Group Reading Log: November 2011

Phew, been busy around here. Christmas decorations are already up in Sydney, but not here! I'll wait a month for that, methinks. :)

I'm currently reading That Deadman Dance for bookgroup, which is a very dense serious read, but I am enjoying it.

I have just finished the last of my Donna Leon books, Death in a Strange Country which was a bit scary. Leon depicts Italy as very corrupt but this one is about the dumping of industrial waste in the countryside. Nasty!

Yesterday I ordered eight books by Doreen Tovey, one of my favourite authors whose books have been reprinted. Yeah!! They should arrive in a week or so, and in the meanwhile, hopefully, my pre-ordered copy of Snuff will arrive today. I am starting to get annoyed about the delay as I could already get it in e-book form or go and buy it at my local bookstore.

Finished Case Histories yesterday. Loved it! Yes, it's as good as everyone says. :-)

Not sure what's up next. Perhaps The Sugar Mother which is for our book group, but not really in the mood for Elizabeth Jolley right now.

Because Snuff still hasn't arrived I have started reading The Importance of Being Myrtle by Ulrika Jonsson which I downloaded in a rush of blood and which is boring me to tears.

I could start 1Q84 but I feel that I should clear the decks before I embark on that one as it is a trilogy.

Maybe Snuff will come tomorrow but with so many addresses I am never sure if I am getting all my mail.

Edited to try to get the touchstones to work but they won't.

I have finished reading The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin. The Dispossessed is an excellent example of extreme culture shock. How well could a man raised in an anarchist society (even one considered a rebel and a traitor) function in a capitalist society? This is the catalyst that Le Guin uses to highlight the faults and follies of our society. The story begins on the world of Annarres, where we see the much hated and maligned Shevek boarding a shuttle to Urras. Subsequently, the chapters alternate between Shevek’s past on Annarres and his present on Urras, highlighting his struggle to align the two.

I don’t think I am reading too deeply when I say that world of Urras could represent our present – decadent, corrupt and with strict hierarchies based on wealth. Annarres and Earth (home to the Terrans), meanwhile, present us with two possible futures – one desolate and totalitarian, ruled rigidly in an effort to ensure the survival of the human race; the other just as concerned with survival, but offering more freedom and individual choice. To the Terrans, who have devastated their world, Urras is a paradise of flora, fauna, wealth and plenty. To the people of Annarres, who have been raised believing in the rights, freedoms and worth of every individual, Urras represents a hell of poverty, profiteering, inequities and the rule of the many by the few.

This book is very well written. The world’s are believable and the characters peopling them seem more real than even those we see on the news. Reactions and emotions are as logical as reactions and emotions can be, and by the end of the story the reader is emotionally attached to the main character, Shevek. While the ending occurs in a perfectly logical place, I found myself disappointed, as I really wanted to know what happens next.

The Dispossessed is an excellent and entertaining read. I highly recommend it to anyone from young adult to old age pensioner. I guarantee this book will leave you thoughtful, and will present you with a definite message. Whether that message is one of hope or despair, I will let you decide.

I am now reading Death in the Stocks by Georgette Heyer.

Snuff didn't arrive today. As I seem, thanks to the Claremont Council, to have five addresses with various agencies it could have gone astray or it could be sitting forlornly at the Post Office. I'll check tomorrow if it doesn't come.

In the meantime I am still reading The Importance of being Myrtle which is one of the dreariest books I have read in a long time. Myrtle is a colourless wimp and I keep on hoping that she will liven up now that her dreadful husband is dead. The characters are all black and white - no redeeming features to leaven the load.

Edited to move the touchstone bracket to the right of the definite article. It refuses to accept the 'the' in the title. Grrrrr ...

Snuff has finally arrived to rescue me from Myrtle.

The Importance of Being Myrtle was a dreadful book; it was mawkish and laboured and people just don't behave that way. I am surprised at Penguin - it is more the sort of book which is published by Smashwords.

Anyway, I shall begin Snuff tonight although Pratchett's last few books have been a disappointment. Fingers crossed and it can't possibly be worse than Myrtle and all her works.

I have finished reading Death in the Stocks by Georgette Heyer. Despite the implication of the title, this is not a thriller. Rather, it is a light and amusing story written in a style that reminds me of an Agatha Christie novel. I wonder if she was the author's inspiration? In any case, this book is worth reading for a good chuckle.

Moving on to The Victorian Celebration of Death by James Stevens Curl.

Georgette Heyer wrote about half a dozen whodunits which are all amusing and, even better, give the reader a chance to work out the problem themselves. She is given to petulant heroines and bull terriers but I can forgive her for that because if her sheer readability.

I have started reading Snuff and I hope that it gets better because so far it is littered with long and rather incomprehensible sentences and the glories of the countryside. I am praying that this will be the last book which Terry Pratchett writes because he can only go downhill from here and I will feel compelled to buy any new releases just to keep my collection intact.

You know, I've been hearing a few grumbles about SmashWords of late. I assume it's some sort of self-publishing site? I did note that Aurealis (Australian sci-fi/fantasy/speculative fiction mag) has just moved online from a dead tree edition, and they chose to go with SmashWords...

Still going wtih That Deadman Dance. It's very very good, but jumps about in time so much that I really have to concentrate hard, and my life does not work that way. (Especially not in November, which is a stupidly busy time at work, and Mr Bear's birthday month.) I'm trying to think of it as a series of vignettes about the same characters from different viewpoints and with a random timeline, but that's not really helping me to read faster. (And bookgroup discussion starts tomorrow, oh help...)

10# LOL, wookie perhaps you could tell your bookgroup what you have just told us. It is, after all, a valid point of view.

Snuff has got better and I am enjoying it but am not sure about Vimes and his 'beckoning dark' connection (see Thud).

All my Doreen Tovey books are on their way and I should have them in about a week, with luck.

Oh yes, I've been meaning to post something for a few days now, but it's been busy. I'm assuming I'm not the only person who is finding it a difficult read!

If I'm in a quiet room with no distractions, I can read it quite fine. But I'm realising how little that happens for me!! Only at bedtime, and I've just been rolling into bed and falling asleep instantly the last few weeks. Looking forward to Christmas, and holidays from work!

I've just finshed reading Snuff and it got all mawkish and sentimental and everyone ended up happily ever after. I'll probably give it two stars for the bit in the middle but even two stars is pushing it.

It's a shame to hear that Pratchett's later works aren't very good. I personally found his "middle" period a bit dull, but then he really picked up with some great social satire, IMO.

I've started reading 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. It is a trilogy so I have a lot of reading ahead of me.

Pink, I'm looking forward to your comments! I've liked the other Murakami novels I've read (and his non-fiction Underground), but this one is daunting me because of the size...

Wookie - so far it is very strange but I suspect that it is about a book which has been entered for a literary award and some sections of 1Q84 are actually the book itself because it is a little weird.

But I am only guessing and I have only read78 pages of Book 1.

Finally finished That Deadman Dance! It was quite an achievement, a patchwork of scenes around first contact with the Noongar tribe (near Albany in WA) and the subsequent white settlement with the whalers. It jumps around in time and place and in and out of stories, so it was a challenging read trying to work out what was happening at times. Reminded me of Dreamtime stories at times, and I got a feel for the traditional dances and songs (which is quite an achievement, considering it was a written book!). But if you don't mind a challenge, and are curious about first contact with the Australian Aborigines, this is definitely worth a read.

And Bobby Wabalanginy was a great character, well worth getting to know.

Have picked up as a complete change of pace The Library of Shadows and am annoyed with its clunky writing/translating. This is always the problem with going from an excellent book to something trashier, it takes a while to forgive poor writing. But I'm reminding myself I'm reading this one for pure entertainment.

Why are books translated from the Scandinavian languages always so clunky? Are they really written this poorly in their original language?

I didn't find Steig Larsson's books clunky but maybe I just didn't notice.

1Q84 is still strange but has gone from being an ironing book to one which I can pick up with a certain amount of anticipation; yesterday, being devoid of things to iron I almost dived back into Mirrors of the Unseen which I am enjoying but travel books need to be taken in small doses.

You obviously weren't as bothered as me by the endless references to Billy's Deep Pan Pizzas, the chapter that was pretty much an Ikea shopping list, and far too much detail about Lisbeth's computer. Not to mention the almost eye-gougingly slow start to each book.

But once you got past all that, they were corkers and I couldn't put them down. I'm sad there will be no more Lisbeth Salander.

This is more badly expressed English. (I feel a bit guilty complaining about that, it's not like I'm a whizz with words or anything myself! It's like flaming someone for spelling mistakes while making spelling mistakes of your own, really.) I'm having to re-read sentences because it's not clear until the end what the author/translator is referring to.

That is bad translation. 1Q84 has been well translated from the Japanese but the story is rather odd so perhaps something has been lost from the original. To be honest - I think that it is the story which is odd rather than the translation; Murakami's other books are a bit surreal.

Murakami is rather out-there in his plots. I do have to say I like them, though, and that's part of the reason why I like them. My least favourite of his was Norwegian Wood which was also the most straightforward in terms of plot.

Just read Snuff by Terry Pratchett. He's back on form at last which is great because I love the Sam Vimes tales. I haven't read I Shall Wear Midnight yet probably because I was disappointed in Unseen Academicals. May that dodgy brain of his keep ticking on for many years to come... although the odds aren't good.

There was a bit of sentimentality about it, but he is a man with a growing son now which is likely to change a person a little. Not quite as sharp-tongued as he once was but Pterry is also changing - I wonder if we'll get a book about being master of one's own fate & assisted suicide before his mind is wiped.

I enjoyed I Shall Wear Midnight but found Snuff very disappointing. To me it read like a 'tying up of loose ends' type of book and was overly sentimental.

I am struggling with Murakami. It has turned out to be an ironing book but there is nothing left to iron.

I've never actually read any Murakami but he sounds like quite a challenge.

I loved Kafka on the Shore but I am not so sure about 1Q84. It took me about 250 pages before i really got into the story and even then I am a little confused as there seem to be three parallel stories which I can see will link up eventually but I keep getting muddled about who is where.

I'd probably do better if I could just settle down and read the thing but I keep on looking for other things to do - what I have started to classify as an ironing book.

Murakami ? I've only read one of his books ...... After the Quake ...... (short stories ..... about 200pgs and a quick read though I took it slow). I am not sure how to take his work, but then I guess I haven't read enough. Mr888 has read two of his books After Dark and I think Blind Willow Sleeping Woman and says he found it all a little strange ................. I haven't rushed out to read his books.... though I have been curious.

I am now reading Disco for the Departed ... only just started.

I really enjoyed A Visit from Goon Squad .... I heard that it had been discussed on First Tuesday this month .... which I didn't see ..... (must go and check the website)
Also listened to Cold Comfort Farm read by Anna Massey .... and enjoyed it thoroughly!! It put me in a good mood.

I really enjoy reading Haruki Murakami. They are 'different' without a doubt, but are intriguing and have some lovely writing in them. I've read six so far and they've all been either 4 or 4 1/2 star reads except for After the Quake which I gave 3 1/2.

Kafka on the Shore, The Wind-up Bird Chronicle and South of the Border, West of the Sun were my favourites. And I have a few more on the shelf waiting.... ;-)

Carole, I get the podcast of "First Tuesday Bookclub" through iTunes, it gets synced to my iPad and (in theory) I never miss an episode that way. (In practice, I do the same with several other shows, and never find time to watch any of them, sigh...)

Cold Comfort Farm is delightful, I must re-read it soon!

I do generally like Murakami, I'd like to read 1Q84 but the size! The mammoth size!!

Almost finished The Library of Shadows. Not the fun read I was expecting, I keep on getting frustrated with the translation and the stupidity of it all. Reading to the end just to see how it all works out, but this one is definitely a disappointment.

I am onto Book 2 of 1Q84 and it seems, so far, to be a bit easier to read. I really struggled with the first half of Book 1.

But I am looking forward to the arrival of my nine books by Doreen Tovey to give me a bit of light relief.

I have finished reading I, Avatar: The Culture and Consequences of Having a Second Life by Mark Steven Meadows. Fun to read but ultimately a waste of time because the author takes an entire book to write what could have been written in just three or four pages.

I also read (all in one day) The Fifth Child by Doris Lessing. This book was neither scary, nor creepy nor horrifying. At least I did not find it so. What it is, however, is an interesting look at how everything can fall apart when our plans are forced to change and how a differently-abled child can tear a family apart. Not brilliant but worth a read.

I gave up on The Victorian Celebration of Death by James Stevens Curl. This could have been a very interesting topic, but the writing is boring and repetitive. I gave up after page sixteen.

I am currently reading Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army by Jeremy Scahill, Playing With Fire by Coral Russell and I'm still reading Essential Asatru by Diana L. Paxson.

Bother, The Victorian Celebration of Death sounds right up my alley! Shame it wasn't worth the time.

Finished The Library of Shadows. No improvement. Note that some people really enjoyed this book, I just didn't.

Started this morning on The Night Circus which took a little while to come together, but I'm enjoying it now.

I have finished 1Q84 Book 2 and at this stage I have had enough to be going on with and I'll finish the final book at a later date.

I shall entertain myself with Our Lady of Darkness by Peter Tremayne until the books I've ordered from Fishpond arrive and after immersing myself in all nine books about Siamese cats I might read 1Q84 book 3 and find out if Aomame is dead. Right now I don't care ...

I love Cold Comfort Farm, the book and the movie. Apparently Stella Gibbons wrote around 30 novels but none of them were as successful as CCF. I've never come across any of her others.

I did see a sequel of sorts to Cold Comfort Farm the other day. I didn't buy it, maybe I just stumbled across it online or something. (Wish my brain focused better!)

I'm really enjoying The Night Circus - it's not perfect, but it's fun. But because I'm getting well ahead of the group read, I've put it aside to read Karin Fossum's Don't Look Back, a Norwegian crime novel. Good, so far.

A sequel to Cold Comfort Farm? I wonder if it revealed what Aunt Ada Doom saw in the woodshed, what happened to the goat and how the cow lost her leg.

Those questions, left unanswered, lost half a star in my rating. I also think that she should have married Seth.

I have decided that Sister Fidelma will require too much brainpower after 1Q84 and I have picked up Mirrors of the Unseen again. It is a very amusing account of Jason Elliot's travels in Iran. I was there at about the same time and grin every time he mentions the various samples of moonshine he is offered in that very strict Theocracy. He describes one as tasting somewhere between turpentine and paraffin. We couldn't even get a decent cup of coffee; the Iranians are tea drinkers.

Yeah! Four of my Doreen Tovey books have arrived so I won't have to even think about 1Q84 Book 2 for a while.

Finished Don't Look Back, and it was a nice solid murder mystery (police procedural). Good characters, some interesting backstory, worth checking out if you like crime.

Now back to The Night Circus! In between ordering smallish boys back to bed, Mr Bear's birthday party (sleepover) tonight...

I am halfway through the last of my four Doreen Tovey books. I had hoped that some more of them would arrive yesterday but it was not to be and I am going to have to tackle Book 3 of 1Q84.

Even the owner of the bookshop where I went for my Secret Santa books thought that I was brave (or foolhardy) to read it.

I decided for Peter Tremayne and Our Lady of Darkness before getting back to 1Q84.

BTW - Sue Grafton's latest book is supposed to be released today and is supposed to be called V is for Vengeance. Hmmmmm - the touchstones recognise it so it must be available.

Oh, I haven't even read S is for Silence yet... I rather like them, but I think spacing them out is best, I'd get fed up with Kinsey if I binged on them.

Finished The Night Circus and it was good fun. Slightly disjointed at times, but a wonderful imagination with the circus itself.

Moved on to And Then There was No One by Gilbert Adair, the third Evadne Mount mystery. These are very good fun, lots of metatextual stuff. (So far, in the preface the narrator has poo-poohed unreliable first person narrators as "a tired old cliche of postmodernism", and is, of course, a first person narrator himself; and I'll eat my hat if he's not unreliable.) Quite different from the first two, which were set quite clearly in an Agatha Christie timeframe; in this case we're firmly in a post-911 world. Wondering how Ms Evadne is going to work her way into this one, she'd be over 100 by now, surely!

Last week I read Banker to the Poor by Muhammad Yunus; the story of how and why Yunus founded the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. It was the very beginning of micro-finance and micro-lending and an attempt (successfully) to do something to alleviate poverty for the very poor, and for women in particular. It also gives a little background re his growing up, education, influences etc. While not exactly a rivetting page-turner, it was interesting and I learned a lot. He talks about the philosopy of micro-finance and the bank, and outlines its growth and development. It's a very grass roots, local village model, and he gives lots of examples of individual women and how small loans have transformed their lives (both economically and socially) and also the lives of their families and communities. Yunus and the Grameen Bank were winners of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 "for their efforts to create economic and social development from below".

If any of you are interested in micro-finance and how you can make a difference in people's lives with as little as a $25 loan, I invite you to have a look around the Kiva website: http://www.kiva.org

And now -- drumroll please -- I'm back into Shantaram. :-) And I'm really enjoying it actually . . . it's just that it is such a doorstop of a book!

Five more Doreen Tovey books arrived yesterday and I have already read one and started on the next; they are not very big and it is a good excuse not to read 1Q84, Book 3 which is hanging over my head.

crimson-tide, I saw a TV programme on how micro-lending was working. That was ages ago but one interesting face emerged - women use the money, pay back the loans and go on to bigger, better things; the men do not.

That's right. Loans to women are more effective, and have a much larger knock-on effect for the woman, the family, and the community, than loans to men. The repayment rates are in the order of 98.9% - that's better than mainstream banks. The loans are given without collateral and the lenders realise that this is their one and only chance to get out of the poverty cycle, so they work bloody hard to make it work out. And it's a very social model with village groups set up for support and encouragement.

I do love Kiva, but have been unable to find just the *perfect* project to donate to - they're all so brilliant! I think I might just have to choose something at random...

I agree wookie, sometimes the choice can be a bit overwhelming... But there are great filters on the Lend page to narrow it down. I'd choose a country from the map first. Then you can choose male vs female, individual or group, sector (eg agriculture vs retail etc), and then on the top right of the loans list you can sort further by Repayment Term for example, to find a nice short term loan. Have fun playing about with all the options.

And remember it's a loan, not a donation. The money is repaid to you and then you can loan it again (or withdraw it if you want to). :-)

Edited to add: If you want a tip . . . I'd start with either Peru or the Philippines. They have lots of nice short term loans, and reliable, well established Field Patners.

>46 crimson-tide:: I also forgot to mention that there is a BookCrossing Team on Kiva. :-)
http://www.kiva.org/team/bookcrossing

The team thing looks interesting! Thanks for the tips, I'll look into it soon!

Finished And Then There Was No One and sad to see the end of Evadne Mount. But another gloriously over-the-top postmodern piece of silliness, if quite different from the previous books in the series. It was reminding me somewhat of Jasper Fforde, only without the silly puns, and lots of name dropping.

Moving on to Snowdrops, another Booker Prize shortlisted title. This one's been getting very mixed reviews. So far I'm not convinced by the noir-ish feel to the prose, but I'm burling through it fast enough that I think I'll probably be pretty positive towards it at the end. But time will tell.

Okay, Ozoda from Tajikistan has US$25 from me to help buy knitting materials.

http://www.kiva.org/lend/361939

Yeah, I pretty much just chose at random. ;) Thanks for the push, crimson-tide, or I would have been hemming and hawing for ever.

:-)

I had to give up on Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army as it is due back at the library. However, I am finding it extremely interesting, so it will be added to my BookMooch wishlist in the hopes I can own a copy long enough to finish it. I have also given up on The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. I have nothing against the book or the author. I have simply been unable to get into it despite several attempts.

Meanwhile, I have read Taboo by Casy Hill. I recommending including the author's name in an Amazon search or you will find a completely different (not for children) style of novel. This was an interesting and thrilling story that was hard to put down. The premise of murders being committed according to society's taboos was a fascinating one. My only gripe is that the author made it a little too obvious as to the identity of the killer. Otherwise, this was a worthwile read that did not require too much thinking and I would recommend it in a pinch.

I am currently reading The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kid and Playing With Fire by Coral Russell (which touchstones seems unable to find). I am also still reading Essential Asatru - a little each day and I'll finish it eventually lol.

I have read all my Doreen Tovey books; they are all very quick reads and now I am faced with 1Q84 Book 3 so I have been spending the last two days trying to get my family tree up to date. anything to avoid having to read that book.

Hey everyone. I thought I'd sign up after someone mentioned this group on BCAUS. I just downloaded The Night Circus for my kindle and started it last night. I've got a 6 month old so I only manage to read a few pages every night before I crash. I also downloaded 1q84 but have been scared off a little by Pinkozcat's comments. I will put it on the backburner until I have the brain capacity for it.

I have started readingThe Little Coffee Shop of Kabul by Deborah Roderiguez and I feel as though I am being lectured in anticipation that I will donate money to educate women and children in Afghanistan.

Not that it is not a worthy cause but I think that things there need to settle down there a bit before we can even hope to see the girl children in school and a changed attitude among the men.

She is preaching to the converted as far as that goes but it is supposed to be a novel, for heaven's sake, not a lecture.

I have sneaked a look at the ending which is an indication that I am bored with it. And yes, I am horrified at the plight of the Afghani women; let's kill all the Afghani men, just keeping the best of them alive for breeding purposes.

Hi Fushmush! Nice to see you here. :) I finished The Night Circus a little while ago and thought it was a charming read, I hope you get enough sleep to be able to enjoy it, too.

Okay, finished Snowdrops. Not a great read, but I whizzed through it fairly fast. (The narrator was an absolute sexist whinging git, which made it hard to really enjoy, you know?) On the plus side, great Russian atmosphere.

Then read Margaret Atwood's The Penelopiad, which I did enjoy, although I wasn't quite won over by the modern interludes with the Greek chorus of Penelope's hanged maids. They just seemed rather silly (which was the point to a certain extent, I'm sure, but still). I seem to be skirting my way around Homer still, one day I'll tackle him properly...

And then Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere which was good fun, I enjoyed it. I already knew the story from the BBC production (the book came after), but he's a great storyteller and this was a hard one to put down.

And now Kate Grenville's The Secret River.