Constant Reader discussion

The daylight grows shorter as we enter autumn ... my TBR stacks grow ever higher.

Trying so hard to finish books I have on hand, without acquiring more books. I am not being very successful, due to this thread.

My TBR of downloadable ebooks my library has in its collection stands at around 300 or so. I won't read nearly all of them, but still ...

One of the nice features of the annual CR Convention, is that we read passages of selected writings to the group assembled. This past weekend in Austin, I read a few pages from Bel Canto, a book by Ann Patchett that I read many years ago, and loved. Just those few pages got me hooked, and now I am re-reading it, and loving it once again.

John wrote: "My TBR of downloadable ebooks my library has in its collection stands at around 300 or so. I won't read nearly all of them, but still ..."

John,

My TBR piles are such a source of comfort but also problematic in terms of figuring out which book will give me the most pleasure to read next. The biggest issue is always how to work in the reserved books that have come in from the library.

My TBR pile has grown so much bigger since I joined Constant Reader. And I've read many things I wouldn't have otherwise.

I read A Streetcar Named Desire today in preparation for the CR drama discussion that starts tomorrow. I never get sick of Tennessee Williams.

Larry wrote: "John wrote: "My TBR of downloadable ebooks my library has in its collection stands at around 300 or so. I won't read nearly all of them, but still ..."

John,

My TBR piles are such a source of com..."

The last library ebook I read took a while, and was bogged down a bit in spots, but I'd still recommend it: Hitch-22: A Memoir. Hitchens even had me re-thinking my dislike of Paul Wolfowitz, though I still don't hold that fellow in very high regard.

Cateline wrote: "I've read a couple of the Jane Whitefield stories, and liked them.
Perry's Butcher Boy books kind of remind me of Lawrence Block's Hitman series Hit Man being the first. "

To be honest, I think that Thomas Perry is at his literary height in the Butcher Boy series. But Jane Whitefield is one his few truly likeable characters that it lets me enjoy Perry's novels about her more.

John wrote: "The last library ebook I read took a while, and was bogged down a bit in spots, but I'd still recommend it: Hitch-22: A Memoir. Hitchens even had me re-thinking my dislike of Paul Wolfowitz, though I still don't hold that fellow in very regard. "

I think my dislike of Wolfowitz is probably similar to your own, but I will be interested in reading what Hitchens has to say about him.

Picked up an old Sherlock Holmes pastiche, The Monster of St. Marylebone. Feels right, although it's odd in that Watson is the active character for most of the exposition.

Have started The Death of Achilles (am rereading after many years) and Sailing from Byzantium: How a Lost Empire Shaped the World, which from the few pp. I've read, looks to be a simply-written history of the Byzantine Empire.
I love the wordplay of the title: I think Yeats might like it too. :)

Finished Still Alice. I found it extremely compelling. I think the author chose not to show how hard Alzheimer's is on the caregivers. It's true that the book is from the perspective of someone with Alzheimer's, not from a caregiver POV, but more could have been shown w/o sacrificing the POV. Of course it's also fair to say that the experience can vary a great deal from person to person. I also found the ending a little wishful. Even so, I really appreciated it for the intense emotional reading experience and for what I learned about the disease. Maybe it's a good thing to have a book out there that isn't a worst-case scenario.

John wrote: "My TBR of downloadable ebooks my library has in its collection stands at around 300 or so. I won't read nearly all of them, but still ..."

My kindle has 3900 items on it.

Just. Sayin.

Here I thought *I* had a hoarding problem ...

haha @ John. Reading The Moonstone for discussion.

John wrote: "Here I thought *I* had a hoarding problem ..."

You might. Don't sell yourself short. ;-)

John wrote: "Here I thought *I* had a hoarding problem ..."

No kidding. I feel kinda restrained now! :-)

I used to have over 5,000 books, which I put together as a writer's research library. Once the internet arrived, I realized most of them weren't necessary, so I donated them to my school library where I can still visit them ;)

I still have over 2,000...friends are friends after all...

Robert wrote: "I still have over 2,000...friends are friends after all..."

Robert, my wife and I are in the same ball park as you. I don't have exact numbers but I think we've worked our library of about 4,000 books down to about 2,000. Our donations have gone to our county library system.

Robert wrote: "I still have over 2,000...friends are friends after all..."

I bought most of my used-to-be-3K+ collection at the local FOL booksale, and have donated them back as I've read them. I'm now down to less than a thousand and hope to whittle away a few hundred more before the next time we move.

I've probably got another thousand in my classroom...I call my librarians my favorite drug dealers.

Robert wrote: "I still have over 2,000...friends are friends after all..."
True, true...

I only have 270(ish) on my kindle, husband about 70. But our physical library stands at just under 8,000. Of course that is his, mine and ours. :) And includes many of his professional books.

Cateline wrote: "Robert wrote: "I still have over 2,000...friends are friends after all..."
True, true...

I only have 270(ish) on my kindle, husband about 70. But our physical library stands at just under 8,000. ..."

I can't hear a number like that without thinking of how many boxes that would be to lug around. Let's see, if 3000 was 32 boxes, 8K is pushing 80.....

Cateline wrote: "Robert wrote: "I still have over 2,000...friends are friends after all..."
True, true...

I only have 270(ish) on my kindle, husband about 70. But our physical library stands at just under 8,000. ..."

If we're talking physical books, that's a whole different story. No restraint there, except recently, as I've migrated to (mostly) audio and ebooks.

Jennifer wrote: "Cateline wrote: "Robert wrote: "I still have over 2,000...friends are friends after all..."
True, true...

I only have 270(ish) on my kindle, husband about 70. But our physical library stands at j..."

We have tried to at least cull the duplicates, and we could possibly ditch some. But only if we ever move. I hate to even think about it.

Wow, those are dazzling numbers! I donated my professional books when I retired except for a shelf or two. I cull my bookshelves regularly and they stand at about 1000 now. Probably about 400 more on the Kindle. I volunteer at a local library in their used book sale room, where I can often get first dibs on donated books! We make around $20,000 yearly on this venture - all donated books and run by volunteers.

Right now I'm reading
The Garden of Evening Mists.

I think I own roughly 30 books - half of which are not in English. I don't re-read, and have a library card.

John wrote: "I think I own roughly 30 books - half of which are not in English. I don't re-read, and have a library card."

John,

This is a better way to live. I do admire you for it. With all the deaths (four) of older family members this year, I have begun thinking about how I tell my son which books are truly worth keeping after my wife and I die ... which I hope is not for a long time. He is a reader but he also doesn't like clutter.

Larry

I understand that folks have accumulated a lot over the years, whereas I've moved around enough that I haven't had the opportunity to do so.

Getting back to the thread title, I'm still enjoying Clarissa Dickson-Wright's (one of television's Two Fat Ladies) Clarissa's England, where she describes what each county means to her personally.

John wrote: "I understand that folks have accumulated a lot over the years, whereas I've moved around enough that I haven't had the opportunity to do so.

Getting back to the thread title, I'm still enjoying C..."

I wish I were younger so I could travel through each of those counties, John!

Still in the middle of All Souls by Javier Marias, but out today with my kindle, I started Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett. I'd forgotten just how good Follett's older stories are. Of course it is a reread, I read it when it first came out.

I just finished DEATH IN KASHMIR by M. M. Kaye (The Far Pavilions). Didn't realize she'd written several mysteries. Death in Kashmir was a bit long, but very good. Made me want to visit Kashmir in what looked like a beautiful place of mountains, valleys and lakes. Not at all as I picture India, as urban and poor.

Marge

That sounds like a good one , Marge. I enjoyed the Far Pavilions, when I read it many years ago. Add another brick to my mountain.

John wrote, "I'm still enjoying Clarissa Dickson-Wright's (one of television's Two Fat Ladies) Clarissa's England, where she describes what each county means to her personally. "

Oh, I loved the Two Fat Ladies' cooking show, actually a cooking/travel show. On the Food Network channel? I'll get Clarissa's book to read. Thanks.

Marge

Carol wrote: "That sounds like a good one , Marge. I enjoyed the Far Pavilions, when I read it many years ago. Add another brick to my mountain."

Carol, THE FAR PAVILIONS truly was one of my favor epic novels. (That was also true for my wife.)

Still on NECESSARY ERRORS, it's pretty slow going, though it has some thought-provoking conversations in it. Just started A Legacy, by Sybille Bedford, set in Germany before WWI. It's supposed to be about a Jewish and a Catholic family intermarriage and how their personal lives get swept up into historical events, and to be a great overlooked book of the 20th century. Hope this turns out to be true! So far it's a lot of complicated kinship stuff. I'm going to draw a chart.

The Far Pavilions was the first really long book outside of fantasy and SF I read back in high school (or the second -- not sure if I read Gone with the Wind before that).

Just finished Child Made of Sand: Poems by Thomas Lux. Here's my review.

I usually enjoy very much the poems of Thomas Lux so I looked forward to reading this. Even sprung for the hardback. I’m sorry to say I was disappointed. This is no Split Horizon Split Horizon: Poems. I still see his wonderful cheeky irreverence, but now it seems to be wearing a cloak of smartassedness. I wanted to like this more than I did.

Cateline wrote: "Still in the middle of All Souls by Javier Marias, but out today with my kindle, I started Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett. I'd forgotten just how good Follett's older stories are. Of course it ..."

Hi Cateline!!! Eye of the Needle is a lucid, Fast paced book.. I have enjoyed reading Ken Follett. Do you know they made a bollywood movie on the same plot!! great reading ahead!!

Paakhi wrote: "Hi Cateline!!! Eye of the Needle is a lucid, Fast paced book.. I have enjoyed reading Ken Follett. Do you know they made a bollywood movie on the same plot!! great reading ahead!!
.."

No, I didn't know there was a Bollywood version!

But I do remember the strange and wonderful Donald Sutherland playing the spy in the English film. :)

I enjoyed Follett back in high school.

I downloaded Poor Miss Finch a while back. I just started it, but it is looking good. Right now Miss Finch has expressed an interest in (gasp) a man. Who might have nefarious intentions. I am enjoying it.

Larry wrote: "The daylight grows shorter as we enter autumn ... my TBR stacks grow ever higher."

Larry, Don"t feel bad I feel like I need to buy a new house just for my books. We bought a beach house this year and I moved some books there but all that did was make room for more at my house.

Linda wrote: "Larry wrote: "The daylight grows shorter as we enter autumn ... my TBR stacks grow ever higher."

Larry, Don"t feel bad I feel like I need to buy a new house just for my books. We bought a beach ho..."

:-)

Linda wrote: "Larry wrote: "The daylight grows shorter as we enter autumn ... my TBR stacks grow ever higher."

Larry, Don"t feel bad I feel like I need to buy a new house just for my books. We bought a beach ho..."

e-books to the rescue! Hi-Ho!

Robert wrote: "The Far Pavilions was the first really long book outside of fantasy and SF I read back in high school (or the second -- not sure if I read Gone with the Wind before that)."

I think it was my second epic novel. My wife and I both read The Thorn Birds the year before we read THE FAR PAVILIONS.

Just finished reading The Timekeeper by Mitch Albom... Now reading Room which i started before The Timekeeper but its sluggish in the beginning so switched..

Careline wrote "I started Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett. I'd forgotten just how good Follett's older stories are. Of course it ..."

I have some of Follett's thrillers on my TBR list: JACKDAWS, THE KEY TO REBECCA and NIGHT OVER WATER.

Marge

Robert wrote: "I enjoyed Follett back in high school."

Yeah Robert... I too read him while I entered grad school