What are you reading?

[Dorothy]

Just finished reading The Bear Went Over the Mountain: A Novel by William Kotzwinkle. I found this a charming and very amusing light read.

[Dorothy]

Listening to Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel on audio took a long time...18 discs! But it was ably narrated by Simon Slater and I think his interpretation added to my enjoyment of the book. It is certainly not a typical historical novel. I found the language and the plot very compelling and an interesting slant on a piece of history I thought I knew about.

[Roberta]

Glad to hear a good review of the book Dot. I had it out from the library but just didn't get to it. We're going there in September so I will make sure to read it before then.

[John]

I'm starting Child 44which was recomended by my Goodread's pal Darren in England.

[Roberta]

Just finished Secret Daughter. Well plotted and interesting, especialyy the theme of personal identity and family. Found some of the language a bit cloying.

Am now into I'll Know It When I See It: A Daughter's Search for Home in Ireland since I can't resist books about Ireland.

[Dorothy]

Just finished Consequences by Penelope Lively on audio. I've read and enjoyed many books by this author but found this one disappointing. It is the story of a family beginning just before WW2 to present day but I felt the story either moved sluggishly or jumped generations too abruptly.

[John]

I am purging some of my to-read books; I have way too many. Here is a list of what I am getting rid of. If anyone wants any of these books let me know and I will pass them along.
Desirable Daughters,
Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water
Elizabeth Alone,
Memoirs of a Geisha,
Sugar Street,
Swept Away,
'Tis,
Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith, and Love,
Armed Madhouse: From Baghdad to New Orleans--Sordid Secrets and Strange Tales of a White House Gone Wild,
When All the World Was Young,
The Gold of Exodus

[Roberta]

This is very brave of you John. I find it hard to give away books I haven't read. It's that sense of possibility.

What is Desireable Daughters about?

[John]

Roberta wrote: "This is very brave of you John. I find it hard to give away books I haven't read. It's that sense of possibility.

What is Desireable Daughters about?"

According to the back of the book, it is about a traditional Brahmin family on the brink of dissolution. Tara, the main character has left India for California ."Tara struggles to reconcile the ancient traditions of her past with the modern demands of her new life." Her sisters who stayed in India are the "desirable daughters".

[Roberta]

Sounds interesting John. If no one else claims it, I wouldn't mind reading it.

[Dorothy]

Hi John...I really really shouldn't be acquiring any more books...but I have always wanted to read 'Galileo's Daughter'...I gather the author was in Victoria some months ago and I was sorry to miss the event. If Barb is working in MAP next Thursday, she could bring it as I will be there in the afternoon....
Many many thanks in advance....

[John]

Dot wrote: "Hi John...I really really shouldn't be acquiring any more books...but I have always wanted to read 'Galileo's Daughter'...I gather the author was in Victoria some months ago and I was sorry to miss..."

Do you mean the 13th? Barb is working that day.

[John]

Roberta wrote: "Sounds interesting John. If no one else claims it, I wouldn't mind reading it."

It is all yours. I just need to figure out how to get it to you.

[Dorothy]

John wrote: "Dot wrote: "Hi John...I really really shouldn't be acquiring any more books...but I have always wanted to read 'Galileo's Daughter'...I gather the author was in Victoria some months ago and I was s..."

Yes...if it is convenient for her to bring it in, that would be great.

[John]

Dot wrote: "John wrote: "Dot wrote: "Hi John...I really really shouldn't be acquiring any more books...but I have always wanted to read 'Galileo's Daughter'...I gather the author was in Victoria some months ag..."

She has it with her in her work bag.

[Dorothy]

Just finished Troubles by JG Farrell. Wonderful book set in a crumbling hotel in a small town south of Dublin, just after the First World War. The author has you laughing and crying in the same paragraph. Witty account of a tragic story. This book is the third in a trilogy by Farrell set in various parts of the old British Empire as it begins to fall apart. While being far from polemical, the author subtly draws attention to the folly of imperialism.

[John]

Just finished a murder mystery so as an antidote I am going to start Last Orders.

[Roberta]

Going back to Warren Bennis, On Becoming a Leader, with the new workbook in hand. I'll see what new insights i take away.

[Dorothy]

Just finished Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier on audio. I really liked this book and thought it one of her best. The subject of the book is Mary Anning, a semi-literate girl from a near destitute family who is very intelligent and has the focus that enables her to find and identify fossils on the beaches and cliffs at Lime Regis in England. The novel centres on her friendship with an unmarried lady who also collects fossils and they learn from each other. Mary goes on to become the first person to find the ichthyosaurus and the plesiosaurus. Her finds were bought by collectors and scholars and helped advance the science of geology and refute the teaching of the church that the earth was 6000 years old.

[John]

Time to read a duster, The Trail to Seven Pines. Louis L'Amour picks up the Hopalong Cassidy story

[Dorothy]

Hope you liked the Kotswinkle book...I am half way through "Galileo's Daughter' and I am so glad you sent it on to me. I'm finding it fascinating. Galileo obviously had a great sense of humour and I'm almost tempted to find some of his books to read...but I probably won't.

[Dorothy]

Just finished "Shanghai Girls" by Lisa See on audio. This was quite a gripping story especially towards the end. It follows the lives of 2 sisters who live in Shanghai and are forced to flee when the Japanese invade, and come to the US as wives of 2 chinese men living in LA. They are interned for months on Angel Island while they prove their entitlement to enter the country and later on have to battle Immigration Officials who suspect them of being Communists after Mao takes over Mainland China. Highly recommended.

[Roberta]

Just starting The Art of Racing in the Rain, based on your recommendation John. It looks good. Hope it won't break my heart after losing little Hobbes not so long ago.

[Dorothy]

Just finished Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith, and Love by Dava Sobel. So glad you passed this on to me, John. I really enjoyed reading it and found I learned quite a lot about Galileo's life and work from it.

[Roberta]

I'm going to add that to my list as well Dot. I've always liked Galileo standing up to the church.

[Dorothy]

I'll pass my copy on to you...I got it from John.

[Roberta]

Thanks.

I'm really loving The Art of Racing in the Rain, even though it is a bit bittersweet and makes me think of Hobbes. Good recommendation John.

[Dorothy]

Roberta wrote: "Thanks.

I'm really loving The Art of Racing in the Rain, even though it is a bit bittersweet and makes me think of Hobbes. Good recommendation John."

This is one I would like to read....and his others too.
I've decided to give up on
The Girl Who Played With Fire...I find it rather repetitive and not sufficiently interesting to hold my attention.

[Roberta]

You must read the latest maisie Dobbs, The Mapping of Love and Death, it's very good. I'm returning it to the library tomorrow.

[Dorothy]

I think I have a hold on it....I'd better check to see where I am on the list!

[Dorothy]

I've just picked up "Curiosity" by Joan Thomas from the library. I'm glad it has come while the other book on Mary Anning (Remarkable Creatures) is still fresh in my mind as I think it will be interesting to compare them.

[Roberta]

I just got Remarkable Creatures and it looks so interesting. It came with the latest flizabeth George AND I'm in the middle of yet another. What to do!!!

[Dorothy]

It's like the bus....either none come along or 3 come at once.... I'm enjoying "Curiosity" but so far I think I like the Chevalier one better. I wonder if I would feel differently had I read them in the reverse order....

[Roberta]

Like that and they arrive just as you decided to walk to the next stop.

[John]

Time for a biography. I am going to read Ayrton Senna: The Whole Story the biography of one of the best ever to racing in Formula 1.

[Roberta]

John, I just finished The Art of Racing in the Rain and really enjoyed it. Thanks for recommending it. I became interested in Ayrton Senna and will be interested in your take on him.

[Dorothy]

I've just been given a book called "Ghost Brush by Katherine Govier. It is about the artist who did the famous Japanese woodcut :The Great Wave". It was reviewed on Saturday in the Globe & Mail and I can't wait to read it....however I must wait till I've finished all my library books!

[Roberta]

I just read something about that book Dot and it sounds really interesting. I loved her book Angel Walk.

Just finishing This Body of Death: An Inspector Lynley Novelm then it's Remarkable Creatures, Will have to return the Farrell book Troubles to the library for another time.

[Dorothy]

Just finished 'Curiosity' by Joan Thomas
I was a bit slow getting into this book but in the end I did enjoy it very much. It was interesting to compare it with the novel by Tracey Chevalier on teh same subject. Both authors researched the same historical documents but imagined slightly different lives for the main protagonist of both books : Mary Annig. A good description of life in the Regency period and the beginnings of the study of paleontology. Both books deal with the reluctance on the part of scientists to come to conclusions that contradicted Scripture.

[Dorothy]

I've been on a bit of a Sue Grafton kick lately and have listened on audio to U is for Undertow, and .M is for Malice

[Roberta]

I was about to dive into Remarkable Creatures if I can get some time away from more work oriented stuff. But now I'm thinking...maybe i should read it and then Curiousity one after the other and do a bit of a comaprison. hmmmmm

The best non fiction this year is still by Peter Block.Community: The Structure of Belonging, I think everyone should read it

[John]

In honour of D-Day I am going to start reading Up Front

[John]

Going to start A Fraction of the Whole it is supposed to be quite funny

[Roberta]

Just finishedThe God of the Hive, by Laurie R. King. Fast paced and intricate, I really enjoy these stories about Sherlock Holmes and Mary Russell.

[Roberta]

Now starting Remarkable Creatures

[Dorothy]

Roberta wrote: "Now starting Remarkable Creatures"
Let me know how you get on with it. I found it one of those books that stick in your mind. I've just finished
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson and very much enjoyed her quiet humour. I'm about to start The Imperfectionists: A Novel by Tom Rachman.

[Dorothy]

Nearly finished The Imperfectionists: A Novel by Tom Rachman...who grew up in Vancouver but now lives in Rome where the book is set. A great cast of characters and a real sense of how a newsroom in a newspaper works. Finished Juliet Naked CD by Nick Hornby...on CD and now into Until I Find You by John Irving....on 28 discs! This should take me the rest of the month!

[Roberta]

Finished Remarkable Creatures

[Roberta]

and lost the rest of the note above.

As you said Dot it does stick in your mind. I was very struck by the lot of women - how Elizabeth was uneasy attending the auction without an escort, how there was such a limited role for educated women. The strict divide between the classes was also an ey opener. Poor or working class women had no opportunity even if they were educated.

I did love the story though. The hunt for specimans, the satisfactions of finding them and learning about them and the collision of science and religion. The parson was just too funny when Elizabeth approached him to ask questions.

[Dorothy]

Roberta wrote: "and lost the rest of the note above.

As you said Dot it does stick in your mind. I was very struck by the lot of women - how Elizabeth was uneasy attending the auction without an escort, how t..."

Glad you liked it...now you have to read the other!