November: What Are You Reading?

[TheGirlBytheSeaofCortez]

If you like dark stories, you'll probably like it, Susan.

[Sue]

I just ordered it from the library.

[Flora]

I just finished A Wizard of Earthsea and am looking forward to the rest of this series.

I am 1/4 of the way thru The Moonstone and so far I think I like this one almost as much as The Woman in White. I am also reading The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon and Inkspell

[Carol]

Flora I loved both Moonstone and Woman in White. Try The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson .

[Flora]

I haven't read the book but I have seen the movie, does that count ;)

[Carol]

The movie was close but in the book ,as always you have more depth to the characters mind . It is a creepy good read .

[Flora]

I shall have to add it to my to read list. I have heard alot of others say that it was a really good read. I just hadn't been in a hurry to read it since I had seen the movie.

[Sue]

Kitty wrote: "The movie was close but in the book ,as always you have more depth to the characters mind . It is a creepy good read ."

I'm like Fora, I've seen the movie but haven't read the book. Probably should take it out of the library after I return a few books!

[Rusty]

Nearly finished with Colleen McCullough's The Grass Crown. What a book! What a read! This one has 77 pages with author's notes, definitions and a glossary to help the reader along.

[Melissa]

Rusty, I enjoyed that book as well as The First Man in Rome and Fortune's Favorites. I started reading Caesar's Women this summer but ran out of time or steam and put it aside, for a while at least.

[Rusty]

Philip wrote: "Rusty, I enjoyed that book as well as The First Man in Rome and Fortune's Favorites. I started reading Caesar's Women this summer but ran out of time or ste..."
Just finish The Grass Crown. I loved how McCullough focused each chapter on a certain character. You have me looking forward to reading Fortune's Favorites and Caeser's Women, both of which I have on my book shelf. I'll watch for your reveiws of Caeser's Women.

[Carol]

Ah me I am abandoning The Good Soldier for now. I can't concentrate on it properly. I guess I will start Freedom

[Paul]

I just finished "Freedom"...really enjoyed it. Now I'm moving on to this month's choice: "The Surrendered".

[Bahareh]

Picking up 3 books at the same time was probably not the best idea for me! Need a big motivation to go through all...

[Wendy]

I just finished the The Time Traveler's Wife and am now into The Rossetti Letter.

Time Travler's Wife was hard to read at first, despite the dates posted at the beginning of each section. I had to continually go over where we were in time and sequence but for some reason, the writing fascinated me. It's a love story. I mean LOVE with a sort of introverted/absorbed in each other to the point that I wondered if it was healthy. But nevertheless, an intriguing concept taken metaphorically (what if your beloved was only available at times and unexpectedly, or suffered from a rare disease, what form would your relationship take?)
The Rosseti Letter is just plain fun. Intrigues in 17th century Venice with a contemporary scholar working on her dissertation. I appreciate that the stories are interwoven but not every single chapter a switch!!! The descriptions of Venice ancient and modern are luscious and make me want to go visit again and see it with new eyes. As well, the characters are each well-defined and although we the reader can see the attractions and deceptions right away, the plot is believeable and keeps you turning the pages.

[Beth]

Hi everyone,
I recently read the following books, and I'm listing the # of stars I gave them on Goodreads (I give out very few 5 star ratings):
- Zeitoun, a nonfiction book about the horrible effects of Hurricane Katrina on one family, 4 stars
- Thunder Bay: A Cork O'Connor Mystery, a great mystery from Krueger, as usual, 4 stars
- The Second Glass of Absinthe: A Mystery of the Victorian West, 3 stars
- Emerald Silk, a lovely historical gypsy romance, 4 stars

I'm currently reading A Rule Against Murder and I'm enjoying it a lot. I was a little worried at first when it wasn't set in Three Pines, but when Peter and Clara appeared on scene, I was relieved. At least some of my favorite characters, besides Armand, his wife, and his investigative team, would be in the story.

Next, I hope to read Boundary Waters. It's the second book in Krueger's Minnesota series that I skipped over, and I want to go back in time and read it before continuing on with Red Knife: A Cork O'Connor Mystery.

I've really been enjoying catching up on the series written by these two authors. Once I do, I'll be diving into some other series that I'm behind on.

Wendy, I loved The Time Traveler's Wife, too, by the way!

[AmandaLil]

Starting Slammerkin

[K.B.]

Started reading The Glass of Time yesterday. I am thoroughly enjoying how well crafted the story is. What a shame that Cox has passed away and there will be no new books to look forward to. But, happily, somewhere in the piles of books that I own, I have a copy of The Meaning of Night: A Confession.

[K.B.]

Amanda wrote: "Starting Slammerkin"

Amanda, I read Slammerkin years ago and I thought it was great. I hope you enjoy it. A friend of mine hated it and could never get over the motive for murder in that book.

[Leslie]

I'm reading Growing Up Jung: Coming of Age as the Son of Two Shrinks - a funny and poignant memoir. During grad school, I took courses on Freud, but we never studied Jung, so this book is a great crash course, as well as a compelling narrative about all the quirks of the author's inner life (something I definitely relate to).

Ex Lit Prof
www.the-reading-list.com

[Sue]

Leslie wrote: "I'm reading Growing Up Jung: Coming of Age as the Son of Two Shrinks - a funny and poignant memoir. During grad school, I took courses on Freud, but we never studied Jung, so this b..."

I've read some interesting reviews of this book so I'll be interested in your review.

[Tracy]

Karen wrote: "Tracy wrote: "I just finished Belong to Me by Marisa de los Santos and am starting Disquiet by Julia Leigh. It's a novella so I will be on to something new tomorrow I ..."

I thought the idea for the story was good and wish the author had went for a longer story, more novel than novella, where she could have flushed out some character development. The writing was solid but I just felt let down by the ending.

[Sarah]

I just finished another Dubus, The House of Sand and Fog, as well as the marathon read of Edgar Sawtelle. I've been in a 'dark' phase, apparently. Now time for a little lightening: I finally came up #1 in the queue for Tana French's Faithful Place. I'm enjoying it so far; I'm a sucker for Irish slang.

[Sherry, Doyenne]

Oh, I liked that Sarah, but it ain't a whole lot lighter!

[Jean]

Hi Beth. One of my in person book groups just discussed Zeitoun this morning. While it was a very interesting story, I felt the book was way too long with too many details.

I love the books by Louise Penny and liked A Rule Against Murder. I have at home Bury Your Dead waiting to be read.

Have you read any of the mysteries by Peter James? They are very good. I'm on my fourth book now featuring Roy Grace.

[Marialyce]

Finishing up Great House and starting A Secret Kept.

[Sue]

Marialyce wrote: "Finishing up Great House and starting A Secret Kept."

How did you likeGreat House. I've read a variety of reviews on it.

[Marialyce]

Right now, I am ambivalent. I will finish it tonight or early tomorrow morning and let you know, Susan.

[Kat]

Ruth, this is going back a ways but you mentioned Penelope Lively's FAMILY ALBUM. I haven't read that one, but I've read quite a few by Lively, most of which I've liked quite a bit.

I am a sorrowfully slow reader, alas. I could figure out how many books I read a year by going over my Book Journal, but it would probably just depress me. However, I tend to be a very close reader--I make a lot of notes and sometimes copy over sentences or passages that connect with larger issues I'm thinking about.

Last week I finished HOUSE OF MIRTH and Elizabeth Bowen's THE LAST SEPTEMBER, liked them both a lot. (It was my second time through on the Wharton.) I'm up to p. 963 of the P&V translation of WAR AND PEACE, I'll get there yet! Just started THE INHERITANCE OF LOSS.

[Hazel]

I've just finished Good Evening, Mrs Craven: The Wartime Stories of Mollie Panter-Downes. I recommend it to those of you who are anglophiles, or interested in the WWII period, or lovers of well-crafted short stories. There's a very interesting afterword about Panter-Downes' career with The New Yorker, which spanned decades.

[Carol]

Kat said: "I'm up to p. 963 of the P&V translation of WAR AND PEACE,...."


Yeah Kat keep it up. I am on a Russian kick myself.

[Marialyce]

Susan wrote: "Marialyce wrote: "Finishing up Great House and starting A Secret Kept."

How did you likeGreat House. I've read a variety of reviews on it."

Hi Susan, I just finished Great House and I truly liked it. It is not an easy read, but I so enjoyed the prose Ms. Krauss used, masterfully written but eternally sad. I gave it four stars.
http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/... = my review

[Sue]

I finished The Magicians and really enjoyed it, though the story is ultimately sad. I guess growing up and losing illusions is sad for us all. But I am looking forward to the sequel mentioned in an ad at the end of the book as planned for next summer.

I also decided not to finish The Inheritance of Loss. I just can't get into it. Almost 100 pages was enough to move away. Too many books and too little time. I'm moving on with The House of Mirth and will begin This Is Getting Old: Buddhist Thoughts on Aging with Humor and Dignity which was recommended by a friend.

Then on to the Russians and The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet

[Joel]

I thought Great House fell totally flat despite the beautiful prose. It was too one-note throughout. Krauss can write though.

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

[Sue]

This is the other view I've heard quite a bit.

[Marialyce]

Susan and Joel,

Great House is one of the books nominated for the National Book awards 2010.
http://www.nationalbook.org/nba2010.html

[Joel]

I know, I touched on it in my review: I thought it was kind of a poor choice considering some of the other non-nominated things I have read this year. I don't see it having a lot of widespread appeal to readers if it does indeed win. I kind of think they were honoring her to make up for ignoring History of Love actually.

[Marialyce]

See Joel, That is what makes the reader's world go around. The fact that different people find different things within the pages of a book makes our reading world ever so wonderful.

What books did you think belong on the list?
We are having a discussion on The Surrendered on another site and there again views are conflicted.

[Sue]

This is definitely what makes the book world go around!! We all find different things in books. This is also what keeps critics jobs going. I'll have to check
Great House out for myself at some point. So many books, so little time. That's why I now will pull the plug on some books I might not have in the past.

[Joel]

Just speaking of high-profile books: A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan, The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall, and Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War by Karl Malantes.

All three were much more cohesive achievements in my eyes (and have gotten awards attention elsewhere). I don't think Great House is bad, but it seems an odd inclusion, especially considering the mixed reaction it is getting from reviewers, professional and amateur alike. But that's how it always goes with awards I suppose. Aside from my issues with it, however, I don't think it has much potential for mainstream appeal, but I guess that is often true of the NBA.

[Marialyce]

The only book I have is Matterhorn. I started it awhile back but pushed it aside for other current reads. I do intend to pick it up again since it is the story of something that so affected the age I grew up in.

[Sherry, Doyenne]

I started reading The Mercy Seat by Rilla Askew. It's starting out very good.

[Sue]

Trespass: A Novel came in from the library and I started it last night, read a couple of chapters. I like what I've read so far, interesting style.

[Ruth]

I've been reading Displaced Persons but it stubbornly refuses to come alive. I think it's going back to the library unfinished.

[Roxanne]

I just got The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey in from the library. Heard a lot about it - won't start until tonight or tomorrow. Trespass was definitely worth reading - it helped that it was shorter.

[Sue]

Roxanne wrote: "I just got The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey in from the library. Heard a lot about it - won't start until tonight or tomorrow. Trespass was definitely worth reading - it helped that it ..."

I get that feeling about Trespass, Roxanne. I like the way she describes her characters, or perhaps more accurately, the way they describe themselves with their words and actions. Different in a way. And I like finding someone different.

[Sue]

Hazel wrote: "I've just finished Good Evening, Mrs Craven: The Wartime Stories of Mollie Panter-Downes. I recommend it to those of you who are anglophiles, or interested in the WWII period, or lov..."

This sounds like another one I'd like. Yikes!!!

[Al]

Joel:

I agree with you that Great Housemade the list to make up for The History of Love slight and the newer book is no where near as good.

I could not get into The Lonely Polygamist and am just starting A Visit from the Goon Squad - so far I like it although I did not love The Keep the way others did.

I just finished a quiet, but lovely book The Breaking of Eggs: A Novel - it is a debut by an older novelist and I think a lot of CRs would enjoy it (I am thinking particularly of Jim, Ruth, Barb, Sherry). It takes place around the main character's 61st birthday, he lives in Paris and travels in Eastern Europe and the setting is 1991.

I also just finished a debut short story collection that was very good - mainly about love and loss - If I Loved You, I Would Tell You This. Most of the short story regulars would probably enjoy it.

I am really enjoying The House of Mirth so far - it makes me want to lie in bed all day curled up with it. Alas, that is not happening, but it is nice to think about . . .

[Kat]

Have put Trespass on my to-read list. I've read most of Rose Tremain's work--I love RESTORATION--but for some reason haven't read the last few she's written.

[K.B.]

Regarding the NBA nominees, wouldn't it be fascinating to see whatever documentation is used for the short-listed nominees? "I liked this because...." Every year when the Edgar Award finalists are announced (mysteries are my faves), I try to read everything in the novel categories and try to guess which books will be the winners. I usually get side-tracked and don't finish them all before the winners are announced, but I have fun trying. But I've noticed that from year to year, the content of the books (noir vs. literary vs. cozy vs. thriller ...), the quality of the writing, the quality of the mystery on the finalists list varies, which I'm sure reflects the different people sitting on the committee from year to year. Now, I'm not suggesting that the Edgars are on par with the National Book Award, the Booker, the Pulitzer, but I'm sure that changes to the membership of the selection committees will result in similar variance.