Random Chat

[Rosemarie]

Enjoy the book, Paula.

[Paula]

Rosemarie wrote: "Enjoy the book, Paula."

Thank you, Rosemarie. I see that you are currently immersed in writings by Elizabeth Bowen. Ever since reading a great little book about the lives of various writers during WW2 ( The Love-charm of Bombs: Restless Lives in the Second World War ), in which she was included, I have had Bowen's Collected Stories on my TBR list. Needless to say, two years have passed and it's no further up the list. Anyhow, I would be really interested to read any comments you have to make about The Mullberry Tree. I do hope you enjoy this collection.

[Rosemarie]

The Mulberry Tree is a collection of essays, letters etc. Her writing is quite elaborate but worth the effort.

[Dawn]

I've just finished the first book from the list for this year (finally) - I'm still working my way through Cold Mountain, and I'm about to begin Rebecca for the group read.

I fancied a quick crime novel, so went for

Toxic Shock by Sara Paretsky (4*)

One more down, 910 to go :o

[Camille]

Dawn wrote: "I've just finished the first book from the list for this year (finally) - I'm still working my way through Cold Mountain, and I'm about to begin Rebecca for the group read.

I fancied a quick crime..."

Good start!

[Paula]

Having enjoyed The Hound of the Baskervilles, I am now reading Quarantine by Jim Crace, from the Family and Self list. Has anyone else read this comparatively short novel? Its description and readers' reviews on Goodreads look rather promising.

[Rosemarie]

I don't know that one, Paula. It will be interesting to hear your comments.

[Jenny, Makeing a world of books]

That does look quite interesting Paula! I have found there are actually quite a few books on the list that are short- under 300 pages- and some extremely short ones, like less than 200. My goal is to find all the free ones and knock them out, along with what I already have, and then move on LOL!

[Rosemarie]

Jenny, that sounds like a good plan to me.

[Paula]

Yep, I'm in agreement with Rosemarie there, great plan!

[Paula]

Having finished Quarantine by Jim Crace, I am now embarking on Death in Venice by Thomas Mann, which has been gathering cobwebs on my (actual) TBR shelf for the last few years. The former was an excellent novel: the retelling of the temptations of Jesus in the Judean Desert, but not at all the story one might expect from The Bible. I would now very much like to read other works by Jim Crace - perhaps next year! How are the rest of you getting on with the lists? Any exciting discoveries?

[Rosemarie]

Quarantine sounds fascinating, Paula. I just finished Oroonoko by Aphra Behn, a seventeenth century female writer. There weren' too many female authors back then.

[Debra Diggs]

Quarantine looks very interesting, and it is free on openlibrary.org. Yay.

I tried reading Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke. I gave up after 150 pages. It was just to slow.

[Paula]

Yes, I've heard of Aphra Behn, but have never read any of her work. I do know that she was quite a literary role model for female writers to come, so I must take a look to see what you thought of Oroonoko, Rosemarie.

[Paula]

I must visit openlibrary.org, Debra, I seldom think to check it out, which is really silly. I haven't read Jonathan Stange & Mr Norrell, so can't comment on the novel itself, but I don't see any point in ploughing on with a book when it has become a chore to read - especially when it is showing no signs of improvement. There are simply too many great titles out there waiting to be read. I hope your next book is a real cracker!

[Rosemarie]

Oroonoko is part of a collection of Behn's works, which I am going to read as well. Her prose is very readable and I enjoyed it, even though it was sad at times.

[Paula]

An amazing character when you think of the times. Hope you enjoy the rest of the collection.

[Rosemarie]

Thanks. Behn also wrote plays and poetry, as well as short novels and short stories.

[Rosemarie]

Since I have already read Howard's End, I am going to read one of the few Forster works of fiction that I haven't read yet, Maurice.
I didn't like Howard's End enough to do a re-read. Of course, if I read only positive comments about the book, I might consider it, sometime.

[Renee]

I loved Maurice, Rosemarie. I'll be interested to hear your thoughts.

[Paula]

I enjoyed Maurice, too. It is very sad to think that Forster hid it away for so many years. I have just finished reading The Awakening: And Other Stories by Kate Chopin, which I enjoyed immensely. I'm having a brief break from the challenge with my next book, An Obsession With Butterflies by Sharman Apt Russell, but will return shortly!

[Rosemarie]

Breaks are always good.
My copy of Maurice should be arriving at my local library branch shortly.

The worst book, in my opionion, that I have read from the list so far is Les Enfants Terribles (The Holy Terrors). I think the translated title doesn't describe the book accurately, since is is about very disturbed young people and has a very dark plot.

[Paula]

The two books couldn't be more different!

[Rosemarie]

I hope I get it this week. It is a long weekend here, since tomorrow is Labour Day. On Tuesday the kids go back to school.

[Paula]

I challenged myself to read 10 books from the list during 2017, and achieved that today with Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood - and what a thoroughly brilliant and absorbing novel it turned out to be! Anyhow, it doesn't end here because I intend to keep the ticks coming. For some reason I have (completely unconsciously) selected more titles from the Family & Self category than from any other. Why, I'm not at all sure, but I need to make a dent in State of the Nation.

Incidentally, I'm off on my hols (as we say in the UK) on Monday, so I'm busy downloading beach reads to my Kindle. Almost three weeks of uninterrupted reading. I can hardly wait! :-)

[Rosemarie]

Enjoy your hols, Paula, and happy reading.

[Paula]

Many thanks, Rosemarie! :-)

[iasa]

I am jealous of your holiday Paula, hope you have a grand time.

I have neglected reading much from the list lately. I was hoping to complete 30 books for the year but I still have about 18 to go. Looks like October is going to be the month of the 1001 books.

[Rosemarie]

There are some shorter books on the list, Iasa. Reading those is a great way to catch up.

[Paula]

Thanks Iasa. I'm rather a snail when it comes to reading and take an age to get through the doorstops - but I'm quite happy plodding along at my own pace. Try not to be daunted by the list and read only for enjoyment. Rosemarie's right, there are lots of fairly short titles, which may seem less of a chore. Happy reading! :-)

[Paula]

I have finally read my first State of the Nation title in 2017, which also happens to be the Group Read for October:

Novel On Yellow Paper by Stevie Smith (16/10/17)

Anyone else attempting this novel? Here's my review >>

[Rosemarie]

I read this years ago and two of her other books as well.

[Rosemarie]

Have we decided on the nominated books for next month yet?

[Jenny, Makeing a world of books]

Whoops, sorry, let me start the thread!

[Tr1sha]

Do you know if there’s a version of the Guardian list anywhere that allows searching by author? There seem to be a number of books by some authors, sometimes in different categories, but it takes ages to look through the lists. I’d like to be able to type an author’s name & see which of their books are included. Perhaps this is wishful thinking!

[Christopher]

Trisha wrote: "Do you know if there’s a version of the Guardian list anywhere that allows searching by author? There seem to be a number of books by some authors, sometimes in different categories, but it takes a..."

Good question, Trisha.

This lists the books in order by author, but the list is still sub-divided by category.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/200...

Thus, one finds Willa Cather in three different places, four books altogether (Professor's House, My Antonia, One of Ours, and A Lost Lady), unless I missed one.

[Tr1sha]

Thank you, Christopher.

[Paula]

Hey, that's useful, Christopher!