*** What are you reading? SEPTEMBER 2011 (typo free version, maybe)

Posting again, hopefully without uneditable typo in the topic...

Having finally finished The Faerie Queene, my plan this month is to read History : A Novel by Elsa Morante. Considering my inability to read a novel this year, I'm not sure how that will go. I also have a biography of Morante to read.

At the moment i'm trying to finsih In Patagonia by Bruce Chatwin, and I'm reading the Winter 2010-2011 issue of The Iowa Review (although, so far, i'm not getting anything out of it).

I'm eager to get your take on In Patagonia, Dan. I saw it displayed prominently at Foyles Bookshop in London on Sunday, and I'll probably go back for it this coming weekend if you like it.

Earlier this afternoon I finished The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes, a deceptively short book about memory, love, loss and regret that was longlisted for this year's Booker Prize. It's the fifth novel I've read from the longlist, and it's my favorite so far.

I'm now reading The Last Gift, the new novel by Abdulrazak Gurnah, along with Colour Me English, a collection of essays and nonfiction writing by Caryl Phillips.

Moved from the August thread, where I thoughtlessly posted it earlier today:

I've just read and reviewed The Factory of Facts, a loosely termed memoir by Luc Sante that is more about Belgian history, art, food, and more than about his own life.

I just finished Push by Sapphire, in the waning hours of August. (And my review made it to the hot list! Thanks, O adoring public!)

Next up, as part of my continuing effort to get through some of these old SF novels that have been on my TBR Pile forever is Terraforming Earth by Jack Williamson. Although that was published in 2001, so compared to most of 'em, I guess it's not that old.

I'm still reading the Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser.

I'm also well into The Romance of the Rose by Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun

I am thoroughly enjoying Room with a view by E M Forster and I am starting The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (the Norton critical edition)

I am also reading The Cinnamon Peeler which is selected poems by Michael Ondaatje

Well, so much for keeping up with my Club Read 2011 thread. While I abandoned it sometime in March, I have kept up with my reading something fierce. This year's readings include a lot of serial reading and detective fiction. Among others, I read Alain de Botton, Alexander McCall Smith, and I'm still reading Agatha Christie - in the order of publication. At the moment, I'm reading A Start in Life by Anita Brookner, Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers, and Like Our Mountains: A History of Armenians in Canada by Isabel Kaprielian-Churchill.

Cheers,
Saro

I just finished reading Destiny by Tim Parks, and The Comfort of Strangers by Ian McEwan, and started Remembering Babylon by David Malouf.

I continue reading two doorstoppers: the historical novel Rogue Herries, by Hugh Walpole and The Pale King by David Foster Wallace.

I have been doing a lot of internal travel within New Zealand this year - much more so than usual - and at the moment, I seem to be doing most of my reading on planes. I've just returned from Invercargill, the southernmost city in New Zealand, where I was presenting prizes in two short story competitions I judged. It was an emotional occasion, as explained in this news story:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/5551753/Tragic-end-to-life-echoed-in...

On the trip to Invercargill & back I finished an enjoyable novella by David Herter, On the Overgrown Path, read most of fundraising short story collection Tales For Canterbury, which I'm enjoying - there are no bad stories and some extremely good ones - and started reading international love story anthology Slightly Peculiar Love Stories. Of the few stories I've read so far, I especially enjoyed "The Ache" by Argentine writer Elena Bossi.

For the books I've finished reading lately, see

http://www.librarything.com/topic/105952#2908125

I'm engrossed in two nonfictions -- chuckling through The Toaster Project, where Thomas Thwaites attempts to build a functional toaster from scratch (theoretically including mining and metallurgy); and The Filter Bubble by Eli Pariser on audio, eye-opening about Internet filters that increasingly provide users not with necessarily the best information but the most relevant-to-them information (a podcast with the author got me interested).

I've now completed and reviewed the second two volumes of Miklos Bánffy's Transylvanian trilogy, They Were Found Wanting and They Were Divided; the whole series is both a fascinating portrait of Hungary in the early years of the 20th century and a compelling set of stories.

I've just read and reviewed the puzzling but compelling The Girl in the Polka-Dot Dress by Beryl Bainbridge and the poetic novella Train Dreams by Denis Johnson.

I've spent a weekend in Prague, and despite all the sightseeing I managed to read a fair bit:

1. Death by Darjeeling by Laura Childs - 3.5 stars
2. Jane Austen Ruined My Life by Beth Pattillo - 4 stars
3. Fool's Puzzle by Earlene Fowler - 5 stars
4. Homicide in Hardcover by Kate Carlisle - 4.5 stars
5. Simon Said by Sarah Shaber - 4 stars (despite the abysmal editing my Kindle edition suffered from)

Currently reading Death at Daisy's Folly by Robin Paige

Wow, that's many books for a weekend trip! While there's so much to see in Prague, I hope you did.

It seems we share a few unusual books, especially, I don't think there are that many people with a Heukels Flora. Unfortunately I cannot check your home page (no access to blogs from China), but the combination of Books & Tea sounds just like my cuppa.

I'm beginning The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt.

14> Yes, I saw a lot! The castle area, most notable the Golden Street, the palace, and the cathedral, the Carls' Bridge, the Old City Square with the Astrological Clock, the Jewish neighborhood with its synagogues, the Wenceslas Square and surrounding neighborhood, and the National Museum. I do believe I am still forgetting some things, but suffice to say I saw enough :D.

Since my last post, I've finished several books:

The Last Gift by Abdulrazak Gurnah (4 stars)
On Canaan's Side by Sebastian Barry (4 stars)
The Last Hundred Days by Patrick McGuinness (4 stars)
Down the Rabbit Hole by Juan Pablo Villalobos (3-1/2 stars)
Weep Not, Child by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o (4 stars)

I'm now reading Chinaman by Shehan Karunatilaka, a rollicking novel about a legendary Sri Lankan cricketer, and Half Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan, whose author must be smiling in her sleep at the moment, as it was selected for the Booker Prize shortlist and for the Giller Prize longlist yesterday.

I've just made a work trip back to Amsterdam and took a trip to the ABC which was my mecca until we moved to Vienna at the beginning of summer. I picked up 15 books that I wanted. I got the last two Petersen graphic novels about Mouseguard which I just loved, the mixed artist collaboration as a series of "bar tales" is lovely. Then an Andy Riley book DIY dentistry -really a mollifying purchase for my husband regarding the large stash of new books!- we only just got another IKEA Billy and I had promised not to get through it too fast. Also finished a Stross, number 3 laundry files the fuller memorandum and am now on Caitlin Moran How to be a woman which is very amusing so far.

>17 kidzdoc:, kidzdoc: I'm keen to hear what you think of Chinaman - that's a book that sounds like it should appeal to me!

Caitlin Moran has a book out? I'll have to find a copy for myself, immediately!

I'm not loving The Sisters Brothers, which is on the Booker shortlist. It's clever and funny, but there's a distinct lack of substance so far.

So I'm starting The Leftovers, Tom Perrotta's new novel about the aftermath of a rapture-like event.

>19 timjones: I should finish Chinaman today, Tim. I bought it on the recommendation of a friend on LT, and because it was selected by the Guardian as a book that would likely make the Booker Prize longlist before the actual—and very disappointing—Booker Dozen was selected. I had trouble getting into it for the first half, as I tried too hard to learn about cricket while I was reading it, but I'm enjoying it now, probably because I have picked up some basic cricket knowledge, including the meaning of the title (left-arm unorthodox spin delivery), and because it has developed into a novel about Sri Lanka told through cricket.

Darryl, I wondered when you said that you were going to read Chinaman how you were going to get on with the game of cricket. It seems a simple enough game from the outside, but like baseball it has depths that catch out the unwary. I would think twice before reading a book featuring baseball.

Right, Barry. I did read reviews that suggested that one could read the book without knowing much about cricket, and the narrator of the book playfully makes a similar comment early in the book. Although this book will likely earn at least a 4 star rating for me I would guardedly recommend it to anyone who doesn't have at least a casual knowledge of cricket, unless that person has a strong interest in Sri Lanka.

I'm taking a Booker break to read Ann Patchett's Bel Canto and Michael Ondaatje's memoir Running in the Family.

I did finish Chinaman yesterday, which was very good (4 stars for those somewhat familiar with cricket, 3½ stars for those who aren't). I also read my eighth book from this year's Booker Prize longlist, The Testament of Jessie Lamb, which was probably the worst book I've ever completed that was nominated for the prize (1½ stars), and Miró by Iria Candela, a short book that I picked up at the Tate Modern Bookshop after I attended the Joan Miró exhibition at the museum on Thursday (4 stars).

Today I'm reading Anatomy of a Disappearance by Hisham Matar, another book selected by the Guardian books editors as one worthy of the Booker Prize longlist (and, so far, I would agree with them).

>25 kidzdoc:, kidzdoc: Since I'm extremely interested in cricket (as folks hereabouts may have noticed), it does sound as if Chinaman is the book for me - I shall pursue it - thanks!

Darryl - Matar was interviewed on NPR about Anatomy on Thursday: http://www.npr.org/2011/09/08/140223701/a-libyan-son-mourns-his-fathers-disappea...

Tim, since you like cricket I would highly recommend Chinaman to you!

Dan, thank you for posting that link to Steve Inskeep's interview of Hisham Matar, which I just listened to. I'll also have to listen to last week's segment of World Book Club on BBC World Service, which consists of an hour long interview of Matar in front of a studio audience:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00jszv2

It's also available as a free iTunes podcast.

I've just read and reviewed climatologist Heidi Cullen's chilling book about global warming, The Weather of the Future: Heat Waves, Extreme Storms and Other Scenes from a Climate-Challenged Planet, in which she relates the impacts of climate change to people's lives.

I've finished The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt and have noted my thoughts about it on my thread.

I'm now reading Tom Perotta's new novel, The Leftovers.

Recently finished Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson and Love at Absolute Zero by Christopher Meeks.

Now trying to try to finish Storm Rider by Akira Yoshimura.

I finished Bleak House while on holiday, and posted a review on my thread. Also finished King's Blockade Billy - hey, I was on vacation! - which I will review later.

At the moment, I am reading the Penguin Classics version of Sir Thomas Browne's Major Works, which I am finding wonderful, strange, exhilarating, and I have also started reading the double-header Babel-17/Empire Star by Samuel R. Delany.

I've finished and reviewed the stunning Ice Trilogy, a compelling tale of an imaginary Brotherhood of the Light that has much larger implications.

I read Prince Joe by Suzanne Brockmann, 1st in the Tall, Dark, and Dangerous series. Also read Baby Bling by Elle James, 3rd book in the Diamonds and Daddies series. The overall plotline of the 4 books in this series is coming to a close, and the tension is mounting. So I'm off to read the last book!

Banned Books Week (which begins Saturday) inspired me to visit the (now lapsed) LT member project Banned Books Library to see what books we share or I should “borrow.” I’m deciding among Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms, Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak, or a re-read of Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye.

I'm reading Until Thy Wrath be Past by Asa Larsson. Avaland said in her comments that the end of the book was disappointing, but I can safely say that the book opens with a bang.

I'm listening to Go Down Together by Jeff Guinn, which is about Bonnie and Clyde and the Depression. Tremendously good so far.

I've just finished and reviewed the subtle, complex, and bitingly witty The Towers of Trebizond by Rose Macaulay.

Finished Storm Rider by Akira Yoshimura, which I didn't care for as much as I hoped I would, I hope a gave it a fair review. Unintentional side effect now I must read about Japanese history to get a better understanding of their fiction. Something I struggling with in reading Taiko so added bonus there.

Taiko covers only the lifespan of one man in Japan. Yes, he's one of the most important men in the history of Japan and his life is often adapted for tv series/dramas, movie, comics and whatnot but modern literature really came what it is now during the World War era which really pushed Japan into modernizing itself. And that's where you really start to see the theme of traditional Japan vs. modern Japan. BUT, Taiko is still a fantastic read nevertheless and in it you'll see the intricacies behind communication, and human interaction/relation. I think it'll be a huge boost in helping you understand the culture.

The history and cultural aspects I'm struggling with in Taiko relates to my poor understanding of the shogunate period of Japan and how it shaped Japanese culture and how that relates to the modern Japan, especially postwar Japan. More big picture questions outside the book than with what is actually discussed within the story itself. To help with that end I will also be reading Japan Its History and Culture by W. Scott Morton, a small topical non-fictional book to help clear up some of my self-inflicted ignorance.

Oh yes, it certainly doesn't discuss any sort of transitional period of the shogunate period other than it's climax. Let me know if you need any further clarification. I'd be happy to discuss Japanese culture and history with you!

Back to work, I feel the squeeze on my free time. I can still read smaller novels on busrides etc, but hefty vols at home stay unread, and I cannot update my thread as often.

Still, I managed some light reads of chinoiserie W. Somerset Maugham's The painted veil and Nicolas Jose's The red thread, neither very impressive.

I enjoyed reading Die Unwissenheit (transl. as Ignorance by Milan Kundera, and finished Nicolas Shrady's Tilt. A skewed history of the Tower of Pisa, which was my last year's pre-vacation reading, but left unfinished before my trip.

I started reading La fille du Nil in French by Gilbert Sinoué.

I'm a bit over halfway through River of Smoke by Amitav Ghosh, the sequel to his 2008 novel Sea of Poppies, which is set in Canton and Hong Kong in 1838, just before the First Opium War between the British and Chinese. I'm also reading County: Life, Death and Politics at Chicago's Public Hospital by David A. Ansell, a book about Cook County Hospital, the author's experiences there, and the plight of the poor and uninsured in receiving adequate health services in the U.S.

Just finished reading Jacob's Room by Woolf, which I've reviewed, and am now going to dumb down a bit and read some James Herbert for fun.

On my flight to Paris I read Shipwrecks by Akira Yoshimura and absolutely loved it. Can't wait to write my comments on it although first I really should take a nap.