Books on the Nightstand discussion

I just finished after getting to see the original painting at The Frick Collection in NY over Christmas. I loved every moment of the book, and Boris is my new all-time favorite literary character.

My plans for January: I am lucky enough to have been given an ARC of , the Canadian edition of and from my BOTNS Secret Santa: . For my non-fiction this month I am going to finish up T. Colin Campbell's and his latest . Finally, for a little fun I'm currently reading on my Kindle.

Reading The Round House (almost done), The Lake Shore Limited, and The Bully Pulpit (anything by Doris Kearns Goodwin is a MUST read).

The Luminaries
I'm in love with this book.

For 2014 I'm also trying to read books I have on the shelf or on my nook. My other "goal" is to only read stuff I'm really enjoying and into. If I'm not liking something I'm going to allow myself to scrap it and not force myself to finish.

Alex and The Ice Princess (both on audio]).

Decided against We Are Water for the time being and just started Stephen King's Duma Key (how did I miss this book when it came out?) A little King makes everything better. I remembered I had this book after hearing Michael's review of The Stand audiobook.

Duma Key is one of my favorite SK books.

I'm thinking about starting my new book An Essential Deception which just came today. Hoping the good review I read will hold true since it's a paperback that cost $20, it's huge, and not available electronically which is my preferred format by a wide margin.

Rebecca wrote: "The Luminaries
I'm in love with this book.

For 2014 I'm also trying to read books I have on the shelf or on my nook. My other "goal" is to only read stuff I'm really enjoying and..."
Hi Rebecca,

Isn't The Luminaries wonderful??? I just finished it and didn't want it to end!

Chanda2426 wrote: "Decided against We Are Water for the time being and just started Stephen King's Duma Key (how did I miss this book when it came out?) A little King makes everything better. I remembered I had this ..."

I really liked Duma Key-enjoy!

Becky wrote: "Chanda2426 wrote: "Decided against We Are Water for the time being and just started Stephen King's Duma Key (how did I miss this book when it came out?) A little King makes everything better. I rem..."

Thanks Becky! I do love your recommendations! We have an uncanny similiar taste in books. What did you think about We Are Water? I have seen mixed reviews.
Happy reading!

Chanda2426 wrote: "Becky wrote: "Chanda2426 wrote: "Decided against We Are Water for the time being and just started Stephen King's Duma Key (how did I miss this book when it came out?) A little King makes everything..."

I liked it, I liked it a lot….there were some very difficult subjects & not everyone was likable but I love Wally's style & he somehow makes it all not sound so depressing LOL….But I know you just read The Goldfinch, so maybe a little break with some SK will be a good idea!

& yes, we do have a strong similarity in our reading material, don't we? lol

Pam wrote: "Melissa wrote: "Finished The Art of Hearing Heartbeats last now and now I have begun The Goldfinch."

I loved The Art of Hearing Heartbeats. Wish I'd heard the author at Booktopia."

It was just a beautiful story!

I have started Bleakly Hall.

The Goldfinch was so spectacularly good that I was hesitant to move on to anything else. This has never happened before so my goal has been to alternate between one Booktopia Vermont author then one novel of my choice. In this fashion I have finished PS Duffy's , , and currently Linn Ullman's

Patti wrote: "The Goldfinch was so spectacularly good that I was hesitant to move on to anything else. This has never happened before so my goal has been to alternate between one Booktopia Vermont author then on..."

Patti--How did you like PS Duffy's novel? I just ordered a Booktopia Vermont book from the library today, because I realized I better get reading!

I started the year with We Are Water and, while I did enjoy reading it, it didn't live up to his previous efforts. I am making a second attempt at Burnt Shadows Next up: The Tennis Partner.

I've read Unseen and Damage, and now I'm listening to Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital as a part of a Non-Fiction challenge I did, and reading Music of Ghosts: A Novel of Suspense. I have a few others to finish this month for other book clubs, including The Goldfinch.

Yeah, I'm done with Stardust by Joseph Kanon! This is another book that took me forever to read. The story dragged, there were too many characters to keep track of, and I didn't care about the plot or the people. Others liked it so not sure why it was so awful for me.

Melissa wrote: "Patti wrote: "The Goldfinch was so spectacularly good that I was hesitant to move on to anything else. This has never happened before so my goal has been to alternate between one Booktopia Vermont ..."

I really liked it! I had never heard of the sad historical meanings of "No Man's Land", used in this case in WWI. Apparently it had a meaning in the Cold War too. I appreciated her research especially, it would have been brutal. I hope you enjoy it and maybe we'll meet in Vermont:-)

I haven't read any Jesse Ball, but he's got a new book coming out at the end of the month:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

Dennis wrote: "I'm reading "Samedi the Deafness" by Jesse Ball. I read one of his other books, "The Curfew", and thought it was brilliant."

I just finished The Signature of All Things and started For the Benefit of Those Who See: Dispatches from the World of the Blind.

How did you like Signature of All Things? I just joined Audible and thinking about it for my next audio-read.

Shannon wrote: "I just finished The Signature of All Things and started For the Benefit of Those Who See: Dispatches from the World of the Blind."

Sue wrote: "How did you like Signature of All Things? I just joined Audible and thinking about it for my next audio-read.

Shannon wrote: "I just finished The Signature of All Things and start..."

Hi Sue, I know this question wasn't directed at me, but I listened to on Audiobooks.com and absolutely loved it. Juliet Stevenson did a fantastic job!

I finished The Goldfinch, last night & I wanted to start East of Eden but I needed some down time so I am reading The Last Letter from Your Lover

I'm in the process of reading 5 books at the moment, though unsure about one of the two huge ones:

A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth: reading this with the FB group, going to stay with it
At Night We Walk In Circles by Daniel Alarcón: a Christmas gift from my dad (I think mostly because it takes place in Latin America and I'm a Spanish major.) It's not one I would have picked up on my own, but the plot has grabbed me now and I'm nearly halfway through.
Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hope by Gabrielle Giffords and Mark Kelly: Started this last year and am enjoying it quite a bit, even though I'm one of the people least interested in politics that I know. :)
The Great Alone by Janet Dailey: Another huge book (nearly 900 pgs) and the plot really isn't holding my interest, so not sure if I'll keep going yet or not.
El Río que Nos Lleva by José Luis Sampedro: A Spanish novel that a friend sent me as a Christmas gift. I'm only a chapter in so far so not sure what I think yet.

I'm also planning to read The Goldfinch soon. A few days ago I finished The Golem and the Jinni and absolutely loved it. :)

Thanks, Gretchen! Will bump it up to the top of the TBL list!

Gretchen wrote: "Sue wrote: "How did you like Signature of All Things? I just joined Audible and thinking about it for my next audio-read.

Shannon wrote: "I just finished [book:The Signature of All Things|1746545..."

Are you okay?? I'm halfway through Goldfinch and worried about the state I'll be in when it's over.

Becky wrote: "I finished The Goldfinch, last night & I wanted to start East of Eden but I needed some down time so I am reading The Last Letter from Your Lover"

I know there were times when I actually stopped breathing or I was breathing heavy!!!

Sue wrote: "Are you okay?? I'm halfway through Goldfinch and worried about the state I'll be in when it's over.

Becky wrote: "I finished The Goldfinch, last night & I wanted to start [book:Ea..."

I started off the year by finishing a book I'd been reading off and on since fall, Edith Wharton's Ghost Stories. I read the last few stories the first thing this year. Since I own this book, I managed to start on my reading challenge goal of reading a number of books from my own shelves, rather than from the library! I also read a book that had been one of last year's "must reads," The Night Circus.

I've managed to listen to two audiobooks, a sci-fi/fantasy book called Blood Red Road by Moira Young, which I discovered is the first of a trilogy, and Killer Smile by Lisa Scottoline.

Right now I'm listening to a story anthology called Poe's Children: The New Horror, edited by Peter Straub. In print, I've started a book I meant to read last fall for an online book club, a take on the Arthurian legend by Bernard Cornwell, The Winter King. I think it's a series, by I don't know if I'll read the others. This online book group is reading The Princess Bride this month, and I also need to read The Son and The Paris Wife for my other book clubs.

Sue wrote: "How did you like Signature of All Things? I just joined Audible and thinking about it for my next audio-read.


Gretchen wrote: Hi Sue, I know this question wasn't directed at me, but I listened to The Signature of All Things on Audiobooks.com and absolutely loved it. Juliet Stevenson did a fantastic job!

I was apprehensive at first, but ended up really enjoying it. I'm a huge fan of big, epic sagas and it totally fit the bill. And it sounds like Gretchen gives the audio version the nod, too :)

On the surface, this book is a sort of coming of age story about a young woman we know as "Reno", who drifts through the world of artists and revolutionaries in the 70s, shedding her naivete as she goes. But underneath that, it's saying a lot about art, class struggle, and gender politics.

There are a lot of discussions among the characters as to what "art" is. In a way, the book makes the case that all art is a sort of fakery. If you see a white canvas hanging in a gallery, is the artist putting one over on us? Well, yes. But no more so than the artist who presents fully rendered life on the canvas. The book also presents the idea that an individual life itself can be art. One character, an actress, decides to devote her life to "playing" a waitress in a diner, actually holding down a 9-5 job as one. Another character tells elaborate, though untrue, stories about himself to anyone who'll listen. It is said of him: “You have to listen closely. He'll say something perfectly true and it's meaningless. Then he makes something up, but it has value. He's telling you something.”

Sometimes artists stage revolutions, or use the trappings of revolutions to create art. The "real" revolutionaries in the book seem to be engaging in just as much (or as little) meaningful work as the fake revolutionaries.

Misogyny is heavily themed in the book too, and the message may be that women are as much responsible for it as men, or at least that women do a pretty good job at putting other women in their place, even as the men are doing it the women.

In style, the book reminded me a lot of Joan Didion's , which was one of my favorite books in my college days. Also, I see a lot of Hemingway influence, in the way human emotions and interactions are suggested and underplayed, and in the way the natural world is matter-of-factly, yet accurately described.

There are a lot of stories within the story. Many of the characters are accomplished bullshit artists who get their time on the stage to throw out a tale or a philosophical musing.

If you enjoy plot-based books, which proceed in A-B-C fashion, avoid this book. If, however, you like a book that makes you periodically pause, set the book down and think, you'll like it.

Eric your reviews are great!!

Thanks, Patti!

Reading "The Passage", and "Emily of New Moon" to my daughters. Also "Lady in the Tower" on audio.

Finished The Goldfinch - very good. I don't think that I appreciated it quite as much as most people are but I thought that it was very good. I just began tenth of December.

Currently reading The News from Spain and The Hour I First Believed.

Eric, thanks. I love your two sentence summary at the end and that helped me a lot. I have had this on my TBR list for a long time, but hesitated because I thought it sounded like what you described. As I've been reading a lot more in the past few years, and picking up things based on recommendations that I might not normally read, I'm learning that I really prefer the more plot-heavy stories and not so much the introspective ones. At age 47, a revelation! So based on your brief summary there, I may pass on this one.

Back to the thread topic, I am reading and loving it!

Glad to be of service! But I like all kinds of books. The only deal breaker for me is a bad or mediocre book. No good book, to me, is a waste of time.

The only good book I don't have the desire to finish is Finnegan's Wake. For me, although I appreciate it as an artistic achievement, it's too much effort for too little reward.

I'm nearly finished with my re-read of Gone with the Wind (for book club), and I've recently started Longbourn. Once I finish up GWTW, I'll be able to delve more deeply into the latter.

I just finished a re-read of The Hunger Games. After seeing Catching Fire, I decided I needed to re-read the first book before reading the second (which I really wanted to do after seeing the movie). However, I now need a Katniss break and have just started both The Introvert's Way: Living a Quiet Life in a Noisy World by Sophia Dembling and The Astronaut Wives Club: A True Story by Lily Koppel. The Koppel book hasn't gotten a great response from Goodreads contributors, but it's such a great story that I'm hoping for the best.

I was very disappointed In the astronaut wife book. My lowest rated book of 2013 with only 2 stars. I'm interested in hearing what you think though. I would never dissuade anyone from trying something that interests them!

The other book you mentioned sounds like a takeoff of the . Have you read that?it has gotten excellent reviews, but I guess as a confirmed extrovert, it never appealed to me!

The Grimm Legacy is a book I read before it was published (the author is part of my writing group). She has had a second book published which I didn't get to participate in, so I thought I'd start at the beginning.

Let the Right One In

A dark and disturbing novel that is exceptionally well written and completely engaging. This story is about more than just vampires. It delves into tha pain of growing up, illness, bullying, and revenge, but its base is the complete desperation of being lonely. This is not a story for the faint of heart. If you can handle the darkness then you will enjoy this story. Highly recommended. 5 stars

Kokeshi wrote: "Let the Right One In

A dark and disturbing novel that is exceptionally well written and completely engaging. This story is about more than just vampires..."

this was such a great book, totally scary & very grown up!

@Linda: I loved the Grimm Legacy. Now I must go find her new book. ;)

I've just finished the last of the 5 Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy BBC audio plays, which are the source material for the books, but (surprisingly) have huge differences. Also finished The Martian, one of Michael's recommendations. That is a great read. I'm now moving on to an audio version of HP Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness. Trying to find time to restart The Goldfinch after an abortive attempt, but it's so long that I'm having trouble committing to it.

I just started

Still reading . Incredibly detailed. It really gives you a complete picture of the milieu the boys grew up in, and am understanding of their characters, flaws and all.

Still, I continue to love them like the older brothers I never had.

We're living in a time when the world (and by this I mean corporate culture) conspires to turn us into machines. Products. Guinea pigs. Implements made out of meat. And it conspires to make us treat others as such. This is all rather horrible, even though our CEO masters keep telling us it's all for the greater good.

How do we retain our humanity in the face of all of this?

That precise thing is what Saunders does so brilliantly in his stories. No matter how depressing and dehumanizing the scenario, Saunders's stories always present a character with an indomitable human conscience, who is willing to make a gesture, however futile, in the defense of human decency.

While reading this story, I was constantly reminded of Huck Finn, who by helping Jim escape from slavery, was doing something good, while believing he was doing something wicked, because of the pervasive and perverted morality of his time.

Here's to the human conscience, which continues to survive against all odds! And here's to George Saunders, who puts the human conscience under impossible, though all too familiar, predicaments, and chronicles its survival.

I don't want to say too much more about these stories. Just read them. Every now and then you read something unforgettable. I felt while reading these like I felt when I first read Harlan Ellison, another lone voice of morality shouting "love" at the heart of the universe. If you know how I feel about Harlan Elison, you know what praise I'm giving.

I'm waist-deep and fully immersed in Duma Key! Absolutely loving it! Although it's long, definitely a must-read for any SK fan! =)