**What Are You Reading Now? JULY

CharlasClub Read 2011

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**What Are You Reading Now? JULY

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1dchaikin
Editado: Jun 30, 2011, 12:25 pm

This is my attempt to actually start one of the threads I'm supposed to start.

My current reading includes:
The Way of Boys by Anthony Rao and Michelle D. Seaton
The Faerie Queene by Spenser - reading for the le Salon group read
Island Fire : An Anthology of Literature from Hawai'i
by Cheryl A. & James R. Harstad - actually, almost done, but the book is at home, and I'm not
American Salvage by Bonnie Jo Campbell - which has the advantage of being small, which makes it friendly both for travel and for some neck/back issues I'm suddenly having.

2bragan
Jun 30, 2011, 8:44 pm

I'm currently reading The Human Genome by John Quackenbush, an ER book from the last batch. So far, it's clear and reasonably informative, but not terribly engaging.

I'm debating maybe reading some Agatha Christie next.

3rebeccanyc
Jul 1, 2011, 9:07 am

I just finished and reviewed The Prospector by J.M.G. Le Clézio, which I read for the Author Theme Reads group; I found it both hauntingly beautiful and a little puzzling.

4stretch
Jul 1, 2011, 11:52 am

Finished a couple of graphic novels in late June:

The Nobody by Jeff Lemire, ireally liked this one and want to red more of his stuff.
Pride of Baghdad by Brian Vaughan, it was okay but had the potential to be something much better.

I am not about half way through Red Mars, which has been a very very enjoyable read so far, and I'm still reading The Oxford book of Modern Science Writing in fits and starts. I would also like to pick up Ever Since Darwin but it seems I have misplaced that one.

I wish I had more time this month to catch up on all the reading a I haven't done, let alone all the threads I've been neglecting.

5Miela
Jul 1, 2011, 11:58 am

I'm reading Cinderella Ate My Daughter, which I had heard of before, but someone, (avaland's, I think) listing on here lead me to read it. In addition, I've been reading The Wilder Life, and trying to read (and hopefully, finish someday!) The Lonely Polygamist, an enjoyable but long read. (Makes me worry about how I'll do with A Suitable Boy, if I think that's long!)

Of course, I'm reading The Abyss by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles. (It's the latest in a series I've been reading.)

6janemarieprice
Jul 1, 2011, 12:11 pm

I'm reading Porius with the Salon as well as reading something for work and studying (yuck).

7dmsteyn
Jul 1, 2011, 1:47 pm

I'm busy with Porius too, and The Faerie Queene. Also reading a very general overview of the medieval West, called, surprise, surprise, The Medieval West by David Nicholas.

8dchaikin
Jul 1, 2011, 1:57 pm

#3 Rebeeca - that was one of my favorites from last year - sent to by polutropos (not sure I spelled his username right).

9avaland
Jul 1, 2011, 2:40 pm

I seem to have my fingers in a few pots:

Bellefleur by Joyce Carol Oates. Summer read for the Oates group. Has complex family tree outlined on the first few pages. Delightful elevated voice (love it when she does that) Requires some brain cells so when I'm tired I'm reading...

Fear Not by Anne Holt. One of her Vik/Stubo mysteries. We did that Belletrista article on women Nordic crime writers and her resume intrigued me and I wondered what her crime novels were like. So far, it's off to a great start.

And picking away at ...

Sandra Gilbert's Rereading Women: Thirty Years of Exploring Our Literary Traditions. Mostly pre-published essays, some looking back at her collaboration with Susan Gubar. Thoughtful, as always, but probably won't read this cover to cover.

10baswood
Jul 1, 2011, 5:03 pm

Apart from Porius and The faerie Queen both of which I will probably still be reading next month. I am about to start Tiger Hills by Sarita Mandanna and Studies in medieval & Renaissance Literature by C S Lewis.

I am half way through Ricardian Poetry by J A Burrow and Songs from Vagabondia by Bliss Carman

11Cait86
Jul 1, 2011, 6:35 pm

I finished Tsitsi Dangarembga's Nervous Conditions; look for my review in the next issue of Belletrista. I think I am going to move on to One Day by David Nicholls.

12edwinbcn
Jul 2, 2011, 12:29 am

>10 baswood: I will keep an eye out for your review on Ricardian Poetry. I haven't read anything by Burrow since my students days, when I attended some of his guest lectures at our university and wrote an article about Burrow in our Institute Journal.

13krazy4katz
Jul 2, 2011, 1:09 am

Reading To Know a Woman by Amos Oz. My first by this author. Still in a bit of a reading funk. Hope this helps.

14kidzdoc
Jul 2, 2011, 1:59 pm

I'm reading two books set on the island of Mauritius: The Prospector by J.M.G. Le Clézio, and River of Smoke, the new novel by Amitav Ghosh that picks up where his last novel, Sea of Poppies, left off.

15timjones
Jul 5, 2011, 9:22 am

I've just finished Forty Stories by Donald Barthelme, which wasn't quite as memorable as I'd hoped, and am part-way through Mr Allbones' Ferrets by Fiona Farrell, which I'm reviewing for the Landfall Review Online:

http://www.landfallreviewonline.com/

After that, it's back to Immortal Love by Ludmilla Petrushevskaya.

16rebeccanyc
Jul 6, 2011, 9:53 am

Continuing my reading of Barbara Comyns, I've finished and reviewed the subtly unsettling The Juniper Tree, a novel that is almost a fairy tale.

17rebeccanyc
Jul 8, 2011, 1:25 pm

And continuing my reading of Mario Vargas Llosa, I've read and reviewed In Praise of the Stepmother and its sequel, The Notebooks of Don Rigoberto. Unlike other books by Vargas Llosa that I've read, these focused on the erotic and its link to art, creativity, and individualism.

18Miela
Jul 8, 2011, 4:28 pm

I've finished Cinderella ate my daughter, and am now having a hard time finding something else to read.

19RidgewayGirl
Jul 9, 2011, 12:23 am

20Diana_Medina
Jul 9, 2011, 2:25 am

I was reading It by Stephen King until I couldn't stand losing sleep over the crazy nightmares. Now I'm reading Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier and I'm happy to say I'm sleeping much better! :)

21rebeccanyc
Jul 13, 2011, 9:25 am

And another Barbara Comyns: the largely autobiographical Sisters by a River.

22avaland
Jul 14, 2011, 1:11 pm

Well, besides intending to get back to Bellefleur (which I haven't yet), and continuing with my 12 short stories in 12 days from 12 different anthologies adventure (on day 7), I picked up African Psycho by Alain Mabanckou. It's, I suppose, a character study of a would be murderer told in the 1st person.

I've been here before with JCO's Zombie and Triumph of the Spider Monkey and Martin Booth's A Very Private Gentleman (the latter having been made into a recent film starring George Clooney).

23kidzdoc
Jul 14, 2011, 7:05 pm

I'm reading French novels in honor of Bastille Day. This morning I read Lightning: A Novel by Jean Echenoz, which was a superb fictionalized account of the tragic life of the Serbian inventor Nikola Tesla, and I'm currently reading Fatale by Jean-Patrick Manchette, a crime novella recently published by NYRB Classics about a young cold-blooded female killer.

24baswood
Jul 15, 2011, 3:30 am

I have just started The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene

25charbutton
Jul 15, 2011, 4:14 am

Despite his recent comments about women writers, I am reading A House for Mr Biswas by V S Naipaul (July book group choice, not my decision!). It's OK so far, but not as funny as the blurb led me to expect.

26rebeccanyc
Jul 15, 2011, 8:00 am

#23 I had been hoping to start Citizens by Simon Schama yesterday in honor of Bastille Day, but I'm going to have to finish my first tome of the summer, We the Drowned, first, as I can really only manage one tome at a time.

27Samantha_kathy
Jul 16, 2011, 2:32 pm

I'm currently in a hotel, so I had to leave my books I was reading behind. (Face it, Wolf Hall is just to big to stuff in a small suitcase, no matter how hard I tried). On the other hand, I've got my Kindle with me, so I've finally been able to get back to State of the Onion, which I put aside for several more pressing books.

28mugiphoenix
Editado: Jul 16, 2011, 2:37 pm

Este usuario ha sido eliminado por spam.

29CaraZ
Jul 17, 2011, 9:58 am

Looking for something good to read open to suggestions!!! I like Percy Jackson, the spiderwick books, lord of the rings, performing arts type books, Out of the silent plant trilogy, mystery novels, ranger's apprentice, phantom of the opera type books.
I don't like: twilight or ANY vampire books.
Other then that I am open to your suggestions.

30rebeccanyc
Jul 17, 2011, 12:55 pm

I've finally finished and reviewed the often compelling, often frustrating We, the Drowned by Carsten Jensen.

31bragan
Jul 18, 2011, 5:44 am

I just finished The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan, a really quite depressing book about the history of the Dust Bowl, then cheered myself up with Simon's Cat: Beyond the Fence by Simon Tofield. Next up is Solaris by Stanislaw Lem, which I think I've actually already read once, way back in high school, but am looking forward to being reacquainted with.

32RidgewayGirl
Jul 18, 2011, 11:13 am

I'm happily reading A Death in Summer by Benjamin Black.

33krazy4katz
Editado: Jul 18, 2011, 11:55 am

Saw this in Member Recommendations on my page: Hunting Eichmann by Neal Bascomb. It describes how Eichmann escaped and fled to Argentina as well as the hunt for him.
So far, an interesting read.

k4k

34Cait86
Jul 18, 2011, 3:48 pm

I just finished Tea Obreht's The Tiger's Wife, and now I'm moving on to Willa Cather's O Pioneers!.

35kidzdoc
Jul 19, 2011, 9:56 am

I'm reading two books at the moment: On Beauty by Zadie Smith, the winner of the 2006 Orange Prize, and Life Ascending: The Ten Great Inventions of Evolution by Nick Lane, which won the 2010 Royal Society Prize for Science Books. I'm also reading Granta 113: The Best of Young Spanish Novelists, a collection of unpublished short stories by 22 Spanish language writers born after 1975, from Spain, Central America and South America.

36timjones
Jul 20, 2011, 7:46 am

I've just finished reading Mr Allbones' Ferrets, a novel by Fiona Farrell, which I've reviewed for the Landfall Review Online - I'll post my review in my thread once it appears.

The book's subtitle is "an historical pastoral satirical scientifical romance, with mustelids", and that's a very good summary. Well worth reading.

avaland will probably be pleased to know that I have at last started on the third and final of the Ludmilla Petrushevskaya books I'll be looking at in a forthcoming article for Belletrista about this excellent contemporary Russian author.

And on a completely different tack, having enjoyed the movie very much despite disliking both its leads, I have pledged myself to read the six volumes of the Scott Pilgrim series.

37rebeccanyc
Jul 21, 2011, 10:36 am

I just read Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York by Luc Sante, a lively and fascinating look at the underside of downtown New York City from about 1840 to 1920. My review is here and on the book page.

38baswood
Jul 21, 2011, 11:59 am

I have just started Purple America by Rick Moody

39rebeccanyc
Jul 23, 2011, 12:15 pm

I just finished Manhattan Noir edited by Lawrence Block. A nice light antidote to the heat, this collection contains stories, mostly but not exclusively crime stories, connected to different neighborhoods of Manhattan -- although, to my way of thinking, most didn't capture the feel of the neighborhood but just took place there. As with any collection, I liked some stories better than others, but some were really gripping.

40teow
Jul 24, 2011, 10:57 am

I just started V., and I'm also reading The Decameron. The Decameron makes for really great subway reading because the stories are so short. You're pretty much guaranteed to finish at least one a trip.

41Cait86
Jul 26, 2011, 3:45 pm

I'm just about to start Alison Pick's Far to Go, which is on this year's Booker Prize Longlist. Interested in reading and discussing the Booker? Check out this newly created group: http://www.librarything.com/groups/bookerprize2008

42krazy4katz
Jul 27, 2011, 11:06 pm

Reading Son of Hamas. Amazing story! Some of it is difficult to believe, although I don't have any reason to think that any of it is false.

43dmsteyn
Jul 28, 2011, 7:59 am

Just finished reading The Mirror and the Lamp by M.H. Abrams: old-school goodness! Now I'm going to begin reading the essays in The Medieval World edited by Peter Linehan and Janet L. Nelson.

44baswood
Editado: Jul 28, 2011, 8:56 am

#43 I will be very interested in your thoughts on The medieval World.

I am half way through Medieval Philosophy: A new history of Western Philosophy volume 2, Anthony Kenny

I have Suspended Judgements, John Cowper Powys loaded on my kindle

For some light relief I am starting Light, M. John Harrison Science fiction I think, but highly regarded.

45richardderus
Jul 28, 2011, 10:28 am

This seems a logical place to tell all and sundry about a very interesting new website I've found via Yale Press's blog. Here's the blurb from the blog:

"Leading Proust scholar William C. Carter has started a website “devoted to studying and celebrating the life and works of Marcel Proust” that offers both a wealth of literary resources and an online course. Along with University of Alabama at Birmingham student Nicolas D. Drogoul, Carter has launched Proust Ink to provide access to English and French versions of the classic author’s work, a Proust encyclopedia, a social network for Proust students, media citations and film adaptations, and other useful resources. As well, in a self-paced online course available now, Carter offers 30 one-hour lectures that allow participants to study Proust’s In Search of Lost Time, also known as Remembrance of Things Past, using Scott Moncrieff’s English translation of the French masterpiece."

From a quick go-round, it's a wonderful site!

46rebeccanyc
Jul 29, 2011, 10:50 am

I've just finished and reviewed the remarkably compelling Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes, a novel about the experiences of marines during the Vietnam war.

47avaland
Jul 29, 2011, 11:39 am

Reading The Last Gift by Abdulrazak Gurnah (upstairs) and African Psycho by Alain Mabanckou (downstairs). The former is a family story in which all of its members seem to be struggling with identity issues; the latter is a riff, I guess, of American Psycho (which I have not read but read quite a bit about).

Toying with other books. Flipping through magazines. Reading stuff here and there.

48rebeccanyc
Jul 29, 2011, 3:49 pm

As I mentioned elsewhere, Lois, I'll be interested in what you think of African Psycho as I've read a lot about it and have considered getting it.

49rebeccanyc
Jul 30, 2011, 11:04 am

50kidzdoc
Jul 30, 2011, 11:09 am

Today I'll start The Stranger's Child by Alan Hollinghurst, which was selected for this year's Booker Prize longlist. I'm also reading The Anatomist: A True Story of Gray's Anatomy by Bill Hayes, and either today or tomorrow I'll start Life A User's Manual by Georges Perec, as I'm leading a group read of it in the 75 Books group starting on Monday.