What You're Reading the Week of 31 Mar 2007

The magus John Fowles

I completed Thomas L Friedman's The world is flat : a brief history of the twenty-first century, an excellent book even if it did take me several weeks to reead in fits and starts. And, in the fiction field, Frederick Forsyth's latest - The Afghan which collapsed two-thirds of the way through with an absurd and unnecessary co-incidence and a weak ending;and Julian Barnes's quite delightful Arthur and George - highly recommended.

Achhh - ridiculous problems with Touchstones yet again: for instance 'The Magus' won't touchstone but 'The magus' does! I took 19 minutes to post this and get all eight touchstones working.

I'm currently reading Four and Twenty Blackbirds by Cherie Priest and Elantris by Brandon Sanderson. I just finished The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson and loved it. I have several of her other books to begin during the week.

I've got three going.

Donna Leon's Through a glass darkly
Judith Martin's No Vulgar Hotel: The Desire and Pursuit of Venice
Andrei Codrescu's New Orleans, Mon Amour

Across by Peter Handke.

I'll be finishing Robin Hobb's Ship of Magic this afternoon on my bus ride home, and will start The Freedom Writers Diary tonight. I feel the need to read something with a little social redeeming value. Most the folks here seem to read many more "important" books than I do.

I will be starting Scott Westerfeld's first Midnighters book tonight or tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it!

I've completed reading the short story Mimsy were the Borogoves by Lewis Padgett aka Henry Kuttner and Catherine L. Moore on March 28.

My next reading will be Hoax by Clifford Irving which is going to be a movie showing on April 13, 2007 in the U.S.

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I'm going to finish The Second Confession today or tomorrow, then begin Elantris. Also still working on The Herb Encyclopedia and The mark of a Christian, by Francis Schaeffer. I don't have your patience with touchstones, GreyHead.

I've just started Odd Girl Out by Rachel Simmons. I'm only about 70 pgs through but it's great so far. It's the first book written specifically about female agression (mostly non physical bullying). It made me remember my brief experience in the eigth grade when I neglected my friends to try and become popular. Luckily I wasn't apart of their clique long enough to suffer any real emotional damage!

For the first time in ages and ages, I'm parallel reading.

My "main" book is Time of the Twins by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, which I'm reading out of nostalgia. I loved these books when I was in junior high, more than ten years ago, so I've been giving them another try. I wasn't too impressed with the first trilogy after so long, but I figured I might as well forge along into the next series and see what I think of it now. I remember enjoying it more way back when, so perhaps I'll be pleasantly surprised.

I read e-books when it's slow at work, and currently I've been working my way through Born to Run by Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon. I'm really surprised at how much I'm enjoying it. I'd always shyed away from this series because it's about elves who race stockcars. (Nuff said). Despite that, it's been a blast so far. I think I'd like a personal copy, and I'll definitely be checking out the rest of the series.

Lastly, I've been working my way through Mark Oakley's most excellent graphic novel series, Thieves & Kings. I'm currently on volume four, and will probably be devoting the weekend to it and volume five.

I'm just finishing up The Tiger in the Well, the third book in Philip Pullman's Sally Lockhart trilogy. All three have been great fun, more gripping than I expected, and I'm actually a bit sorry to come to the end.

Meanwhile, I'm debating which of several nonfiction options to pick up next: Six Wives: The Queen of Henry VIII, by David Starkey, Rough Crossing, by Simon Schama, or The Elizabethan Renaissance: The Cultural Achievement, by A.L. Rowse. Clearly, I'm in a historical sort of mood.

The Black Cliffs and Seven Days' Darkness both by Gunnar Gunnarsson
I guess I'm feeling Icelandic.

It would be great if the touchstone worked for Seven Days' Darkness, instead of bringing up Heart of Darkness.

I've just started Life of Pi by Yann Martel....

digifish_books - I loved Life of Pi - I hope you'll enjoy it!

I'll be starting 3 books in quick succession as they're all very short ones:

The Stone Pilot by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell
The Pirates! In an Adventure with Whaling by Gideon Defoe
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell

I'm on holiday from work this week, so I might get caught up on my reading a bit!

Currently reading The Boy Detective Fails by Joe Meno. Very strange book. As soon as I finish that one I will start reading Absolute Fear by Lisa Jackson.

Oklahomabooklady, I thought The Boy Detective Fails was the most inane thing I've picked up all year, absolutely hated it, and hope you find more to like about Meno's book than I did.

I finished Trollope's wonderful Barchester Towers yesterday and loved every bit of it. What was really unique about it was the fact that for the first 8 chapters, it calmly moves along as just a continuation of The Warden, but from Chapter 9 onward, blossoms into this comic tour-de-force with a lot more energy and a much broader scope than the initial chapters had first led you to anticipate. After I finished it, I went back and read the Introduction where Edward Mendelson explains that Trollope wrote the first 8 chapters, than set them aside for 14 months while he wrote another short novel, The New Zealander. When he returned to Barchester Towers, his conception of it had been inexplicably, but very obviously re-focused and this renewed comic energy Trollope manages to sustain right through to the end of this completely delightful book, highly recommended of course, but only if you read its perfect set-up The Warden first.

I'll take a short break from Trollope for a while, as I've read 3 of his novels just within the last month, plus I've had more than a handful of rather interesting new books arrive lately and am fairly anxious to get to a few of them. At the moment I'm a hundred pages into Andrew Biswell's 2005 biography The Real Life of Anthony Burgess and liking it ok so far. I've only read 4 of Burgess's books so far, including A Clockwork Orange of course, but I thought his 1980 novel Earthly Powers was easily one of the greatest books of the last 50 years. That said, Burgess's personal life and the various arcs of his career were all a complete mystery to me, and Biswell's book is quickly and very competently filling in those blanks.

I'm currently reading Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison and Crown of Stars Volume 7 of Crown of Starsby Kate Elliot.

Club Dumas by Perez-Reverte. I am on a roll reading loads of Latin Americans and this Spanish novel is close enough. In Chapter 2 looks like a fun read...books and intrigue.

Finally and sadly finished The Sot-weed factor by John Barth. One big and wonderful novel. Just about to finish Zarafa by Michael Allin. A little history book about how the first Giraffe since Roman times got from Africa to Paris in the 1820's and why! So on we go as the TBR pile is now 432! I am planning to read Time and Again by Jack Finney a 1950's classic time travel fantasy . And then if time this week, The Key: How to Write Damn Good Fiction Using the Power of Myth by James N. Frey

Just started A Clean Slate by Laura Caldwell last night. It's a nice change from The Darling, which I finished yesterday. It was good, just a little heavy.

I'm currently reading The Terror by Dan Simmons. I'm partway in, and Simmons has only given glimpses of the terror that the men are to frightened of, but the shadows we're given leave you craving for more.

I finished reading Youth by J.M.Coetzee and found it boring and interesting at the same time. I always look at people who are successful as always have a purpose in their life and always been successful and this book, if autobiographical, shows that even nobel prize winners can have moments of doubt and paralysis.

I am now reading Slow man, another by the same author. I am obviosuly going through a J.M Coetzee kick at the moment but I really enjoy his writing - plus as a fellow South African I have to represent.

Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith, a light delight, the first owned book Special Sauce Recommendation.

I just finished Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan. I thought it rather dark for a YA book. I am now reading R is for Ricochet by Sue Grafton.
Next up: Splendid Solution by Jeffrey Kluger.

I just finished Old Filth last night (twitchy touchstone on that one), and am now moving on to One Hundred Years of Solitude, which has been languishing on my TBR pile for some time now.

-->#16 Louis I have gotten to page 90 and I still say its a strange book. I proably wouldn't even bother finishing it but I wanted to go to this book group next week and this is the book they're reading. Is there any book group out there that reads "normal novels"?

After reading a rave review in the NYTimes Book Review last Sunday, I bought and read The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears by Dinaw Mengetsu, a moving and perceptive story of an Ethiopian immigrant in Washington DC (immigrant stories always interest me). And now I'm reading The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald, given to me by a friend.

angelott08 - Odd Girl Out is great, I read it a few years ago. Another good book on the subject is Woman's Inhumanity to Woman which deals with women of all ages.

Just finished The Master and Margarita and still don't know what to make of it. I'm going to seek out some critical interpretations to try and understand better. I've decided to give my mind a rest with some long historical fiction - A Rose for the Crown by Anne Easter Smith, featuring my favorite maligned monarch, Richard III.

19: I really enjoyed Time and Again when I read it earlier this year.

I'm reading Curves and Angles by Brad Leithauser.

I'm currently working on Warped Passages. It is fascinating, but I don't think I know enough physics or math to really get the most out of it. I wish I had studied harder in school.

Just finished Sepharad by Antonio Munuz Molina and am now reading Mortals by Norman Rush I like his writing style- I read two of his earlier books-Mating and Whites

Continuing on my Star Wars novels kick (actually, having just begun), I finished The Truce at Bakura by Kathy Tyers last week. This Star Wars novel picks up right after the events of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. This is the second time I've read it, having also read it soon after it came out in late 1993. Situation: A temporary truce between the Rebels (not yet the "New Republic") and Imperials holding an out-of-the-way planet named Bakura. The goal: To stave off an invasion by a new alien threat, the Ssi-ruuk. I thought that it was a decent although not outstanding Star Wars novel. Some nice touches here and there but not one of my favorites.

I'm moving on now to The Mandalorian Armor by K.W. Jeter. This is book one in "The Bounty Hunter Wars" trilogy, and this book also partially takes place in the Return of the Jedi time frame. It also jumps back to the period immediate following the first Star Wars movie, A New Hope. It appears the focus here is largely on the bad guys: Boba Fett, other bounty hunters, Darth Vader, and Prince Xizor (of Shadows of the Empire), among others.

I am in the middle of Post Captain by Patrick O'Brian, the second in the Aubrey-Maturin series, and a really fascinating diary by Alice Stone Blackwell about growing up in Boston during the Gilded Age. (Called, not inappropriately, Growing up in Boston's Guilded Age.)

Okay, I'm in the middle of a million others, but those are the two I'm focusing on right now.

Currently reading Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra. About 200 pages in and I'm wondering if I should bother finishing... I get the gist by now.

torontoc, I liked Mortals very much, thought it very entertaining if a bit slow developing, but Rush's NBA-winning novel Mating is still my favorite of his.

I started On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan yesterday and finished it today. I keep thinking about the two characters Edward and Florence and wishing that they'd 'only connect' physically and otherwise. There is pathos to their situation.

The novel also reminds us that the very early 60s were in ethos and lifestyle quite different to the latter years of the decade - the decade was not all of a piece.

McEwan writes such great prose, its unshowiness being one of its great plus points.

I am still trying to lug through Thirteen Moons by Charles Frazier (author of Cold Mountain). It's a slow read for me - not nearly as gripping as Cold Mountain. Did any of you finish this book? I'm about half-way through...

I'm reading some non-fiction this week too: The Age of Great Dreams: America in the 1960s by David Farber. Nice historical summary of the things that impacted the culture and social history of Americans during the 1960s.

Touchstones are not cooperating - my apologies.

mrstreme, I gave up on Thirteen Moons after 300 pages or so, just never could work up any real interest in either Frazier's characters or plot, and thought it a major disappointment.

Finished The Secret Hour by Scott Westerfeld and started Blow Me Down by Katie MacAlister.

I am reading " Kite Runner" by Khaled Hossseini. It's a great book very well written with powerful emotions and images. You are able to see the destruction the Taliban caused and how ignoring one thing can throw off the course of your life! I highly highly recommend it!

Isn't it funny how certain books enter into the atmosphere all at once? I myself just finished Time and Again by Jack Finney. I was impressed. Even though it was slow going at first, I found I was glad my boyfriend was out of town, and I had the house to myself so I could sloth around all weekend and read it. Loved it! Of course, I also love many time travel books, like Woman on the Edge of Time, Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series and The House on the Strand.

Not sure what's next. I'm listening to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on audio.

I just remembered, I've got Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Krouse Rosenthal from the library. I think I'll get into that one.

LouisBranning: Thanks for your feedback. I think I'll give it 100 more pages and see how it goes. The language in the book is beautiful, but everything else (so far) seems dull and flat. My non-fiction selection, however, is much more interesting! =)

I'm reading March by Geraldine Brooks this week. I hope to finish with it by Tuesday and then start For Whom The Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway.

I've just started Elantris by Brandon Sanderson and Life of Pi by Yann Martel. I have several others I really want to begin, but I think two is enough for now.

I finished Drop City by T.C. Boyle last night. It was enjoyable, and I'm a fan of Boyle's writing, but I thought the ending was a bit of a cop out.

Now I'm reading Nick Hornby's Housekeeping vs. the Dirt. I borrowed The Polysyllabic Spree from a friend last year and liked it so much that I regretted not having a copy of my own. Here's hoping the essays in this volume are as enjoyable!

I'm reading The Untouchable by John Banville, but have also picked up Curtain by Agatha Christie.
I really want to get to Firmin asap too, as it has been highly recommended by two book friends. OTOH....I want to get to The Waves by Virginia Woolf asap too......drat!

I finished Gingerbread by Rachel Cohn this morning. It was a fairly well-reviewed YA novel that I found only to be okay. It's about a girl who is dealing with being kicked out of boarding school and sent home after being found having sex with a fellow classmate (who also happened to get her pregnant and not go to the clinic with her, and was a drug dealer all from his room at the boarding school). After endless fights with her mom, she gets sent to spend time with her father who has been absent most of her life.
I am also reading The Little Book of Plagiarism by Richard A. Posner. I am finding it to be something like what I would describe as a treatise on what is plagiarism, and who commits plagiarism and how to prevent. It also gives some examples of famous plagiarists. (Joseph Biden, Martin Luther King Jr., Rembrandt, and more). I'm about halfway through (there are only 110 pages) and was expecting more but it's not a bad read especially since I work in a library and teach proper citation to college age students.
I plan on starting Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson next (sometime this week).

Just started the crackingly enigmatic and fascinating Restless by William Boyd. Continuing with the longer projects as well and hoping not to be hobbled by domestic duties over the Easter Weekend.

#11 Cayce - There is a fourth title in the Sally Lockhart sequence, The Tin Princess. As it is the only title I have not read, I don't know if it is as heartstopping as The tiger in the well. Think it focuses around Adelaide, the girl in thrall to Mrs Holland.

Am currently reading The Pursuit of Happyness by Chris Gardner (very enjoyable) and also The Double Bind by Chris Bojhalia. Am loving that one. (so many books, so little time)

I'm likewise a fan of Boyle's writing, but I really do prefer his short stories to his novels. The ending of The Tortilla Curtain I found absurd. I also could not believe the ridiculous ending in Talk Talk. I think I'm going to skip his novels for a while :-(

I finally finished Middlesex which I loved. Although I know some people have said they were more interested in Cal's story rather than the family history, I really enjoyed the family history part. Every time I picked it up I was rivetted. I may even think about reading The Virgin Suicides which I would never have considered before.

I must be on a "family history fiction" kick, because I followed it up with The Thirteenth Tale and I really enjoyed that as well. A couple of things I saw coming, but it didn't detract anything from the book for me.

Next, I have promised myself that I will finally finish The Crying of Lot 49 which has been half-read for a month...

lizzier, William Boyd's Restless:a novel was one of my favorites from last year, couldn't put it down.

I'm just starting Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times, edited by Kevin Smokler. Colelcted essays of current writers on the State of Lit'rachur in the Internet Age. It's a good time so far.

About 1/3 of the way through Watermark by Joseph Christy-Vitale. Immanuel Velikovsky lives, is my impression so far. Itr's an interesting topic, so I slouch onward, feeling very rough beast-ish.

>53 Killeymoon: I just now also finished Middlesex on audio (it has taken me months, as I don't commute anymore!) What a fabulous clever, thoughtful story! The audio is spectacular in itself, so well read.

#50 - lizzier, I don't know how I missed The Tin Princess! It's definitely going on the list. I'm trying to hold off on book buying for the next little while, but based on past experience that isn't likely to last long, regardless of my intentions -- so I'll probably get to it soon enough.

I've just finished End of Story by Peter Abrahams, which I turned to when I couldn't find any nonfiction to suit my mood. Well written, nicely plotted, but I spent the second half of the book wishing I could smack the heroine. Hard.

killeymoon - The Virgin Suicides is so good!

I just devoured Dearly Devoted Dexter in one day. I am loving the series and can't wait for the third book to come out this summer or fall. I haven't seen the show because I don't have Showtime, but I'm eager to see that as well. I liked Michael C. Hall in "Six Feet Under", and I'm curious to see how he plays the character of Dexter. Crazy how a serial killer can make you laugh and actually be sort of endearing (in the book at least).

Today I'm starting The Best Short Stories of Ring Lardner. The only thing I know about Ring Lardner is that he's mentioned in The Catcher in the Rye.

I also just picked up This Side of Paradise from the library. The only Fitzgerald book I've read is The Great Gatsby, and I love the 1920's, so I'm making it a point to read a few more of his books.

I finished Housekeeping vs. the Dirt by Nick Hornby, and, as with The Polysyllabic Spree, he has unfortunately added to my seemingly endless TBR list. I am now reading Ex Libris by Anne Fadiman, after numerous shout-outs here on LT.

I also finished listening to The History of Love by Nicole Krauss this weekend (like avaland, without a real commute, audiobooks take me forever). I thought it was well written (and well read) and touching without being mawkish. I really wish I'd listened to it right after Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer (Krauss's husband)--I saw definite parallels, but the time between was too long for me to do any in-depth comparison. I'm planning to start listening to Lisey's Story by Stephen King tomorrow.

Cableguy- History of Love was also a great read... I have Nicole Krauss Man Walks Into A Room-has anyone out there raed that yet?

I met Nicole Krauss in Oxford, Miss. on her book tour for The History of Love, a gorgeous young woman, and I couldn't have been more charmed, loved her book too.

#61, berthirsch, I have read Man Walks into a Room and enjoyed that as well.

I finished Ex Libris : Confessions of a Common Reader, which was like meeting your best friend for the first time. ("No way! You too? I thought I was the only one . . . " etc.)

I am resisting the urge to reshelve my books chronologically, and am instead about to embark on All the King's Men (namechecked in Housekeeping vs. the Dirt, which I also just read, but I'm reading it for my book group).

Finished A Rose for the Crown and absolutely loved it. I'm now going to read The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey and I'm hoping it lives up to the many recommendations I've received about it. I'm on a bit of a Richard III kick I suppose!

Edited to say: #64, cabegley, that was exactly how I felt about Ex Libris : Confessions of a Common Reader! So many things in that book explained how I am, it was amazing. I know now why every book lover needs a copy.

cablegley: I also loved Ex Libris : Confessions of a Common Reader and have been obsessive about my shelving ever since! I also loved
both of Hornby's collections of Believer columns. I recently finished Joshua Ferris' Then We Came to the End after first reading about it in Housekeeping vs. the Dirt. I read the latter in December and had been anxiously awaiting the Ferris ever since. It was definitely worth waiting for, as it is one of my favorites of the past few years.

I'm currently reading The Post-Birthday World by Lionel Shriver. Her last book, We Need to Talk About Kevin, was one that, despite its flaws, I wanted to push into everyone's hands so I had someone else to talk about it with. This one I just want to push away so far, but I'll give it a few more pages.

Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield. I just saw 300 based on a graphic novel, wanted a different perspective. Pressfield's is historical fiction told from the viewpoint of a Spartan squire who survived the battle as a captive and is reporting the event (with some background) to the courtiers of the Persian King Xerxes. It started a little slow with the life of this fictional character with his cousin and tutor, although it picked as we looked at the events immediately preceding the Persian invasion of Macedonia and Thessaly.

#54 - LouisBranning - re Restless
You are dead right.
It is unputdownable. I finished it off in the middle of the night at the risk of making myself run late this morning.....
Fab read.

Decided to go with Perfume by Patrick Suskind next...

Hi ##42 I agree as now read Time and Again by Jack Finney. A SF historical love story, full of drawings and pictures of the experiences of the time traveller in 1880's New York as he unravels the mystery in this period and the dark politics of his own to make a choice in the final chapter. Lyrical, moving and not what you would expect from it being time-slip story. Now on to something completely different- The Key : How to Write Damn Good Fiction Using the Power of Myth by James N. Frey

Now reading Lipshitz six, or two angry blondes by T Cooper ... which, as I understand it, is going to tie together the story of a jewish immigrant family in the early 20th century to a modern day Eminem impersonator!

Norby (#21): I'd be interested to hear what you think of The terror ... I had pretty high expectations as I love arctic survival-type stories, horror stories and Dan Simmons ... but I was kind of disappointed in the book, especially the ending.

#71 KromesTomes--Lipshitz Six has been on my Audible wishlist for a while and I continue to be on the fence as to whether to make the plunge. I can't find reviews about it. Can you please let me know what you think of it?

>66 angstrattbr: I know exactly what you mean about We Need to Talk about Kevin and I have had a reader's copy of her new novel for months but just haven't picked it up and the tepid pre-publication reviews didn't help...

Finished Augustus by Allan Massie last night ~ an excellent read, I enjoyed it more than Caesar by the same author and am looking forward to reading his Tiberius next ~ and started By Slanderous Tongues by Mercedes Lackey, the latest in the fantasy series that features Elizabeth I and the Sidhe. Also listening to Twilight by Stephenie Meyer on audio.

cabegley (#72): I'm only about 80 pages into Lipshitz six, and so far it's a gripping portrait of a jewish family making the decision to leave the old country for the U.S. after living through a pogrom ... very straightforward, very affecting ... I was expecting something more "ironic," and maybe that will come later ... overall, I'd say it's surprisingly good.

#61 - I read Man Walks into a Room, but it didn't leave that much of an impression on me.

This is a story about what makes us ourselves. Some claim we are a collection of habits. Other a collection of memories. I think it is closer to the second one than the first. If I could forget my past, would I be a different person?

The whole book is kind of strange and disjointed. I suppose it was either from bad editing or to help us understand what it is like to be Samson. The concept of memory transference is an interesting one though.

I read The world is flat last year. I thought the author did a great job of explaining how the world came to be flat. I was not too sure just how qualified he is to offer solutions. However, I do agree that it is better, if you are going to point out problems, to attempt to offer solutions to those problems.

I finished Slow man which was very enjoyable and thought provoking - I really appreciated how Coetzee does not reveal the plot behind why another of one of his characters in a different bok should show up - very interesting - it lead me to surmise all kinds of things but Coeztee never clarifies it

I am now reading The life of Insects and am only a few pages in but am so far intrigued

Finished The Freedom Writers Diary. It was pretty good. I just wish all the talented teachers out there could find the outside support that this teacher did. She did lots of things with her kids that many school districts wouldn't allow - regardless of where the money came from - and that helped encourage the students.

Now it's on to Mad Ship, the second in Robin Hobb's Liveship Traders series. This is a BIG book, so I'll probably spend the rest of the week with it.

(Touchstone for Mad Ship doesn't want to load. I'll try again later).

Edit: Touchstones are working now.

Currently reading Letter To A Christian Nation, an atheist's
view of religion.

I'm in the middle of several books right now:

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
Immortal Unicorn by Peter Beagle (ed)
Expanded Universe by Robert Heinlein
Elantris by Brandon Sanderson

I'll probably finish Snow Crash first, then I have to finish Expanded Universe, because it's a library book and it has to be returned. I'm almost done with Immortal Unicorn (but I got distracted, obviously :) and Elantris is for a group reading.

I'm in the middle of Till We Have Faces: a myth retold by CS Lewis

I have just finished Lolita by Nabokov and started The Turn of the Screw by Henry James.... Hmm, touchstones won't load.

PS: >84 bluesalamanders:: Wow, replying to a message that comes after mine. I guess you're right, they seem to load now. I have done it before, but sometimes I'm too impatient or lazy...

Thalia - I've found if you edit your post, it sometimes helps them load.

I finished The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald and have started The Go Between(touchstone only loads when I leave out the hyphen in Go-Between) by L. P. Hartley.

Ever heard of Book of Story Beginnings?

Ever heard of Book of Story Beginnings?

I'm still reading Elantris by Brandon Sanderson and I just started Life of Pi by Yann Martel. I'll probably finish Pi tonight and then concentrate on Elantris.

Finally finished The Jungle but am still getting through The Last Town on Earth which I'm not really enjoying and All over but the shoutin' which I am enjoying. But all three are downer books so I think I'm going to need a definite fun book soon.

After finishing the excellent By the Sea by Abdulrazak Gurnah (highly recommended to Half of a Yellow Sun fans), last night I started Light by Margaret Elphinstone BUT this afternoon I picked up, once again, The Gravedigger's Daughter by Joyce Carol Oates. I had set it aside some time ago and meant to go back to it earlier. It is strangely compelling.

Sometimes, I have fingers in more literary pies...as I still am reading from about 4 poetry collections including Lizzie Borden in Love by Julianna Baggott, the short fiction of Angela Carter, and Literary Theory: a Guide for the Perplexed (the latter best taken a few bites at a time...).

I just finished "December 8, 1941," an account of the US debacle in the Philippines that I thought took a counter-factual wrong turn in the end; see my review.

Next up is "West Wind, Flood Tide," an account of the battle of Mobile Bay in the Civil War. "Damn the torpedoes," and all that!

I'm almost done The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley. It's a reread, but I last read it about ten years ago so I don't remember much. I'm enjoying it.

#53 Killeymoon - I, too, loved Middlesex for the family history element. It kind of threw me off at first, because I thought the intersex angle would be the book's primary focus, but I ended up really liking it.

I've had a change in plans--I was going to start All the King's Men, but my book group is now debating whether to all read the original text, all read the restored text, or each read what she has at hand. In the meantime, I'm starting Spies by Michael Frayn.

41: The Kite Runner was one of my favorite reads last year.
42: If we're talking time travel books, I also enjoyed The Time-Traveler's Wife

Currently one of the books I am reading is Ancient Greek: A New Approach by Carl A.P. Ruck. A nice take on the language.

I'm reading The Secret River by Kate Grenville. I was going to give up as it starts off in early 19th century London and I've recently been reading a lot of non-fiction about London history and was feeling enough is enough. However, the main part of the story, with the family in early New South Wales, takes on a life of its own and is engrossing.

I finished Andrew Biswell's fine biography The Real Life of Anthony Burgess and have nothing but admiration for Biswell's valiant attempt to make some linear sense of Burgess's often sordid personal life and his equally sprawling and untidy career. In his life Burgess wrote over 65 books, 33 of them novels. He was also a self-taught musical prodigy who composed reams of orchestral scores, and for many years called himself a composer rather than a writer. The always out-spoken Burgess also became one of the most prolific literary journalists of his era, publishing literally hundreds of reviews, essays, and articles, all the while working regularly as a television critic, performer and script-writer, the first literary writer of his generation to fully embrace both TV and film.

Despite all this, Burgess's reputation has always been hard to assess and rather uncertain, as Andrew Motion pointed out after Burgess's death in 1993: "This is partly because there's so much by him and no one reads it all and partly because, for all its brilliant technique, it is not always easy to see where the centre lies." I think Biswell's book goes a long way towards locating "where the centre lies" in Burgess's chaotically creative life, there's hardly ever a dull moment on any page either, and in Biswell's wise summation at the end he adds that, "The majority of his remarkable books are waiting to be reprinted and rediscovered by the generation of readers which has come to maturity since his death. He may yet have his time."

My curiosity easily got the best of me and I'm a hundred pages into Wesley Stace's new novel by George, which, sad to say, is just dead in the water, a bad idea being perfectly executed, but still, oddly entertaining so far.

I finished The Daughter of Time and found it very good considering I'm not a mystery-reader normally. Found some holes in the logic, but that may just be because I'm a slightly obsessive reader and am consuming plenty of books vindicating Richard III. Strange how much I liked it considering I'm a budding historian myself, but I think I prefer to debunk what future historians have established than to subscribe to them mindlessly!

Next up, a biography about Isabella of France, wife of Edward II of England: Queen Isabella by Alison Weir. I'm really into vindicating history's villains. At the same time, I have decided to read Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, for a bit of fun that has been lacking in my reading life lately.

#96 hazelk: Glad you're sticking with The Secret River. It's a story of the beginnings of Aboriginal dispossession, the ramifications of which are still being felt by the Aboriginal people. An important Australian book.

#98 littlebookworm - I hope you'll enjoy Good Omens - it's an excellent book and definitely the kind of thing that'll get you giggling.

Just cracked I, The Jury by Mickey Spillane last night. Didn't read much, but what I did read fairly crackles.

I've waded a hundred pages or so into Neal Stephenson's Quicksilver. I'm hooked at this point, which is good since it's so long. At this point it's making me want to read a biography of Newton--or take calculus again. Maybe I can find a fluxions class.

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In our family, we disagreed about We Need to Talk about Kevin. I found it boring and could not finish it. Maybe I'll try it again at a later date. My daughter, on the other hand, listed it among one of her favorite books.

# 103 SqueakyChu - I hated We Need to Talk About Kevin and wouldn't have finished it at all except that it was for book group and I kept hoping it would get better. I felt that it completely failed to deliver on any level. It was definitely one of those books that split the group with half the group really loving it and the other half deciding they couldn't stand it.

>103 SqueakyChu: I do remember being a bit bored with Kevin early on so I do know what you're talking about. Perhaps it was the epistolary style -but I continued on and didn't regret it later on.

Recently finished:

* Christianity for the Rest of Us by Diana Butler Bass
* The Bass Wore Scales by Mark Schweizer

Now reading (or about to start):
* The Greening of Conservative America by John Ross Edward Bliese
* Dominion by Matthew Scully

finishing up Which Brings me To You by Julianna Baggott and Steve Almond..enjoyable but not too thought provoking.

I finished The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley earlier on today, and am now poised to begin War of the Twins by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. Lately I've been rereading a lot of things I first read in junior high and haven't read for 10+ years; these two are the latest on my list.

>99amandameale: Have finished it now (The Secret River} and was very glad I persevered as you thought I might be. The writing from the time they settle by the river is excellent. I felt so involved with them all - the whites and the blacks and, of course, the Thornhill family. But I must admit I couldn't help but be pleased for the family 'succeeding'.

Just finished reading The Open Cage by Daniel Start an account of the 1996 hostage-taking of biological expedition members in Irian Jaya:`very interesting, but then I'm fascinated with PNG and Dutch New Guinea.
Just finished listening to Next by Michael Crichton:`an annoying and facile jeremiad on biogenetics.

Presently reading Epileptic, a graphic memoir by David B.: poignant and insightful look at his childhood and the effect his brother's disease had on his family.

jhheart, David B.'s Epileptic is just a stunning book, one of the greatest graphic novels ever.

Yesterday I mentioned how much I'd enjoyed Andrew Biswell's excellent biography The Real Life of Anthony Burgess, and someone asked me to recommend a good Burgess novel, which I found nearly impossible to do because I've only read a mere handful(5) of them(33), but noted critic Malcolm Bradbury did a retrospective article on Burgess's fiction and identified 6 works as being central to the Burgess canon: the Malayan trilogy, A Clockwork Orange, Nothing Like the Sun, MF, the Enderby novels and Earthly Powers.

The very fine British writer William Boyd is another long-standing Burgess fan and has highly recommended the 2 volumes of Burgess's autobiography, which are both allegedly jam-packed with flagrant lies, distortions, and grand glosses of every sort, but which Boyd calls "two of the greatest novels he ever wrote", and I'll be reading volume 1, Little Wilson and Big God later this year.

Well, I have officially given up on Thirteen Moons. (See message 38). What a disappointment of a story. Good luck to any of you who read it.

I have started I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak, which already promises to be a more lively story!

I just finished Intimacy by Hanif Kureishi on the bus this morning. A very slow and sad book, but relevant.

Magic for Beginners, by Kelly Link. Short fiction. Surrealism, fantasy. Some light and whimsical, some more serious, some rather dark. Superb book, superb writer. I discovered Kelly Link through her first collection of stories, Stranger Things Happen, a few years ago, and it was a revelation.

#113 - I'll be interested as to what you think of I Am The Messenger. This is on my bookshelf TBR (I LOVED The Book Thief)!

I just finished Mercy by Jodi Picoult -- Lifetime movie of the week on paper. Still reading Ulysses; on weekends only, when I can concentrate. I should finish this weekend! While I don't hate it; I am definately ready to be finished.

I thought I am the Messsenger was cute, and bizarre; but far from great.

I think I am going to read The Boleyn Inheritence next. It may be sacriledge to admit on LT; but I have been watching TV (gasp) that new series "The Tudors" on Showtime has got me hungering for some court intrigue again.

I'm reading The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, among others and so far it's interesting.
I'm going to start Middlesex this weekend.

I'm 100 pages into Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian and can't remember the last time I was so transfixed by a novel. Bloody excellent, so far.

McCarthy's Blood Meridian will stop your clock, Irish, a book completely shot through with the spirits of both Melville and Faulkner, and undeniably one of the goriest masterpieces of modern fiction.

Blood Meridian nearly killed me -- I had to put it down in despair several times. I agree with the goriest masterpiece; in addition it is also the bleakest!
I would need to double up on Prozac to read it again.

Am making quick progress through The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine B. by Sandra Gulland. I like how it is written in diary form but also has footnotes added by the author. It is a great way to tell the story in the character's voice without having to awkwardly explain events. (About the early life of Josephine Bonaparte, by the way.)

I am reading One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson - it is a slow starter but I am familiar with her style from previous books so will plod on and it should get better - unless anyone knows better?

I started reading Typhoid Mary : an urban historical by Anthony Bourdain and also Consuelo and Alva by Amanda MacKenzie Stuart. I guess it is the week of the history. Both seem pretty interesting so far.

Currently reading Pelikan : Love, Redemption & Felony Theft : a novel of the French Quarter by David Martin as Just finished The Key : How to Write Damn Good Fiction Using the Power of Myth by James N. Frey

I am reading Harry Potter #3 right now. I think that it is a really cool book so far.

Ooh this is my first post!!

I've just started The Book Theif by Markus Zusak, but am also in the early stage of Philippa Gregory's The Boleyn Inheritance. Dipping in and out of the Historian as well.

Going to have to prioritise at some point!!

I finished Spies by Michael Frayn. It was very much in the mold of Atonement by Ian McEwan and especially The Go-Between by L.P. Hartley, wherein children misinterpret the actions of adults, and adults fail to grasp what the children do and don't understand, the actions of the children in particular causing major crises. While it was good, it wasn't as engaging as either of the two books I cited.

After a false start earlier this week, I'm now picking up All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren.

I finished The life of insects and found it wonderful - I didnt like it in the beginning but I guess the main theme is about we live our live as instincts - buts its more that we live our lives without seeing the big picture - we only see our small spec of the world and assume that this is life

I cant say enough about the book

I am now reading Cocaine Nights and am looking forward to reading this

#127 LadyN - Welcome to LibraryThing! I warn you, it's very addictive. :)

>129 keren7: Is that the Victor Pelevin Life of Insects? I really enjoyed that and have read his Omon Ra and others (hubby has read Homo Zapiens. I'm thankful that his satire is completely enjoyable even though sometimes I have no idea what element of Russian culture or politics he is skewering. My fave, though, is The Life of Insects.

121- a true classic with nightmarish tales of the old west in USA...his other books are worth it...have you read All THe Pretty Horses (a part of the Crossing Trilogy), The Road, No Country for Old Men ...all are quite good.

Having finished West Wind, Flood Tide I'm now working on Luftwaffe Victorious and Projekt Natter; so far I seem to be in a German air force mood this year.

>112LouisBranning: A Dead Man in Deptford by Burgess is also a good read, a semi-fictionalised account of Christopher Marlowe.

#127 - Library Thing; Worst Time Sink Ever!

#130 - Thanks for the welcome GeorgiaDawn! I'm already spending too much time here... Oh well, there's not much workto be done on Good Friday anyway!

Just starting Shikasta by Doris Lessing ... always interested in this series, finally getting a chance to read it.

# 127-welcome lady n-yes lt is addictive-since i found lt im not doing th qvc thing anymore so there are some benefits-- i just started shopaholic and baby and so far its just as good as the other books in the series

Am starting The Tea Rose by Jennifer Donnelly today. Looks pretty good. My Mam has loaned it to me after enjoying it herself.

It was only through an act of will that I managed to finish the ARC of Wesley Stace's novel by George, which is beyond a doubt one of the lousiest new books I've read this year, a book so boneheadedly awful that I feel stupid even talking about it, so the less said the better in any case, except to add that Stace's book has now found a place on my 'Worst New Novel' list, right alongside Joe Meno's monumentally insipid The Boy Detective Fails, a fair pair of stinkers that'll both be finding new homes shortly.

I'm only about 50 pages into Steven Hall's new book The Raw Shark Texts and all I can say is "Wow", who would have guessed that mental illness could be as exciting as all this, just great startling stuff so far.

#131 Yes it is Victor Pelevin's life of insects - what a wonderful book - it kind of says how we all think we are so individual when really we are living in a microcosm

Louis, I don't think I've ever laughed so hard while reading a review. Thanks for that!

I am still reading Shadowplay: Shadowmarch Volume II by Tad Williams.

I'm dipping in and out of T.C. Boyle Stories. What a marvelous collection of short stories.

I get frustrated by some of Boyle's novels but find his short stories extremely fun to read. I love his dry comments and his surprise endings. Great entertainment!

Kell - how did you find Perfume by Patrick Suskind? I read it a couple of years ago and I have to say I really struggled with it. I just couldn't seem to click into the voice and while I can often enjoy a book despite not liking or empathising with the protagonist (I didn't particularly like Richard in This Book Will Save Your Life (A.M. Homes) but I came out really liking the book), I couldn't seem to get there with this one.