Victoria B.C. (Book Club) discussion
2010 Reading List
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What are you reading?
Roberta wrote: "Yes I do. Waiting for it from the library.Does the Imperfectionists give a good sense of Rome?"
Not really....it mentions some street names but is mostly concerned with the newsroom and the characters who inhabit it. It is available on loan if you fancy it :-)
Thanks. I think I'll wait until the next time we get together for a book swap. Right now I need to cath up with myself!! Reading the White Queen by Philippa Gregory. A bit harlequin for my taste but i do like that period of history.
Roberta wrote: "Thanks. I think I'll wait until the next time we get together for a book swap. Right now I need to cath up with myself!! That's OK...I have a friend who wants to borrow it first.
Reading the White Queen by Philippa Gregory. A bit harlequin for my tast..."
She does go in for a fair amount of bodice ripping, doesn't she ;-)
I've started Anthill by E.O. Wilson...I'm enjoying it...it's on 2-week loan from the library so I have to get on with it. Also carrying around a paperback mystery called Black Dogby Stephen Booth set in the Peak District of England.
I just started The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food for something lighthearted and non fiction. So far it's interesting but the writing seems a bit wobbly. We'll see.
Dot wrote: "Roberta wrote: "Thanks. I think I'll wait until the next time we get together for a book swap. Right now I need to cath up with myself!! That's OK...I have a friend who wants to borrow it first..."
Dot wrote: "Roberta wrote: "Thanks. I think I'll wait until the next time we get together for a book swap. Right now I need to cath up with myself!!
That's OK...I have a friend who wants to borrow it first..."
Dot wrote: "Roberta wrote: "Thanks. I think I'll wait until the next time we get together for a book swap. Right now I need to cath up with myself!!
That's OK...I have a friend who wants to borrow it first..."
the White Queen didn't seem like it was based on any history at all or rather, just loosely. The motivations didn't make sense to me. She touches on the ambition of elizabeth Woodville but never fully explores it. My opinion is that she was probably as ruthless as all the other queens in the story.
Roberta wrote: "Dot wrote: "Roberta wrote: "Thanks. I think I'll wait until the next time we get together for a book swap. Right now I need to cath up with myself!! That's OK...I have a friend who wants to b..."
I think I gave up on Phillipa Gregory....I enjoyed the first couple of books that she wrote but then I lost interest.
I've now finished Anthill by E. O. Wilson and highly recommend it. I borrowed it from the library after reading a review in the New York Times Bood Review and was not disappointed. It is written by an eminent Pulitzer Prize winning biologist and is his first novel. It tells the story of a young man's fascination with the natural world and his decision to become a lawyer so that he can influence the conservation of a sensitive ecosystem in Alabama. Fascinating section on the life of ant colonies.
Also finished a couple of audio books...one a Donna Leon mystery A Noble Radiance which I enjoyed, and the other The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag by Allan Bradley. This one I did not enjoy so much...but it was possibly spoiled for me by the manner in which it was narrated....I found myself very irritated by the precocity of the 11 year old sleuth. I'm not sure now whether I should read others in the series or not....has anyone else read these books?
John's comments on author:Tim Winton|19929] prompted me to get on The Turning[ on audio from the library....can't remember if I have read this one before or if it just sounds familiar from the characters and landscape.
I read the first one in the series. I didn't love it but was interested enough to finish the book and i will try the next one. I found the first one a bit forced feeling, like a 40 year old man trying to pretend he was an 11 year old girl. A bit creepy.
Roberta wrote: "I read the first one in the series. I didn't love it but was interested enough to finish the book and i will try the next one. I found the first one a bit forced feeling, like a 40 year old man t..."I think my favourite Australian author is David Malouf...he lives in Brisbane I think and once visited Victoria and was on a panel organised by Bolen Books IIRC
I've found a mystery series for you. I'm reading the first, The Case of the Missing Servant. It's an Indian detective ala Hercule and I'm finding this book very enjoyable for a light summer read.
As in India? That sounds interesting. Who wrote it?Do you ever go to the Mystery Book Store on Fort St...it's a great place for second hand mysteries and they will buy them back when you've read them :-)
There is a series by about a Russian detective that I like but I can't remember the author. And there is a French series by Fred Vargas ( a woman) that is really good.
Yes. It's modern day India, with the rising middle class and all the old social structures rubbing up against each other. Very light and entertaining. I've made a note of Vargas and I do like the mystery book store. Love the dog and the woman who runs it is very knowledgeable,UI have another that looks promising. Monica Ali, In the Kitchen.
Mod
Excerpts from books we likely won't be reading...the results of the 2010 Bulwer-Lytton contest are at:http://www.bulwer-lytton.com
Hey, I write much worse than any of them! Too funny.
I seem to have been on a author:Donna Leon|16290] kick lately, borrowing audio CDs from the library. listened to A Noble Radiance, Suffer the Little Children, and About Face. The last one made me feel a bit depressed being about the control of waste by organised crime and the effects on the environment.
I've now finished The Tattooed Map: A Novel by Barbara Hodgson which I borrowed from John. What a beautiful book! I see she has written more illustrated novels....I can't understand how come I haven't heard of them before.
Also finished Ghost Brush by Katherine Govier I found this a wonderful read both for the description of life in 19th century Japan and for details of the lives of the Japanese artist best known in the west, Hokosai, and his daughter Eio who was his apprentice and assistant but may in fact have been responsible for some of work attributed to him.
Also finished Black Dog by Stephen Booth, a mystery set in Derbyshire. I have another of his paperbacks which I plan to read soon.
Mod
I too was surprised that she has more similar books out. And I also had never heard of her before that book passed through my hands at the Book Drive and caught my eye.
I think I had her confused with Barbara Gowdy
I've just started At Large and At Small: Familiar Essays, a collection of essays by Ann Fadiman. This is a little gem of a book. A 'familiar essay' is defined as one that is both personal and relating to the world and as such is less common than in previous ages.I've just finished Pretty Girl in Crimson Rose (8): A Memoir of Love, Exile, and Crosswords
which I think fits the criteria of a 'familiar essay'. It's a book that is ideal for my husband and I since we both do cryptic crosswords, but I think would also be of general interest because of his travels and his experience of being an immigrant and wanting to fit in in his chosen country.
Did i send you a note about this book somewhere Dot? or did i dream that?
I don't remember us discussing it....but it's possible. Have you read it? This is a book that arrived on our doorstep a month or so ago...having been mailed from a used book store in Seattle. We hadn't ordered it, and we had no idea who had sent it to us until we remembered our May houseguests from London who told us about it.
I read it a few years back and recommended it to a friend, who is a whiz at crptic puzzles, unlike me. She liked it somuch she contacted the author and they had a lively correspondence, with him sending her an early draft of his book on bridge.
Roberta wrote: "I read it a few years back and recommended it to a friend, who is a whiz at crptic puzzles, unlike me. She liked it somuch she contacted the author and they had a lively correspondence, with him s..."No....I'm sure that I didn't know that...how great that you already read it. I felt like writing to the author as well! I'm pleased to hear he has written a book on bridge...I must look for it....my son is a professional bridge player and played on the Junior Canada Team in 3 world tournaments and both Frank and I have been serious bridge players in our youth, but have given it up now that we can no longer count to 13
:-)
Mod
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It does look like an interesting story.
John wrote: "Roberta wrote: "The you can venture in ancient Macedonia with The Golden Mean"It does look like an interesting story."
You are welcome to borrow my copy any time.
Just finished The Bolter: Edwardian Heartbreak and High Society Scandal in Kenya by Frances Osborne....a biography of Lady Idina Sackville written by her great-granddaughter. Prose could use some editing in some places but it gives a good picture of 'Society' in England between the wars and during WW2.I had recently read "The Duchess" and this confirmed that social mores in the upper classes have not changed much over the centuries.
'The Bolter', as she was known, appeared, thinly disguised, as a character in Nancy Mitford's books.
Listened to Dead Point: A Jack Irish Thriller by Peter Temple on audio. Melbourne lawyer tracks down criminals in Australia.
Dot wrote: "John wrote: "Roberta wrote: "The you can venture in ancient Macedonia with The Golden Mean"It does look like an interesting story."
You are welcome to borrow my copy any time."
Thanks. I found it cheap and couldn't resist buying it though I'm trying to curtail book purchases. Have you read the series by Mary Renault?
Roberta wrote: "Dot wrote: "John wrote: "Roberta wrote: "The you can venture in ancient Macedonia with The Golden Mean"Have you read the series by Mary Renault?
A long time ago.
I loved that book as well John. Thanks for recommending it.I'm now into my second attempt at The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Have to finish it for my book club and in time to pass it on to one other reafer. Yikes the pressure!
Mod
I'm now into my second attempt at The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Have to finish it for my book club and in time to ..."
I gave up on The Girl etc about 150 pages in. From what I hear that was about where it started to get interesting. I watched the Swedish movie of it and really like it.
I've heard the movie is good but needs to be seen on a large screen so the subtitles are clear. Will wait till it hits the Roxie or something.How is your summer shaping up?
Mod
How is your summer shaping up?"
I found it was fine on a 32" t.v. Summer is good. A little vacation to Bellingham and area; Moss St Paint In and Deuce Days this past weekend. How about you?
Same - Bellingham and the Paint in In, both very briefly. Enjoying the sunshine and reading poetry.
We got back Tuesday after 5 days in Vancouver....medical treatment (not much fun) and seeing grandkids (lots of fun). Not much time for reading but finished off Dancing with the Virgins : A Constable Ben Cooper Novel set in Derbyshire by Stephen Booth. Good mystery and lots of scenic descriptions of the Peak District. Also read on audio The Broken Shore: A Novel by Peter Temple, also a mystery but this one set in South Australia.
While we were away, I read The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. Thank you so much for recommending this book, John. I have to say it kept me awake at night because I couldn't put it down! Frank is now reading it and I will look for more in the library.
That was a lovely book. I have now set it free in the neighbourhood and will see if they pick it to read.Finished The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I'm glad I stuck with it this time. The writing didn't get me, I found it a bit flat or one-dimensional, but the story polled me in. I was left wondering about Salander's mother. She appears a couple of times, then dies, but nothing more is said. Must be something in the next two books.
I also read book:ThReckoning|6468666]by Kelley Armstrong. All I can say is that it was the only other book I had with me. A conspiracy theory ala Twilight. Not great, just barely readable.
I've now started on The Bucolic Plague: How Two Manhattanites Became Gentlemen Farmers: An Unconventional Memoir...quite entertaining and very descriptive of up-state New York.Also listening to Question of Belief, A by Donna Leon so I'm mentally dividing myself between Venice and New York state.
Wouldn't it be nice to do that in reality? A flat on a quiet calle and another on the Lower East Side.
Mod
Dot wrote: "I've now started on The Bucolic Plague: How Two Manhattanites Became Gentlemen Farmers: An Unconventional Memoir...quite entertaining and very descriptive of up-state New York.Also ..."
Hmmmm...at the moment I am inspired by watching the Tour de France to want a chateau in the south of France. The race is really exciting to watch, especially now that there is a Victoria man doing so well.
Victoria B.C. (Book Club)
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Anne Michaels (other topics)
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Does the Imperfectionists give a good sense of Rome?