Which LIST book did you just finish? Showing 201-250 of 7,922

[Virginia]

any opinions on drop city by t.c. boyle? thinking about reading it but there reactions seem to be mixed. what's boyle's style like?

[Dianna]

The last one I finished on this list was "To The Lighthouse" by Virginia Woolf. I have read only approximately 50 (5%).

[Jennie]

OK, I was wrong about Ethan Frome. I listened to an audio version while I was editing a mindless document, and it flew! I was amazed. It reminded me of "Very Bad THings", but just a little.

I also finished To the Lighthouse tonight. That was a long time coming; not my favorite Virginia Woolf novel.

[Dianna]

To The Lighthouse is the only Woolf novel I have read but I did see The Hours, which I liked. To The Lighthouse was not easy, nor was it extremely enjoyable. Stream of consciousness writing is kind of nerve-wracking.

[Rachael]

I finished Drop City last night. I was very impressed by it. It is one of my favorites off the list so far.

[Suzanne Shumaker]

I just finished The New York Trilogy and last week I finished Never Let Me Go.

I really enjoyed both of these novels. I probably wouldn't have appreciated them as much before taking a literature class, but now I am learning to appreciate post-modern and contemporary literature.

[Yelena]

Don't Move by Margaret Mazzantini. I wasn't crazy about it, but here's the thing - it's a good book. The writing was excellent and highly evocative, I just didn't find myself liking it. So I split the difference and gave it three stars.

[Chloe]

For me Drop City was a grower. I didn't like it when I first finished it, but as I thought about it over the next few weeks it, and T.C. Boyle's writing style, grew on me. I've been looking at it lingering on my shelves these past few weeks and am definitely contemplating a re-read.

[Nubia]

Sorry, I did't answer before. I am new in goodreads and I still don't understand how to manage to send a message.
Anyways, I just finish How Doctors Think by Jerome Groopman

[Yelena]

The Devil and Miss Prym by Paulo Coehlo. Yeah...well...let me put it this way: enough other authors have found a way to spin a parable without bashing you over the head with it. Religious popular writing really belongs in the same world as religious popular music also known as "far from me." Most stories have morals, I don't believe we are yet so utterly stupid that they have to be spelled out in explicit detail for our feeble minds to grasp.
One good thing: it took about as long to read as an issue of US Magazine.

[Kristen]

How was How Doctors think? I thought of reading that one...

[Judith]

I'd like to know more about "How Doctor's Think" too? That one hasn't caught my eye until your post that you had read it.

I finished "The Human Stain" by Roth since my last post. I enjoyed it, surprisingly so. Roth's sexual obsessions are far from a turn-on for me as a reader, but this one is a little more plot driven and delves deeper into historical race issues which is far more interesting to me.

I picked up "The Breast" at the book store this week, read one page and put it back down. Seemed a shorter and less justified version of Portnoy's Complaint's pre-occupation to me! I just could never take that one home with me, but I'm glad I read Portnoy's years ago and The Human Stain recently so that I have more of an understanding of this best selling author's style and subject matter. That is all I expect to get out of some of the books on THIS list. At least it is a LONG list with something for every reader's taste on it...

[Nubia]

Jerome Groopman is the chief of experimental medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, teaches at Harvard Medical School and is a writer for the New Yorker.
I graded 5, and wrote: Very good description of doctor's thought process. Good advice for layman on how to interact with their physicians in order to have a better quality of care. Easy to read.
My friend Michael also rated 5.
I should advice you that he is reiterative sometimes. But I can tell his descriptions are a lot like the real thing. We doctors are humans and make mistakes. This book is trying to make changes in patient-doctor comunication.
enjoy

[Jen]

i just finished cat's cradle by vonnegut. i love his work so much, but this was probably my least favorite book by him. i like his later more foul stuff:)

[Kimberly]

I recently finished The Reader, and it was great! Very sad story, and starts out somewhat disturbing. The affair does not turn out to be the main focus of the story -- I loved it.

[Yelena]

Elizabeth Costello by Coetzee - predictably forced, uninspiring, and insipid.

[Smarti]

Kimberly, I don't know what to think about The Reader. I'm German, so of course I am familiar with the book and with the historical context of WWII. To me, one of the protagonists being a concentration camp overseer was very disturbing. I think that I did not quite grasp what Schlink wanted to tell us by making her the protagonist and even a more or less sympathetic one. What did you think about that?

[Judith]

Smarti, hope you don't mind my jumping in here about The Reader. I read it earlier this year and put it on my rather long favorites list.

Is anyone interested in starting a thread on this book? I started to write a brief response to your question, Smarti, and found I had a great deal more to say than I thought about the book.

[Chloe]

Judith, I'd love to hear people's thoughts on The Reader. It's been sitting on my to-read stack next to my bed for ages and this may be the impetus I need to bump it to the top of the queue.

[Smarti]

yes, would be great!

[Kecia]

Stayed up late last night to finish Lolita. Amazing writing, disturbing story.

[Emilia]

Just finished frankenstein!!

[Kimberly]

Smarti:
It was also disturbing that this woman would have a very long affair with a 15 year old boy - but to me both of those story lines were just in the background. For me it was that fact that she was indeed illiterate. There was obviously something comforting to her to be read to, and when it was brought up that she had the women in the camps also read to her, perhaps it was her way of bring some comfort to the prisoner as well. She knew they were going to die.

All of the disturbing events that occur are what make this a beautiful story.

[Chloe]

I just finished The Hours by Michael Cunningham. I loved it! I can't believe it took me so long to get to it. I think I need to track down A Home At The End Of The World now...

[Judith]

I'm taking a break from "the list" right now and reading some others from my TBR shelf. I'm 1/3 into "The Song of the Lark" by Willa Cather.

Is anybody out there a Cather fan? Has anyone read "The Professor's House" that is on the list?

I'm trying to decide if I like this author. Her characters are well developed, but her physical descriptions evoke only confusing images in my head!

"Song" is set in the southwest where I live (and she did at one time also), and nothing she describes in the environment is quite right or clearly visual. It's like she is writing about somewhere she only read about, not anywhere she has ever really been! Her descriptive word choices leave me cold!

I guess I'm asking, "Did I just make a bad choice from her works, or are others (such as the one on "the list") that much better? Any and all comments about her books are welcome!

I also note that she has books listed on the on the Modern Lirary's 100 Best Novels and the Radcliff's Rival 100 Best Novels list (but not the one I am reading). I was really looking forward to "discovering" her for myself. Now I'm wondering if I should even finish the one I have!

[Charity]

Judith:

Well, admittedly, I have only read one work by Cather, O Pioneers!, and I really liked it a lot. My Antonia is my next read after I finish Invisible Man, so I'll let you know how it turns out.

I've heard a lot of people talk about how much they enjoyed My Antonia, The Professor's House, and Death Comes for the Archbishop. The reviews on Song of the Lark and Shadows on the Rock have been mixed, so I guess those are a matter of 'read and see'.


Logan:

I have been meaning to read The Hours for a long time now. Have you read Mrs. Dalloway? I was thinking of reading them together as a companion set to get the best outlook.

[Chloe]

I have never picked up any Virginia Woolf, though after reading The Hours I am wishing that I was better acquainted with her, especially Mrs. Dalloway, so that I could have drawn more from the story. Still, Cunningham let's you know what he's drawing from and what you as a reader need to know in order to enjoy the story, so it's fantastic as a stand-alone book as well.

[Kecia]

Judith, I've read My Antonia and Death Comes for the Archbishop. I liked them both but I thought they were too sweet, too sentimental. I think I would like Cather better if she showed more flaws in her characters.

[Kimberly]

Please start a thread on the Reader - I would love a discussion

[Judith]

Hmm.....That doesn't seem to be the case in "Song of the Lark", but I may have a different opinion when I finish it.

Thanks for you response, Ivy, and love you kitty pic!

[Judith]

Thanks for your response, Charity. I think I may have just picked the wrong book -- at least for my taste and interests. I have a copy of "O Pioneers" also, so I'll read it before I purchase any others. I've always thought that "Death Comes to the Archbishop" sounded like one I'd like to get into. Maybe I still will...

[Kate]

I just finished "Dr Zhivago" don't kill me, but I found it dull and uninspiring. I am reading "Alias Grace" next.

[Chloe]

I'm relieved to hear that someone didn't enjoy Dr. Zhivago. I tend to distrust books that have universal acclaim.

[[deleted user]]

I like just finished A Great and Terrible Beauty. OMG! It was amazing! I hate when good books are over... it makes me want to cry. Thank goodness for sequels!

[Chloe]

I just finished The Glass Bead Game by Hermann Hesse. I have to admit I was disappointed. My full review is here:

The Glass Bead Game

[Smarti]

I just finished Death in Venice by Thomas Mann. I love both Mann-brothers' writings and this was short, sweet and perfect! I am now going to read Isaac Asimov, I, robot, for a change of pace.

Logan, I am also an avid reader of Hesse. I read Steppenwolf, Siddharta and Under the Wheel. Out of these, the last one is by far my favourite and one of my all-time best reading experiences. Did you also read that one? It is, maybe, Hesse's only realistic novel and I prefer it to the other esoteric novels he wrote. I never felt like reading The Glass Bead Game, exactly because of the criticism you have put forward. it seems like it would sum up everything that I do not like about Hesse: esoritericism, loftyness,..

If you try Under the Wheel, let me know how you liked it!

[Sierra]

I cant remember the last book i read! I have short memory like that. Heheh, But I DO recommend (sp?) Cheat the Moon by Patricia Hermes. That book is just so depressing & so inspirational it got me bawling. T-T

[Chloe]

Smarti, I couldn't remember which one you were talking about until I went to my shelves looking. Stateside the title has been translated as Beneath the Wheel, small difference I know. I read it a long time ago so my recollection may be a little fuzzy, but it didn't especially jump out at me. Maybe it's time to dust off my copy and give it another chance.

Don't let the review of Glass Bead Game throw you off- I love Hesse's eccentricities. The Magic Theatre in Steppenwolf is one of my favorite creations ever. What I disliked about Glass Bead was that it just seemed like a retread of everything he had done before. There was nothing new that he had to say and that was just disappointing.

[Charity]

I just finished Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. Eh. I was underwhelmed.

[Judith]

"Group Portrait with Lady"* by Heinrich Bolls

I gave it three stars.

[Jennie]

I listened to an audio version of Babbitt. Wow. What a great way to experience this book. I was totally paying attention (no mind wandering letting the thing play). I listened to the ending twice, and it made me cry both times. Not at all what I had expected.

[[deleted user]]

I just finished The Truth about Forever. I was so sad when it was over... :(

[Smarti]

I just finished I, robot by Isaac Asimov. I found it really dull, so only one star from me. Did any body of you read this book?
I am now going back to Kazantakis' 'the last temptation', which I interrupted for reading 'the ground beneath her feet'

[Kris]

How can I obtain a copy of the 1001 book list?

[Chloe]

The way that I keep track of them is with Arukiyomi's spreadsheet. It's really well put together and easily sortable. You can download a copy here:
http://johnandsheena.co.uk/books/?pag...

[Chloe]

I've never been a big Asimov fan. I enjoyed aspects of his Foundation series, but have never been able to get as invested in him as I have other writers from the Golden Age of SciFi. I haven't read any of his robot books, but I'm sure I'll get around to them one day.

I just finished The Honorary Consul by Graham Greene. I truly enjoyed this book from start to finish and it's one that I truly think deserves the title of "must read before you die."

[[deleted user]]

I just finished Avalon High. It's was really good!

[Dordaneh]

I JUST FINISHED THE WAVES [VIRGINEA WOLF].IT WAS FANTASTIC

[Yelena]

Just finished April's book, Julie. I'll be really interested to see how other people found it.

[Bishop]

I just finished Atwood's, The Handmaid's Tale a few nights ago.

I'm just getting started on Sinclair's, The Jungle.

I think I just hit 6% on the list. Lame.