Books on the Nightstand discussion

Today I am starting The Meagre Tarmac, a "novel in short-story form". I believe many or all the stories have Indian characters in them, particularly immigrants to North America. The author, Clark Blaise, is married to author Bharati Mukherjee. He is considered a Canadian author for some reason (I gather he spent a lot of time in Montreal), but was born in North Dakota and lives in San Francisco.

Waiting in the wings: Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking and Natural Elements (for the Manchester Booktopia).

I've just started Saturday Comes: A Novel of Love and Vodou from FirstReads

I'm reading Larry's Party by Carol Shields. In 2012, I've challenged myself to read all of the Orange Prize winners.

I just started reading The Passage (based upon Michael's recomendation), and still have Kindred by Octavia Bulter as recomended during the "Time Travel" podcast.

Help BOTNSers! I am about 45% through War and Peace and want to know whether to go on.

*SPOILER ALERT*
I vaguely remember having read about to this point maybe 20 years ago and did not remember much until getting to the current plot point. I just reached to point where Natascha is writing Princess Marya to call off her engagement. I must say I was distraught last night and could barely go to sleep. Now, I am remembering (I think) something about him getting injured or sick and she tends him, but he dies? Are all these people going to ruin their lives? I don't know if I want to go on if lots of misery awaits me.

I do have to say that I think having Natascha end the engagement after just a couple of hot looks and a kiss seems very unlikely given that she has been portrayed as very sharp and intuitive otherwise. She resisted multiple other young men and even understood Dolokhov when no one else did. I get the womanizer + chemistry + naive young girl, but still felt it seemed out of line.

And the whole Rostov family! Are they going to the poor house or what? I wanted to choke Nikolai for refusing to consider marrying a rich girl.

Obviously, I've gotten way too into this book! I signed up for the read along last year, but never got started. I really wish I had because there is a lot to discuss.

It sounds like you couldn't stop now even if you wanted to. Who do you WANT Natasha to marry?

Below Stairs: The Classic Kitchen Maid's Memoir That Inspired "Upstairs, Downstairs" and "Downton Abbey" , to keep my Downton Abbey obsession nice & fresh!!

Lil wrote: "Help BOTNSers! I am about 45% through War and Peace and want to know whether to go on.

*SPOILER ALERT*
I vaguely remember having read about to this point maybe 20 years ago and did not remembe..."

Prince Andrei, of course! Not the smarmy Anatole.

I'm still finishing The Snow Child, but the first book I'll start in March is Dogma which I'm so super excited about after reading Spurious last year!

I just finished The Filter Bubble which was wonderful. It's about all the ways in which the internet is changing and the implications of those changes. (Sorry, now I'm making it sound boring and it's not!). Almost finished with Snow Flower and the Secret Fanwhich is breaking my heart! Started Divergent last night - it's crazy good! Happy reading all!

I'm reading King Peggy: An American Secretary, Her Royal Destiny, and the Inspiring Story of How She Changed an African Village which is a great story but I'm not in love with the writing so far.

Starting with Dreamland in March. It is a book club choice, and even though I can't attend because of a silly MBA class, I'm determined to keep up! Next is The Alchemist for my oldest TBR challenge. Then, Songs Without Words for my oldest TBR on my book shelf challenge. Next I'll read some book candy, MWF Seeking BFF: My Yearlong Search For A New Best Friend. After that comes Booktopia reads: I will start Don't Know Much About History, and I anticipate reading one chapter a month until it is finished, Learning to Swim, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking, The Song of Achilles, and The Great Northern Express: A Writer's Journey Home. If there is any time left in March, I am planning to read When She Woke and 11/22/63.

I should be finishing up Before I Go To Sleep on Audible, and starting The Redbreast.

The Somnambulist by Essie Fox.

I lost my reading momentum for about a month after the Goodreads-Amazon debacle. Now that my Read list is almost back to its proper state, I'm finally getting back to my own personal Teetering Stack. I just finished Peter Delacourt's Time on My Hands (which wanted to be Time and Again but wasn't) and Dorothy Gilman's Thale's Folly, which had its moments but didn't live up to my expectations. Next up: Henry Seidel Canby's The Age of Confidence: Life in the Nineties, Loren D. Estleman's The Left-Handed Dollar, 1920s critic Grant Overton's Why Authors Go Wrong and Other Explanations, and Anne Fadiman's Rereadings: Seventeen Writers Revisit Books They Love.

Andrew wrote: "I'm still finishing The Snow Child, Just FYI, 'The Readers' podcast interviewed the author of The Snow Child on their latest podcast.

Thanks! I caught that interview and it was great, great episode.

I am beginning Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman. I think I'm finally in the right frame of mind to read it because I'm seriously thinking of a trip to Russia this summer.

Here's what I've currently got going for March 2012...
• Hamlet, by William Shakespeare
• The Barefoot Sisters: Southbound, by Lucy Letcher
• Conversations with Woody Allen: His Films, the Movies, and Moviemaking by Eric Lax
• The Reader, by Bernhard Schlink
• Lie, cheat, and genuflect: A comedy, by William Van Zandt
• Hamlet the 1-Hour Guidebook: An Illustrated Guidebook by Gordon D. Faustberg

I'm currently reading Marathon Woman: Running the Race to Revolutionize Women's Sports and Hard Laughter. One for motivation to train for my upcoming triathlon in September 2012 and the other for pleasure.

I finished Defending Jacob last night and starting Quiet today.Defending Jacob: A NovelQuiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

I am currently reading Watergate by Thomas Mallon. Next up is The Art of Fielding.

I am new to Miami, so I am currently reading "Stiltsville" by Susanna Daniel for a new book group I joined, and also plan to read "Shutter Island" for another book group I'm considering at the local library. I just finished one of the BOTNS suggestions, "Defending Jacob" and found it fascinating. Last month I tried to read "The Orphan Master's Son", but just couldn't get into it; I thought it was confusing. Did anyone else have the same problem? I'll probably give it another try ...

Matt wrote: "Lie, cheat and genuflect"

Fun play. I played "Pizza Face" in that a few years ago.

Completed The Family Fang in one day. Started The Snowmanlast night but had to switch to something else so my sleep would not be disturbed. Also have Running the Rift.

I am currently reading :
How God Changes Your Brain: Breakthrough Findings from a Leading Neuroscientist one is about the benefits of meditating.
Listening to Bad Moon Rising by Jonathan Maberry is for pleasure.
E=MC2: Simple Physics: Why Balloons Rise, Apples Fall & Golf BallsGo Awry by Jeff Stewart a good book for anybody wanting to understand basic Physics.

In the Sanctuary of Outcasts Starting this one in a few minutes.

Linda wrote: ""

Have you read any other Mary Doria Russell? I absolutely loved her "A Thread of Grace" and also "Doc". My husband loved her 2 science fiction novels, but I have yet to read them. I am subscribed to Russell's blog; she has some interesting posts!

Pamela wrote: "Linda wrote: ""

Have you read any other Mary Doria Russell? I absolutely loved her "A Thread of Grace" and also "Doc". My husband loved her 2 science ficti..."

This will be my first Russell.

Just finished 2 stars

Great reading week-end. Finished Divergent which was just a great page turner. Also Children of the Street which I thought was just so-so. Did anyone read his first one? Was it good?
Now reading for fun Eon: Dragoneye Reborn and Faithful Place while my serious book is Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is a Better Way for Africa I wish it were Friday again!

Just finished Fall of Giants this morning, and I can't believe I have to wait until fall to read the next in the series. This was very possibly one of the best audiobooks I've ever listened to, I was totally enthralled for all 24 discs. Just brilliant. Does the audiobook usually get published around the same time as the print book?

I will be finishing The Tower, The Zoo, and The Tortoise either today or tomorrow, and I have thoroughly enjoyed it. Probably the best book club pick we've had since I joined a year ago. Next up (I think) will be The Name of the Wind, which has been very highly recommended.

Callie wrote: " Does the audiobook usually get published around the same time as the print book? "

These days, yes! So you can ink in 09/18/2012 for Winter of the World and John Lee :-)

Tanya/dog eared copy wrote: "Callie wrote: " Does the audiobook usually get published around the same time as the print book? "

These days, yes! So you can ink in 09/18/2012 for Winter of the World and John Lee :-)"

SUCH GOOD NEWS. I was going to be pretty devastated if you said it would be a much longer wait! Good news is a great way to start a Monday.

Started reading

When traveling I love reading books set in that place. In anticipation of an upcoming trip to Turkey am reading Turkish Reflections: A Biography of a Place and listening to Gardens of Water: A Novel, and am loving both.

Elizabeth wrote: "When traveling I love reading books set in that place. In anticipation of an upcoming trip to Turkey am reading Turkish Reflections: A Biography of a Place and listening to [book:Gard..."

I agree Elizabeth...it adds so much to the travel experience.

Working on finishing The Four Fingers of Death but I am also devouring The Children's Hospital.

TCH is just absolutely stunning me so far. Has anyone else read The Children's Hospital or other Chris Adrian? I am enjoying it so thoroughly that I keep interrupting my reading to knock on wood, toss salt over a shoulder, etc., worrying that the story is going to nosedive! But so far- so good!

Finished and loved The Tower, The Zoo, and The Tortoise, and now I'm trying to figure out how to convince my husband that we desperately need a bearded pig.

Started The Name of the Wind, and while it's pretty long (~750p), I have a feeling it's going to go fast. I am kind of mad that I have to go to work rather than stay at home and read more of it.

Callie wrote: "Finished and loved The Tower, The Zoo, and The Tortoise, and now I'm trying to figure out how to convince my husband that we desperately need a bearded pig.

Started The Name ..."</i>

I feel the same way! I'm reading
[book:Eon: Dragoneye Reborn and it's too good to put down. Maybe I'll have some time during lunch.
Let me know how The Name of the Wind is. I've tried to get into it a few times and failed.

Valerie wrote: "Let me know how The Name of the Wind is. I've tried to get into it a few times and failed.
"

I like it so far, because it's definitely fantasy, but it's not like, in your face fantasy. At least it isn't yet. And there is a map at the beginning, which always wins points with me.

i started this morning.

; ; ; ; ; and The Family Fang .

Denise, you are as bad as I am. I have been reading The Snowmanforever. I'm listening to the audio and I keep losing my place. I saw Josh Bazell and Lisa Lutz at Poisoned Pen bookstore last night so of course I bought the books and I started Trail of the Spellmansat lunchtime. Looking forward to the Tucson Festival of Books this weekend. I'm sure I'll add to my TBR there as well.

Monday I finished Defending Jacob: A Novel and yesterday I started Salvage the Bones. I feel like that will be a quick read (but definitely wonderful), so I think next up on my list is either American Gods again or Her Fearful Symmetry. *Edit - I also must start A Feast for Crows.

Callie wrote: "Finished and loved The Tower, The Zoo, and The Tortoise, and now I'm trying to figure out how to convince my husband that we desperately need a bearded pig.

Started [book:The Name ..."

I agree - this was a great and fast read. I stayed in bed half a Saturday to finish it.

I just finished . I absolutely loved it!

This book reads like a dystopian science fiction novel. Think "1984", "The Handmaid's Tale", or even "The Hunger Games". The difference is that it takes place in the here and now, in North Korea. While Kim Jong Il was still alive, that is.

We are told that Jun Do (get it?) was raised in an orphanage, that his father was the orphan master and his mother a beautiful singer. That the mother was removed from the family and sent to the capital, Pyongyang, to be a singer and kept woman for the wealthy bureaucrats. And that after that, Jun Do's father, unable to deal with the shame, raised Jun Do as though he were just another orphan. Subsequent statements cast doubt on this story, but truth in North Korea is an elusive concept.

In picaresque fashion, we watch as Jun Do moves through North Korean society, handling one dirty job after another: tunnel rat, kidnapper, spy, until finally assuming the identity of a decorated Hero of the People.

In North Korea, we are often told, it's not the individual that matters, it's the story. Jun Do, over the course of the novel, manages to change his story several times, but he finally meets someone with whom he wants to share the truth about himself: the national actress, Sun Moon. As the final half of the book proceeds, we find ourselves following the story though three lenses. A straightforward third person narrator, a torturer who writes never-read biographies of his victims, and a propaganda version which is broadcast everywhere in the country by speakers that are forbidden to be turned off.

This book is very inventive and entertaining. I've read some criticism (in the NYT Book Review) that it trivializes the real life suffering of North Koreans by placing their lives in the context of an entertainment. I disagree. The book is guaranteed to bring a lot of attention and serious thought to the North Korean situation.

Eric wrote: "

This book reads like a dystopian science fiction novel. Think "1984", "The Handmaid's Tale", or even "The Hunger Games". The difference is that it take..."

Why don't you review books for a living? Seriously, you are so darn good at it. Thanks.

Thanks. But youd have to tell me how to market myself, Ann. I'd have no idea.