Which LIST book did you just finish? Showing 5,601-5,650 of 10,248

[Bryan--The Bee’s Knees]

Nocturnalux wrote: "I often feel this way about the (few) books I've read in Japanese. Am I enjoying them so much because finally making sense of the sea of kanji is immensely rewarding (and because I no longer have to stop every other sentence to look up words on the dictionary) or because the book is, in itself, interesting? ..."

That's it. Exactly

[Bryan--The Bee’s Knees]

Bob wrote: "The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton. I did not care for this book."

I read this a while ago and can't remember anything about it, except there was nothing funny about it at all. For a long time, that was how I could remember whether I'd read House of Mirth or Age of Innocence. I'd think, 'There's nothing funny in the House of Mirth'. Now I've read AoI too. That one didn't stick either. I don't think Wharton is for me, though I might give Ethan Frome a try someday. It has the virtue of brevity

[Diane]

Asphodel by H.D..

[Diane]

L'Abbé C by Georges Bataille.

[Diane]

Blindness by Henry Green.

[Bob]

Bryan "Blackadder" wrote: "Bob wrote: "The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton. I did not care for this book."

I read this a while ago and can't remember anything about it, except there was nothing funn..."

I've read all three and Ethan Frome is the best of the lot, which isn't saying much.

[George P.]

Possessing the Secret of Joy by Alice Walker. A group-read book this month for the "Boxall's 1001 Books..." group.
Less of a crowd-pleaser than her The Color Purple, but a worthwhile read.

[Peter]

The Story of Lucy Gault by William Trevor.

[Tim]

Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson

[Diane]

Finished Alamut by Vladimir Bartol,

[Amanda]

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? I much preferred Dick's novel to the dull, dull movie adaptations.

[Bryan--The Bee’s Knees]

Mercedes wrote: "The Namesake

Because I am also an immigrant, I identified with much here. I've a sense that Lahiri should have split this book into at least two tales, as the events that are life cha..."

I really liked her short story collection, Interpreter of Maladies. I've had a couple of her novels on my shelf for a long time, but I haven't read them yet.

[Tyler]

Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin

[Tim]

Mercedes wrote: "The Namesake

Because I am also an immigrant, I identified with much here. I've a sense that Lahiri should have split this book into at least two tales, as the events that are life cha..."

I concur with you about the almost ever present use of vulgarity in modern and postmodern lit. Tacky is still tacky.

[Ellinor]

Finished Hideous Kinky by Esther Freud

[Maggie]

Just finished The Handmaid's Tale. Wow. The dystopia is frightening yet intriguing. I need some time to reflect on all that I've just read.

[Mia]

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens.

[Ellinor]

The Comfort of Strangers by Ian McEwan

[Nocturnalux]

Fear and Trembling

2666

[James]

Mercedes wrote: "Suite Française

My disappointment is as great as my expectations."

Why? I've had this on my stack to read for some time and wonder what was so disappointing to you?

[Bob]

The Golden Ass by Apuleius. Funny and adventurous at the same time.

[James]

Mercedes wrote: "James wrote: "Mercedes wrote: "Suite Française

My disappointment is as great as my expectations."

Why? I've had this on my stack to read for some time and wonder what was so disappoi..."

Don't be sorry. I wanted to know. Thanks for your comments.

[Alice]

Emile by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

And will finish Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis in the next few minutes.

[Ellinor]

Finished Your Face Tomorrow: Fever and Spear / Dance and Dream / Poison, Shadow, and Farewell by Javier Marías, one of the best books I ever read. I noticed that they removed it from the most recent edition of the list and this almost made me want to stop continuing with the list.

[Nocturnalux]

What a coincidence, I just finished A Heart So White by Javier Marías and if Your Face Tomorrow is anything even remotely as interesting then I must say that it is a shame to see it dropped from the list.

I was not even aware of these recent changes to the list: one book I'd read, Americanah, was added and one book I had read was dropped, The Children's Book, so the total remains the same.

[Nocturnalux]

Mercedes wrote: "Nocturnalux wrote: "What a coincidence, I just finished A Heart So White by Javier Marías and if Your Face Tomorrow is anything even remotely as interesting then I must say that it is..."

Yeah and that is why this is hardly '1001 books' but 'more and more books' list. Which is fine and part of the fun; I just like to keep track of changes to the overall list for the sake keeping my personal list tidy.

This time around I just color-coded the recently dropped titles and added the recent additions.

[Bryan--The Bee’s Knees]

Finished Possession by A.S. Byatt.

[James]

Mercedes wrote: "Luís wrote: "Vile Bodies. Extremely disappointing."

Because our reading hours are precious I hate it when that happens. Waugh is so well regarded, although I've yet to read him. What..."

I would not judge him based on this one book. I think his books are brilliant, particularly Heat and Dust, Decline and Fall, and the Sword of Honor Trilogy. In fact I'm not sure that Vile Bodies deserves to be on the list. That said, his books are satires on British society in the middle of the 20th century. I find that society very entertaining but not everyone would.

[George P.]

Mercedes wrote: "You know, we're working from all lists combined, so all your books, current and dropped, count. Good, right? ."

I also keep track of how many I've read from the 1st edition ('06) because I get a higher percentage that way :)

[George P.]

Luís wrote: "Vile Bodies. Extremely disappointing."

I once acted in a play of Vile Bodies but I have yet to read the novel. Of Waugh's four List books, I've only read Brideshead Revisited- I thought that was very good.
-------------------------------

Bryan "Blackadder" wrote: "Finished Possession by A.S. Byatt."

Among my Goodreads friends there is a wide range of ratings on that one, from 2 stars to five. I considered it a high 3, and rounded up to 4.

[George P.]

Mercedes wrote: "
I've yet to read her award winning short stories. I'm very much looking forward to that. I'm happy to know that you enjoyed them. I'll up them on my roster. Thanks Bryan ..."

I rated The Namesake four stars and Interpreter of Maladies (the shorts) five. Someone I know whose parents immigrated from India & Malaysia also thought "Interpreter" better.

[Bryan--The Bee’s Knees]

George wrote: "Among my Goodreads friends there is a wide range of ratings on that one, from 2 stars to five. I considered it a high 3, and rounded up to 4. .."

Same here. I ended up being on the low end of that scale though.

[Bryan--The Bee’s Knees]

Mercedes wrote: "Possession... I also went low. Everything was good until that graveyard scene. Now I've read too many books where academicians behave like teenager aliens. There are several in my family, academicians that is, and though yes, they could be cited as proof that the aliens have landed, they behave like humanoid adults. ..."

I think for me, the breaking point came early--the long chapter of correspondence between Ash and Christabel...something about it seemed like...I don't know...more flourish than substance. At any rate, it kind of threw me out of the story, and I could never get back into it. I would have dnf'd it, except I was reading it with a group. At least we had a nice conversation about it.

BTW--I didn't even realize you were the same Mercedes--I was used to the pony tail. Nice picture

[Peter]

The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai. An OK but not a great read.

" The journey once begun, has no end."

[Tyler]

Three Novels: Molloy, Malone Dies, The Unnamable by Samuel Beckett. All three are on the list.

[S.L.]

39. City of God - Great writing though at first it will appear that the many different plot threads and snippets of writing are unrelated but the author ties them up for the most part by the end.

[Tim]

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia y Marquez

[Karen]

Spending a lot of time with Doctor, Vet, and other appointments. My summer reading of the 1000 page tome Kristen Lavransdatter does not lend itself well to such activities, so I’ve been able to complete a number of the shorter books:

Disobedience by Alberto Moravia

The Driver's Seat by Muriel Spark

The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick by Peter Handke

In the Heart of the Seas by S. Y. Agnon – beautiful tale of a group of Hasidim who emigrate from Bucsacz, Austria-Hungary to the Holy Land. Agnon is the only Israeli to ever win the Nobel Prize for Literature.

In a Glass Darkly by J. Sheridan Le Fanu – spooky.

A Ballad for Georg Henig by Viktor Paskov – I loved this one!

Cane by Jean Toomer -- Definitely want to read more of Toomer’s poetry.

[Karen]

Callirhoe (aka Chaireas and Kallirhoe) by Chariton
Considered one of the first prose romances and possibly the first historical novel, Callirhoe is a surprisingly easy and fun read.

[Karen]

Mercedes wrote: "Three Lives

I can imagine that for many, this is probably a 3 or 4 star book; it's a six star one for me. Stein's a Goddess."

I liked Three Lives, but my favorite was The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas. Such a chatty and gossipy book about many of the authors we are reading and the Impressionists. You will never view them the same way ever again. Fun read!

[Bob]

Silas Marner by George Eliot

[Ellinor]

Thank You, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse. Hilarious!

[Sean]

Dracula. Having recently finished Frankenstein, it stands out to me how much of Dracula's pop culture remains true to this book and how much Frankenstein has wandered away from the original work.

Loved this read. Beautifully written. Thrilling and creepy throughout.

[Mia]

Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler.

[Aileen]

Karen wrote: "Callirhoe (aka Chaireas and Kallirhoe) by Chariton
Considered one of the first prose romances and possibly the first historical novel, Callirhoe is a surprisingly easy and fun read."

I was surprised at how easy this was to race through, I seem to recall I called the author the Sidney Sheldon of his time, a great romp!

[Karen]

The Gathering by Anne Enright
Intriguing novel exploring love, grief, and family memories. This was an audiobook with a narrator (Terry Donnelly) with a beautiful Irish accent which made you feel like the main character was confiding in you.

[Karen]

Mercedes wrote: "Karen wrote: "The Gathering by Anne Enright
Intriguing novel exploring love, grief, and family memories. This was an audiobook with a narrator (Terry Donnelly) with a beautiful Irish..."

Love Poirot and that one was a little different.

[Tim]

The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene

[Amanda]

Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison. I am kind of glad that was my last Morrison on the List; my white guilt was crushing my soul.

[Peter]

She by H. Rider Haggard. Showing it's age now.