C. Boyle ... finally found it at a book sale. So far, it's funny, very witty. We'll see how it progresses. My favorites from him are Tortilla Curtain and Drop City, so far anyway (there are quite a few I have not read).

I finished The Norton Critical Edition of King Lear. Some of the commentary was stupid; some of it was useful. I won't pass judgment on the entertainment value of the play until after I have seen the DVD. I am an old man; I should have read this long ago and be returning to it.

I have started Superstrings and Other Things so that you don't have to. It is marvelously ill written, incomplete, and unproofread. I am not going to want to pay enough attention to it to do it justice when I write my review of it, but I will take a stab at it when it is finished or abandoned.

Robert

Executioner's Song - Norman Mailer (print)
The Girl Who Played with Fire- Stieg Larsson (audio)

I'm giving up on 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. It's just too boring for me right now. I may not donate it yet, but I'm definitely putting it down. I think, it being summer and me being busy, I will continue with my fluff reading and start Corpse Pose. Who doesn't like a yoga murder mystery with yoga poses and organic recipes?

>laurwarr- Executioner's Song is a stunning piece of work, right up there with In Cold Blood, IMHO, of course.

Carolyn- Big fan of Boyle, as well! Drop City being my favorite!

AMQS - How are you liking Shanghai Girls? I read Snow Flower and the Secret Fan last year but haven't read any of her other books.

I recently finished Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos. Light read, but very well written. Funny and poignant at the same time. Delightful, really. I just started The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner, and so far, so good. Also very funny.

>72 jhedlund: jhedlund, I finished Shanghai Girls over the weekend, and read Snow Flower and the Secret Fan a few years ago. While I enjoyed both books, there's something about this author's writing that keeps me from going over the threshold to actually loving them. I know I'm in the minority here, and I'm not sure I can even articulate what it is that bothers me. It seems to me that she does more telling than showing. Still, the stories are searing and compelling, and this one is no different. I thought the best thing about the book was the meditation by the narrator on race, class, mobility, and belonging, both in Shanghai and Los Angeles.

> 72 and 73 - I enjoyed, but did not love Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. For me, it was the detached manner the characters were presented that made it difficult for me as a reader to really connect with the characters. Still, a good book with some fascinating detailed examinations of Chinese culture and social norms of the period.

I've passed the halfway mark of The Well of Lost Plots. Will have to look for the last two books of this series soon.

I've also started listening to Tyrannosaur Canyon which seems pretty good so far. I've been looking for more books like Michael Crichton's and I think I've finally found some.

I finished Flight of the Hawk by G.R. Grove and The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester. I have now started Kraken by China Mieville.

>62 Ape: Stephen, *ahem* yes... Nice to know it's not only my thread that you and Richard manage to filthify! ;-)

I'm SO close to the end of The Count of Monte Cristo now, soooooo close! About 200 pages to go, maybe not even that, and it's getting so exciting, speeding up towards the end, that I think I'll be well finished by the end of my day off tomorrow. Jeremy Clarkson's kinda gone on the backburner, but then again, with a book like The World According to Clarkson, it really doesn't matter. Now I just need to decide what to read next...

I agree that Executioner's Song is an amazing work. I'm really getting into Water Music (touchstone does not work for some reason). There is just "something" about Boyle's writing style/humor/pathos that I just love. I'm not even sure I could quantify it if I had to.

Thank you, Mr.Durick, you take good care of us.

I am reading Good Omens for the Green Dragon group read and having a great time. Next up: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil from my TBR shelves. I read it many years ago and acquired this nice hardback at an FOL sale.

I'm still reading A problem from hell: America and the age of genocide. I want to finish it by Thursday though as I'm going away for the weekend and don't want to take it with me. Also, I'm tired of feeling this upset.

Also still reading The gone-away world.

I finished and loved The Passage and can't wait for the rest of the trilogy. That is the trouble with reading just released books....

Ellie, 77: Aye, I think filthifying things is the only thing I'm good at. :)

I finished and posted a review for Microterrors. It's great, see review for more details...if you dare.

I'm now reading Fun Home by Alison Bechdel and loving it.

I agree with you, ape, about Fun Home. I listed it as one of my best reads of the quarter. I saw Alison Bechdel at a reading, quite an impressive woman and amazingly obsessive about her cartooning. One of the audience members suggested she might enjoy it more if she didn't go over and over each detail of evry picture so obsessively, but telling someone not to obsess is like telling them not to breathe.

Finished Dead in the Family. I've gone a few days without reading. . .trying to find something interesting to read. . Possibly What's a Ghoul to Do?.

I've finished Donna Tartt's The secret History and started My Father's Wives by Angolese writer José Eduardo Agualusa.

83: I'm listing it as, well, one of the better reads of the year! Definitely in the top 5, at least. I've already finished Fun Home and "reviewed" it (if you call that review...)

I'll let that one settle, and start Grayson by Lynne Cox tomorrow.

Oh, by the way, Bechdel says she's working on a graphic novel about her mother now. Due to the above mentioned obsession, who knows when it will be done, but I'm sure I'll read it.

Really? I'll definitely be looking forward to that one. :)

I finished American Salvage. Excellent! I will be reading all of her work! I started the audio of So Cold the River by Michael Koryta and it has pulled me in quite nicely. I have not read him before. Also working on the YA novel The Knife of Never Letting Go and enjoying it very much. It's a page-burner!
Getting ready for the Group Read of The Once and Future King. It begins Thursday and it's not to late to jump aboard. Love to have ya!

Finished Corpse Pose. It was entertaining. Very light read, but that's what I want when the cold front cools it down to 89 degrees. :) I'm thinking of starting the Anne Rice book I own, but I'm afraid I won't be able to sleep if I start tonight.

I finished Doubleblind by Ann Aguirre. It was good, but I read the first 2 books a while ago and felt unsure of the story and characters for most of the book.

Then I read Angel's Pawn by Nalini Singh. It is a novella that is a prequel to the Guild Hunter series.

Now I am reading Seven for a Secret by Elizabeth Bear.

I'm about halfway through Cathleen Schine's The Three Weissmanns of Westport, a modern version of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility, set in NYC and Westport CT. So far, it's been a really fun read.

Also reading Damaged by Alex Kava, also enjoyable (if a little gory).

Just starting on Corn Dolls by Patrick Lennon

#92-The Three Weissmanns was fun

I have finally finished and reviewed the massive Terra Nostra by Carlos Fuentes, and the charming Jewish Gauchos of the Pampas by Alberto Gerchunoff, both LT recommendations. Not sure what's next.

>92 jlshall: jlshall and >94cdyankeefan, I just finished The Three Weissmanns of Westport and add my kudos to yours. Clever in its modern day take on S & S, and satisfying where it departs from it.

Finished Young Fu and now into The House of Sixty Fathers.

I just finished The Hundred-Foot Journey and, although I liked the concept, I really didn't love the book. Now I'm on to The Scarlet Contessa by Jeanne Kalogridis which I have high hopes for, since I really liked her last book, The Devil's Queen.

Dog lovers...........You must read Timbuktu by Paul Auster....A wonderful book! I just finished it and will be starting to listen to The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, and I continue reading The Toss of a Lemon.

Starting a new crime series with Seeking The Dead by Kate Ellis.

#55: jfetting
I am reading Buddenbrooks as well! I am at the half now, how do you like it? I think it is very readable (I don't know what the translation is like) and also like the story. I seems to be more interested in the life of unreal people then ina an attention catching story itself...

#!01, Buddenbrooks is one of my favorite books!

I've startedQ Road by Bonnie Jo Campbell, the author of the wonderful American Salvage which avaland/Lois recommended to me.

#101: Tallulah Rose

I love it! My translation (the Woods translation) is very readable - I was afraid it would be dense and plodding and miserable, but I'm flying right through it. You're right - the lives of the people (and all the details, about clothes and food and furniture and all that) are really interesting. I like the characters, too.

I finished Girl Who Played With Fire and started on another old book The Sparrow. Sparrow is for my book discussion group. I was amazed to find it had 155 reviews here on LT and that the book was published in 1996. Don't know how this one got under my radar. Some of the members of the discussion group have already read it and say it brings lots to the table for discussion. Guess I will see.

While at the American Library Association conference I got to meet the LT Gods. The founder himself and Abby. Sadly there was no social gathering as the gods said that they were so busy they couldn't plan one. Those who are LT'rs and going to San Diego in January will have to remedy that situation and organize something. I won't be going to San Diego, but I will try to remind people when the time comes. It really is a shame when LT members from a city can't meet other LT'rs from other places. Lost opportunities are so sad.

There is no doubt that the Stieg Larsson books are the new Harry Potter phenomena. The publishers are now looking for mystery/thrillers with a female lead to satisfy the Lisbeth Salander frenzy.

I just finished reading Lolly Willowes, which started off well, but was disappointing later on.

I'm going to focus on The Postmistress now, so I can read it before it's due back at the library. :)

I finished The Worst Hard Time and One Mississippi this week. I have just started The Law of Similars by Chris Bohjalian. Seems pretty good so far but I am not far enough into it to really form an opinion.

I finished Do They Hear You When You Cry. I never did develop a liking for the writer of the book and had to agree with the horrible INS judge that she was unreliable, i.e. lying, about how she got from Africa to the US. However, I agree that it's a very important book about a landmark case establishing FGM as grounds for seeking asylum. All the lawyers, except the one she pays, are fantastic.

I also finished listening to A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray and asked my sister "Why oh why couldn't young girls have become enamoured with this series instead of with the stupid Twilight series, and then immediately answered my own question. Not enough romance. What a pity.

Next up is Good Omens for the group read and I'm going to try to listen to The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson, though I won't have so much time to listen to audiobooks these days.

Finished The House of Sixty Fathers and will start The BFG tomorrow.

Finished My Wife's Affair by Nancy Woodruff last week. I was really amazed by how much I liked it. The characters really stuck with me after my reading. Also, it is the first time in quite awhile that I have been so surprised by an ending. Not what I expected at all.

This week I am reading the collection of short stories Alone with you by Marisa Silver. I have only heard good things and so far I haven't been disappointed.

I am just about to start The Secret Notebooks of Agatha Christie. Agatha Christie is my favorite author ever, and I hadn't heard about this book until my parents bought it for me for my birthday. I'm so excited about it!

I'm still reading Wolf Hall on the Dart (train to work - Dublin) and listening to Break no bones on the walk to work and while gardening.

After reading this thread I've had to add The Three Weissmanns of Westport to my wishlist and am tempted but cautious about adding the doggy centric Timbuktoo by Paul Auster as I might get emotional.

Happy to hear lots of people are reading Good Omens which I love love love still haven't forgiven my honeybunch for lending my copy to a friend who left it on a bus.

I finished The Iron King, a YA fantasy book that my daughter recommended to me. It was fast-paced, exciting and I enjoyed it. It was more "fantasy-based" than other YA books I've read, which took a little getting used to for me. However, once I accepted the world of faeries, trolls, etc. it was very good.

Last night, I started Little Bee. Haven't read enough to form an opinion yet.

I began Sancuary by Faulkner as suggested by the site. So far I am wondering why I haven't picked it up before!

I'm reading The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt. What an amazing book it is! I should be finished by tomorrow.

I polished off Off Armageddon Reef by David Weber in the wee hours of the morning while listening to rain drip from my roof. Next up is Don't Look Back by Karin Fossum.

I've finished and posted a review for Grayson. It was a nice, pleasant read.

Not 100 percent sure, but I think I'll be starting Cruel and Unusual by Patricia Cornwell later today...maybe, unless I change my mind. :)

Just back from a week away in New Jersey, attending the wedding of the son of one of my best friends and visiting old haunts. (The wedding of my friend's son? That's just wrong!) During the week (mostly in transit, though), I read March Violets, the first of Philip Kerr's "Berlin Noir" series. This was a murder mystery set in pre-WW2 but Nazi era Berlin. Fascinating stuff.

#111 Kirsty, honeybunch owes you a new copy. Hold out for hardcover. :)

My review for The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie is up. My review is here,

http://www.librarything.com/review/58388011

Or my 50 book challenge thread,

http://www.librarything.com/topic/94041

>110 seasonsoflove: Look forward to hearing what you think of The Secret Notebooks of Agatha Christie. Sounds like a good one!

Finished Eden Springs and posted a review on the book page: http://www.librarything.com/work/9497148/reviews/61594896

I am now reading The Secrets of a Fire King, a collection of short stories by Kim Edwards.

#107 citizenjoyce

I read the whole series by Libba Bray and loved them. I asked myself the same question "Why didn't this series do the same thing as the Twilight series?" I don't really have an answer because the romance is there. Especially in the later books. Sometimes I think that books just have to hit at the right time and the right place to get the buzz going, and there is little about that buzz that has to do with the book, story, or the quality of the writing.

In the case of Great and Terrible Beauty these books came out after the Twilight series. The question I have is would this series have been published if the Twilight series hadn't been such a success? The publisher of the Bray books probably wouldn't have given them a second look if it weren't for the success of the Twilight series.

I also wonder about the fickleness of the reading public. I read someplace that 12% of the population purchases 80% of the books sold. If that is true then a mega blockbuster like Twilight or Harry Potter doesn't translate into success for other books. In other words - if you read Twilight it doesn't guarantee that you will read books similar to Twilight. Most readers just read whatever is the latest fad and don't go beyond that.

Just added airship eagle into my currently reading list. I've decided four at a time might be a little much. :)

>Cindyp- The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt was outstanding! I've read many presidential bios and that might be my favorite. The follow-up Theodore Rex is pretty good but almost pales in comparison. Enjoy!

I finished The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane on audio, disappointed with it. Now I'm onto listening to Shanghai Girls.

#107 and #122 ~ Just finished Great and Terrible Beauty and found it much more fascinating, intelligent and well-written than Twilight (which was the only one of the series I read). If I knew any teenage girls, I'd turn them onto Bray's series but alas! I'm currently between teenage girls to whom I could gift the Bray books (the ones I knew when Potter came out are in college now, and the ones coming up are still a bit too young).

Reading Kennedy's Brain by Henning Mankell. This is not a Kurt Wallander. Really enjoying it.

Just starting Handle With Care. Though I swore to give her up after the execrable Change of Heart Picoult does make good holiday reading and it looks as though this one will be accompanying me on at least stage 1 of my holiday. Seems okay so far though I'm not an expert of OI - I unsderstand there have been complaints about the way she has handled the affliction.

I finished re-reading Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, enjoying my time in Savannah, and have moved on to To Kingdom Come by Will Thomas, the sequel to Some Danger Involved.

Reading The Harrowing by Alexandra Sokoloff which is very much like a creepy movie in book form and A Murderous Procession by Ariana Franklin.

I'm a little nervous about the Franklin book because Richard didn't like it. However, I like the characters well enough that I hope I enjoy just spending time with them.

I am reading the novella "Luxurious Hearses" from Uwem Akpan's excellent collection, Say You're One of Them.

Almost finished The boy in the striped pyjamas by John Boyne.

#130 nancyewhite

I bought A Murderous Procession because I thought the other books in this series were very well done. I really liked all three of the Ariana Franklin books about Adelia. I can't imagine that this one would be bad. It may not be the best in the series but surely it won't be bad!?

I'm just starting The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant, which I think I'm going to like a lot.

#122 benitastrnad

I think about that paradigm often! Tough I can't say I have given into the twilight craze because it bores me to tears and read the Harry Potter books when they were still relatively obscure. I often wonder how some books get to be so famous. I think the best example is Dan Brown's books who were huge bestsellers but the original idea (and most of the plot) were by another author...

I finished The boy in the striped pyjamas by John Boyne and will start with De tocht van de olifant (The Elephant’s Journey) by José Saramago tomorrow.

Polished off my reread of The Book Thief for my RL book group, meeting next Thursday. I'm vacationing at the Outer Banks so I can't get my hands on The Once and Future King for the group read that started yesterday. What to read, what to read. I have 9 or 10 samples on my Kindle. Maybe Zeitoun? Or Somewhere Inside by Laura Ling and Lisa Ling? Pride and Prejudice? American Salvage? Or perhaps I shall just browse. An embarrassment of riches.

#136: I'll be looking for your review of The Elephant's Journey.

> jbleil- Sorry you couldn't get your hands on a copy of The Once and Future King. We will miss you! I think this will be a very good summer read. I just finished American Salvage too and cannot recommend it higher. It gets my vote...oh wait I loved Zeitoun too!