Books on the Nightstand discussion

It's the start of a new month and I just started two new books - I'm reading The Pillars of the Earth and The Great Typo Hunt: Two Friends Changing the World, One Correction at a Time.

I'm slogging may way through Wolf Hall. Enjoyable, but not the easiest read. It is whetting my appetite to know more about the Tudors, and I think I'll be seeking out more on this era once I'm done with this book.

Mr. Rosenblum Dreams in English by Natasha Solomons.

Thus far it is a delightful read. Great 2010 debut book for this author.

I just finished The Bells by Richard Harvell, good, but I expected more from this book.

Carla wrote: "I just finished The Bells by Richard Harvell, good, but I expected more from this book."

I read the ARC of THE BELLS and really liked it. I thought the beauty of the music juxtaposed against the barbarism of the setting and the melodramatic poignancy of Moses were compelling elements to the novel. I will admit, however, I thought the First Act was the roughest (It was hard to figure out what kind of novel it was going to be) and; The Second Act (a bridge to the Third Act) was the least vibrant of the sections but; The Third Act was very moving and the most polished writing in the book.

I thought Richard Harvell did very well in describing the music, though that may because I was already familiar with the music and knew what he was talking about. While I was reading the book I was able to run the score of THE BELLS in my head and that may have added an extra dimension to the reading. Actually, I had a full scale production in my head, music, costumes, sets... a virtual movie!

It sounds very cliche in book reviewing circles, but I really am looking forward to more from this author :-)

Oh, I will read more of his work for sure, it was probably just me. The narration was outstanding.

Carla wrote: "Oh, I will read more of his work for sure, it was probably just me. The narration was outstanding."

I was so deeply conflicted about listening to the audio, that I decided against it. On the plus side, I kept hearing about how the narrator did such a good job, how moved both he and the studio engineer were during the recording sessions, how the narrator sang a cappella in the recording itself and, my own favorable bias to the book... And countering all this, was the fear of being disappointed. I was a coward in that I didn't think I could bear it if my expectations were not met. So yeah, I'm ashamed to admit it, but my fears outweighed all other considerations in this case.

It's like that with Diane Gabaldon's OUTLANDER series too. I started reading those way before the audios were produced and even though I hear that Davina Porter does a stellar job, I can't bring myself to convert to the audio for the series. I already have a wholly formed world in my head regarding those books and I don't want it messed with (I like it there!)

The narration of The Bells was breathtaking, he did sing and it was just beautiful, really brought the story full circle for me. He was amazing.

Last night, I gave up on the audio for THE THOUSAND AUTUMNS OF JACOB DE ZOET (by David Mitchell; narrated by Jonathan Aris and Paul Wilcox) and bought the hardback print edition. There was a sort of audio-intellectual pride that was keeping me doggedly at the audiobook; but eventually I had to cry "uncle!" I was re-winding, re-playing and re-listening to the audio to try and get it all, but the flow of the narrative became completely disrupted that way. The accents were just too much for me. I could not discern "mates" from "maids" much less discern the idiosyncrasies of regional slang. In reading the book in print, I'm shocked at how much, even after all that re-listening, I missed. Also, in comparing the audio to the text, I discovered anomalies in that the audio didn't exactly match up with the text. This may be because the narrators were not working from a final or; the US editors made additional changes from the UK originals or; maybe the narrator transposed phrases. Whatever, it is a bit disconcerting. That all said, I'm glad I started in audio because it's nice to have a voice reference in my head that I can apply to the characters in the book and at least I know how to pronounce "Jacob de Zoet" correctly!

I am starting Freedom by Jonathan Franzen read by David Ledoux.

I am reading The Thin Place by Kathryn Davis and I'm 75 pages from the end and have no idea what the book is about, where it is going, or why? The writing is pretty and occasionally too abstract. The characters are pleasant enough, but don't seem to like each other much. They seemed to be weighed down.

I've just finished The Angel's Game I loved the book both the story and writing style. In someways it is more straighttorward that The Shadow of the Wind but in other ways it was even more mysterious.

I started "Fall of Giants" and "The Princess Bride".

I'm still working through The Fiery Cross, and I'm finding I'm working through it much more slowly than I read the last one. I think I need to take a longer break between these Outlander books.

I finished The Mists of Avalon: Book 3: The King Stag and am going through The Mists of Avalon: Book 4: The Prisoner in the Oak. Davina Porter does a wonderful job with the audiobook, I'm going to make a point of listening to more of her work.

Finally, I'm almost finished with My Antonia through Daily Lit, thinking about joining the War and Peace party next.

I just started reading Spartina. So far so good.

I'm working my way through an anthology called Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd, but I really want to get back to what my kids call my LPPR (large-print prairie romance). Once my brain goes into LPPR mode, it is difficult to enjoy anything else.

I'm currently working on Flash Forward by Robert J. Sawyer. I was watching the TV series last season and was interested in how close the show followed the book.

Callie wrote: "... thinking about joining the War and Peace party next. "

YAY! I hope you do!

Scott wrote: "I just started reading Spartina. So far so good."

Scott, haven't read SPARTINA, but lots of booksellers were raving about it this weekend at a conference. A follow-up to Spartina is being published this fall: COMPASS ROSE.

I finished The Thin Place five minutes ago, and hated it. The author uses beautiful language and strings chapters together with sheer for of will rather then a strong and discernible plot which leads to I am sure some point that utterly escaped me.

Ann wrote:

Scott, haven't read SPARTINA, but lots of booksellers were raving about it this weekend at a conference. A follow-up ..."

Ann, I actually got the idea to read Spartina from your podcast. You were discussing the upcoming release of Compass Rose and mentioned John Casey's earlier book. Didn't have anything on the nightstand, so to speak, so I thought I would give it a shot. Thanks for the recommendation, it has been a good read so far.

Tanya wrote: "Last night, I gave up on the audio for THE THOUSAND AUTUMNS OF JACOB DE ZOET (by David Mitchell; narrated by Jonathan Aris and Paul Wilcox) and bought the hardback print edition. There was a sort o..."

Tanya, I found myself in the same boat. I ended up ordering a copy from the library and am finding it much more to my liking (um..comprehension really). I was thinking that if I had listened to Cloud Atlas instead of reading it I may have had the same problem. Cloud Atlas is one of my all time favourite books, but it might have been a difficult "listen".

Still working on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Almost made it to page 200 last night, but I'm so tired fro all the work I've been doing for the library book sale. I also started Sh*t My Dad Says one I forgot to bring the other book to bed and this one was on my nightstand. Hopefully I'll finish both before the week is done.

Tanya wrote: "Callie wrote: "... thinking about joining the War and Peace party next. "

YAY! I hope you do!"

OK, I took a slightly long lunch and finished My Antonia. I've signed up for War and Peace through Daily Lit, although I have to admit, I'm a little scared... 600+ installments. Hoo boy.

I'm really digging

Hi guys :-) I'm currently reading Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding. Just started 2 nights ago...
Happy October!!!

P.S- An update on my pregnant dog,she had 5 puppies last week!

Still going through The Stand, roughly about halfway through. I have a whole stack o' books that I'd love to finish before the end of the year which includes two other Stephen King books, some John Connolly books and some Will Christopher Baer novels.

I'm almost finished with The Widower's Tale by Julia Glass. Fall of Giant's is up next. I'm also thinking of joining the War and Peace party!

I just started reading Room by Emma Donoghue last night.

im reading the other boelyn girl at the moment taking me a bit to get into it

Just started The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag . I adored The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie and book two is off to the same start. Went to Borders with my mother on Saturday (a dangerous place to begin with but to go with a fellow reader, who does little to help control my spending) and stocked up on reading material. Besides the Flavia DeLuce book I purchased Russian Winter and The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake . Mom purchased The Elegance of the Hedgehog , which I'm dying to borrow when she's done.

Just finished Away: A Novel . I was disappointed since it received rave reviews. Great premise but I got tired of Lillian submitting her body to men over and over and over again. Bloom did do a good job of recreating geographic atmosphere in the many places Lillian passed through.

Also just finished Martyrs' Crossing an exceptionally compelling and insightful novel about the tragedy of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It's theme: Is it possible to escape the trap of history through personal choices? I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to understand the difficulty of solving the Middle Eastern situation.

I finished the Women of Nell Gwynne's by Kage Baker in one day, so now I've started The Banquet of Esther Rosenbaum by Penny Simpson.

I am reading Fables: Legends in Exile which is the first graphic novel that I've picked up since college. Also, am reading The Handbook for Lightning Strike Survivors: A Novel.

I recently finished: The Graveyard Book, Let the Great World Spin, Jane Eyre(on audio). All three were good, especially Let the Great World Spin.

Jenn, I loved
Let the Great World Spin too. I read it after having watched the DVD of Man on Wire about how Philippe Petit planned and carried out his WTC wire-walking feat. I loved how Let the Great World Spin spun off of this iconic event.

I am reading two books at the moment: The Book Of Negroes (it has been published elsewhere as Somebody Knows my name) and Twenties Girl.

I'm spending my lunch hour this week with Budd Schulberg's autobiography, Moving Pictures: Memories of a Hollywood Prince. Am also enjoying the few remaining new-to-me volumes of Martha Grimes' Richard Jury/Melrose Plant detective series and anticipate getting my hands on two more autobiographies in the next week: critic Clive James' Unreliable Memoirs and playwright Elmer Rice's Minority Report. Just finished my first outing with Delano Ames, For Old Crime's Sake (a 1959 mystery originally called Lucky Jane). It provided some genuine laughs, but I'm not sure I enjoyed it quite enough to seek out his other novels.

Meredith wrote: "I'm almost finished with The Widower's Tale by Julia Glass. Fall of Giant's is up next. I'm also thinking of joining the War and Peace party!"

Please do! The more the merrier!

Melissa W wrote: "I am reading two books at the moment: The Book Of Negroes (it has been published elsewhere as Somebody Knows my name) and Twenties Girl."

Both are excellent books -- and quite different from each other. I hope you enjoy them.

Katie wrote: "Just finished Away: A Novel. I was disappointed since it received rave reviews. Great premise but I got tired of Lillian submitting her body to men o..."

Katie I felt the same way although Bloom is a powerful and illustrative writer. I have vivid recollections of the rooms she was in and her walk.

Suzanne wrote: "Melissa W wrote: "I am reading two books at the moment: The Book Of Negroes (it has been published elsewhere as Somebody Knows my name) and Twenties Girl."

Both are..."

I am enjoying them both. I have read a number of Sophie Kinsella's books and when I got my copy of the Book of Negroes, I got a copy for my mom for Christmas and she loved it. And I have heard nothing but good things about Hill's book (it also helps that it has won a number of awards) and from the 20 pages i have read, it is consuming and I can see why it didn't take my mom long to read it, despite the page length (the copy that we each have is about 480 pages).

Earlier this week I finished The Epic of Gilgamesh.



What I learned from this ancient epic is how much The Bible and Homer cribbed from it. The entire flood story is here in its original Sumerian form, complete with the cubits and the ark and the animals and the dove.

Also, the storytelling style we later came to associate with Homer is here. I'm thinking about the way Homer would have a character deliver some paragraph-long pronouncement to someone, who delivers it to someone else using the exact same spiel, and so on.

And epic? It's only a bit longer than an ambitiously extended short story! I thought an epic was supposed to be long! I guess back then, when you had to carve all those cuneiform letters out longhand (and by that I mean on stone tablets), anything seemed long.

My next item on the Lifetime Reading Plan is Lydia Davis's new translation of Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert.

Hoping to finish The Dracula Dossier: A Novel of Suspense today. It has gotten very creepy, perfect read for Halloween.

Right now I'm trying to read Chuck Klosterman IV: A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideasand am having a rough time of it. I'm about 130 pages in and I keep waiting to get hooked or excited and I'm not ... so I think I may give myself permission to abandon it and start something new ...

Katie wrote: "Jenn, I loved
Let the Great World Spin too. I read it after having watched the DVD of Man on Wire about how Philippe Petit planned and carried out his WTC wire-walk..."

I read Let the Great World Spin for book group and although I loved it, it did bring back very bad memories of how NYC was during that time. It was a darker, scarier city and I believe the author really captured that sense of place and time.

I've just finished and loved, Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin.

I am reading Middlemarch for one of my book groups and had to put A Fraction of the Whole aside. Middlemarch started off slow, but maybe now I am more used to the language and pace.

Just finished The Dracula Dossier: A Novel of Suspense. I ended up really liking this one even though it had a really slow start but after the first 50 pages it really got interesting.

I'm currently still reading The Woman in White and I like it altho I haven't gotten very far into it yet.

I'm listening to Ethan Frome read by the excellent George Guidall. It starts off with this prelude of a young man who is new to a village, then he meets Ethan Frome, and eventually we get to Ethan's story. Funny how earlier novels really took time to get going. I'm about 2/3 way through and am hooked.

My classics book club picked White Noise by Don DeLillo this month and I....had to commit the sin of not finishing a book. I was trying to read it on my lunch hour and realized I was going to start screaming and banging my head on the floor if I read another page. Pseudo-clever and unbearably pretentious and I don't find a smug riff on the American fear of death and obsession with junk culture particularly original, even when it was written in the 1980's. Serious hate.


On the plus side, hooray for SparkNotes online so I'll be at least prepared when my group meets this month. Even when I don't like a book we have picked, I still like to go to the discussion. Although the fact that a SparkNote even exists tells me somewhere this foul tome is required reading.

I'm now reading A Loyal Character Dancer which is the 2nd book in a series about a police inspector in Shanghai in the year following Tiananmen Square. I just read a memoir of the Cultural Revolution this summer so I'm getting all the references he's making to educated youths and the countryside. And I just attended a talk on travel in China this week so all the images are fresh in my mind.