Any good? He gets mixed reviews - some people either love this book or think it's pretentious.

i am only on page 16... i will let you know once i get further in...

I'm relieved that the avalanche of books you were afraid of in pulling this from the bottom of the stack didn't bury you after all. I believe I speak for Stephen M as well when I interpret this as divine (DM) providence.

i am going to post the pictures tonight.... it was... problematic

Yes! I'm so happy you're reading this. I hope you find it a worthwhile read. If you'd like to share any thoughts or field any questions, we'ed love to hear your opinion: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/7...

(shameless plug for my own reading group)

c'mon, we all know "lode-bearing" isn't a problem for you

(sorry)

ha! i have bourne no lodes! i am not greg's mom!

Cloud Atlas is itself a teetering lode-bearing stack of books! That's a great description, actually.

hi there ... eagerly awaiting your thoughts on this one.

I'll look forward to your review. And missy, if you don't tidy up those piles I will be asking the fire marshall to pay you a visit. Get some shelves!

i have shelves!! i have so many shelves!! this is just... extra.

Oh, well then. Carry on. Put some fresh batteries in your smoke detectors.

you got that out of there without causing a book explosion? you should get a prize just for that. i thought it was a great book, by the way.

your book piles are bigger than mine.

oh, man - there are worse ones in here.... it is embarrassing...

i'm amazed that you can stack books that high without them falling over...unless of course you glue them all together!! and the poor books at the very bottom.

are you still enjoying the book?

yes! very much! i am only about halfway through.

that stack is being supported by a stack right next to it, going perpendicular, so they support each other like a loving couple.

yeah, it was a five star book for me, for sure.

books loving other books...how romantic! and appropriate.

I adore this book! I read Oryx and Crake at the same time, they went very well together.

those particular stacks are chin-high. and i am like 5-7. but i think i am shrinking.

karen wrote: "those particular stacks are chin-high. and i am like 5-7. but i think i am shrinking."

Those stacks are taller than me. Awesome.

I want to squeeze into the little triangular-area between those two stacks of books and just live there.

Good work getting it out alive! I hope you enjoy it, there is so many little metafictional joys in this book.

i just finished it tonight! will review tomorrow!

holy shit - i have never had so many votes for a review i haven't even written yet!

not that i'm complaining, my loves...

karen wrote: "holy shit - i have never had so many votes for a review i haven't even written yet!

not that i'm complaining, my loves..."

I waited. Do I get a cookie?

so many cookies!

Mitchell's my favorite contemporary writer, hands (feet, and whatever else) down.

well, i have read 2 now, and liked them both, so he is on a roll with me!

Glad you enjoyed it. and i love that - his anticipation of his own critics, i think that was my favorite part too. He seemed so honest with the reader about his own writing which made it easier to forgive any shortcomings. The whole Cavendish story seemed like a big review over his own way of writing.

Which of Mitchell's books did you like better?

mmm hard to say. i read ghostwritten so long ago - my memory of it is that i enjoyed it very much, but this book was probably more accomplished, overall.

Sounds good. I'm currently reading Ghostwritten, and it is pretty good but having read Cloud Atlas first, it comes up a bit short. Still good though.

I hope to Zeus almighty that you're referring to Mr. Show with "rolly coaster".

Also, poor Greg--everything is like a mobius strip.

Thirdly, have you actually read Finnegan's Wake?

Fourthly, why on Zoroaster's green Earth did you read Finnegan's Wake??

Fifthly, I like the idea of short stories being loosely and vaguely interconnected, but not then pretending that it's a novel. Not saying this is what Cloud Atlas does, just sayin'. Someone should write a book of short stories that does this and call them short stories. I have my own sorta plans for something like that.

no, this is more like nine stories it is a progression. a progression!!!

i did not finish f.w., but i did attempt it once when i was fifteen. adorable! i am pretty sure i used the tale as review fodder once....

This is somewhere in my teetering stack of "to be read" books too. Maybe I'll have to dig it out sooner rather than later. I have his Black Swan Green somewhere in that same stack. Poor David Mitchell. I buy his books but never read them!

at least he gets paid!

love seeing all your books stacked up. wish i could borrow a few.

if only you worked with me...

Looks like the stacks by my bed.

be careful!

awwwww... i love this.. reminds me of my basement filled with books =P

yeah! and some of those are jonathan carroll in german and french! and i don't even read german! i just collect his books in other languages because they have great covers. i love that man. i finally got The Woman Who Married a Cloud: Collected Stories in the mail. eeeeee!!!

ummmmm i would say either The Land of Laughs or A Child Across the Sky

did you see they are making a movie of cloud atlas? that should be interesting to see how they do that.

i saw that! yay!

by the way karen, i got the arc you sent me...thank you very much!! i was away for the last week, and it arrived while i was away.

i'm glad it arrived safely!

I am drooling over your book piles!!

oh, no - don't encourage me.... it is getting really really bad,,,

That's a daunting and varied stack of books! Whores on the Nile, I Hate to Cook, How to Win Friends and Influence People--I admire your eclectic taste.