What You're Reading the Week of 24 Mar 2007

Trumpets and Raspberries (Pluto Plays) Dario Fo First off my apologies for screwing up the title on the 10th March post and thanks to Amandameale for creating a correctly titled version (a shame, I rather liked the picture for Haydn's String Quartet).

Turkey was great, we both want to go back again - we stayed a couple of days in a friend's little hotel in Assos and followed Aristotle's footsteps up and down the hill. Not too much reading though: Rom Harré's Wittgenstein and Psychology for the most part; then in Istanbul I borrowed Mark Gimenez's latest - The Color of Law and Stephen White's The Program from the hotel library - both good page-turners; then we bought Tales from the Expat Harem: foreign women in modern Turkey by Anastasia Ashman and Jennifer Eaton Gokmen to read on the journey home again. I thoroughly enjoyed this very varied set of autobiographical tales and learnt a lot more about Turkey!

I have finished reading the book Point of Impact by Stephen Hunter on March 23, 2007.

Later today or tomorrow , I will start reading Mimsy Were the Borogoves by Lewis Padgett (aka Henry Kuttner and Catherine L. Moore) , which is going to be a movie entitled "The Last Mimzy".

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I am on spring break this coming week so I plan on reading all week! I am currently reading Black by Ted Dekker. I have also started Wicked by Gregory Maguire. I have Rebecca by Daphne Du Mauier and From Here to Eternity by James Jones in line next.

*edited to correct touchstones*

Just finished reading Fish: A Memoir of a Boy in a Man's Prison by T.J. Parsell. Well worth the read, but I am glad to be starting much lighter fare now: Shopaholic and Baby by Sophie Kinsella.

Just started Mockingbird the story of Harper Lee today!

#5 reader247 - I loved Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee! I hope you enjoy it.

For this week, I'm reading Why We Buy : The Science of Shopping by Paco Underhill; Portuguese Irregular Verbs by Alexander McCall Smith; and Academy X by Andrew Trees

A good start to the reading weekend with the arrival of On Chesil Beach, the latest Ian McEwan yesterday, which will be read as soon as possible - tonight. In the middle of Half of a yellow sun, which I picked up from a Library on impulse and so far it is proving to be stunningly good. It's immensely readable and I can hardly bear to put it down, to the extent of making myself late for work, but I'm conscious all the while of terrible events lining themselves up.
Too many books waiting to be read...

I finally reached the end of Clive James's wonderful book Cultural Amnesia and wound up simply in awe of James's prodigious intellect, and certain beyond any doubt that he's one of the most well-read men on the planet, though I never found him even slightly pedantic, nor ever displaying any trace of smugness in his writing. Though the hundred-plus biographical essays cover a wide, and often disparate range of literary, historical, and political characters, there's a distinct harmony and a rather pleasing cohesion to it all, resembling finally, as Coetzee has called it, "a crash course in civilization", and one that surely deserves a wide appreciation by readers everywhere.

After finishing James's book I was in kind of a histo-lit-crit daze for a while and needed some pure off-the-wall nonsense, so I read Joyce Carol Oates' 1995 serial-killer novel Zombie, which I mostly enjoyed, and though it by no means approaches Oates' better novels, was sort of an interesting, if rather grisly visit to 'Tom Harris Land' nevertheless.

My copy of Trollope's The Warden finally came the other day and I'm about halfway through it at the moment and already looking forward to Barchester Towers and Doctor Thorne. This is not the more wizened Trollope of The Way We Live Now of course, but I find his meta-fictional asides to the reader as charming as the very quaint morality being debated in his story, and it's all great fun so far.

8: lizzier, I too am reading Half of a Yellow Sun and absolutely loving it. I have really been looking forward to this book based on the recommendations on this site!

Recently finished reading Rising Tide by John Barry and listening to all the Harry Potter books on CD.

Now I'm on to Innocent Traitor:A Novel of Lady Jane Grey by Alison Weir. I love her histories and am curious about her first novel.

I'm also about to start either The Greening of Conservative America or Dominion:The Power of Man, the Suffering of Animals, and the Call to Mercy. Not sure which will be first.

Just finished November of the Soul: The Enigma of Suicide by George Howe Colt, and though I loved it, I'm feeling the need for something a little less intense. I'm not sure what's next, but according to the online catalogue my public library has a copy of Innocent Traitor available, and since I love Tudor history and Alison Weir's other work I may stir myself soon to head down there and check it out. Thanks, brewergirl!

I just finished Saturday by Ian McEwan this Saturday morning. I wanted to like it more than I did. I just did not dig the protagonist and his perfect family. I still admire his writing ability though, I think I will try some of his older stuff. Any suggestions?

My plan today, at long last, with much prevarication and possibly dread, is to start Ulysses. I am just going to jump right in. Wish me luck.

jhowell, I really liked McEwan's 1997 novel Enduring Love a lot, and I agree that diving right in to Ulysses is about a good a way as any to take it on, much luck.

#13: I'd echo LouisBranning's suggestion of Enduring Love and I also admired McEwan's Atonement.

I'm currently reading The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby which is a collection of fourteen instalments of his celebrated monthly column "Stuff I've Been Reading" from the Believer magazine.

I have read so many this week..

It's easier to just paste the link to my reading journal. Please take a peek, there are Joe Hill's Heart-Shaped Box and Tara Ison's The List: A Novel to name two of the things I read this week.. You won't be disappointed. Both of those books were fantastic.

http://theliteraryword.blogspot.com/

#12 - jhowell

As an enthusiastic Ian McEwan reader, I can understand your reservations re the Perfect Perowne family in Saturday, which mirrored my own initial reaction. However, upon reflection, I was struck by the remarkable similarity to the family life of our own dear Prime Minister, which seems apt in a book about Blairite Britain and have subsequenly pursued lines of thought from thereon.

I have finished Lois the Witch by Elizabeth Gaskell and The Secret City by Carol Emschwiller and am nearly finished with the delightfully delicious The Logogryph: a bibiography of imaginary books by Thomas Wharton. Mr. Wharton has reached in the psyche of all of us and created clever bits and pieces that astound, mesmerize, and entertain. This book was shortlisted for the Impac/Dublin prize and, as best I can tell, is still only published in Canada.

>17 lizzier: I just brought home a reader's copy of On Chesil Beach though don't know when I'll get to it. I'll be, of course, interested in what you have to say about it.

#17 -- Hmm? lizzier I think you are being sarcastic, maybe. (I am an obtuse American) If so, you think McEwan wanted us to feel some antipathy towards the Perownes. Some disdain for the self-proclaimed social and intellectual elite, of which Blair is a part. I don't know; I wondered that --- but in the end I think McEwan admired Henry Perowne, or at least expected us to be sympathetic to him. Not sure I felt like that.

I read 80 pgs of Ulysses today. I am following ~ 75% at most. 25% utter bewilderment!

I'm a chapter into volume 1 of Thieves & Kings by Mark Oakley. It's a reread, and I'm finding it even more interesting the second time through. The story is fairly complex, and a lot of things that I didn't quite get the first time are making a lot more sense now that I know what they sprung out of.

I started Radio Free Albemuth, by Philip K. Dick.

#19 - jhowell
I apologise if the above came over as sarcastic. My cynicism crossed the fine line.
There is much to admire about the Perownes and their many diverse talents, not least the ability to operate on and after about 30 minutes sleep. As is indeed true of the capabilities, talent and work ethic of Blair et al. All parties were fortunately placed to maximise opportunities not least through an encouraged culture of pure hard work.

If there is an element of disdain, I felt it was exhibited by Perowne's lack of interest in 1.5 million plus people in London demonstrating their rejection of military action. A disdain which some might say was echoed by the UK government of the day and its leader.

When I first read this book, my immediate reaction was a slight disappointment because Enduring love and Atonement were so satisfyingly absorbing and lent themselves to immediate discussion. Saturday has been the book I've thought about and then discussed and then thought about again.

Probably because if anyone is obtuse, it's this party here! Politics are befuddling to say the least.

After finishing From Here to Eternity last night at 2 am, I started James Jones' The Thin Red Line this morning, and was drawn into the characters and dialogue just as rapidly as I had been by the former book. So far only 27 pages in, and it looks set to be pretty good!

GeorgiaDawn, you'll have to keep us posted about Wicked - I was so disappointed in it I gave the book away! I think I was hoping for something that kept me in the spirit of Oz, if not in the era of it.

This week I have got to finish a text for my class: In Search of Authority, by Bonnycastle, on literary criticism. Not too bad, for a text. I'm also reading, more casually, Megashift, by James Rutz, on new trends in the global Christian church - far more interesting, but far less pressing than the text!

I'm about halfway through Marriage: A History -- very well-researched, but it's kind of putting me to sleep.

I'm going to start Little Children tonight -- haven't seen the movie and I wanted to read the book first.

Just finished Sailing to Sarantium and am now going to start Lord of Emperors, both by the amazing Guy Gavriel Kay. I'm really looking forward to the second half of the story.

#22 -- I see what you mean now lizzier -- Henry Perowne as sort of an allegory for the Blair administration. That is interesting.

By the way, I didn't think you were being sarcastic to me -- I just couldn't figure out if 'our own dear prime minister' was snarky or truly how you chaps refer to the man. I, for one would never place "my own" and "dear" in any sentence containing George Bush. But, enough politics as you say.

I'm currently reading Helm by Stephen Gould and I quite like it. It's an interesting fantasy/SF mix - it is definitely an SF plot, but the feel of the book is very fantasy. It's hard to explain.

I just finished reading Now Wait For Last Year by Philip K. Dick (probably my favorite novel of his so far), and I'm about 30 pages into Kindred by Octavia Butler.

#28: I had no idea Stephen Jay Gould wrote fiction.

29 stochasticooze

Huh. That just shows how much I pay attention.

He doesn't. Actual author: Steven Gould.

Edit: Thank you, by the way.

I finished Wicked, and am beginning The Wizard of Oz. I wanted to refresh my memory on the original. I thought Wicked missed a lot of its potential.

I still am reading The sot-weed factor by John Barth which is one romp of a bawdy, philosophical, historical, political, farce of novel. Its nearly 900 pages so set for another few days I suspect.

Got distracted on Saturday as I live near one of the biggest 2nd hand "bookshops" in Europe. (Bookbarn) Its really two big industrial sheds with well over a 5 million books that grows by 4000 books a day and is organised in 20 sections. After 4 hours of searching in the O's, J's and S-Y's ( these alone were over 20 shelves with each one around 200+ feet long and 6-8 feet high!) came away with 17 books of which 11 are on my various lists with an average price around £2.40 ($4.70) a book!

#13 Read all of his books.

I'm reading Half of A Yellow Sun and have found it immediately engaging. I like the prose style, the characters and the setting.

Reading (Lucky Star) by ((Joe Queenan)), I am loving this book, easy, funny reading, great story about 3 friends who want to be screenwriters in Hollywood. I needed something light and funny...just finished (The Blade Itself) and (Nineteen Minutes) which were both great but very intense. Next up will be another book by ((Meg Gardiner)) who ((Stephen King)) had recommended in Entertainment Weekly...he was so right, she's great.

I'm now on to volume 2 of Thieves & Kings by Mark Oakley. I'm hoping to get through volume 3 today as well.

Reading Queen Mum by Kate Long - a promising start - I have read 2 of her previous books which I have thoroughly enjoyed

#18 - avaland
I finished On Chesil beach not quite in one sitting but certainly in one bed. I woke in the middle of the night and just carried on reading...

I'll avoid mentioning anything about the plot - it is fairly compact. Ian McEwan doesn't waste a word and describes an excrutiating situation with such a level of exactness and empathy it seemed as though he had been there. It's a perfect piece of prose and sharp observation and a book I will read again. Small but perfect.

It's now being read by my husband, even as I type, who is busy quoting passages and laughing at the descriptions...
(added later - but he was moved almost to tears by the time he finished the book)

I'll be very interested to know what you think of it and hope you will not be disappointed.

I'm about to start thirteen moons by Charles Frazier - hope it's as good as Cold Mountain.

framboise - let me know how Becky handles motherhood. It's on my TBR list when I'm in the mood for light, amusing reading!

Have a great week!

Apart from continuing with "That Body of Brave Men", I'm pretty much done with "Weapons of Desperation."

Just finished reading Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. Now I'm about to start The Trial by Franz Kafka.

I just finished The Innocent Man by John Grisham I am now reading the young adult book Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan. we will be discussing it this summer.

I also brought home a copy of On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan....a small wonderful jewel..hope to finish tonight.

I am currently reading The Good Wife by Stewart O'Nan.

dara85, Killing Mr. Griffin - an interesting novel! I have used it parallel with Macbeth in my grade 10 English class to compare character and plot development. Keep us posted on your thoughts! When you say 'we' do you mean your book club, your class, or we as in we at LT?

Today I finished Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, which I found very enlightening. It was a quick read, and I found that I cared about the two main characters, if not about anyone else.

I plan to start Elizabeth George's With No one as Witness. I've never read Elizabeth George before. I've always loved Agatha Christie, but think it's time to branch out to other mystery writers.

To those who were a bit underwhelmed by Saturday, I have to agree. It took me a long time to get into the novel. While the plot was engaging by the end, it was hard to identify with Perowne. This was my first Ian McEwan; I wouldn't mind suggestions for other works of his.

I just finished reading Farewell My Queen: a novelby Chantal Thomas. The book describes life at the palace of Versailles through the eyes of the Queen's "second reader" during 3 days at the beginning fo the French Revolution. The details of life are both fascinating and repulsive at the same time. If you like historical fiction- the book is a good choice.

I haven’ had much time to read, so I'm still slowly making my way through J. Frank Dobie's The Mustangs (pub. 1952). So far it’s a history of where the western horses came from through a mixture of facts, stories and myths. Somehow it’s been a nice place to stay awhile, something about the language and the tone appeals to me.

13, 17, 19, 22, 45: Thanks for this discussion on Saturday. I never connected it with Blair. That really changes the book for me and brings up a lot to think about. I knew McEwan was taking a firm jab at something about perfect Perowne (for example, he had Perowne literally see inside his future wife’s head before dating her.) I’ve had a lot of trouble figuring out what he was criticizing.

3, 24, 31: I would also like to hear more on Wicked. What a strange book? There was some very odd symbolism there that I just couldn’t get. For example, what’s with the gold fish?

#42bettyjo: ooh, I can't wait to get my copy (On Chesil Beach). I read an extract in the Sunday broadsheet and the writing was superb.

#29: I also just started Kindred. I'm enjoying it so far.

I started The End of Faith by Sam Harris but have been sidetracked a bit because I went to a book-signing on Saturday with Ralph Nader for his new book The Seventeen Traditions. So now I'm carrying both books around the house with me. I also had a house guest for the weekend so that slowed the reading; I'm always frustrated when I start a work week feeling as if the weekend reading was insufficient.

I was disappointed by Saturday. My favourite Ian McEwan is The Comfort of Strangers. It was the first one I read; someone once told me that the first book if his you read will always be your favourite...don't know if that's true?!

Little Children was one of my fave books so far this year: hope you enjoy it cafepithecus! Am reading Company by Max Barry at the moment and finding it disappointing: has anyone else read it? Am dying to get hold of the new McEwan after what you said, lizzier, but dont think it's out in Oz yet.

Finished Within the context of no context by George W.S. Trow, which was an interesting essay on the how TV is destroying the world ... although Trow gets too much in love with his own writing sometimes ... and I'm about 1/3 of the way through Shroud by John Banville.

I'm plowing through The Defender of the Small series by Tamora Pierce. Yesterday, I finished First Test and Page plus got halfway through Squire.

I have GOT to get The Complete Idiot's Guide to Critical Reading completed as it is overdue by week!

I finished reading Saturday on Saturday and was actually bored in parts of the book. It really didn't make me think too much - and I found that I really didn't care what appened to any of the characters at all - or to the plot. The first book I have disliked this year. And the supposed ending of the book to me is impractical, in real life that would never happen. My 2c.

I am now reading Cancer Ward by Aleksandr Isaevich Solzhenitsyn and I am only 50 pages it and so far am really enjoying it - as much as you can enjoy a novel about people having cancer.

#24, 31, and 47 - I have tried to be interested and excited about Wicked. So far, I'm really stuggling even getting into it. I think I'm going to have to put it aside and try again at a later date.

As far as other books go, I still have to finish Black and Lisey's Story. I have read almost nothing over the past few days. I have also started the ebook Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson. The next book I want to begin is Rebecca by Daphne Du Mauier.

>32 ablueidol: Got distracted on Saturday as I live near one of the biggest 2nd hand "bookshops" in Europe. (Bookbarn) Its really two big industrial sheds with well over a 5 million books that grows by 4000 books a day and is organised in 20 sections.

I hate you with an envious, gnawing hate. May I come visit for a month or two while I peruse the shelves for gems unavailable here in Texas?

The Sot-Weed Factor is one of my favorite all-time books. I am so glad you're reading it, though it's easy to run out of steam about page 500...keep moving and it will repay you in reading pleasure!

I'm reading Airborn by Kenneth Oppel. It buckles a great swash in its airship-based sailing adventure, and its main character, Matt Cruse the cabin-boy, is exactly the way I'd've wanted my late son to have turned out.

The author is a Canadian sci-fi writer of great talent, and I'd recommend to any and all who read sci-fi to go to the Readercon Conversations forum and peek in the thread on Canadian sci-fi and authors. Many wonderful, underappreciated authors over there, and additions to the reading list galore.

Wait...that's a good thing, right...?

#54 - I totally agree with you about the ending to Saturday, keren. Implausible! A disappoinment.

#55 -- Wicked is just not very engaging, I agree. Partly because it is just not what you'd expect. People always say "Its Wizard of Oz from the witches point of view." But it just isn't. On the flip side, the musical is everything I think the book should have been. By the way -- Who the hell is Yackle? Anyone figure that one out?

Speaking of figuring it out -- I read about #300 pgs of Ulysses this weekend. (party girl that I am.) I think I am finally getting (some of) it.

That Body of Brave Men was wrapped up over lunch. War Surf is next on the agenda.

#56 richardderus - Kenneth Oppel is fantastic! I love his stuff. Airborn and Skybreaker were both really good, but my favourites are those in the Silverwing trilogy. I've encouraged so many people to read those.

I'm now reading When Darkness Falls by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory. I'd thought I might wait until it was out in paperback and just buy a new copy, but I decided I couldn't wait. I went ahead and borrowed a hardcover from the library.

#57--have you read Son of a Witch yet? Yackle is a MUCH bigger character there! ;)

**pities self because she's in Louisiana SO far from a Wicked musical**

>I'm now reading When Darkness Falls by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory. I'd thought I might wait until it was out in paperback and just buy a new copy

I'm glad you got it from the library. This was the only Lackey book I actually considered returning it was so bad. This was a big surprise to me as I bought it the first day it was out in hardcover because I enjoyed the first two so muchy.

(Edited: Muchy?!? *snorts* That should be "so much.")

More on Wicked - it was a long time ago that I read it so I don't remember the gold fish or Yackle for that matter. What I do remember is trying to figure out what was missing from the novel - united plot? internal development of characters? purpose? I don't know. I remember thinking it was rambling and fruitless. Isn't that a sad waste of words?

Well, that seems harsh, now that I read it. But that sums it up.

Now, Kenneth Oppel - he's got a way with words! Enjoyable - it carries you along on its own. Good YA stuff.

>59 xicanti: xicanti, I can't say I'm a Mercedes Lackey fan. I've developed a mistrust for her, because some books are very good and some are just not good. I haven't read When Darkness Falls so can't offier any sort of opinion. I simply steer clear of her work at this point.

>63 TheBookBowery: TheBookBowery, YA is a good way to describe these books...stripped of silly "adult" requirements, the storytelling is what one gets, and nothing but the storytelling. As I grow into my sixth earthly decade, I find that more and more appealing.

>57 jhowell: jhowell, you're a better being than I am. At least six tries at reading Ulysses since 1975, none successful and all ending with me bellowing at the book, "STOP BEING SO CONSARNED CLEVER!!" (language cleaned up) Tiresome.

edited/typo

richardderus, too funny! I have only bellowed at two books in my life:
- the last in The Clan of the Cave Bear series that I endured to the near end - couldn't tolerate the protagonist's never ending bad judgement - that woman just didn't learn her lessons and I threw the book across the room. Oddly, I can't seem to rid myself of the books, as exasperating as I found them.
- War and Peace. Good lands. Tried three times to get through that monstrosity - used jot notes and family trees and whatever I needed just to keep the characters straight. Never did master it. It also sits on my shelves as a testament of my lack of fortitude!

punkypower - I don't know where in Louisiana you are, but Wicked is going to be in Houston in April. Part of the Broadway Across America tour. Maybe you can get there?

I read A Man Without a Country this weekend. I loved it. It was simple, yet hilarious.
I finished The Memory Keeper's Daughter which I wasn't thrilled with, but it was interesting. I started Last Town on Earth today and am looking forward to diving a little deeper into it.

# 15: hazelk - you'll have to let me know how that Hornby book is, I've been wanting to read it.
As far as bellowing at books, I know I've been there. Sometimes there are just moments, even in good books where all I can say is...oh come on. I hate when an author decides to fall back on some horrible cliche or something else that is just annoying.

>65 TheBookBowery: theBookBowery, I couldn't finish War and Peace to save my life. About 429 years into reading it, I felt the life-force leaching out of me, and it was only the demands for attention from my then-one-year-old son that saved me from eternal rest.

That's another good thing, I think, though today I'm not so sure.

#47,57,60,62 - There is a great conversation on Wicked going on in The Green Dragon. I am finding it helpful, in that, while it doesn't make me like the book any better, I can understand what others see in it. It does seem to be one of those love it or hate it books. Would be great to have your views as well.

So far I'm enjoying The Wizard of Oz much more, and I don't think Wicked helps that, it's just so good to go to a clean place. :)

#69 richardderus - I think there must be scads of War and Peace dropouts lurking around out there. We could start a club around it, perhaps! I'm just grateful to know I'm not alone!

#70 MrsLee - I like your comment about Oz being a clean place. Maybe what I didn't like about Wicked was that it tainted everything I liked about Oz? Hmmm... now I'll have to soulsearch that a bit... Maybe I'll drop into The Green Dragon for an eavesdrop...

I finished Young Men and Fire by Norman Maclean--a beautiful, emotional read. Thank you so much to KromesTomes, rebeccanyc, and LouisBranning for recommending it to me. I have never before been so absorbed in a book that was so much about the creation of the book.

I'm now reading Drop City by T.C. Boyle and, as with previous interactions with Boyle, I am simultaneously thoroughly enjoying it and wanting desperately to smack the protagonists.

Just to weigh in on the Wicked conversation--I read it years ago with high hopes based on recommendations, and was hugely disappointed.

I'm listening to Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen on audio book and reading Deception by Randy Alcorn as I'm reviewing it for the publicist.

I think it's the long Russian names of the characters that puts off a great many first-time readers of Tolstoy's War and Peace, but it's really a terrific book, have read it twice so far, and plan to read the new Anthony Briggs translation of it later this year.

I've always called myself a big Jonathan Lethem fan, but I found his new novel You Don't Love Me Yet to be so profoundly inane and uninteresting that I tossed it after a hundred pages and was glad I did. It all seemed rather dumbed-down, almost like some beginner's first-novel, and Lethem should be embarrassed to have foisted off such trivia as this on his hard-won fans.

I finished Trollope's The Warden and really rather liked it in sort of a low-key way, though several times I wanted to bitch-slap the old Warden myself for his unanswering timidity. Right now I'm about 200 pages into Barchester Towers, the 2nd novel of the Barset series, and so far I'm enjoying it immensely. I've also decided that it's nearly essential to have read The Warden first in order to really grasp the early complications of this 2nd novel, and I think both volumes could easily comprise a single book with little redundancy. Nevertheless, Barchester Towers is mostly hilarious and I'll definitely read the rest of the series as circumstances allow, with Doctor Thorne up next.

Still reading The Broken Book by Susan Johnson - I like it rather well although it's a little disjointed.

It's been a busy couple of weeks - and I'm still getting to know this new Mac book!

I am looking forward to reading Half of a Yellow Sun which seems to be so highly recommended of late!

LB-#74...I hope my mentioning Lethem's book last week didn't push you to purchase and then chuck it (mine is on loan from the local public library)...this being my first foray into his stuff my reaction is not as strong as yours...it certainly is light and i will probably stick it out...i find some of the writing to be wll-done...i could literally smell the kangaroo that one of the characters had taken into his home...anyway happy reading.

Finished The Logogryph by Thomas Wharton, a clever, mesmerizing and delightful read for all booklovers (check out the book's description on Amazon or elsewhere and see if it doesn't tantalize!) Although it was shortlisted for the Impac/Dublin Award it seems to have no other publishers beyond the Nova Scotia press I got it from. Still, it is worth every penny. It is one of my favorite books of the year thus far.

I've now picked up On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan, a reader's copy the bookstore handed to me last week.

>74 LouisBranning: Louis, I'm sorry to hear that you didn't like the latest Lethem. My husband enjoyed it alot, although he said it was light and wouldn't win any awards. And wasn't it amusing that the cover sports his picture?

>75 bleuroses: bleuroses, I'm working off a new Mac book also. February. I need to learn to coordinate or sync this with the desktop upstairs. I will look forward to hearing what you have to say about Half of a Yellow Sun which still stands as my top 2007 novel thus far.

#74 Louis ~ I've also just finished reading The Warden in and listening to the Librivox (spoken) version, in which Dr Grantly was quite well 'acted' ;P. I decided to read The Warden before tackling the rest in the Barset series, after which I'm keen on the Palliser series.

I'm currently reading The Blue Girl by Charles de Lint. So far (well, heh, I'm 2/3 done - I had trouble getting to sleep last night) I like it a lot.

Lois, I thought the picture of Lethem on the cover was quite a joke, as it looks to be about 10-15 years old, and Lethem looks so cut and neat in it, but his recent photos show him looking somewhat more like the Pillsbury doughboy.

bert, I had the ARC of Lethem's book laying around for nearly 4 months before I picked it up, so your mention of it was a total no-fault.

#72, cabegley, I'm so glad you enjoyed Young Men and Fire; I bought it and started reading it in Montana, after taking a river trip (I'm a sucker for day trips on boats) that passed the site of the fire.

#69 richardderus and#74, Louis Branning. I wasn't a big fan of War and Peace when I first read it, but I loved it when I reread it in my forties. It does take a while to get into the Russian names, but after a while you get the hang of it. I too plan to reread it, but am waiting for the new Pevear and Volokhonsky translation to come out (next year?).

I revisited Seamus Deane’s first and only novel, Reading in the Dark, and it was even more dazzling the second time around. Deane is the most eminent Irish literary scholar of his generation, a respected poet, and an utterly superb storyteller. The first person narrator of this autobiographical tale tells of the ordinary life of a boy growing to maturity in Northern Ireland from 1945 to 1971, without dwelling on politics or religion. The whole novel is haunted with stories and folklore, but beneath it all is the boy’s sense that his own family’s story remains incomplete, and tries to piece together (successfully) his own family tragedy that is kept secret. The chapters are brief and episodic, but Deane skillfully creates a deep, haunting power in each one.

Message 5 & 6: I also really liked Mockingbird: a portrait of Harper Lee

My desire to read (or even listen to my audiobook) has deserted me for the past week or so - I'm stranded in the middle of In Search of the Golden Frog for NF and The Crown of Silence by Storm Constantine for fiction, and while they're both passably-good-to-actual-good, I just don't have the attention to sit and read either of them. It's reader's block, and it's annoying me.

(Well, part of it is because I just got my hands on the Battlestar Galactica DVDs and have been using large chunks of free time watching that, but even at other times, no motivation to read. How vexing.)

I'm reading Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb. I discovered Hobb thru her Shaman's Crossing and started reading her other books while waiting for the next installment to come out in paperback. I love the way she builds her worlds.

#85 - I too love Robin Hobb for that reason. I have yet to read Shaman's Crossing, but based on reviews you'll probably love Ship of Magic. I know I did. =)

I'm just about to start Green Darkness by Anya Seton. I read Katherine and liked it, though I was underwhelmed by the actual romance, so I'm looking forward to this one.

>74 LouisBranning: LB, I don't think it was the naming variances from my cultural norm that got to me...I had read The Tale of Genji twice by the time I read War an Peace...I think it's the, shall we say, magisterial pace of the thing that made me want to pluck my eyes out, wash the grit off them, and then diaper my kid in preference to reading more of the stuff.

I very much enjoyed Barchester Towers and in fact the whole series of Barsetshire novels. I am such a fan that I enjoyed Angela Thirkell's Barsetshire books as well. I'm rather sad no one, after Thirkell's death in 1961, chose to revisit Barsetshire as a lens for exploring England's changes through the Seventies and on. There's something appealing about the idea of the Duke of Omnium rescuing, say, Jaguar from the nationalizations of the Seventies.

>81 rebeccanyc: rebeccanyc, I have learned never to say never when it comes to books...I loved Mrs. Dalloway and Orlando after "growing into" them. Perhaps it will be thus with War and Peace, though the threshhold for re-reading is very high even yet, as my 50th birthday approacheth on little elephant feet.

>77 avaland: avaland, on your tease I went and looked at the Amazon descrtiption of The logogryph and have ordered it. I am going to be in trouble with my space-sharer, I hope you're satisfied. ;-)

> 86, littlebookworm, I forgot to say I would really enjoy hearing from you about Green Darkness! Mrs. Seton was a favorite of my family. We all bought copies of Green Darkness when it came out, my mother, one of my older sisters, and me, because we couldn't wait for each other to get through with it before reading it ourselves!

We ended up with hugely different opinons on the book, too, which happened often enough that I am acculturated as a reader to WANT many opinions on books I loved, liked, loathed, or simply couldn't finish. It's proof, to me, that a person can create something, but the audience re-creates it to suit their own needs. Brains are fascinating, aren't they?

edited/typos

>87 richardderus: The Logogryph is a very compact little book, it won't take up much room at all. And wait until you see how beautifully it is packaged:-) When it arrived at the bookstore, the whole staff became curious about it...

I've finished reading My Almost Epic Summer by Adele Griffin. Cute book - great poolside read for Spring Break!

I’ve been reading from Mary Lavin’s Collected Stories. Lavin was widely recognized as one of the finest short story writers of her time in Ireland, but has been criminally neglected in the U.S., and her work stands with any of the masters - Irish, Russian or American. She wasn't one for experimentation, though. She concentrated her genius upon certain archetypal experiences as they touch, sometimes with violence, fairly ordinary people. In fact, Edward P. Jones has stated that Lavin is one of his favorite writers, and considers her the equal of James Joyce. He cared for her work so much that he gave her a nod by mentioning her book, Tales From Bective Bridge in his short story, Bad Neighbors. Most of Lavin's work is out of print, but can be found on the ABE Books website. Trust me, her books are well worth searching out and reading.

The Wayward Tourist by Mark Twain: a collection of stories about his visit to Australia in 1897.

Andrew Carnegie by David Nasaw
It is a newer biography, and it is about 800 pages.

I finished The Singapore Grip (touchstone doesn't seem to load) so I've now read J. G. Farrell's entire Empire Trilogy. I still think the first, Troubles, was the best and, although I found some of The Singapore Grip irritating (too long and a little too didactic in parts) I ended up finding it more moving than the Booker-winning The Siege of Krishnapur because the characters were better developed. I also think it was a more ambitious work, which didn't completely succeed.

Still reading the John Lynch biography of Simon Bolivar, and now have the pleasant task of deciding which work of fiction I'll start next.

Started A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore last night. What a loopy protagonist. Should be interesting.

I am reading By the Sea by Abdulrazak Gurnah currently. It's set in the UK and Zanzibar.

#61 Morphidae - it was definitely the weakest book in the series, but I ended up really enjoying it overall. It had a lot of faults, but by the last hundred and fifty pages or so I was so absorbed that I read the end in one sitting.

Now I'm back to Mark Oakley's Thieves & Kings, which I'm getting a big kick out of.

Red Dragon by Thomas Harris

So far so good.

I'm nearly done with Travels With Charley, by John Steinbeck. Wonderful travel memoir which I'm really enjoying (I find myself laughing out loud at times and forcing my husband to listen while I read aloud certain passages). I also read Black Swan Green, by David Mitchell this week. What a brilliant book! Highly recommended. Next up (to begin tomorrow) is March by Geraldine Brooks.

I forgot to mention that I finished On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan. I love his prose style and there were some delightfully crafted passages (a true artist!) but I admit to being a bit impatient with the story. Very good, but I'll not rave about it (it's no Atonement, if you know what I mean).

Started Lore Segal's new story collection, Shakespeare's Kitchen; some of them I'd previously read in The New Yorker. I loved her earlier works Other People's Houses and Her First American, and am happy she is once again writing for adults (she's written a lot of children's books).

lois, I've read several excerpts from On Chesil Beach in the last week or so, none of which were particularly exciting and am really in no hurry at all to read it.

>88 richardderus: littlebookworm, richardderus,
I would also be interested in your reaction to Green Darkness...while I really enjoyed some parts of it, I found the whole reincarnation aspect to be distracting at times...I ended up thinking that if she was going it a reincarnation story, it should've been more tightly woven, with less jarring flashbacks...but that may be because Katherine set such a high standard for me. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Am into The Innocent by Posie Graeme Evans...Interesting...a little clumsy at times but I like the main character and the descriptions of the times are seemingly accurate.

88, 104 - richardderus and kfl1227 -

I have just finished Green Darkness and unfortunately agree that the reincarnation aspect of it was too jarring. I would have liked the story much better if it had simply been set in Tudor England and served as a tragedy perhaps - or had a small change of plot. It just seemed strange. I think I have also been affected by how well reincarnation was done concerning Anne Boleyn in Threads : the Reincarnation of Anne Boleyn. If I had read this one first, I may have enjoyed it more. As it stands, I liked Katherine better. Did you like it, richardderus? You didn't say.

By the way, kfl1227, mind letting me know how The Innocent turns out? I keep coming across it in recommendations and I'd love to know if it's worth a read.

#100 - Travels With Charley made me take another look at Steinbeck. I had written him off as a bitter and hopeless man. I love that book.

>9 LouisBranning::LouisBranning:agree with you about Clive James. I got his North Face of Soho out of the library this week but my MOH grabbed it and has been chuckling away. I'd read his Unreliable Memoirs etc and, as you say, his breadth of reading is so impressive as is his wit and style.
>67 bookworm12::bookworm12: I absolutely raced through The Complete Polysyllabic Spree. Nick Hornby is unpretentious, will admit when a book is boring and when he's enthused about a book it makes you want to order it straightaway. I love the chapter headings which list for each month
the books he's bought and in the other column what he's actually read. We know the feeling don't we.

Thanks hazelk, I'm going to have to read that. I know I'll like it.
I'm reading Daisy Miller which I really want to pick up after I read Reading Lolita in Tehran. I love how some books reference others and create an endless cycle of reading suggestions. Brilliant.

I just finished Two on a Tower by Thomas Hardy and am terribly disappointed by the ending. It wasn't what I wanted to happen. I don't think its as good as his other stuff such as The Woodlanders but still.

I am also reading The Innocent Traitor, its my first Weir book. Its a fast read so far but I don't know if I'm liking it. I'm in the middle of The Castle in the Forest by Mailer and find it an interesting perspective on Hitler, especially since a demon is telling the tale. Imaginative.

I finished Cancer Ward and found it outstanding - my favourite book this year - the characters and situations were so real and the wriitng was wonderful - hard to believe it was a translation

I am now reaidng Youth and will report back

I know it's late in the week, but I've started Karma by Holly A Harvey and am laughing my socks off at it!

Just starting Across by Peter Handke ... he's one of those authors I've heard a lot about but never got around to trying until now.

Also for Clive James fans, Slate (www.slate.com) is running an ongoing series of essays "adapted" from Cultural Amnesia (no touchstone?)...

Yesterday I read Ex Libris : Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman and loved it! I also have just started The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov, but I'm only a few pages in so I can't judge yet.

I've just knocked off Wings of Madness (see my review), so now I'm starting "December 8, 1941," which deals with the failure of the U.S. forces to respond effectively in the wake of the Pearl Harbor attack. I also continue to pick at War Surf, which while I'm liking a great deal more then the last SF novel I read (Revelation Space), I'm not quite in the mood for it.

100, 106

Travels with Charley is the only Steinbeck I like. It's on my to-reread list, since the last time I read it was several years ago, and all I remember is that I liked it.

>105 littlebookworm: littlebookworm, I did enjoy Green Darkness back in the day...but in the 1970s, reincarnation was a hot topic and we had little information or fiction that dealt with it. I like Seton's style, and felt that it was very tidily handled, this threaded theme.

Drat! I keep hoping I'll make converts to Mrs. Seton's fan club!

#116 I loved Katherine, richardderus. The Winthrop Woman is on my TBR list. So I may be a convert -- too early to tell.

I am still dutifully plugging away at Ulysses -- page 400 or so. I don't hate it. I am sure this isn't an original thought as I am no literary scholar - but as soon as I accepted it as an epic poem as opposed to a narrative, I began to appreciate it. Not necessarily understand it all, mind you, but appreciate it.

I had to switch to something inane during the work week to soothe my brain -- so I am also reading the ever melodramatic Jodi Picoult's Mercy. So far, like her other books, don't waste your time.

bluesalamanders - the only Steinbeck? Have you tried Cannery Row? Loved it. Hilarious. Quirky. Weird.
Also quite liked East of Eden - could hardly put it down. Just curious what your other Steinbeck has been. As far as I can tell, it's as if there were two Steinbecks - his work is very different one to another.

Lisey's Story by Stephen King, The Wind Up Bird Chronicles by Haruki Murakami, and Magic Study. I have had a lot of days off this week and it is not quite time to start working in the garden yet.

Cannery Row is wonderful and so much fun! Personally, Mary Talbot is my alter ego.

#118 and #120 - I enjoyed East of Eden very much. I have not read Cannery Row, but it's now on my to be read list.

#106, 118, 120, 121: Another funny Steinbeck, practically unknown, is The Short Reign of Pippin IV. The National Steinbeck Center sells martini glasses with quotes from the book etched on them, e.g., "When they become delicious, you've had too many" and "These things are murder if you don't eat." Steinbeck had a terrific sense of humor, but was a tad bitter about almost being burned in effigy here in his hometown of Salinas over The Grapes of Wrath and and especially East of Eden. The latter had a lot of characters based on local people and his own family. He said that people he had known all his life would cross the street to avoid meeting him. That's why he moved to New York , although he is buried here in the Hamilton plot (his mother's family). There's an excellent biography by Jay Parini.

reading The Chicken Dance by Jacques Couvillon..cute YA title. To add to the Steinbeck posts..I would take The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden to reread again and again on the deserted island.

122: Personally, I like the sweatshirt that says "I guess there are never enough books," a quote from Steinbeck: A Life in Letters

>113 littlebookworm::littlebookworm:you're brave - Russian magic realism! I gave it a go but................

Somerset Maugham`s Cakes And Ale. Saw a play based on his The Letter recently and decided to try one of his books.

Pretty good so far.

Started Shadowplay: Shadowmarch Volume II by Tad Williams.