I am reading The Spellman Files by (?) Lisa Lutz, I think.

(Don't have the book near me here at the computer, so I am relying on memory--not always a good thing to do.)

I am finishing up Milk of Human Kindness by Ferrars and plan to start The Price of Butcher's Meat tonight after we get home from our second pork and sauerkraut meal of the day. I figure having sauerkraut twice can only help the economy. ;-)

Now on to reading some gardening-related books, one called "From the Ground Up: The Story of a First Garden" by Amy Stewart. It's about a young woman from Texas who ups and moves to CA where she starts her first little garden. I am not very far into the book yet, but it's good so far.

After this one, I have to read one of the books I own. I must remember to turn off the dreaded "one-click" on amazon as it makes far too easy to buy books and I don't need any more. (Now wanting is another matter, but needing - no.)

After reviewing my reading journal for 2008, I set myself a reading goal for the year: to read more Icelandic literature. It was a shock to realise that I only read 4 books in my native language during the whole of 2008, and 2 of those were translations. I aim to read at least 1 per week in 2009.

I finished Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress . I found the book quite different from the movie. In the movie they extended the books ending to include the two protagonists in older age reflecting upon the past. I wonder why the narrator never gave his name outright and when asked at one time he gave the name of Luo, his friend.

I haven't dipped into The Little House series in a few days. I felt like reading something gritty and picked up Invisible Man. This is my first reading and I can see early on why the novel garnered such acclaim.

I've ordered the rest of Laura Childs Tea Shop Mystery books from the library. I'm not reading in order. Right now the one I have started is The Jasmine Moon Murder. I do not like it as much as Blood Orange Brewing. Childs did not introduce the reader to too many characters before the murder occured. I sure would like to try the tea blends mentioned though.

~Vanessa

Started The Price of Butcher's Meat last night, and am currently on p. 33. So far the shifting narrators are annoying me a bit-but upon looking back farther into the book, I see yet another typeface, so I am hoping that the emails and personal ponderings with which he is advancing the story so far will be diluted with some straight narrative.

And, I just started The Far Pavilions by MM Kaye. Only about 40 pages in but I think it's going to be a really great read for me. I love this type of epic story, and the fact it's set in India makes it even better.

BTW, Dorothy Sayers wrote one of the translations of The Divine Comedy which my friend and I read in our DC studies. Her translation is the one we go to quite often still, as her commentaries are thorough and wonderful.

Next I am going to try to read my first Paul Auster novel. Anyone here read his work? What did you think?

I shelved Gaudy Night as advised, and read an earlier Wimsey mystery, The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club.

I am now on the last chapter of a 1950's travelogue about Greece, written by an eminent Icelandic author, Sigurður A, Magnússon. He was a wonderful stylist and the book is a joy to read, all except the very long chapter on Greek history, which the book could have done without.

Been reading "Twilight" by Stephanie Myers (which is all the rage with the YA right now). It's a fun read and reminds me of the intensity of teenaged love and angst. Glad I am not in the thralls of that for real - it was bad enough the first time! Still, the story is pretty good but I can tell it was written for the YA crowd. Not sure if I will follow up with the rest of the series, but this is good for right now.

Also reading "Watching the English" by Kate Fox, an anthropologist (English) who has spent many years watching English people (as opposed to Scots or Welsh) and has developed a number of "rules" that English culture follows. Very interesting but must be taken in small gulps as it is quite academic.

Vee - sometime around Christmas, you mentioned that you were going to read "The Anglo Files" by an American author and her views on English people. Did you read it yet? What did you think? It's got mixed reviews on amazon so was curious.

Also - finished the "Little House" books. Very satisfying to read a series and haven't done that before (i.e. read and finished a long series of books that build on each other). It was fun, glad I have done it, but probably won't read them again any time soon.

I also read Lewis Carroll's 'Alice in Wonderland' and 'Through the Looking Glass' online. I loved it! I am easily charmed by talking animals and such.
I think C.S. Lewis must have admired these books as well, as I noticed there were several phrases from Carroll's books that C.S. put into his 'Chronicles of Narnia'.

I just read some of the short stories of Truman Capote. 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' was fair. 'House of Flowers' and 'A Diamond Guitar' were a little too sparse to be engaging. But I truly enjoyed his 'A Christmas Memory', 'One Christmas', and 'The Thanksgiving Visitor'. I plan to read more by him in the future.
CMK

Just returned 'Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil' by Deborah Rodriguez, to the library. --Very enjoyable.

Having noticed people's comments here about 'Guernsey Literary and...,' I took it out today. It looks good. A bit reminiscent of '84, Charing Cross Road,' judging from the first 4 or 5 pages, but I loved '84...'

Others:
Alexander McCall Smith's latest Botswana book, 'The Miracle at Speedy Motors'--These books are good for reading just before going to sleep, as they never fail to make me feel good.

'The Martian Child: A Novel About A Single Father Adopting A Son,' by David Gerrold This is a novel based on a real life story, but part-way through, the author got so into investigating what he called "martian children" that I thought the book was turning into a most unusual work of science fiction. I won't spoil it for others by telling you whether it was or not. It is a quick read.

I'm 3/4 of the way through Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. This was a Christmas gift. I normally don't read memoirs of living people. Her story is quite compelling and very interesting. I have so many good books, I don't know what to read next.

Probably better borrowed from the library.

PAM

I'm reading The Canterbury Papers by Judith Healey and am really liking it. Alais, the French princess once betrothed to Richard the Lion Heart, is the main character and is on a mission for Eleanor of Acquataine to "rescue" some state papers. It is very smoothly written and really puts you into the setting.

Now I am reading Arnold Bennett's The Old Wives Tale, which I am thoroughly enjoying. I've never read Bennett before, probably because I had the impression that he was one of those dreary middlebrow writers no one bothered with anymore.

It sounds like I won't bother with the Lyall book. I have an English friend who comes to visit Canada every few years, usually accompanied by an English lady friend. So far, these women have all been incredibly glamorous if a bit loose morally (just kidding Wendy!). I can't imagine where the stereotype of English social repression comes from, since these women are always incredibly sophisticated. I find English people to be much more frank and "earthy" than Americans or Canadians.

:-)

I've moved on to a re-read of "Eldest," the second in a trilogy. I bought the third book "Brisingr" and thought I'd better review the earlier books, as there are lots of characters and events to recall.

I also bought a book called "The Quincunx" by Charles Palliser(?). The hype compares it to Dickens. Has anyone read this by any chance?

I"ve also got a few Pratchett's lying around, so I might pick up one of those. Hmmm ... so many choices.

Now juggling King Solomon's Carpet, The Orphans of Tsavo and The Physiology of Taste.

I'm also reading The Faber Book of Diaries, which is set up like a diary with several entries per day. I'm going to try to read each day's entries on the day in question, so it will take me a year to finish it.

Now reading "The Mercury Visions of Louis Daguerre" by Dominic Smith recommended here on RP (but sorry - can't remember who). I am enjoying it so far so will do some more reading tonight to see if it takes.

Netla - I am intrigued by the Faber Book of Diaries and will have to look that up. I love the vicarious pleasure of reading someone else's secret thoughts when they get published. I would, of course, die with horror if my own diaries were published, but other people's ? That's fine.

:-)

In an interview I read with Michael Connelly he mentioned some of his favorite authors. Most of them I am familiar with and like but he also mentioned Denise Mina, a new-to-me author. While helping my soon-to-be-closed Borders store get rid of their inventory, I found three books by her that comprise the Garnethill Trilogy and am now reading the first, Garnethill.

Has anyone read her books? She is a Scottish author and the book has a good deal of what I assume to be Scottish slang. It is about a former mental patient who finds her boyfriend murdered in her living room. She sets out to find the killer because she is afraid the police are going to pin the crime on her and her life is already difficult enough. That very brief description does not do the book justice in any way because it sounds like most other crime books but this one is definitely different. It won the John Creasey Memorial Award for best first crime novel (the equivalent of the American Edgar award).

I finished The Limehouse Text by Will Thomas. About 1/3 of the way in, I realized I was reading the third in the series before reading the second....and though that gives me great angst, I soldiered on and finished it. Now I am beginning the second book in the series, To Kingdom Come, to get the world spinning in the right direction again. Perfect day for it-icy, ugly, cold. Had an email from one of my editors today-it's in the low 70s and sunny where she is.
But she's at work and I'm at home. Reading!

Began Douglas Preston's non-fiction account of The Monster of Florence upon whom, apparently, Harris based Hannibal Lecter. I complain endlessly about the shallow and unbelievable characterizations of Preston and Lee, but somehow I continue to read them. Sigh.

U.K. 35p - Australia 90c - Canada $1.25 - New Zealand 90c
Not For sale in The U.S.A

I often wondered if this embargo was some sort of mechanism for punishing the U.S for taking the the Queen's head off their currency....

I never see this now, I think it was all to do with the retail price agreement that the UK used to protect book sale values, which the EU has since abolished.

PAM

I recently went to the Darwin exhibition at the Natural History Museum, which was excellent. (Also enjoyed prowling round the rest of the museum, which I haven't done for years - I'd forgotten how wonderful a building it is, apart from anything else!) While I was there, I picked up two books - What Evolution Is by Ernst Myer and Almost Like a Whale by Steve Jones. I've just started the second (which is a modern revisiting of The Origin of Species, based on our current knowledge) and I'm enjoying it so far. (By the way, this book has the title Darwin's Ghost in the US. I wish publishers wouldn't do this!)

Netla, I have another book very like the one you are reading, called The Assassin's Cloak and I enjoyed reading it very much.

Yesterday I sat down with the intention of taking a brief peek at an Icelandic murder mystery, and ended up reading it in one session. I think I read somewhere that it will shortly be published in English, so if anyone wants to make a note of it, the title will in all likelihood be Season of the Witch (after the song), authored by Árni Þórarinsson (Arni Thorarinsson in English). It is tragic, funny, exciting and has some interesting plot twists.

Also just completed a much better book, IMHO, Dana Spiotta's "Eat the Document." It's insightful, funny, and compelling, weaving two stories of two who went Underground after protesting the 'Nam War in the 60's, only to be caught in the 90's by the observant son, watching his mother's odd behavior. No review could do this brilliant novel justice, as it is a spoof on certain cultural values in America. I hated for it to end and look forward to reading more of Spiotta.

Next up: Auster's "Timbuktu."

Also in the middle of "Watching the English" by Kate Fox, but as mentioned in the "reading more than one book" thread, it's been lying forlorn and forgotten as it seems I can only cope with one book at a time, even if they are vastly different.

I just finished The Ballroom on Magnolia Street by Sharon Owens. I'm surprised I don't run across more people who like her books. I've read two of them and enjoyed them both. Nothing too intense, but nice easy reads with enough twists to keep me interested. I have another of hers on hand that I'll read later on.

Right now I'm reading Peace Like a River by Leif Enger.

Just started The Mauritius Command by Patrick O'Brian. It's the fourth book in his Aubrey/Maturin series. I really like this series, and enjoy all the nautical details. Sometimes I wonder if I was a sailor in a past life, since sea-faring has always fascinated me;-)

I'm reading "The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness" by Simon Wiesenthal, a non-fiction book about the Holocaust and forgiveness -- a very thought-provoking read.

I also finished The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets by Eva Rice (daughter of lyricist Tim Rice). It's set in England in the 50's just before Elvis Presley burst on the scene. This is one of the books I put down to read another when I wasn't in the right mood to finish it. When I picked it back up (I was about 1/3 of the way through it), I couldn't put it down and finished it in one setting.

I am in the mids't of reading two separate books, both of which I think were recommended here. THe first one is Driving Over Lemons by Chris Stewart and the other is Grave Consequences by Dana Cameron. My thanks to those who recommended them!

Re: the can't wait for a US pub date discussion above, I no longer order those books via Amazon UK since I can get free international shipping from The Book Depository.

Now, I've started "The Heretic's Daughter", a first novel by Kathleen Kent, which takes place in the time of the Salem witch trials in the New England colonies.Has anyone here read this?

I started Ada by Nabokov. It's very different! Probably the strangest novel I've ever read, just based on the writing style. It's hard for me to it understand at parts. But it's very interesting, and I think I'm going to like it.

Now on to "Mrs Miniver" by Jan Struther. Written in 1940, it's a series of vignettes about this woman and her family. I thought it was going to be a story but it's more like a collection of newspaper columns. It's ok but nothing too impressive.

Now reading "Flower Confidential" by Amy Stewart. A non-fiction book about the cut-flower trade. Interesting so far. I had no idea things were so complicated in the floral business.

I remember winters in England being so cold - bitingly cold and then not being that much warmer in the inside of the house. My dad had scarred us for life by saying that if we touched the thermostat, that the house would explode so of course, we just shivered and put another sweater on.

Took me years to get up the bravery to fiddle with a thermostat and even now I am 45, I still think about my dad when I touch our thermostat to get it to a nice temperature in the house and give him a wry smile of his trickery to stop his children from ruining the electric bill. :-)

Cold knees - we (sis and I) used to walk to school wearing knee socks and skirts with about four inches between the two which was *just enough* to completely freeze by the time we got to school. And crappy wool gloves - no ski gloves for us. Just home-made woollen ones that the wind went right through. And then when we got to school, we had to jostle our way through the masses to get close to the heater.

Aah. One of the reasons I moved to Texas. It was 60 yesterday. :-)

Thanks for the memories, Vee.

liz

On the reading front, I have just finished Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian, which was very enjoyable. I found the end a bit 'neat' but the story, of German/Polish refugees fleeing the Russians in the last days of the war, was very interesting. A review at Amazon states that two of the main characters are based on real people, one of whom left a diary, which just adds to the impact of the book.

Summers were spent either sitting out on a screened porch to catch the faint breezes, or in chairs out in the back yard under the shade trees. Some folks had unscreened porches in the front of their older homes where they sat and watched the goings on in the neighborhood, on hot summer days. Limonade was the drink of choice, and the hammock was a popular item.

We started grammar school after Labor Day, and the heat could be unbearable, as well as at the end of May, when school was winding down.No one had heard of carrying a water bottle. We had to ask permission to use the water fountain. We were turned out into the heat to run races and play fierce ball games for at least one hour recess. No wonder I was constantly dehydrated, as a child.

Today, where I am in VA the windchill factor is about 9 degrees, and the temps will not climb much above 22 degrees. Ideal reading weather, IMHO.

I am keeping my snow shovel handy....

Re: reading and weather memories. I know I read all year long growing up, but I do have especially fond memories of limitless reading during the summers. I remember Brooklyn summers as always being steamy and carrying home the library limit of 6 books to be consumed like candy over the next few days before the next trip back. I never had overdue fines in those days.

I laughed out loud at the Dead Bride game. I once gave two pairs of discarded ruffled net kitchen curtains to my daughter when she was six or seven. Next time I looked out the window, four little girls were parading up and down the sidewalk, heads draped in curtains.

I've started listening to Middlesex after hearing so many good things about it. That was one of the books I irrationally refused to read but I'm enjoying it very, very much. Don't you wonder sometimes how authors' minds work that they can dream up such stories?

I'm reading the second book in Denise Mina's Garnethill Trilogy. Real life has interfered this week but I hope to get back into it over the weekend.

I decided to wait until July for The Girl Who Played With Fire. A little discipline will be good for me, I keep telling myself.

The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler, which I found to be comfortable, fluffy and predictable (but in a nice way). I'm sure it will have got plenty of people reading Austen for the first time, which is a good thing.

The cat in the microwave and other urban legends (translated title) by Rakel Pálsdóttir. This is an Icelandic collection of urban legends, some international, others local.

A Tall Man in a Low Land by Harry Pearson. This is a travelogue about Belgium. Very informative and interesting attempt to understand a nation with a split personality. The book is just a little too insularly British even for an anglophile like me - I had to look up a number of British celebrities in order to understand what he was referring to sometimes when making jokes or drawing analogies.

10 ways to stop killing people and start doing the dishes (translated title) by Hallgrímur Helgason. If anyone has read the book or seen the movie 101 Reykjavík, this was written by the same author. Very dark gallows humour as a Croatian hit man tells the story of how he ended up in Iceland disguised as an American televangelist. I am pretty sure it will be translated into English.

The Orphans of Tsavo by Daphne Sheldrick. A cute book for animal lovers, about an Kenyan head park ranger and his wife who adopted and raised many orphaned wild animals in the 1950's and 60's.

Cop Hater by Ed McBain. A classic police procedural and the first 87th Precinct book. Very good.

King Solomon's Carpet by Barbara Vine (Ruth Rendell). The best psychological thriller I have read in a long time.

Last week I finished Divine Justice by David Baldacci and The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly. I am now reading Exposed by Alex Kava and Buried by Mark Billingham.

I watched the movie The Duchess last weekend and really enjoyed it, apparently based on a 'true life' biolgraphy book about the Duchess of Devonshire who was a "Spencer" and an early ancestor of Princess Diana. I enjoyed it so much that I requested the book from the library it is called Georgiana-has anyone read it?

Pat

Now 154 pages into The Private Patient and very happy. THIS is a book!

I'm also reading The Journeying Boy by Michael Innes, and don't quite know what to make of it. It's published as a mystery but the early chapters read more like the beginning of a thriller or spy novel.

I like most of McCullough's work, particularly the Rome series. I am one of the few who didn't love Thorn Birds, though.

So, my next book is "Birds without Wings" by Louis de Bernieres. I know many of you read this last year (or maybe the year before), but I have only just got it out of the library. I started it during lunchtime which was a mistake as now I will be thinking about it all afternoon and wishing I was reading it instead of working. I loved "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" so am hoping this is of the same calibre. It's good so far at least in the twenty minutes of reading time I had at lunch.

Pat

I started Just After Sunset, Stephen King's latest book of short stories. Meh. Apparently my tastes have changed over the past 20 years. I used to be a huge fan of his, now I'm finding so many things to criticize in these short stories. I'll save that for another post though!

I started The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler, but just couldn't get into it. I gave up around page 30, and set it in my "garage sale" pile.

I plan on starting tonight Desolation Island by Patrick O'Brian, the fifth in the Aubrey/Maturin series. I hope to eventually get through the entire series this year.

Kelly

Pat

Cece, did you know there is a new Louise Penny out? I'm fourth on the library list for it.

Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire was so-so and not as good as The Aristocrats by Stella Tillyard about the Lennox sisters.

Because of this long winter I am re-reading gardening books at present. The Well-tempered Garden by Christopher Lloyd now after having finished A Breath from Elsewhere by Mirabel Osler.

oh heck-just go to Stop You're Killing Me and you'll be as happy as a pig on ice! (see thread about folksy expressions!)

Thank you for all the input above, it's given me many more books to order thru paperbackswap dot com.

I'm reading a silly little series by Selma Eichler about a fiesty, chubby NY private investigator named Desiree Shapiro. They were in a free pile at the local library. They are mostly pretty good, no worse than some of the other mystery series featuring fiesty, interesting women investigators.

I am now reading The Poisoned Chocolate Case by Anthony Berkeley and continuing with The Shadow of the Wind (my current slow read).

All this means I have been working late and then coming home to TV so not much reading done. I am going into severe withdrawals here. Hopefully, this weekend will correct this imbalance as work deadlines will be done and life goes back to normal next week.

This just brings to light how important reading is to me and my life. I am still reading "Birds without Wings" although finding it slow-going for some reason. Also reading "Flowers Confidential" although finding that slow going as well. This is the first time that I have seriously tried to read two books simoultaneously and I am not sure it is up my alley. We'll see. Maybe it's just the week.

Phew. Big decision for me to give up on a book, let alone two. Yeeh for me.

I need some bon bons books.

Sorry you could not get into "Birds Without Wings." I read it around the time I read "Corelli's Mandolin" and some of the same characters were in both books. One would also have to be interested in the love/hate relationship between Greece and Turkey, historically.

I think the story of Birds/Wings is wonderful, but my timing is off. Work is very stressful at the moment (I am a grant-writer and some big heavy-duty ones are due today) so by the time I get home, I am tired and grumpy and not into the Ottoman Empire. I like the characters though. Did you find it a bit dry in places?

Much less interesting was The Quilter's Kitchen by Jennifer Chiaverini. I've read most of the other books in this series and thought this one might be a "bonbon" read. My thoughts upon finishing it were...Why bother? Out of the 200+ pages, most were recipes and maybe 1/4 were story. I certianly wouldn't go out and buy the book, not even for the recipes (a few of which did look tasty).

I tried to read the Independence of Mary Bennett and got annoyed with it so took it back to the library. What bothered me was the impression given that Elizabeth and Darcy were in a loveless marriage and I couldn't get past that impression. I felt, based on the ending of Pride and Prejudice, that they were intended to have a happy marriage, so when Colleen McCullough changed that, I couldn't get into the story. Should I have persevered after all?

"I'd only sprinted a couple hundred yards but my lungs were screaming and my head was pounding as though I had just climbed Mont Blanc. I had to stop. And rest my hands on my knees. And wheeze a lot. Heroically, I resisted the temptation to make rash resolutions concerning big lunches and as soon as I got my breath back I lit a defiant Camel and enjoyed a little coughing fit."
I do wish he would stop smoking-there are only two more books in the series so far and I'd like more. ;-)

You might be able to get it through inter-library loan.