Group reading log: July 2009

Started (for Orange July) Joan London's Gilgamesh: A Novel on the bus this morning. Once the noisy kids up the back of the bus got off at their school and stopped disturbing me, I got into it. Wondering if I should check out the Wikipedia entry for "Gilgamesh" because I don't think I know the epic tale at all, and I'm assuming there will be parallels. Or maybe it'd be spoiler-ish and I'd enjoy it more if I didn't know "Gilgamesh". Oh, decisions!

What's grabbing me most is that it's set on the southern coast of Western Australia, where my Mum grew up. I'll have to pass it along to her when I'm finished.

My books from Fishpond finally arrived yesterday and I am busy registering them on BookCrossing but I have finished re-reading the Witch series from Discworld and have started on the Death books so I haven't started on the Jonathan Kellerman books yet. One of them is the original Alex Delaware book and I am looking foward to reading that one, and the other six ...

My car was in for a transmission service yesterday so I had to kill 4 hours. I thought 'What can I do while I'm waiting? I know... I'll go to the library.' Big mistake, of course. Here I am with 100s of books to read & I come home with 6 more from the library. What an idiot! But it was fun just browsing the shelves without a care in the world.

ETA - As if I need to find more mystery series that I haven't read before.

Have finished two books already - I had started Magyk by Angie Sage before July - but was an 'A' read and now I have to chase up the rest of the series. Luckily they are all at my local library!!!

I also finished Pink Knickers aren't Cool by Jean Ure a lovely little pre-teen story about friendship and peer pressure. I read it only because i needed a 'U' author for my alphabet challenge - but loved the story. Very good if you have 10,11,12 year old girls. is the first of a series of 4.

Now reading Bel Canto by Ann Patchett for Orange July.

What's 'Orange July'? Pardon my ignorance.

I've got a swag of bookrings to read. I love being part of bookrings, but it does put the onus on one to read things that you're not necessarily in the mood for.

Anyway, I'll try to start Sea of Poppies tonight. After that are (not necessarily in order) The Memory Room and Girl in a Blue Dress. And, oh yes, I have to finish Disgrace. That one seems to have slipped under my radar.

I've finished Dexter by Design but haven't journalled it. (Smacks.) I'll do that now.

livrecache, sorry it hasn't been explained before! Over on girlybooks (far less chicklit than you would think from that name) they celebrate the Orange Broadband Literature Prize (for women writers) by reading anything long/shortlisted for the prize or any winners. Twice a year, January and July; hence, Orange July.

I've got something like 14 books that qualify, so I might be knocking off a few from Mt TBR. Some lucky people might even get a JE! (I've got Jubby's copy of What I Loved teetering near the top, and it was longlisted one year...)

I'm also doing the Orange July read, and I asked for nudges to decide which to read. I'm being a bit contrary at the moment and I've read one that, I think only WB mentioned a slight interest in, Everyman's Rules for scientific living, it was short-listed for a bunch of prizes including the Orange in 2006. An Australian book, it's a quirky idea that starts with a Train to educate rural people in all manner of better farming techniques. A few of the "Trainers" lives are followed, there is some subtle ironic humour but it is also very sad in places. Very good, but one I think you would have to be in the right mood for.
Next up is The Lost Dog because I found it in the letterbox today, it's a bookring, and it was longlisted for this year's Orange!
Then back to my normal schedule of reading Small Island.
phew ;-)

ETA I was going to say, I loved Sea of Poppies but being on the same ring, I suspect you already know that livrecache ;-)

>5 livrecache: Wookie has explained - however there are a few other groups doing it too. Just have to read a book that has won the Orange prize for Literature during the moth of July.

Is a UK award - more info at it's link: http://www.orangeprize.co.uk/home

I have found that I enjoy more books that have won this literary award than some of the others.

List of winners here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_Prize_for_Fiction

Yes, Sally, it's a very readable lot of books, isn't it? We Need to Talk About Kevin wasn't an easy read (emotionally; several years on and I still don't want to talk about it), but it was magnificent, I couldn't put it down even when I knew it was going to end horribly. And so many others were great reads - Bel Canto, The Great Fire, Fingersmith, White Teeth, The Time Traveller's Wife - all five star reads for me, and I'm quite happy to push them onto anyone and everyone. So I'm looking forward to tackling some of the others.

Unlike the Bookers, which can often be a great big drag. (But when they get it right, they get it very right.)

Top on my list to read this month are: Gilgamesh: A Novel, What I Loved, Fugitive Pieces, Purple Hibiscus, Half a Yellow Sun, The Idea of Perfection, Brick Lane, The Vintner's Luck...

Although it's not perfect: The Autograph Man by Zadie Smith was very disappointing after White Teeth, and I loathed The Little Friend by Donna Tartt. But you can't have everything...

I've just finished reading When the Bough Breaks by Jonathan Kellerman. It is the first of the Dr Alex Delaware books and also introduces Milo and Robin.

It is a so-so book and, like others of this genre, the hero gets himself into a life threatening situation from which he is rescued at the very last minute and rides off into the sunset until the next book.

Kellerman seemed to be very uncomfortable writing love scenes. I can just see the scene with the publisher - "go away and put in a couple of torrid sex scenes and THEN bring it back to me ". They were overdone and awkward and he does better in his later books. I guess that it comes with practise ...

For me, We Need to Talk About Kevin was one of the most compelling books I've read in recent years. Like you, wookiebender, I don't want, or can't, talk about it. I loved the last three of the other five books you mentioned. I'll have to look out for The Great Fire and Bel Canto.

I have been reading the Orange shortlisted books for some time: I just hadn't realised that there was a BC group devoted to it. But of course there would be.

I tried to read The Little Friend, but it's just languishing on my bookshelf now. I know I won't read it. (OZ VBB maybe? Or any takers here?) It's a pity because I really enjoyed The Secret History.

livrecache, wasn't The Secret History a great romp? I thought it all a bit silly at times, but a great read. I read The Little Friend first, and only got through it because I thought something might actually happen somewhere. Hah. I should have gone with my gut instinct and given up at 50 pages.

And *DO* read Bel Canto. One of those easy-to-read books that is quite simple and straightforward, but beautiful and has a lot to say behind the basic story. (Oh dear, I hope I'm not overselling it now. There are some people out there who don't like it. I'm just not one of them.)

I have finished reading Lockie Leonard: Human Torpedo. This book delves into the mind of an adolescent boy in the throes of his first relationship, while trying to cope with a new town, a new home and a new school. It is well-written and the characters, while a bit cliche, are still convincing enough to hold our interest. This is a decent example of Australian Young Adult fiction, but it does not persuade me to continue with the series.

I also read a bookray copy of The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. I loved this book and found it almost impossible to put down. The tale is told in an elegant, graceful style that brings to mind some of the great nineteenth century classics, and the characters are very real and believable. The Historian is set against the background of contemporary communist politics, yet it is filled with the rich details of Eastern European history. I love how we are invited to share the exciting, frustrating, and sometimes mundane life of historians - trying to piece together clues, some incomplete, others so tiny as to be almost missed, and come up with a plausible theory of how things once were. Despite this plodding journey, there is not a page of this book that is dull. Rather it is filled with a lingering feeling of menace, as though something sinister is peering over our shoulder this very minute.

The Dracula legend is old, tired, jaded. Many modern authors have tried to freshen it up by remaking the genre - portraying vampires as mis-understood creatures. Kostova returns to the image of vampires as evil, damned, terrifyingly seductive, yet she has done so in such a way that we are reminded of the bone-chilling fear these creatures can inspire.

I find it hard to believe that this is Kostova's first novel. With a talent this large, we can expect great things from her in future. My only fault with this book is that, after our slow piecing together of the facts, the ending seems a little fast and squashed together. No doubt this will improve as she gains experience.

All in all, I feel The Historian, like Bram Stoker's Dracula, will live on as a classic of the vampire genre.

I actually read both of these books in June but, since this thread is well and truly underway, I thought it better to post here rather than revive the old one.

Anyway, I am now reading The Plague by Albert Camus and Replay by Ken Grimwood.

fairy-whispers, I have The Historian on my Mt TBR - I think I got it through the Oz VBB, so I should read it sooner rather than later and get it circulating again. Tempted towards "sooner" after your review!

I finished Gilgamesh: A Novel last night, and thought it was a very good book. I'm just too tired/busy this weekend to be able to write a review or coherent comments just yet. Will be starting One Foot Wrong for the ANZ Lit Lovers bookgroup tonight, we're scheduled to start discussing it in a few days, but it only turned up at the bookshop on Friday. Preliminary comments don't exactly make me excited about starting it...

I'd nudge you to read The Historian WB, I read it a few years ago and I totally agree with F-W's review, it's one of my favourite books.

Still going with The Lost Dog, the allusions to Henry James work are as lost on me as the dog is in the book, but I'm enjoying this novel, none the less.

Must get to Gilgamesh sometime soon, another on my TBR.

I always expect more reading time during school holidays but it never happens...

I've just finished Prime Directive, a Star Trek novel recommended in th ST group here on LT. I liked it a lot, didn't expect the ending and I think it would have made a much better movie than some stories filmed with the original crew (Kirk, et al.)

I've had to put my re-reading of The Time Traveler's Wife on hold - my audiobook doesn't rip very well and it isn't really suitable to listen to while my kids are at home.

next I'm back on the bookring wagon with A Fraction Of The Whole

I very much recommend The Historian, wookiebender. Mostly because it's so good, but also partly because I want to know what you think ;-)

I've just finished my first book of the month, Junky by William S. Burroughs. It wasn't my cup of tea (and I don't mean 'tea' as in 'pot'!). For me it was like reading Chuck Palahniuk, but without the wit. Just didn't really connect with the same flat tone all the way through, the assortment of characters that neither the protagonist, author or myself seemed to care about, or the meandering plot (or lack thereof).

Thanks to a rare bout of insomnia last night, I'm halfway through Ian McEwan's On Chesil Beach. I'd heard fairly negative reviews on it, but it's certainly not what I was expecting, so I'm pleasantly surprised.

I'm done with The Plague. I simply could not finish it. This is an incredibly boring book. I laboured all the way to part three in the hopes it would improve, but I was sorely disappointed. The language is too dense and the style is condescending - I feel as though I'm being talked down to. The blurb states that this book is supposed to be a metaphor for the German occupation of France - I simply cannot see it. anyhow, this is not a book I would recommend.

Miss-Owl, I begged off on Junky when the bookring came calling a few weeks ago. I'm not quite sure why I joined the ring (okay, it's probably some sort of compulsion with the "1001" book list), given I couldn't even finish one of his other books - Cities of the Red Night. Glad to know I made the right decision! (And I'm not joining any more bookrings. I'm too much of a black hole at the moment! Just can't get the motivation to read something I *must* read right now.)

I thought On Chesil Beach was rather a minor work, but not bad. It did help that I saw Ian McEwan talk at the Opera House soon after it came out (thanks for the ticket, jubby!!!!!) and he gave me a different perspective on it.

And, okay, The Historian will be read asap. Probably next month, I'm well into my Orange hysteria this month. :)

Although I'm currently reading a non-Orange, One Foot Wrong. Incredibly bleak topic (it's rather reminding me of Nick Cave's And The Ass Saw the Angel, which I disliked intensely I must say), but beautifully written and compelling. I only picked it up last night and I'm halfway through already.

I have finished Bel Canto by Ann Patchett - really enjoyed it :)

Now I am reading City of Masks by Daniel Hecht.

Yes, wookiebender - you definitely made the right decision with Junky. Wish I had! Oh well, it's another one crossed off the 1001 list... that compulsive thing explains my joining the ring too.

I'd love to hear what Ian McEwan said about On Chesil Beach - you can't leave me hanging like that! (Feel free to PM me if you think there'd be some spoilers involved.)

I'm a bit jealous of all this discussion about The Historian. My copy is on loan to a student who promptly fell sick for two weeks... home reading, perhaps? :D

I'm mowing through this current SIY challenge - two books down already! I think all the pre-Thailand stress is being repressed into fiction :)

Next up: Amsterdam (I'm in the mood for McEwan.)

Miss-Owl, the main thing is he had a sense of humour. I tend to read my literature very po-faced and seriously. It was great seeing Ian McEwan (and Paul Auster and Siri Hustvedt as well that year) crack a few jokes, talk about writing about sex, read out the appalling sex scene in On Chesil Beach and then say "of course, I got to write about bad sex". It made that excruciating scene funny (not to the protagonists, of course) and much more bearable.

Speaking of Ms Hustvedt, I started What I Loved on the bus this morning. I've previously read her The Sorrows of an American and it knocked my little socks off, so I have high hopes for this one. I hope I'm not setting myself up for disappointment... (It was longlisted for the Orange Prize so it's part of Orange July; and it's a "1001 book" so there's my other compulsion.)

I finished One Foot Wrong last night. Deeply disturbing plot, but amazingly written. It's from the point of view of a young girl who obviously has serious mental issues (schizophrenia) and who is abused by her parents who also have mental issues of their own. (Not to mention an unhealthy religiosity.) So, a very unhappy topic. But the imagery was marvellous, as our protagonist seems stuck in this child-like state, talking to her friends tree, spoon, handle, etc; drawing the most amazingly described pictures; linked by invisible ropes to her friends, etc.

wookiebender >>> One Foot Wrong sounds like an interesting book to read.

I have finished reading Replay. It didn't take me long because I found it so hard to put down and it was an easy read. We have all thought about what we would do differently if we had our life to live over again, but have we really thought through the implications? We think about what we could gain but have we truly thought about what we could lose? And what if we had to live our life over, and over, and over? Could we handle it? Replay is a brilliant book about time wasted and time gained and how we manage what very little time we have. The style is fresh and easy to read and the characters inspire empathy. I found this book hard to put down. Even those who are not fans of the fantasy genre ought to enjoy this book.

Next up for me is Finland, Cultural Lone Wolf by Richard D. Lewis.

I loved Replay too, for basically the same reasons. There are a few copies floating around the BCAUS community and I highly recommend it to anyone who can get their hands on it.

I have one of your copies of Replay freelunch. :)

It's on the 'don't leave too long before reading' TBR stack, but keeps getting leapfrogged by others unfortunately - bookrings and the like. I'll have to make a concerted effort to push it up the pile.

you do indeed crimson-tide, along with Rollback which is somewhat similar in theme and excellence :)

fairy-whispers, I will probably be bookcrossing One Foot Wrong, I can't see myself re-reading it due to the subject matter. (Jubby gets first dibs, however, if she hasn't got a copy because she's in the same online bookgroup.) If you want it, I'm happy to send it along.

http://www.vividfiction.com.au/files/OneFoot.pdf has an extract of the book.

And I hadn't heard about Replay before, but I shall be keeping my eyes open on the Oz VBB... :)

> 28
Mmm. Forgotten I had that one! ;) But Replay will definitely have to come up to the top of the pile first. Too many books, too little . . . .

Found a great quote the other day, very apposite: "The truly cultured are capable of owning thousands of unread books without losing their composure or their desire for more." (Gabriel Zaid)

I hadn't heard of Gabriel Zaid prior to this. He is a Mexican writer, poet and intellectual, and I gather that this quote comes from a book of his, So Many Books: Reading and Publishing in an Age of Abundance. Sounds like our type of guy! ;)

wookiebender >> ah, that makes sense. Thanks for solving the mystery. It's nice to know that the literary writers don't *write* po-faced either :)

I started Amsterdam last night, and it didn't grab me very much at all. It surprises me that this is the McEwan that has won the Booker prize - I'm finding it the least likeable so far. That, and the fact that my cover comes with a bizarre picture of two men in top hats and tails having a duel, when the book is clearly set in the late twentieth century. Bizarre.

I agree about Amsterdam Miss-Owl, I wasn't very impressed either. He has written much better ones, as have others. I gather that particular Booker win was one of those 'compromise decisions' which slide into the middle ground, or towards the least common denominator.

> 30

excellent quote. I think I'll appropriate that one for my email sig :)

wookiebender >>> Thanks for the offer, bu I'm totally swamped at the moment. I think Mt TBR is about to experience a landslide lol.

freelunch >>> If I still have my copy of Replay when my next turn rolls around, I'll offer it up on OzVBB.

fairy-whispers, no worries. Jubby has requested it, so I'll be passing it along in that direction next time I see her. Maybe it'll turn up in the Oz VBB one day!

And landslides are good for Mt TBR, you find all sorts of lost treasures at the bottom of the pile sometimes...

I have just read Over the Edge - interesting and enjoyable; it was a second read for that one, and Silent Partner - highly improbable and it really annoyed me: the ending was almost Scifi. Or maybe they do things differently in America. Both books are by Jonathan Kellerman. Two down and five to go ... my long awaited order from Fishpond.

This is a bit off-topic, but I noticed that apparently 65 people are reading Information Representation and Retrieval in the Digital Age at the moment, placing it tenth on the list.

Huh?!!

Anyway, the LT book recommender tells me with a very high degree of certainty that I won't like it :D

it says I won't like it either. I guess we aren't cool enough...

I'll be joining the uncool kids then, too. :)

I'd say it's a librarian's textbook.

Thinking about the "currently reading", I've been wondering if there's a time limit on the currently reading extract on the home page of LT. I mean, if someone labelled something as "currently reading" then wandered off for a few years, forgetting about their LT account, would that still count? I hope not (although some books I've had in "currently reading" for months because they're short stories, or I will get back to them, honest, rsn...).

I think the 'currently reading' list on LT will be truly useful when they expand it - even if most LT users diligently update their currently reading collections the aggregate Top Ten isn't likely to vary much.

I'm hoping for pages with Top 100s for 'currently reading' and 'wishlist' books

Not a bad idea, freelunch. I'm rather addicted to the "Popular this month" list. I'm such a wannabe, always need to know what *others* are doing so I can do it too. ;)

I like seeing books I've already read show up on the 'popular this month' list so I can feel like a trendsetter :)

it doesn't happen often.

Well, I was a trendsetter for Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and look what happened there!

Acording to the 'Currently reading' list, I would still be reading Bonk, a book which LT decided without consultation that I was reading, if I hadn't cancelled it. I don't know what gave them the idea that I was reading it at the time.

And has anyone explored the 'Characters' bit. What a waste of time, even in this computer age - all the characters in all the books registered here ...

I use the characters info so I can get spelling correct in my discussions and to jog my memory for names. But I know what you mean, it can all slip into Too Much Information so easily. (And sometimes it slips over into spoilers, in "what do you mean X isn't in the third book???" moments.)

A friend of mine was ranting that you can get detailed character bios and synopses of Buffy The Vampire Slayer (etc) on Wikipedia, and what a waste of time and bandwidth it all is. All I can say is, he's not a fanboy. ;)

When I hang out in Common Knowledge, I'm looking at the literary prizes, mostly. I'm a prize snob.

character info can be handy if you're interested in a character who appears in works by several authors and in different series

for example, Iris Wildthyme appears in a few Doctor Who novels, one Bernice Summerfield audio drama, a couple of short story compilations and audio dramas in which she is the central character and three of Paul Magrs "magical realism" novels

http://www.librarything.com/character/Iris+Wildthyme

also one might be interested in looking for books featuring characters who have passed into the public domain, such as Robin Hood or Sherlock Holmes.

I've discovered online TV!
ABC has a service called iView.
They are showing a Brontes doco. at the moment, amongst other things, Time Team epsidodes, the recent Attenborough, The Navigators (Flinders & Boudin). Other great stuff.
To watch, I use a high level broadband
Link to the abc is
http://www.abc.net.au/

I just love this, if you miss something and forget to record it, you have a fortnight to a month to catch it online, Doctor Who, Torchwood, Being Human, Spooks, Miss Marple and more!
Jennifer Byrnes book programs are also on there.

KimB, I absolutely *LOVE* the concept of iView. In practice, I'm on cheap broadband and this Mac is about eight years old. Video just doesn't really work. (Small YouTube clips take an age to download, and then are incredibly jerky and stall all the time.)

Plans are afoot to upgrade both our plan with our ISP (hello, ADSL2), and get a snazzy new PC. In practice, yeah, well, that would take organisation, something I'm sorely lacking. :}

iiNet has a deal with both iView and iTunes so that downloads from both those sites are not included in your download allowance. I've been with them right from "the early days" when Michael Malone started up the ISP in his parents garage (True). Now they are National - not sure if in all capital cities yet though.
And no . . . I don't get a spotter's fee! ;-)

We can't get ADSL2 here (and not likely to for a very long time), but most of the time my ADSL1 speed is OK for video streaming on iView. Sometimes it can be a bit juddery and if that happens I just give up and try again later. I agree Kim, it is great to catch up on some shows you've missed.

Yes, iView is great! Sorry, just a 'me too'.

I started reading Girl in a Blue Dress by Gaynor Arnold this morning, and have only reluctantly put it down to do Saturday stuff.

(It's on the Orange July list and even though it was long-listed for the Mann Booker 2008, it is just so readable.)

Orange July is just rolling along... Finished What I Loved and thought it was marvellous dense stuff, about art and life and psychopathology. No, really. I got my copy from from Jubby last year, and will post it into the Oz VBB next round for any other "1001"/Orange aficionados.

And had one of those visits to the library with the kids today where I managed to find three books on my wishlist. So I'll be starting Andrea Levy's Small Island tonight, and have Sarah Water's Affinity on Mt TBR (neither a 1001 or an Orange book, but she's such a marvellous writer), along with The Double by Jose Saramago (a 1001 book).

Just visiting. >48 wookiebender: wookiebender.... Do you mean to say you are going for a PC and turning your back on Mac? I weep.

Thrin, I have no firm plans whatsoever. I'm just thinking of a little Netbook, for browsing. They're definitely cheaper than a Mac, and unfortunately, cost is a major factor at the moment.

Once I start looking into it, a new Mac - if it stay within the budget - would definitely be my first choice (I just like them), but I'm happy with anything that will let me browse the web and read my email.

When I said "PC", I didn't specifically mean a Windows platform. Sorry for the vague terminology. :)

>53 wookiebender: wookiebender..... Ah, happier now ;-)

Finished The Dancer Upstairs by Nicholas Shakespeare for our local book club. It's a fictionalised account of a real time in history, based around the capture of the leader of the 'Shining Path' terrorist movement in Peru in the early 90s. It has been one of those books I've been aware of for years, and gone "meh... not interested". In the end it turned out to be a well crafted 'story within a story' and I found it engrossing.

Now back to The Wind-up Bird Chronicle, which I must admit I'm not finding as captivating as the others of his I've read.

Oh, I loved The Wind-up Bird Chronicle, crimson-tide. I'd love to know what others you've read! I just finished Murakami's After Dark. Not everyone seems to have given it glowing reviews, but I really enjoyed it.

I also finished McEwan's Amsterdam and was really disappointed. It was all right for an ordinary writer, but for McEwan... To be honest, if one of my writing students had come to me with a proposal that outlined this story's plot and ideas, I would have rejected it offhand as being frankly preposterous. And then, of course, I would have gone down in history as the narrow-minded pedagogue who rejected a Booker prize-winner. Hmm. I just find it unbelievable that Amsterdam is the one that goes down as his Booker winner. Strange.

Not sure what to read next. Am a bit befuddled by the fact that I am burning through my SIY challenge this quarter when I'm meant to be so busy getting ready for Thailand! (Guess it's a measure of my procrastination...)

I've finally finished reading Time Bomb by Jonathan Kellerman. I think that I have had an overdose of Kellerman, or his earlier books are not as good as his later ones. This one was about neonazis and a school shooting, encompassing nasty, go-getting politicians and corrupt police.

I am now reading Revenge of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz. Her first book was very funny and the second one not so good ... but I am really enjoying this one about the very dysfunctional Spellman family. It was released in March this year and for anyone who is looking for a nice light read, I'd recommend it.

>56 Miss-Owl: It's not that I'm *not* enjoying The Wind-up Bird Chronicle Miss-Owl. I'm just over half way through: it started out as 7 (out of 10), and is now probably deserving of an 8. I see I used the word 'captivating', and that's probably as close as I can get to what I mean. . . maybe it is a factor of this one not being the first (or second) of his I've read?

Anyway, the others I've read are:
Kafka on the Shore - 9
South of the Border, West of the Sun - 9
Sputnik Sweetheart - 8
After the Quake (short stories) - 7

At this point in writing this post I went off and read your (wonderful) review of said book, and see that you also used the word 'captivated' in the initial line. So you know what I mean. I say "I'm not finding *as* captivating as the others" . . . it's all relative I guess. ;-)

Just finished Small Island as an Orange July read and it is on the 2008 ed. of the 1001 list.
Just loved it. One of the best books I've read this year.
I'm going to offer it as a bookring it is too good not to share.
I think I'll read The Colour next.

>58 crimson-tide: I've read Kafta on the shore and The Wind-up Bird Chronicles and I preferred Kafta. Glad I've read both and I'll look for more by Murakami.

>56 Miss-Owl: That's interesting about Amsterdam Miss Owl. I've read Saturday, Atonement and On Chesil Beach by McEwan, I think I'd rate them in that order. I havent read Amsterdam or Enduring love. I wonder what Enduring Love is like?
Oh Miss-Owl if your looking for inspiration on what to read next, I'd recommend looking at books listed for the Orange Prize, I'm having a ball reading these.

KimB, I rather liked Enduring Love. There was a good sense of menace, and I was puzzled and gripped all the way. I wouldn't say it's his best (Atonement for me, and I am still looking forward to Amsterdam!).

Sorry, I have a headcold, and I'm a bit vague today. Hope that made sense!

And would people please stop raving so much about Small Island! I'm worried you're all going to over-hype it! (I'm a serious chunk into it, and it is quite fabulous. But still, I'm going to expect fireworks from now on, given all the praise it's been getting!)

And I loved The Wind-up Bird Chronicle too, but I don't think it was the first one of his novels that I read.

And I just looked at the Murakami novels I've got on LibraryThing (ooh, I love this website), and I've read:

Dance, Dance, Dance
Kafka on the Shore
Sputnik Sweetheart
Underground and
The Wind-up Bird Chronicle

I gave them all four stars, except Chronicle got five stars. I've got Norwegian Wood on Mt TBR somewhere.

Oh, and with Small Island - I almost just dropped "cha" as an exclamation and sucked my teeth in a meeting. I dare anyone to read that book and not do the same.

Thanks, KimB, you read my mind... I *was* wondering what to read next! Those Orange July books sound fabulously tempting, but because I don't own any of them, and I'm in the middle of trying to *evacuate* books, not bring them in, I can't take your advice just yet!

So last night I was good and I settled myself into On Love, a novel by Alain de Botton. I've enjoyed his non-fiction texts (which read partly like fiction) so I'm not surprised that his fiction reads partly like non-fiction. He manages the transition quite deftly, though.

Now, on to McEwan... I enjoyed Enduring Love too. I spent a lot of time being just engrossed in the plot (I'm a bit of a big-picture/ideas-type reader, if that makes sense), and it wasn't until I finished it that I realised the whole Enlightenment-Romantic dialectic going on throughout. ('Scuse the literary jargon, I'm giving my Year Twelves a holiday lesson tomorrow.)

I'm glad you liked my review of Wind-up Bird, crimson-tide (and hope it didn't give too much away!). I was going through a period where I was trying to train myself to write them, because I *teach* it, but don't feel inherently good at it. Anyway, it was curious that we used the same word to describe our experience of the book!

If anyone's up for Amsterdam, let me know. It's just kicking around my place with nothing to do :)

I have finished Finland, Cultural Lone Wolf. This book is a little repetitive in places and, considering there are only 202 pages, it did seem to drag a bit. Having said that, the content itself is absolutely fascinating. Before reading this book, I rarely thought about Finland except to note that they had a good education system - I didn't even know where they are located on the map. Finland, Cultural Lone Wolf has opened my eyes to the unique and admirable nature of this people.

Finland ranks among the top few countries for global competitiveness, environmental sustainability, water resource management, minimal bureaucracy and least corruption. They lead the world in health, technology, education and gender equality, are known in the United Nations as the 'Super Peacekeeper' and are proportionally the biggest library users in the world - six million visits per annum.

This book is an interesting study of one of the world's least lauded nations, and it has left me with an immense respect for the Finnish people.

Now, I'm going to have another crack at Maeve Binchy's Echoes.

<sings>Finland, Finland, Finland: it's the place where I'd quite like to be.</sings>

Sorry, those Python boys just get in your brain and never get out again. (No disrespect to Finland, I'm rather fond of all those cold European countries.)

Hehee... wookiebender, I see your Finland and I raise you one Norwegian Blue parrot... pining for the fjords :)

LOL...and now for something completely different...

Miss-Owl, you sound as though you might be a Starship Titanic fan. I played the game years ago (my first taste of the internet) and there was a most annoying Norwegian Blue parrot in the game.

I have just finished reading Revenge of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz and for a light, funny read I can recommend it. Lutz's last book, Revenge of the Spellmans was not as good as her first book The Spellman Files but she has hit her stride again and I laughed all the way through her latest offering.

Finished Small Island and thought it was quite marvelous. Given that it's about ingrained racism, it was remarkably funny at times. A wonderful read, recommended to all.

Will be starting The Vintner's Luck next. (Orange Prize longlist, 1999, and gathering dust on my shelves for far too long.)

I've just finished Girl in a Blue Dress. I liked it well enough, but it seemed to me to lack the literary merit to be long listed for the Booker 2008, and the Orange award. I'm now curious to know more about Dickens' real biography, as this book is purportedly based (loosely) on his life. The allusions to his works and some of the characterization captured a Dickensian feel very well, although I must admit it's been quite some time since I've read a lot of Dickens.

I've never heard of Starship Titanic, pinkozcat, although judging by the LT recommendations, it looks like I'm referring to the same dead parrot from the Monty Python sketch. I wonder what the parrot did in the game?

Still enjoying On Love, although I think it's been mis-labelled as a novel. Frankly, any book that has to label itself "a novel" is already a bit suspect in my eyes. (My sister who reads, unlike me, for plot alone, picked it up for a look & put it down again hastily, saying, "I don't like that.")

The Vintner's Luck didn't pass the 50 page test for me. Tortuous language, git of a main character, references to angels and heavens being real, too many sex scenes (okay, I'm a prude, shoot me).

But mainly it didn't pass because I picked up Mistress of the Art of Death from the bookshop last night and when I compared my feelings of returning to 19th century French winemakers (akin to "oh, dear lord, no") with my excitment at visiting 12th century Cambridge with a forensic whodunnit, well, it was probably an unfair contest.

A slightly confusing opening (who in the where with the what now?), but a pageturner. I was hoping for a milder crime, however. This one isn't pulling many punches, with dead and mutilated kids. (I might have to go and read some Agatha Christie soon for some tea and crumpets and death.)

I've just finished A Fraction Of The Whole and it was absolutely marvelous! It reminded me many times of early Peter Carey novels: Bliss, Oscar and Lucinda and probably Illywhacker, 'probably' because I've only read it once, many years ago, and I barely remember it - must rectify that soon.

I haven't decided what to read next. I have several bookrings waiting, several books I want to read before I give them to my kids, and I need to top up my books-waiting-to-be-released-at-work (one per week in the staffroom, always something I've read and enjoyed) so while I make up my mind I'll go with a comic: Fables Vol. 4: March of the Wooden Soldiers :)

Bill Willingham's "Fables" series is sooo good. Anyone who has ever dabbled in comics should definitely check it out, and for anyone who hasn't its a great series to start on.

back to bookrings now with The Pages

Miss-Owl, the parrot in Starship Titanic was a damn nuisance, constantly giving false information and eventually had to be lured off its perch so that the player could use the perch to progress the game. It was bright blue and all of us players go to hate it (in the nicest way). It ate hot roast chickens.

It was one of the first non-dos computer games and Douglas Adams spent ten years developing it. The graphics were fabulous and way ahead of its time. There was a help site where we all used to congregate and I made a lot of on-line friends from all around the world, some of whom are still good friends.

Re: Starship Titanic (the game) ...

Starship Titanic is a science-fiction adventure set aboard a colossal spaceship (which is named after a fairly well-known cruise ship from the planet Earth). It seems that something has gone horribly wrong aboard the Starship Titanic--a fact that becomes evident as the vessel slams into the cozy confines of your living room. Now, at the request of the ship's robotic crew, you must go aboard, figure out what went wrong, and fix it.
The game uses impressively rendered graphics to depict Starship Titanic's opulent interior. For the most part, you can make your way through the ship and the game using the mouse as you would in Myst. For conversations with the robot attendants, you use the keyboard and the game's text parser. This combination of contemporary adventure-game graphics and classic-style text conversations works well.

As with any adventure game, this one has a lot of puzzles for you to solve. And like everything else Douglas Adams comes up with, the puzzles in this game are complex, challenging, and often downright silly. You'll have to disarm a bomb, for example, that has a 20-digit "combination" and that constantly taunts you. (Monty Python's John Cleese plays the voice of the bomb.) You'll also have to deal with an annoying, chicken-eating parrot (played by Terry Jones, another Python veteran and author of the Starship Titanic novel).One thing to keep in mind as you play Starship Titanic is that the puzzles will leave you frustrated at times. That's OK--in fact, that's probably what Adams had in mind from the start--because most of the solutions to these puzzles are incredibly bizarre and unusual. If you get really stuck, the DoorBot and BellBot can usually be of some assistance.

Even with a little help from these automated assistants, however, Starship Titanic will have you puzzling for hours and hours. --Michael Ryan

(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:10 -0400)

I have just finished City of Masks by Daniel Hecht - an 'A' read. I also finished a not so good read Vamps and the City by Kerrelyn Sparks.

I am currently reading Faerie Wars by Herbie Brennan - a YA fantasy - and will finish that before I fly off to Tassie on Monday. Am taking 7 books with me - and will leave them as I travel around Tasmania.

See you all when I get back

well I've read 50 pages of The Pages and it is slow and intelligent without characters I can relate to or a story I can get involved in so I'm not reading any further. I have too many books I want to read to work this hard on one I'm not enjoying.

next up Coraline which I want to read and give to my son to read before the film adaptation hits cinemas next month.

pinkozcat >>> Thanks for that wonderful summary! The game sounds really intriguing. I loved Myst - although I also found it really scary as a kid, wandering amongst all these eerie, deserted monoliths. I kept feeling like some human-eating monster would attack me at any moment. Or that I'd accidentally wake up a White Witch like in The Magician's Nephew.

Finished Alain de Botton's On Love. Wandering around in Ariel's at the Rocks last night - the bookshop most hazardous to my wallet to date - I realised that it's been reissued since as Essays in Love, and no longer seems to be labelling itself as "a novel". That said, I think it's more fictional than just a bunch of essays, either. I think de Botton is on to a nice 'have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too' kind of affair that suits his writing perfectly. If you like his style and you're prepared for some whimsical though sometimes obsessive navel-gazing, it's recommended.

Not sure what to read next. I've been very naughty and started reading the books I was supposed to have been saving for Thailand! (This 'justified' the purchase last night of The Big Sleep.)

This morning, both kids are sick (awake overnight with high temperatures/sore ears). So we bundled up on the sofa this morning, and I said they could choose a movie to watch. I was hoping for maybe Pixar, or some other animated classic. But, no, I got The Wiggles instead. (While I appreciate that they are fun for small kids, this is not something I would choose to watch of my own volition.)

So, I picked up the nearest book to hand: the graphic novelisation of the movie Stormbreaker, the adaptation of the first of the Alex Rider books. (Wow, convoluted.) We got it out at the library thinking maybe for Mr Bear, so I thought I'd check it out before passing it over. I thought it was rather excellent (for what it was: good manga art, good simple yet interesting storyline, nice open ending setting up further stories), but I may wait 5 years or so before buying the first (non-graphic novelisation of a movie adaptation) for him. Bit too much death and Alex does get into a spot of bother that might be upsetting for Mr Bear.

Finished The Colour last night, a good story, well told, not a great story tho'. Some of the small details grated a bit, I'm not sure a Kiwi would ever call a new farmer a "Cockatoo", not even back during the gold rush times!
I can understand why it didnt appeal to you wookiebender.
Anyway it's another 1001 list book (from the prev. ed) ticked off.
I think a bookring or 2 might turn up next week, so I think I'll try to read something short like Purple Hibiscus, continuing with the Orange Prize list reading.

I *loved* Coraline! I really must read more Neil Gaiman, I have enough of his books lying about waiting their turn.

next up is The Dead Of The Night.

(edited typo)

Oh, I *loved* Coraline too. Went to the movies last night (for Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, which we did enjoy) and went all fangirly and SQUEEEE! over the posters. I want a trailer, damnit.

I haven't met a Neil Gaiman book I haven't liked yet. They're not exactly... straightforward, but I do love them.

Halfway through Mistress of the Art of Death. One for the forensic junkies out there, and the historical setting is a plus. A few minor quibbles, but I am enjoying the fact that I have NO idea whodunnit as yet.

have finished reading Self Defense by Jonathan Kellerman. It is better than some of his earlier books and I enjoyed it very much.

I am now reading Survival of the Fittest which was written in 1997.

... and I am still battling my way through Mother of God which is still making me angry. Hopefully, when I get past the early Church Fathers I won't get so annoyed.

wookiebender >>>> I hope the munchkins are feeling better soon.

I have given up on Echoes by Maeve Binchy. I picked up this book because I enjoyed reading The Copper Beech. Unfortunately, I just cannot seem to get into Echoes. I tried three times to read this book and failed to be engaged each time, so it is time to give up on it and pass it along to someone who will enjoy it more.

I am now reading The Encyclopedia of Immaturity: How to Never Grow Up, The Complete Guide by Klutz and Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Crusie.

Thanks, fairy-whispers. They're all fine, and got sent off to vacation/day care on Monday with no worries. (Although I was slightly peeved, as I was all ready to have the day off to look after them and had quite a little list of household tasks all lined up to do! And then I ended up in at work, as usual. Harrumph.)

Finished Mistress of the Art of Death. I found the first half jarringly anachronistic at times: what I felt were fairly modern forensic techniques being used in the 12th century. But the characters were fabulous, the historical detail fascinating, it was well written, and I wanted to know whodunnit, so I continued, with just a short whinge or two at Mr TQD.

The second half was excellent, one of the best page-turning whodunnit thrillers I've read for a long time. (Although when we finally get to the reveal, it took several pages before someone finally says the perpetrator's name so we could find out who it was. I was practically screaming "just say his name, you dumb wench!!" which was so wrong, given how intelligent our heroine was.)

Also rather interesting was the fact that there were a lot of suspects, but they weren't really the focus of the story. The story was about Adelia (our "Mistress of Death"), her friends and friendships, and the solving of the crime. At first I was slightly irritated because I couldn't keep them all straight, then I got into the rest of the book and it didn't really matter that they all blurred a bit.

I shall be sourcing the next book in the series. :)

And then I hopped into The Yiddish Policemen's Union this morning. This is for the Six Degrees of Separation mini-challenge (http://www.librarything.com/groups/minichallenge6degree) - you have to read six books that link from one to the other. In this case, the accused in Mistress were the local Jewish community, and Yiddish Policemen is also set in a Jewish community (obvious from the book's title!).

And this is also the month's theme on the Reading Globally group - they're doing Alaska this month.

I think I just joined too many groups in the past week...

I have finished Welcome to Temptation. I'm not usually into romance novels, but this was a decent read. The characters were well rounded, not the standard cliches I am used to in this genre. I like the term 'Vanilla Porn' which I read for the first time in this book. I think it is a term that could probably be applied here. This is a good book with a real storyline and I enjoyed it.

I am now reading The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

I've just finished The Dead Of The Night and I loved it as much as Tomorrow, When The War Began

next up: Dancing The Code

# 88 The Tomorrow series is just SO good!

#84 I had a Maeve Binchy phase at one time. I found them nice, gossipy, light reading, and I couldn't really tell one from another.

#87 The Great Gatsby (book and film) has to be another of my all-time favourites.

I'm reading Disgrace with not much enthusiasm at the moment. I don't particularly like the protagonist, nor the writing. However, it's not a very fat book, so I'll persevere.

livrecache, I read Disgrace with my local book group a few years back. It contains lots of interesting and pertinent *issues* which did engender some discussion, but most of us, including myself, thought that the book itself was pretty 'blah'. And I totally agree with you about the protagonist . . . a very unlikable chap. Not that it can't be a decent book with an unlikable protagonist of course. Another Booker winner that I wouldn't rate as terrific. *sigh*

#87, #89 >>> Love, love, love The Great Gatsby. I heard Baz Luhrmann bought the rights to make another film. (Have we had this conversation before? I have deja vu.)

I'm reading A Farewell to Arms. It's my dad's copy from when he was in high school, so it has really annoying "H. meets C. for the second time" -type scrawl all over it, which is really quite distracting because it's also perversely entertaining!

I studied The Great Gatsby back at High School for the HSC. (But, livrecache, wasn't Mia Farrow completely wrong for Daisy?) I bought another copy a year or so, as part of my rehabilitation of high school texts (I've re-read Emma and Rebecca so far, and have also bought To Kill a Mockingbird for a re-read; and where was the Australian literature in my curriculum, I wonder...), but haven't picked it up. I remember admiring it way back then, but it does deserve a re-read and a re-think away from essays and exams.

Miss-Owl, I hadn't heard Baz had the rights! He'd definitely make something sumptuous, and I'd be there to watch it.

I'm a bit torn about other people's notes in books. I was brought up to never ever write in books (a 2B pencil on the front leaf with your name on it was the most; let's just say I had to overcome a few obstacles before being able to label books for bookcrossing!), so I'm always appalled that someone else wrote in books. But sometimes the content can be fascinating! Preferably not as fascinating as the original story, however. ;)

Emma, Rebecca and To Kill a Mockingbird as school texts? Wow! We had Dickens (nothing against him - I enjoy his books) and I remember something about a wild bull in Queensland called Man Shy. Jane Austen and Daphne DuMaurier would have been great; I had to wait until I left school before I discovered them.

I have just finished reading yet another of my Jonathan Kellerman books. This one is Survival of the Fittest. Moderately good - he is getting better as time goes on but I hated the ending ... it gave no 'closure' at all.

Didn't *everyone* have To Kill a Mockingbird as a school text? Or was it just NSW? Year 8 or 9, I think. Emma was for the HSC (it was almost always an Austen novel, but I think some people had Dickens or some other 19th century equivalent), and Rebecca was in Year 9 or 10, I think.

What else did I study?? The Loved One springs to mind (Year 11), Wind in the Willows (Year 7) and I remember some of the plays (The Tempest, Hamlet, Macbeth, Midsummer's Night Dream for Shakespeare; Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Waiting for Godot, there was a Joan of Arc play by George Bernard Shaw that I've forgotten the name of). Poetry all fell out of my head as soon as it could. (But John Keats and Robert Browning for the HSC.)

I know we studied Australian novels, I can remember snippets, but they just didn't stick with me.

I didn't read any of the required books in school. the only two I recall are The Fixer and To Kill A Mockingbird, neither of which I've read to this day.

I did Jane Austen at school (which one, I can't remember now, as I've read them all so many times since). And The Great Gatsby. Not Rebecca or To Kill a Mocking Bird. Lots of Shakespeare – Macbeth, Hamlet, Anthony and Cleopatra, King Lear and A Midsummer's Night Dream and probably others. I don't think we did any Australian literature, but then I did go to school in Tasmania. We did some Dickens but as I also read a lot of him at university (in Sydney), I can't remember specifically which was when.
It's irritating me now that I can't recall what else I read at school. I'll have a think.

I must be one of the few who didnt read To Kill a Mocking Bird in school. We didnt do Shakespeare either.
It was the ACT curriculum, and I went to one of those new age open plan highschool in the early 80s. We didn't have a separate English course during Year7-10, what I did was called "Humanities". The idea being, we did a bit of everything in that block.
I think that was one of the reasons that we concentrated quite a bit on Aus Lit Wake in Fright etc. and some other non-Aus stuff that comes to mind Fahrenheit 451, Animal Farm, Brave New World. Funny how the dystopia stuff sticks in the mind.
Most of the time it was a book combined with a film.
There was also quite a bit of work at your own pace and choose your own Lit. to review I think I chose Dune and Lord of the Rings.
ACT Year 11 and 12 is in a college separate to the highschools. Highschool in the ACT finish in Year 10. Lots more freedom. I was able to choose various English courses that really didnt focus on Lit review, lots of topical stuff like the Franklin Dam etc.
Later on at Uni I did part of a Science degree and went on to finish Commerce.
It was good not doing Shakespeare, I enjoyed discovering it for myself. In Year 12 I watched The Twelfth night from a BBC production. It featured Felicity Kendal as Viola, Sinead Cusack as Olivia, Alec McCowen as Malvolio and Robert Hardy as Sir Toby Belch. Just loved it and off I went to learn more :-)

I was at school in the 1950s and I suspect that the powers that be thought that books like Rebecca were 'not proper books'. We did a lot of Shakespeare as well - and heaps of poetry. I can remember one teacher reading Greenmantle by John Buchan but that was recreation, not study.

freelunch, I skipped some of the books that I was meant to read in High School as well. I'm still suffering guilt from that to this day! I think the fact that you didn't read any makes me feel less guilty. Thank you.

pinkozcat, I do like John Buchan, although I haven't read Greenmantle yet. Yay for The Thirty-Nine Steps!

And, livrecache, it's annoying me too that I can't remember the full list. Dammit, I spent a lot of time on (most of) those books! Z for Zacariah was our contribution to the dystopia (post-apocalyptic world), and I think we did a Joan of Arc play by George Bernard Shaw whose name escapes me, and then there was a feminist novel (nothing famous) and another one where Sydney shut down and the kids in a family end up walking to the Blue Mountains and it was somehow fantasy/sci-fi but I can't remember in what way...

Oooh, Daughter of Time! That was a good one, too. Had to bookmooch a copy last year for my sister who'd never read it.

Hehee... the funny thing is, I find myself teaching things these days, that I studied in high school myself, thus perpetuating the cycle...

Novels - To Kill a Mockingbird
Shakespeare - Othello, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth
Poetry - Samuel Taylor Coleridge

But there are many more that have fallen by the wayside because of syllabus/school bookroom changes (King Lear, Brave New World, Utopia, Maestro), some that I've chosen not to teach (Pride and Prejudice, Emma - not much teaching appeal where boys are concerned!) and others I've picked up, that I absolutely love teaching (Hamlet, Wuthering Heights, Frankenstein, The Catcher in the Rye and The Great Gatsby - the latter two especially when paired up with "American Beauty".)

I would have loved to read Rebecca in high school.

Argh. Getting nostalgic. Better keep packing.

Ah, yes, I did The Catcher in the Rye too. Loved it at the time, but doubt I'll love it now. One of those books that should be read as a teenager/young adult, but at no other time.

When do you choof off to Thailand, Miss-Owl?

We didn't study The Great Gatsby in school, which is one of the reasons I'm reading it now. I remember lots of Shakespeare (Romeo and Juliet, Othello, Macbeth, Hamlet, Much Ado About Nothing, Two Gentlemen of Verona), The Bridge to Terabithia (this one really stuck in my head), Emma, Z for Zacharia, The Fire in the Stone, Death of a Salesman, 1984 and Brave New World. There were plenty of others of course, but I can't remember them all - I seem to remember a book about a blind girl, and another which was an Australian book of short stories, and we did the poetry of the guy who wrote The Road Less Travelled. Oh, and I think we did The Chocolate War as well.

Yes - Jane Eyre, of course. But good grief!!! Wuthering Heights???? We would NEVER have been allowed to read such a book. I read it after I left school and loved it ...

Heathcliff is the archetypal romantic, bodice-ripping hero; sexy as hell, dark and brooding and would have made a very bad husband. *grin*

by the time we came to be reading The Fixer my English teacher was so sick of me not doing required work that I was suspended from school until I'd done it.

I was at boarding school at the time so being suspended meant I spent my days in the school library. I sat there for 2-3 days then watched the film adaptation of the book (which was in the library on VHS) and based my review/response on that (pretending I'd read the book and quoting from its back cover.) I got a good mark for it too.

I didn't read any of the assigned books because our English assessment was based totally on folios of work we compiled at the end of each semester - it was left up to us what work we submitted so I wrote what I wanted and ignored any set work I didn't want to do. :)

freelunch >>> You remind me of one of my students. We get along wonderfully but his work habits (or lack thereof) drive me crazy!

Oh well, ex-student, now.

wookiebender >>> I'm leaving on Wednesday morning at the crack of dawn... and I'm not ready! Maybe it's because I'm here, posting away...

pinkozcat >>> Hehee. Last year I had my Year 12s split up into groups and create a short film on an allocated section of the novel. We had everything from finger puppets to anime rip-offs. I regret to say that some of them are out there on Youtube... one involves a certain degree of "artistic" licence and a whole bunch of Barbies & Kens.

I'm guessing you probably wouldn't have been allowed to watch "American Beauty", either!

...and then there was the Physics assignment I plagiarised word-for-word from Doctor Who: A Celebration on the Reality Of Time Travel.

my attitude to school during my senior years wasn't all it could have been.

106....and you probably got a good mark for it to, Freelunch. I wish I'd done more of that in school now, such good stories :-)

Oh yes, Catcher in the Rye was another one we did! Thanks for the memory jogger.

So did anyone else do any Aus Lit? I think I also remember doing Seven Little Australians and Gallipoli, also with films again.

Part of Seven Little Australians was done in the ACT. So an excursion out to Lanyon Homestead was also in order.

I seem to remember Caddie, The Great Gatsby and My Brilliant Career but I'm not sure if I read them at home or at school. Jane Eyre was definately read in my own time, I still have the same book now, along with Treasure Island, Robinson Crusoe, Wuthering Heights, A tree grows in Brooklyn, The Scarlet Pimpernel, The Good Earth and so many more. They were part of a Reader's Digest Series that my parents bought for me when I was young. Still treasure them.

It's fun taking a trip down memory lane :-)

Back to the present and I've just finished Bel Canto, Orange winner for 2002. An unlikely story, but so enjoyable. I didn't want it to end.

Gosh, you guys have been nattering on today while I've been out working! ;-)

I'm another who can't remember many of the school texts. There probably weren't all that many, as in years 11 & 12 the standard (compulsory) 'English' subject was a very weird animal which didn't contain much in the way of 'Literature' as such. 'English Lit' was another subject which I couldn't fit into my timetable 'cos I was into maths & sciences etc. So strange.

Anyway what I can remember is Northanger Abbey, Catcher in the Rye, Animal Farm, 1984, The Thirty Nine-Steps and the ubiquitous To Kill a Mockingbird.

Shakespeare's plays are the only ones I can recall - Julius Caesar, Romeo and Juliet, Henry V. In terms of poetry we did a wide selection from one of those school texts that has bits from everywhere but doesn't do any one poet in any great depth. Although having said that, the poets I remember most from school are Wilfred Owen and Robert Frost.

I can't remember any Australian novels either, although there must have been a couple at least.

My sister did Nineteen Eighty Four for the HSC (in 1984, naturally), and Brave New World and Animal Farm. She got all the dystopias! I read 1984 (in 1984) but neither of the others.

KimB, My Brilliant Career was one of the set texts I didn't read. Still haven't. Just can't quite bring myself to it, I don't know why. (Haven't seen the movie either.)

freelunch, your attitude to school work sounds like mine: if I didn't like it, I didn't do it. Somewhere along the way I got bored with under-performing, and stopped slacking off, but it's still a very bad trait of mine. I've got a very patchy Uni record due to some poor choices of subjects, and I sometimes have to force myself if there's something at work that I don't want to do. (That's easier though, they pay me, and I'm a bit of a sucker for a regular pay packet. ;)

I have just finished reading The Sittaford Mystery by Agatha Christie. I found it on a remainders table, written in 1931.

I kept getting annoyed with it because the police didn't seem to check alibis and there were no forensics. Interesting how modern day whodunnits are made much longer by all the science but at least one knows that every effort is made to catch the right man.

I guessed whodunnit - a minor miracle for a Christie book. Naturally it was the rank outsider; the best friend whe had no obvious motive.

*105* Miss-Owl - no TV or video when I was at boarding school and we weren't allowed out to go to the cinema during term time. It was books or nothing in those days ...

Ozlit - yep, I did some: My Place by Sally Morgan; a few plays The One Day of the Year (stuffed-up touchstone), Shifting Heart. Sad to say, they really put me off Ozlit for quite some time.

I was a good girl at school (and still am!) but uni was a different matter. For honours we had to do a C16th, 17th or 18th course, and I chose C18th (closest to C21st). Big mistake... C18th literature is the wordiest ever! I think I ended up reading about a third of the texts. But at least I have read the longest book on the 1001 list - Clarissa... it's a doorstop!

crimson-tide >>> Good to see someone's keeping the economy going! I sent you a 3kg satchel of books (though it's closer to 1.7kg). Has it reached you yet?

I'm still reading A Farewell to Arms. I'm finding Hemingway's bone-dry style quite boring, actually. And Dad's annotations aren't very interesting either. But I do want to find out what happens (and want to get as close as possible to finishing that 1001 list), so will persevere.

>111 Miss-Owl:: No, not reached me yet. But don't panic as it often takes over a week for the big satchels to find their way to this neck of the woods from your side of the country.

Not so sure about keeping the economy going! The idea is that just enough work is done here to keep *us* going. Which often isn't very much at all . . . ;-)

I am still reading The Encyclopedia of Immaturity, but I have finished The Great Gatsby. Tired of hearing everyone rave about this novel, I decided it was about time I see what all the fuss is about. I'm glad I did. This has to be the easiest classic I have ever read. Classic literature generally consists of very heavy language that needs to be waded through like a swamp. Not so, The Great Gatsby. Not only is this novel easy to read, it is also a pleasant story. This book focuses on the usual themes of class, gender roles and progress, but it also touches on the different standards of honesty expected from various characters, and (more subtly) the impact of the Great War on the lives of those who lived through it. The focus on the difference between West Egg and East Egg can also be seen as representing the division between Old Aristocracy and the nouveaux riche. Fitzgerald also seems to touch on the difference between true friends and opportunistic hangers on. During life, Gatsby's home is filled with people, many of which he has never met, but on his death, it is the relatively new acquaintance of the Narrator that proves true and lasting - the others have disappeared. This a short, enjoyable and easy to read novel.

Next up for me are Trapped by Edmund Plante and Illustrated Anthology of Sorcery, Magic and Alchemy by Emile Grillot De Givry.

I have just finished reading The Pale Horse by Agatha Christie. It is different from a lot of her books in that it was murder by witchcraft and was a lot of fun although it was impossible to guess the person behind the murders.

I don't, as a rule, like her books very much, but I enjoyed this one and the alternatives on Mt TBR are a bit daunting ... I have just had a birthday so I didn't get to choose the books.

Well, I've finished Disgrace, and I agree, crimson-tide, it was stuffed full of pertinent issues. I commented before we'd gone to the farm, and any crisis had ensued. That was my first Coetzee book. I'm not sure that I'll be breaking my neck to read more.

I'm about to start I'm Not Scared which I'm looking forward to immensely. (Thanks, jubby.)

and I've finished Dancing The Code and it was as expected - faithful to 70's Doctor Who but with much better SFX :)

next up: Demon Thief, another book I'm reading before one of my kids - I like being able to discuss what they're reading and my daughter has raved about (and told me I should read) Darren Shan's first series for years.

Well, I finished The Yiddish Policemen's Union, and thought it was pretty damned excellent. I found it a complete page-turning, rip-snorting, funny, hard-boiled, dry-humoured masterpiece. I can't believe that he could think such a reality up (Israel failed, and there's a Jewish community stuck in Alaska, about to be made homeless (again) as their protectorate has a time limit), and then make it so believeable.

It's about family, friendships, Judaism, politics, gangsters, murder, dispossession, life, drugs, chess. And it's written as a page-turning whodunnit. And it has Yiddish puns in it. (Oy vey. And he doesn't use "oy vey" until page 168. I was amazed by his restraint, because I started using that phrase as soon as I read the first Yiddish word in the book.)

It's really quite marvellous, and I love this author for his audacity and talent and ability to pull this one off.

Now, onto The Discomfort Zone by Jonathan Franzen (a book that has been languishing on Mt TBR for far too long).

My Six Degrees connection? There's certain Simpsons episode featuring both Jonathan Franzen and Michael Chabon (who end up brawling, with the memorable line "You fight like Anne Rice"! which just begs so many questions).

Possibly the Best. Simpsons. Episode. Ever. But I may be biassed.

#99 wb, the Sydney/Mtns book sounds like Taronga by Victor Kelleher (http://bookcrossing.com/journal/3846110).

I read most of my set texts at school but never got through Lawrence's Kangaroo. I did Jane Austen (P & P, Persuasion & Emma), King Lear, Sylvia Plath, Philip Larkin & Denise Levertov in Y12. I can't remember the other years so may be I didn't read them after all.

I'm off reading for fun again as the semester has started. I have spent a lot of money on some very weighty tomes about microbiology, pathophysiology & pharmacology. My mouth goes dry at the thought.

cats, it does sound like it, but, no, that's not it. This was more like a several days power failure that brought the city down. The kids' mum doesn't come home, and they start walking out of the city in search of food/water/etc. It does all end (mostly) happily, but there was no telepathic link with animals or Taronga Zoo. I seem to feel that there were dinosaurs or something strange like that in the mountains.

And just think of how much you'll enjoy reading for fun once you've finished all your books. :)

I just finished Demon Thief, an enjoyable YA Horror romp, very gruesome in places. I've decided not to continue reading this series - I liked the first two books well enough but I didn't really connect with the kids in them and I don't fancy reading eight more over the next few months so I passed them all on to my daughter, I might return to them at some point in the future...

next up for me is Skeletons

I am enjoying Jonathan Franzen's The Discomfort Zone - various essays about his childhood and family. But I didn't feel like non-fiction last night, so I picked up Sarah Waters' Affinity as a bedside read.

I was, of course, hooked from the very start on her gothic victorian pastiche. So I stayed up far too late reading, and now *yawn*.

I'm here to confess to being embarrassed at my absolutely disastrous reading effort for the month of July. I can 'blame' lots of things of course . . . not least of which was *having* to watch the cycling most nights for three weeks. ;-) Then there was the visit from the rellies staying for eight days, and throw in a good dose of 'small town politics' on top and . . . .

Anyway I did finish The Wind-up Bird Chronicle and ended up enjoying it immensely. Now well into Sacred Country by Rose Tremain so things are looking up. Her books are all so varied and I've enjoyed each one I've read to date.

Haven't made much progress on The Namesake... just so tired every night!

But I just wanted to say that my Year 6 teacher taught us Taronga and the post-apocalyptic scenario absolutely freaked me out!

It's a class requirement - tagging our textbook.