What are you reading the week of July 24, 2010?

Happy Birthday, Beatrix Potter! 28 July 1866 - 22 December 1943

"If it were not impertinent to lecture one's publisher - you are a great deal too much afraid of the public, for whom I have never cared one tuppenny button. Most people, after one success, are so cringingly afraid of doing less well that they rub all the edge off their subsequent work.”

I continue to read The Possessed as a break from The Reformation.

Robert

I don't know what I'm going to read yet.... either The Hunchback of Notre Dame or Red Badge of Courage. :/

I'm still slowly working on The King's Mistress by Emma Campion.

I finished and posted my I-think-I-got-too-big-for-my-britches review for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I'm surprised it only has a 3.7 rating.

Next up I'll be starting a graphic novel, Little Things by Jeffrey Brown.

Happy Birthday Miss Potter and Mrs Tiggywinkle.

I'm reading The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor and still listening to My Horizontal Life.

My Current Reads are yet again mostly the same as last week's, and probably will remain so until I can work through the large pile of books I've ordered for Charlie's bookshelves (which is why the only book that's different is the children's lit one!):

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

Beatrix Potter lectured someone on risk-taking? How very odd.

>8 richardderus:: No, Peter Rabbit did.

I'm hoping to finish White Teeth today. What a wild ride!

Working on Mistress of the Art of Death. . . Hope to finish this tomorrow.

#9, although opinions vary, I even thought On Beauty was even better than White Teeth, although I did like White Teeth. Not sure if you read that one yet!

I am reading a really wacky one, Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk ... I've not read anything prior by him and this is very choppy, conversational, unsettling and different. I'm not sure if it's a "good" different yet, but it's enough to keep me interested. Not sure if all of his writing is like this, but it's like a car accident with really rather hateful people, I guess, don't look away, but keep watching. And you really don't care if bad things happen to them, because they are so unlikeable, but I think they are supposed to be.

Tinkers by Paul Harding was an intriguingly written story centered around father, son, grandfather. Some of it really grabbed me, and the author is quite talented. I'm happy for what appears to be a small publisher having an unexpected success.

Next up is The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi.

#5: Exceptional review of Dr. Jekyll et. al. What impressed me most was the novella's total sexlessness, its Lawrence-of-Arabian absence of all female characters. Our ideas of the novella have really been formed by the many cinematic treatments, all of which add women as playthings (for Hyde) and lighthouses of moral order (Jekyll's fiance). A curious ommission, even given the Victorian era and the fact that Stevenson was no prude. What do you think? (Let Ape answer this one).

>jnwelch- I enjoyed Tinkers, as well but it should have been a great book! It contained some incredible prose but just wasn't consistent enough, IMO. I've heard very good things about The Wind-up Girl. I hope you like it!

13: I'm confused, are you saying there are no female characters present in the book? There was a woman in "The Carew Murder Case" chapter, when Mr. Utterson visits Hyde's place of residence, as well as the maidservant who witnesses Hyde's first murder, though she never speaks.

Am I understanding your question at all correctly?

>14 msf59: I agree, Mark. Parts of it were really exceptional, others were so-so. Inconsistent, as you say.

I'll let you know about TWG.

I am still reading Sometimes We're Always Real Same-Same by Mattox Roesch. It has become a real slog. I am almost done.

It is set up like a novel but really a series of short stories about the characters and the time line is wildly inconsistent, the characters are not really engaging, and the story is boring.

Oh, how I loved reading The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. Oh how very beautiful the writing in this book is! How much intense and careful observation went into the creation of these characters, each of whom...especially the Kelly family...I felt I could look up in the phone book and call for a chat.

I will finish The Once and Future King this week end. I will, I will! I'm enjoying it, but I've sneaked in one too many in-betweeners while I've been reading it and sort of got out of the mood for frivolous fantasy.

Am reading The Long Song by Andrea Levy -- wonderful writer. Finished Echoes of the Dead by Johan Theorin earlier this week -- so so, not sure I would read another by this author.

I’m reading Girl in Hyacinth Blue. So far so good.

The next book for me is either Company of Liars or The Glass Room.

Currently reading The Book Thief after so many I saw so many positive LT reviews of it. I'm only about 60 pages in, but I really like it so far. Also, I'm reading The Girl Who Played With Fire. I finally got to where the action begins...page 190!

Still reading, and will be for some time, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. Will probably break it up with something lighter this week.

I'm reading Wings by Aprilynne Pike -- so far I don't like it too much, but I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt. ;)

I'm also starting The Silver Kiss by Annette Curtis Klause probably tomorrow (but I guess tomorrow won't be "the week of July 24th" so maybe it doesn't count?) ;)

I have currently become addicted to Bret Easton Ellis. Finished American Psycho and then went on to Less Than Zero. Currently finishing up his Lunar Park. Looks like I will need to make a trip to the bookstore to pick up my next installation to feed my addiction! :)

15: Sorry; should have clarified: I meant "major" female characters (in the best sound versions, Frederic March and Spencer Tracy as Hyde keep returning to torment Miriam Hopkins and Ingrid Bergman respectively; as Jekyll, they each have loyal fiances--Rose Hobart, Lana Turner--who worry about them and want them to let up on this strange research that's consuming them). There's even the late eighties version where, inevitably (shades of Psycho), Anthony Perkins as Hyde commits the Ripper killings. My point is that it's strange Stevenson didn't let sexuality out of Hyde's Pandora's box.

I'm reading The Amber Spyglass and subsequently finishing up His Dark Materials.

This is what it says on the title page:
Random House Children's Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read.

So I know I'm in for something good!

27: I suppose...but can you really blame Stevenson for how other people interpreted his work? He wrote the book the way he wrote it, and if other people added a sexuality dimension I don't think you can blame Stevenson for leaving it out, right?

I'm reading Lost: A Novel.

I finally finished Sometimes We're Always Real Same-Same by Mattox Roesch.

Decided to stay in Alaska and read Frozen Sun by Stan Jones, a mystery.

I finished Victorian America: Transformations in Everyday Life which I found to be a fascinating book. It provides an overview of everyday life (housing, transportation, working, playing, etc) across America over 40 years. With that broad a picture, the focus on any one time or subject can not be tight. For me, who has spent the past year reading a local weekly newspaper from 1860 to 1890, it provided the perfect overview in which to place the particulars of my findings.

I'm about halfway through a LTER book, A Dog's Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron. Not sure what I think yet.

On audio, I'm listening to Beau Bridges read Larry Watson's Montana 1948. This is a re-"read" for me (read in 1996). I thought Bridges would be an interesting choice for this book, but I had no idea it would be as wonderful as it is to listen to.

Just finished Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. Now I am back to finish Moral Man and Immoral Society by Reinhold Niebuhr.

I am reading:

Bestial by Harold Schechter
The End of Overeating by David Kessler
Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris

I'm reading The Map of True Places-I loved The Lace Reader so much, I knew I had to read this one as soon as possible-its really excellent so far.

29: Ape, no value judgement intended--nor does blame enter in. Just curious about his motivations as an artist. I have the highest regard for Stevenson, particularly his shorter fiction, like The Ebb-tide, The Suicide Club, and the work we're discussing. And, again, enjoyed your review, particularly how you nailed the responsibility versus anonymity question. If you haven't read it yet, may I suggest Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Grey as a perfect companion piece, as it also deals with good and evil in a unique and personal way.

I continue to read Sybil by Flora Rheta Schreiber, Sweetsmoke by David Fuller, Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters and several non-fiction books.

I'm 2/3 through American Rust by Philipp Meyer. It's a very good story!!

At present, I am reading Waverley. I have a set of Sir Walter Scott's books and hope ot read all of them.

I am reading Arcadia Falls by Carol Goodman and really enjoying it.

37: No worries, no judgement felt! ;) There could be numerous reasons for Stevenson leaving women (mostly) out of the novel. I can't judge why he did or didn't do this, and I didn't see any significant symbolism in the absence of women, so I'm not sure. I could invent plenty of theories though, if you like. :)

I've cracked open One Day by David Nicholls and so far it's pretty hilarious. That shouldn't be a surprise since he's a TV comedy writer. It seems a good book for a summer's weekend (read: somewhat light material) but I hope it gets a little more serious as it goes on.

I am still reading In Harm's Way by Ridley Pearson. Hope to finish this soon but I don't know what I will pick up next.

42: Just as a point of interest, Wikipedia repeated the theory that Dr. Jekyll etc. was an allegory about the Victorian era's repression of homosexuals. It would explain the lack of female companionship, but I'm not so sure...

Read The Lost City of Z this week. A terrific book. Read it almost in one sitting. I was frustrated by a couple of omissions. Why didn't Grann include a photo of the rock formations that he claimed looked like the towers of a distant city? Surely someone has photographed them.

Now I'm reading Sunrise at Abadan a history of the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran during World War II.

Still picking at The Long Goodbye. Not sure what's taking me so long. I also started The Russian Debutante's Handbook because I'm incapable of reading less than two books at a time.

I finished Frozen Sun by Stan Jones, really good, my favorite of the series so far.

Now starting Flint by Margaret Redfern. Historical Fiction set in England and Wales during the reign of Edward I.

I started Life Is Short But Wide by J. California Cooper. It's going well!

45: Hmmm, but Stevenson makes it clear that Hyde is Jekyll's chance to do whatever he wants without the judgement of his peers. When he is Hyde, no one knows who he is, and he is described as being 'liberated.' As described in my review, free of societal shackles. He wouldn't have been repressed under the guise of Hyde, and so you would think he would have explored his homosexuality. But I didn't get that impression. He was mentioned doing "something" to women (didn't specify, I don't think. Forget the exact wording) and he abused at least 1 child, but aside from the fact that it 'appeared' as though he wasn't married... (which would make me a homosexual...oh dear...I hope there is more required than that) I don't see much evidence beyond that.

I'll have to read the wikipedia article and see what it says.

I finished The King's Mistress last night and started Jane Feather's All the Queen's Players because I'm trying to do a hist fic week on my blog next week (if I can get enough reading time in!).

Finished Thimble Summer and read The Vicar of Nibbleswicke yesterday; now on to a re-read from long ago: The Black Stallion.

>49 jacqueline065:: I loved Life is Short But Wide. It is the first J. California Cooper novel I have read and found the characters and setting to be well written. A great story.

I am still reading The Solitude of Prime Numbers and continue to be fascinated with the story. Should be finished later today.

Felt like something warm and cozy so I am reading Little Women today.

I am reading Something Rotten for now, another lovely Thursday Next book...

Happy birthday, Beatrix. Did you see the movie Miss Potter? Beatrix came off quite well there. She grew to feel quite secure in her writing and artwork, so I can well see her lecturing her publisher on taking risks.

I finished Ms. Hempel Chronicles by Sarah Shun-lien Brnum, and liked it quite well, though for the first half of the book, in spite of the author's name, I kept seeing Isla Fisher as Ms. Hempel. Pretty far off the mark. It's a series of interconnecting stories about a middle school teacher who is rather timid, after having been rather wild, and unsure of her effect on students. She describes 7th graders as being the essence of people. I think it speaks very well to the question most of us have about our effect on the world.

Now I'm both reading and listening to The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter. I agree, Richard, what a fine book with such perfect characterization.

BBC Radio ran their "Jekyll and Hyde" this week on the radio. You should be able to listen to it for a few more days if anyone is so inclined. The narrator is Tim Piggott -Smith who does an excellent job. For those of you who remember he was the villain of "The Jewel in the Crown"

I am reading Nightwood which is highly praised. At 123 some odd pages I found the opening very slow going. However at halfway through I am now understanding why the writing has earned such accolades over the years.

I'm reading The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb because it has been staring at me from the corner of the dining room table too long.

I am about to start The Road by Cormac McCarthy, and East by Edith Pattou.

#58 Let me know what you think of the new Wally Lamb. I just loved She's Come Undone but was equally disappointed with his follow-up, I Know This Much Is True which just went on and on and on...to almost a thousand pages. Take it from Tolstoy, if your novel's gonna skirt a thousand pages (or more), it should have a thousand characters and tell a really big story (I guess we can give James Joyce a pass).

I finished Nectar in a Sieve yesterday. Today I've read all of Eat and half of Pray from Eat, Pray, Love. I like Eat much better than Pray.

I finished Zadie Smith's White Teeth tonight - wild ride, that one! Now I'm zipping through Montana 1948, a book highly recommended by some of my favorite LT readers. It's a great story - long short story/short novel.

After coming back very late last night from an excellent four day festival, I decided that I wasn't really awake enough for Anna Karenina on the train this morning, and so I've started The Discovery of Chocolate by James Runcie, which looked a bit lighter. Hopefully I'll finish Anna by the end of the week though.

I am starting Tomorrow River by Lesley Kagen today.

The Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard will be started tonight

Should be finishing up The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley this week. Hope to finish the other book I've got going, too - The Vanishing of Katharina Linden by Helen Grant. Then, if all goes well, I can start in on Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (touchstones not working?). Had to wait a month in the library's queue for that one.

This week I'm planning on getting to book 7 of The Landmark Herodotus and This is Graceanne's Book (for the Missouri readers group read). And then I'm hoping to start Darwin by Adrian Desmond. I really enjoyed his biography of T.H. Huxley, Huxley: From Devil's Disciple to Evolution's High Priest, so I'm expecting good things from this one too.

I am finishing up Good Omens by Neil Gaiman which LT predicted I would not like and I love!
Also reading The Earthquake America Forgot by David Stewart which I am enjoying vry much.
I will soon be starting The Daily Coyote by Shreve Stockton.
Great run of books for me!

I like Eat much better than Pray.

Thanks for the laugh, Anne!

I finally finished The Once and Future King yesterday. It's a hard book to follow. I have Lost by Alice Lichtenstein on ILL from the library up next followed by my long-lost ER book from February that arrived last week, In the Company of Angels by Thomas E. Kennedy.

I've set aside Starwater Strains by Gene Wolfe and picked up By Schism Rent Asunder by David Weber instead. The Wolfe just wasn't holding my interest.

I finished Little Things by Jeffrey Brown, which I pretty much hated, and am now onto I am America (And So Can You!) by Stephen Colbert, which is quite funny so far. I've only read a few pages...but I've laughed more than a few times already! :)

Finished reading Girl in Hyacinth Blue and absolutely loved it! Easily one of my favourites this year. My review is here,

http://www.librarything.com/review/62336563

Or my 50 book challenge thread,

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

Hooray, came home to my ARC/Early Reviewers' book Displaced Persons by Ghita Schwartz. I was having a bugger of a time finding something to get into (just could NOT hang with the drivel that was Invisible Monsters - and utter waste of any part of my brain), so this is just perfection re: timing!

Just finished Under the Amoral Bridge by Gary Ballard and enjoyed it. Now onto Catching Fire. Can't wait!

I finished A Thousand Splendid Suns this morning and now can't decide what to start next. Here are the three between which I'm deciding: Middlesex, The Time Traveler's Wife, and Water for Elephants.

Would anyone like to recommend one book above the others?

I am taking a much needed break from The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich and Crisis Economics with the page-turning The Little Stranger.

Since you asked, Water for Elephants. I'm jealous that you'll be getting to read it for the first time.

I am reading Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell, and so far I find it to be fascinating in terms of plot and structure. I am listening to The God of the Hive by Laurie R. King and so far it is one of the best in the Sherlock Holmes/Mary Russell series.

#75 Lady Mary - I've read two out of the three options and think I'd suggest The Time Travelers Wife but Middlesex is also great and I've added Water for Elephants to my wishlist.

I've finished The Looking Glass Wars and will start The last family in England on the train tomorrow.

I'm attempting to read Alison Weir's latest fiction, The Captive Queen. I say 'attempting' because so far it is terrible. Aside from the gratuitous sex, the writing is just terrible. She has Eleanor of Aquitaine asking the man who would become Henry II to "prove it (his manhood) to me."

>175 Tallulah_Rose: Water for Elephants would be my first choice followed by Middlesex. Did not care for The Time Traveler's Wife at all.

Well, I'd put them in the order of Middlesex, Water for Elephants, and then The Time Traveler's Wife. That means you've gotten every possible suggestion. What it probably means is that you can't go too wrong with any of them and that you'll have to come to your own decision as to their relative merits once you've read them all.

I finished Jennifer Weiner's latest, Fly Away Home, on Saturday. It was okay and served as a light bridge between The Once and Future King and the one I'm reading now, Somewhere Inside: One Sister's Captivity Inside North Korea and the Other's Fight to Bring Her Home by Laura Ling and Lisa Ling. It's a page-turner.

Today I went to the library and started Dead and Gone by Charlane Harris. I also got Make Him Look Good, Poison Study, The Quickie, and Vamped. Between some of those I'll Probably do a couple of rereads by Janet Evanovich.

I took a break from The Reformation to read The Possessed. The Possessed had enough information to make it worthwhile after the fact, but it wasn't really very good. I am back to the The Reformation which continues to be rich and difficult.

Robert

Reading Built of Books...what a complete PILL Oscar Wilde must have been! Too smart by half; a contrarian who said "Black" whenever one said "white"; faaar too convinced that his (mean-spirited) wit was the be-all and end-all of Cultured Conversation.

Still love The Picture of Dorian Gray, though.

Of Time And the River By Thomas Wolfe

> 75- My pick would be Middlesex followed by Water For Elephants. Nice dilemma!

I started A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan. I have not read her before but this woman can "write"! Nearly finished with the audio of The Other Wes Moore and it's another riveting non-fiction gem! The hits keep coming!

>80 DevourerOfBooks: DevourerOfBooks ~ LOL I can't even imagine it!

I tried awhile ago to read Innocent Traitor but just couldn't get into it, so I didn't get very far. That was after reading her history of Richard III. Though I'm sure the man was no saint, she tarred him so thickly with every black sin that was ever whispered about him ~ with mainly rumor and hearsay but few facts to back them up ~ that I refuse to read any other of her histories.

>75 lady_mary_wroth:, lady mary, I have read all of those and would recommend reading Water for Elephants and then The Time Traveler's Wife and then Middlesex.

They're all good, but somehow that sounds like a good progression to me! Plus Water for Elephants was my favorite :)

@ #75: that's a tough one. I've read all three and loved them all. I didn't think I would like The Time Traveler's Wife but ended up loving it! Let us know what you decide.

>75 lady_mary_wroth: Since you asked, I've loved all three and I would do Water for Elephants, Middlesex and The Time Travelers Wife. (Elephants is the quickest read which will get you to Middlesex faster!) Enjoy however you decide to go!

>69 Donna828:, thanks, Donna! I finished Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert tonight (still liked Eat the most, but I enjoyed Love, too), and was unsure which book to choose next from the giant pile. I've been following the above discussion with interest. I've already read Middlesex and The Time Traveler's Wife (and of the two, I prefer Middlesex), so I think I'll go for Water for Elephants next. Let us know which one you choose, lady_mary_wroth.

Middlesex is one of my all time favorite books. I think it's brilliant.

>93 AMQS:, AMQS.. I thoroughly enjoyed 'eat' and parts of 'pray', but her endless discussions and random interjections of facts made it harder to read the father you go on in the book. It was a shame, It is always disappointing when a book starts out good and dwindles.

I'm reading Nineteen Weeks: America, Britain, and the Fateful Summer of 1940 by Norman Ross.

This non-fiction book examines the events of May to September 1940 as France fell to the Nazis, the British Expeditionary Force was rescued from Dunkirk, and the United States pondered on whether to support Britain in its war efforts -- or not.

A fascinating time period -- just 70 years ago this summer -- that changed the outcome of World War II.

Still reading Brisinger.

#75 Just to follow up that earlier discussion - I don't suppose it's possible for you to read all three at once? You couldn't have picked a harder bunch to choose from. If I had to put them in order of preference I guess mine would be (just) Middlesex, then Time Traveler's Wife, then Water for Elephants but it's close-run thing. That's probably also the order of 'difficulty', if you can call it that, so much depends on your mood at the time: Middlesex is quite a long, involved read, Time Traveler's Wife about medium and Elephants is a fairly light, quickish read. Incidentally, to everyone out there who loved 'Elephants', this looks like a good chance for me to recommend The Elephant Keeper by Christopher Nicholson, which I also adored.

A-a-a-a-a-anyway, back to the subject in hand. My current read is Little Bird of Heaven by Joyce Carol Oates.

finished listening to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire today. I enjoyed diving deeper into the characters again then just by watching the films. Although I am looking forward to the last two parts of the movies.
Now I try to find Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on audio and have urged my library to buy it. Hope they do it, I think there might be more people around who'd like to listen to it.

So, maybe while waiting I can finish Buddenbrooks finally. I hope so.

The Beekeeper's Apprentice; one wonders why I hadn't stumbled across this series before... ah well better late than never I suppose; also starting In Big Trouble by Laura Lippman after I finish The Sun Over Breda.

I've started The Welsh Girl only read one chapter on the train but it was a great opener.

87: Hope you've read Look Homeward, Angel first, for my money the only Wolfe worth reading and the prequel to Of Time etc. (Anybody else experiencing touchstone problems?)

>89 Storeetllr:,
I actually enjoyed Innocent Traitor. The consensus of most people I've talked about it with seems to be that they liked Innocent Traitor, The Lady Elizabeth was just okay, and The Captive Queen is horrid. I haven't read any of her nonfiction yet, but from what I understand her Tudor histories are fabulous, but she has a huge grudge against Richard III. I guess it is her Tudor sympathies?

I finished Shanghai Girls on audio, it was okay, but I wasn't bowled over by it. I'm now starting (on audio) Paul Is Undead by Alan Goldsher.

#101 I really liked Welsh Girl. There is lots to think about in that book. It gave me a whole new perspective on World War II.

I'm done with one cross country trip and managed to listen to the lat Percy Jackson book Last Olympian and Madapple. Both are young adult books that I have long put of listening to. Both were a great way to pass the time on the road. I especially enjoyed Madapple and all the herbology about medicinal plants was very well incorporated into the story. I wonder why this book hasn't gotten more attention? All that listening and only have one title - Madapple - that I can use on my 25 books off the shelf challenge. Oh well, it was fun listening.

Started listening to Ghost Medicine another YA novel that has had good reviews. So far so good with this one as well.

I'm finishing up Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis. I've been on a 20th Century American Authors kick for a while now.

#106 I've been on the 20th Century American Authors kick for about 3 years now. I just dont seem to like anything new. The mid 1950s is about as modern as I go.

I finished Diane Setterfield's very satisfying gothic suspense novel The Thirteenth Tale and reviewed it over here.

Now I'm reading Burmese Lessons by Karen Connelly.

>103 DevourerOfBooks: Maybe I didn't give Innocent Traitor enough of a chance. It's possible I allowed my prejudice against her for her nonfiction to color my judgment.

I don't mind when an author presents views that aren't supported by actual evidence when they are writing fiction ~ I mean, it's fiction, and fiction can be slanted to reflect the author's opinions, no matter whether that opinion is based on fact or fantasy. But not something that is billed as nonfiction. Then I really demand balance and a presentation based on historical evidence, not on rumor, PR, personal bias, or Shakespeare's plays. :)

Finished Mistress of the Art of Death last night. Starting Girl with the Dragon Tattoo- my boyfriend wants to watch the original swedish film-so maybe we can watch it this weekend- depending on how much I am able to read over the next few days.

I posted my (hopefully somewhat humorous) review for I am America. Certainly funny (the book, I mean.)

Quite a change of pace, I'll be starting The Road by Cormac McCarthy tomorrow. I've been meaning to read it forever, we'll see how it goes.

#111 - Ape, I am just finishing The Road and I don't know if I have the words to describe this book! A dark, depressing yet intensely compelling book. One of the the best reads of the year for me, please let me know how you are finding it.

Finished and can recommend The Solitude of Prime Numbers by Paolo Giordano - A well written story that involves the reader on an emotional level that at times can be unapologetically jarring to the senses while conveying the subject matter.

My next book is The Singer's Gun, by Emily St. John Mandel. I loved her first novel, Last Night in Montreal so I have been looking forward to cracking this one. The start was a bit rocky,..... it is a little difficult to focus on a new story when the very first sentence in the book is grammatically incorrect.... Not sure the proofreaders went through this one before publication... how else can an incorrect first sentence be explained? - so I will be proceeding with some trepidation of more errors to come ;-)

Finished Something Rotten, and also Dead as a Doornail and have now started on Rubicon.

I finished A Zoo in My Luggage by Gerald Durrell. I'd forgotten how much fun his books are to read, and I'll definitely be after more of them. His style of writing and eye for detail are ever so entertaining.

I will finish Anna Karenina this week if it kills me...

DeltaQueen50: Certainly. I'm a big fan of apocalypse lit, and I tend to like books that are a little on the...morbid side, so I'm excited to get it started. Just need to catch up on all the posts on LT first... :)

Finished The Black Stallion, read The Black Stallion Returns, and now reading Call It Courage.

I finished The Earth Hums in B-Flat a couple of days ago. It was a book I enjoyed but was not gaga over. The main character was likable, inventive, but not quite believable in her analytical response to devastating developments. I'm now almost done with Wounds of Passion, a fantastic, intense memoir, have just begun In Europe: Travels Through the Twentieth Century, and will soon begin Conversation in the Cathedral

I started Black Hills by Dan Simmons yesterday - generally love his books but not enjoying this one yet so I began reading Play Dead, an early work by Harlan Coben, at the same time. I finished Blood Detective by Dan Waddell yesterday morning - a bit underwhelming.

>109 Storeetllr:, I agree. I don't want to read any of her Thomas Moore-syndrome works on Richard III, but I am interested in her nonfiction works on Henry VIII's wives and children, even if it does have a bit of a Tudor spin.

I'm currently reading In A Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson. I originally bought it thinking it was a novel set in Australia. But it's of course a travel book (and my first) and I love it! It's hilarious and I'd really like to read more by this author.

#121 Bill Bryson books are great fun. I didn't like his book on Shakespeare as much as his books on his traveling experiences. A Walk in the Woods was really funny. The laughing out loud kind of funny but also filled with lots of information and transformation. I highly recommend it as a sequel to the book you are reading.

YES! I found myself just laughing right out loud at some of the things he says! I don't do that too often with books! ;)

I finished The Edible Woman by Margaret Atwood. Not really my thing but I did find that a lot of things related directly to my life so I finished it. In the end, though...I don't get it. Is her style of writing what is referred to as "magical realism"? Way to much symbolism for me.

Started On, Off by Colleen McCullough. Was absolutely enthralled by the first 12 pages. It has since slowed down considerably with a lot of characters introduced in the first chapter and a lot of technical jargon but I'm sticking with it in hopes that that will soon pass. I think I have all of the players straight...so far.

Currently, I am reading reading The 5000 Year Leap

Next up is Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank.

#125 I think you will really enjoy Alas, Babylon, one of the most accurate and well-written of the nuclear apocalypse books from the fifties (On the Beach, etc.). Let me know what you think.

Finished Call It Courage and now on to The Minpins.

Finished Heresy: An Historical Thriller by S.J. Parris last night and started right in with Faithful Place and the touchstones don't appear to be working. Both good reads!

Just finished Sybil by Flora Rheta Schreiber now I am on to Sweetsmoke by David Fuller. I am still reading Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood. I also put on hold The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood at the library.

#129 Madphill, I really liked Sweetsmoke hope you do too

reading Eye Contact by Cammie McGovern

This break from The Reformation I am reading Auntie Mame; it's okay.

Robert

Finished up Montana 1948 a fantastic quick read.

Now onto Excellent Women by Barbara Pym

This week I've finished reading

T H White, The Once and Future King
Sarah Dessen, That Summer
Gaile Parkin, Baking Cakes in Kigali

Now reading:

Alan Bennett, The Uncommon Reader
Margaret Elphinstone, The Gathering Night
Peter Lovesey, Upon a Dark Night
Linda Grant, The Clothes on Their Backs
Gabriella Ambrosio, Before We Say Goodbye
Lauren Liebenberg, The Voluptuous Delights of Peanut Butter and Jam

Was paging through unread library books last night, deciding which to read and which to return to the library unread through lack of interest and/or time, when I got highjacked by The Wet Nurse's Tale. I wasn't able to put it down until waaay past my bedtime when I was more than halfway though it. Wow, what an amazing historical novel. Can't wait to pick it back up tonight.

Finished The Minpins, read The Cabin Faced West and Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes; now in the middle of Cheaper by the Dozen.

# 133 How do you read so many books at once?? I often read at least two at a time and people think that's weird! I'm currently just reading one though!

I started the audio of Bloodroot by Amy Greene and it begins very well. I'm also wrapping up A Visit From the Goon Squad and it's been excellent!

#132 Loved Excellent Women and its understated British wit. Let me know what you think.
Reading Arabian Nights by Burton, an unpublished historical novel, and Dwellers in the Mirage by A. Merritt.

I'm 100 pages into Justin Cronin's The Passage and am totally hooked. (touchstones are not happy with it though)

And I didn't think it would be possible to improve the outstanding Montana 1948 but Beau Bridges has managed to do just that. The audio is wonderful!

And I'm still forcing myself to read The Black Hills: such is my faith in Dan Simmons that I am determined to read at least 20 pages every night, trusting the book will improve. Then for light relief it's back to Harlan Coben's first book Play Dead. He must be really hard up for money to allow that piece of juvenalia to be put on display!

#130 curlysue - I just adore Eye Contact! When I first picked it up I wasn't sure it was my kind of book but I actually cried at the end. I've been recommending it here, there and everywhere ever since. I do hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

And today I have to get back to some studying and pick up the dreaded Robinson Crusoe again. God, I hate that book.

I started The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver yesterday, the winner of this year's Orange Prize for Fiction, for Orange July.

>140 adpaton:,
Dan Simmons doesn't deserve your faith in this case. I thought The Black Hills was terrible, despite some interesting plot aspects. Give it up and move on to something better.

# 141 Booksloth, I sympathise entirely on the Robinson Crusoe front. I had to read it for the compulsory 'Introducing the English Novel' class in my first year of university, and it was the most deathly thing I've ever read. Keeping in mind we also had to read Richardson's infamous Pamela for that class, that's saying something.

#144 Dear god - Pamela too? Don't you sometimes think the people who set these courses just hate all students? Not being heavily into poetry, I'm a bit daunted by some of the long stuff I have to do in that field too: Don Juan (actually that's the bright side, I love Byron) and Paradise Lost to whit (not a huge Milton fan). Why is it that when you sign up for these courses the books look 'quite interesting' until you start reading them, even if you already knew you hated them (I really thought I might get into Crusoe this time around. Why did I think that? WHY?)

136: I like having more than one book on the go, I always love at least some of what I'm reading. Don't know why it works for me but normally it does. I did stop and just have one on the go for a 3 year period from realising I was pregnant with my first baby to returning from maternity leave after no 2, and then I started picking up several books again at the end of last year.

I started Thunderstruck by Erik Larson this morning and am still working on The Tudors and Dearly Devoted Dexter

#142 - Wow, I cannot believe The Lacuna won the Orange Prize. I really did not care for that one and think it's, by far, Kingsolver's weakest novel. Let us know your thoughts when you get into it!

I'm about half-way through Displaced Persons (Early Reviewer) by Ghita Schwartz. It is really, really slowing down and a bit of a chore (it being 15 years after the war and the DPs having immigrated to New York). But I'm always so thrilled/honored to be able to review, so I think I give the ARCs a bit extra attention. It has the "quoteless" dialog, which can be so tedious to read, and has repeated itself a few times (editing issue?). However, the story is definitely interesting in spots.

#141 Booksloth so far so good with Eye Contact :) I will let you know what I think when I finish

>142 kidzdoc:, Carolyn Schroeder, I agree! It was an ambitious try but it didn't suck me into the story the way her other books did. And I loved most of her other books. For me, it was a disappointment. I am ashamed to say (hides head behind pillows) that I didn't even finish it although I hope to get back to it someday.

Starting up Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett to continue my trek through the Discworld. So far they have been light and entertaining reads, which are nice for the summer I think.

I finished reading my ER book In Harm's Way by Ridley Pearson last night. I will be posting my full review later today.

I then decided to pick up Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and Snagged by Carol Higgins Clark. I hope to finish one or both books this weekend. I will be taking most of tonight reading since I won't have any kids. Some wonderful me time.

I finished The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet this morning and had to stifle the urge to turn back to the start of the book and read it all over again. What a marvelous book! I have forced myself to put it back on the shelf but I imagine I'll be reading it again very soon.
I already miss Jacob and Orito and all the other characters.
What a world David Mitchell creates -- what an achievement to have written such a book.

I usually read novels but I'm afraid the next one will suffer by comparison, so I've decided to reread Michael Herr's Dispatches. When I read Tatjana Soli's The Lotus Eaters a couple of months ago I thought a lot about Herr's book, and this seems like the perfect time to revisit it.

At the moment I am reading the Series of Unfortunate Events books by Lemony Snicket and I am really enjoying them. There are 13 of them, and I brought them all in order to read them one after the other. I started last night with Bad Beginning, finished that one, started the Reptile Room, and today completed the Reptile Room and have started the Wide Window. I know this is a lot of reading, but at the moment I am placed with a lot of spare time because school has broken up for the summer and I become bored very easily - and a dose of reading is the perfect rememdy. What inspired me to read the books (and I know this is very bad, and I usually do not agree with this) is watching the film. Usually, I would read the book long before I watched the film, but I didn't even know these books existed before I watched the movie at my friends house. I would reccommend it to anyone who enjoys Young Adult adventure fiction crammed with action. But, caution, it's extremely addicting! Bravo, Lemony.

I finished Flowers on Mainby Sherryl Woods and now I am reading The Lace Makers of Glenmara by Heather Barbieri liking it so far..

I finished Auntie Mame last night. Around page 200 I laughed aloud. I'll probably be back to The Reformation tonight unless I am weary in which case I will turn to something else light.

Robert

Death from the Skies! by Phil Plait. Very interesting and fun to read.

elkiedee, I'm always amazed at the number of books you read at one time. I'm reading and listening to The Heart is a Lonely Hunter but picked up The Girls because I just couldn't wait to start this fictional autobiography of conjoined twins. It's a great book, but I had to stop because I kind of felt like I was cheating on John Singer. One at a time for me, especially when they're as good as these two.

I've just finished Fantomas by Marcel Allain. What a brilliant story! He and his writing partner Pierre Souvestre went on to write many more Fantomas novels. Has anyone read any of the others? Any recommendations?

Beginning Learning Process with a Deadly Outcome by Alexander Kluge.

Reading Winfall by Rachel Caine - first one of her's I have read and its very good, but is apparently book 4 of the Weather Warden Series, so am now going to have to find the other three! Listening to Kiss of the Highlander while mowing the lawn, and looking forward to reading The Count of Monte Christo, Dumas, when we go on Hols to France.

#134...Just loved A Wet Nurse's Tale. I know what you mean about not being able to put it down. It seemed like I always had that book in my hands until it was finished. Happy reading.

#134 and 161 - I also really enjoyed reading A Wet Nurse's Tale. It was one of those books I was sorry to see not get a little more attention.

#142/148 I loved The Lacuna! I hope you enjoy it too kidzdoc!

The Next 100 years by George Friedman, and Living Buddha, Living Christ by Thich Nhat Hanh

>161 madphill: and 162 Oh, yes, The Wet Nurse's Tale should have gotten a lot more buzz, at least amongst historical fiction aficianados. Such realism and yet the story was so exciting. And Susan Rose, while the antithesis of most Victorian heroines, is the epitome of a strong female protagonist, one who stays with you for a long time. I love historical fiction and have lots of favorites, but this one is definitely close to the top of the list.

I went to bed early last night and set myself a target of 40 pages of The Black Hills before moving on: turgid is not the word. Custer's ghost trapped in the body of a young Indian and fantasising about oral sex? Please! It made Play Dead, the worst book ever written by Harlan Coben, seem pretty convincing in contrast. However, I shall persevere because I was given the book to review and review it I shall.

>166 adpaton: Gack! Hope it gets better.

I finished Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen tonight, and started The Fur Person by May Sarton.

#166: Your Black Hills touchstone takes us to Green Hills of Earth by Robert Heinlein. Take the hint.

Message 166: adpaton - I could not finish Black Hills by Dan Simmons either. I really hate giving up on a book.. but there are so many others in the wings waiting to be read.

I grabbed the wrong touchstones too. :)

I like Black Hills, though the voice of Custer is certainly gratingly annoying and, as someone in another thread put it, completely unnecessary. I'm listening to it on audio, and love the parts narrated by Paha Sapa. I think it must not be one of Simmons's best, though, at least after hearing all the praises for Drood and The Terror.

I finished Think of a Number by John Verdon yesterday evening. I'd describe it as a better than average debut thriller. The characters and the puzzle are pretty compelling. This one is worth your time if you like well-written serial killer books.

I'm reading and avoiding The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything: A Spirituality for Real Life by James Martin It hits too close to home to read in anything but small doses.

Up next, I think, is Blame by Michelle Huneven which I received as an Early Review and haven't yet read.

Finished reading Headlong Hall and Nightmare Abbey by Thomas Love Peacock. It was a fun experience. Thomas Love Peacock is now officially one of my favourite authors. My review is here,

http://www.librarything.com/review/62336019

On audiobook, Stef Penney's Costa winning The Tenderness of Wolves. Very atmospheric.

In paperback, some splendidly silly PG Wodehouse hijinx in the form of the linked short stories in The Inimitable Jeeves, and a collection of Letter from America spanning all 58 years of Alistair Cooke's Radio 4 broadcasts, some of which are as relevant today as when they were written.

Taking a break with The Body in the Library.

#174 Booksloth: how do you like The Body in the Library? I've read it recently and liked it very much. Hope you enjoy it.

#175 I read most of Christie's books around 30 years ago and loved them but I really thought I'd done with them until I recently started studying again and I'm now finding them the perfect light relief between other more serious stuff. The Body in the Library is one that I remember quite a bit about but not the finer details (like who did it, for instance) so I'm having fun trying to work it out. The casual racism and general snobbery is sometimes hard to take but they're still fun reading.

about racism/snobbery you are right. I always tell myself that it were different times when Christie wrote the books. Of course that makes is nothing better but I kepp thinking she wouldn't have wrote it nowadays.

It interests me especially how some of these attitudes lingered much longer than most people think. One of the things that makes me jump up and down in barely repressed rage when I read these books is the way in which it was always assumed that the 'upper classes' were not to be disbelieved or questioned too closely (The Body in the Library is a perfect example of this).

If you're not already familiar with it, you might be quite interested to look up the 'Lucan' case. Lord Lucan murdered his children's nanny and attempted to kill his wife. Although the case took place in the 1970s, one of the reasons he was then able to disappear off the face of the earth (he has never been found) was because the other members of the aristocracy who almost certainly shielded him were assumed to be above the law and were never really questioned properly, or not until it was too late. It is typical of the attitude of many of Lucan's friends that a 'joke' between them at the time was that the killing was tragic because "it's so hard to get good nannies these days".

>nancy- I received a free copy of Think of a Number and was waiting for some LT response. I'm glad it was positive.
I finished A Visit From the Goon Squad. Excellent read! I also started The Nobodies Album by Carolyn Parkhurst and it's been very good. She has evolved into quite an impressive writer.

#178 I did not know about that case, thanks for telling. You are right, it is really annoying to read about the 'better upper class'. But for me it's not the major theme of the books and I like Miss Marle too much in other aspects...

Boy the reviews for Goon Squad are really good! When I can get it at the library, that will be soon!

I just finished Displaced Persons by Ghita Schwartz ... it was okay, not great, but good. It could have been so much more. Ah well, I am honored to have had the chance to review it.

I am now starting The Long Ships by Frans G. Bengtsson which was a high pick on NPR's books to read this Summer. I looked for it everywhere for months and then stumbled onto it today @ a Border's in Chicago! It's about Vikings and their families in 1000 A.D. So far it is really engrossing, was written in the '50s and translated from Swedish. Needless to say, this will be my first historical fiction Viking epic novel.

I started reading Ghosts of Everest yesterday. It's a bit different than I thought it would be, but I'll keep reading.

#178. Interesting. In the U.S. with no landed aristocracy and a money-based gentry that basically behaves, it's our pernicious celebrities that get the kid glove treatment from the law. If the Lindsay Lohans and Paris Hiltons finally do make it behind bars, it's with ridiculously reduced sentences and absurd privileges. Sadly, this seems to be democracy in action: our juries hate finding them guilty, too.

I finished Somewhere Inside: One Sister's Captivity Inside North Korea and the Other's Fight to Bring Her Home on Wednesday and immediately dived into A Thousand Splendid Suns, which I cannot believe I've never read until now.

159, I read Fantomas last year. What a hoot. I read the 2nd one also. Its like riding a rollercoaster.

I'm reading Moby Dick by Melville and The Whale by Philip Hoare

#187 Dreaming of an ocean voyage, abertain?

I just finished the heart wrenching The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter to am back to The Girls and have started listening to The God of Animals by Aryn Kyle about a girl growing up on a foundering horse ranch with a depressed bedridden mother, the usual gruff, reticent father, an absent sister and a pile of bills. It sounds good so far.

To all who responded, to my query, Thanks! I ended up embarking on Middlesex last week. I meant to make my decision systematic by reading the first chapter from each and then deciding, but I started reading Middlesex and it sucked me in. The other two (Water for Elephants and The Time Traveler's Wife) will have to wait.

Just Finished Of Time and The River, and started Golden Apples.

Finished, loved and recommend The Book of Human Skin, the gothic historical fiction by Michelle Lovric. As it was an ER book, review has been posted on the book page here: http://www.librarything.com/work/9589982/reviews/62904275

Next up, for my Reading Through Time Group August theme read is The Rebellion of Jane Clarke by Sally Gunning.

I think your watches all stopped at last week. The new thread is up here for this week.