I am currently about half way through 'The Terror'. I vacillate between being fascinated and feeling like the story is too drawn out. It is a diversion from the type of book I would typically read, so I'm giving it leeway. The writing is good, I think it is the sci-fi elements that are leaving me a little cold. (And I've been reading it while the temps outside this week have been minus 35 below...)Just haven't quite figured out if I like it or not....wouldn't typically say that having read some 350 pages of a book. So I continue to reserve judgment until later....wig

Wig, The Terror is a book I enjoyed, but which improved still more with our discussion here. Some very rich aspects had escaped me, but not others amongst us.

Just finished "Lazy B - Growing Up On A Cattle Ranch in the American Southwest" by Sandra Day O'Connor. Ms O'Connor was named the first female justice of the U.S. Supreme Court by President Reagan in 1981. She writes plainly about the harsh beauty of the Arizona desert, and tells of the day to day challenges of being in a family whose business is running a cattle ranch. Ms O'Connor was an active participant in the work of her family's business - no pampered childhood for this youngster! A good read, IMO.

Stayed up late and woke up early to read The Private Patient and finished it after church. As P.D. James is ninety, this may be her last book-I hope not, but if it is, she has done herself proud.
Needed dessert after such a feast, so read the next in the Domesday Chronicles, The Hawks of Delamere. That was a bonbon, soon finished. Next up-The Hellfire Conspiracy by Will Thomas.

I have been reading a couple of the "Getting Old..." series by Rita Lakin. She struck a chord mentioning the problems of remembering eggs left cooking on the stove. I had just had to chew on a couple that had been on for an hour. More hard-boiled than Philip Marlowe!

cece, I like your term, "bonbon". That's what I consider the Alexander McCall Smith novels. I'm well into his "The Careful Use of Compliments" now. Very addictive, and just enough philosophical references to not be Chick Lit.

I recently finished A Widow's Awakening by Maryanne Pope. Great book about strength in dealing with adversity. It's available through Amazon and www.jpmf.ca

I just finished A Matter of Justice, new by Charles Todd. I liked it, but I haven't enjoyed his last few books as much as I did in the beginning. Maybe the back story is getting a little old to me since I have read every book he has written.

I've started reading Shadow of the Wind and am enjoying it so far.

I'm also reading The Journeying Boy by Michael Innes, and don't quite know what to make of it. It's published as a mystery but the early chapters read more like the beginning of a thriller or spy novel.

Page-turning political espionage on tap for me. I am supposed to be grading exams; instead I am reading Vince Flynn's Mitch Rapp stories - just finished Transfer of Power and couldn't stop! Finished it this afternoon, so now my papers will get graded and I can move on. Next? Hmmm, not sure what I'm in the mood for, but I've got several good suggestions from reading this thread!!

Trying to read two books at once right now: halfway through "Flower Confidential" by Amy Stewart and halfway through "Seesaw" by Deborah Moggach. I am really enjoying both, although moving more quickly through the fiction for some reason. I have vowed to make a dent in my TBR pile this year so feel I am making progress as I own both of these, and once read, out of the house they go.

Decided I had to get myself in gear-so have finished the last book I was reading and not letting myself start another one until bedtime. However, I need SOMETHING to keep me going as I work my way around the house sorting and tidying and pitching-so yesterday at the library I took out some audio books. None that I have not all ready read-just some old favorites. Today I am listening it Where There's a Will by Nero Wolfe. Not loving the narrator-but enjoying the revisit with an old friend.

The Booklovers Forum over at Delphi has a challenge to read some of the classics we've missed over the years, so I finally picked up both Tom's Midnight Garden and Dr Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. The first was a magical book, even though I guessed the ending. :) I'm sorry I missed it growing up. J&K was a bit a different than I expected from all the movie versions and cartoon parodies; I found it a rather creepy little story. And not just a story of an experiment gone awry - there's a clear implication that Hyde eventually came to the fore because Jekyll indulged his baser side from the beginning. I can see why the story gained 'classic' status.

I have finished The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet by Colleen McCullough. It picks up 20 years after the end of Pride and Prejudice, and I found it delightful. I highly recommend it.

I like most of McCullough's work, particularly the Rome series. I am one of the few who didn't love Thorn Birds, though.

Finished up "Seesaw" by Deborah Moggach last night -- once again, a good old-fashioned story which sucked me in and kept up late to find out what happened next. I have yet to find a Moggach that is not good, so fingers crossed as she has a lot of books to read out there.

So, my next book is "Birds without Wings" by Louis de Bernieres. I know many of you read this last year (or maybe the year before), but I have only just got it out of the library. I started it during lunchtime which was a mistake as now I will be thinking about it all afternoon and wishing I was reading it instead of working. I loved "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" so am hoping this is of the same calibre. It's good so far at least in the twenty minutes of reading time I had at lunch.

I just atarted Cold In Hand by John Harvey. His books about DI Charlie Resnick are set in my old hometown of Nottingham England and I so enjoy reading the names of streets & places where I have walked and know so well. It is also a plus that he is a good writer LOL!

Pat

I'm beginning a re-read of A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin, the first in his magnificent Song of Ice and Fire series.

I finished Ada by Vladimir Navokov. Wonderfully written, yet very disturbing at times. I zipped right through the first 2/3 of the book, and thought it was very well done. Then I could hardly finish the last 200 pages. It started going on and on in detail about the main characters thoughts on space and time and all sorts of crazy meandering stuff. I rated it a 6/10, but it would've been higher if it wasn't for the last 1/3.

I started Just After Sunset, Stephen King's latest book of short stories. Meh. Apparently my tastes have changed over the past 20 years. I used to be a huge fan of his, now I'm finding so many things to criticize in these short stories. I'll save that for another post though!

I finished Just After Sunset by King. It was okay. There were only two stories in it that I really liked. The others I thought were mostly mediocre, and there were two I thought were just plain awful (The Graduation Party and Things They Left Behind). Fortunately, it was a fast read though, so I didn't waste days on it.

I started The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler, but just couldn't get into it. I gave up around page 30, and set it in my "garage sale" pile.

I plan on starting tonight Desolation Island by Patrick O'Brian, the fifth in the Aubrey/Maturin series. I hope to eventually get through the entire series this year.

Kelly

I finished The Journeying Boy, which did turn out to be an espionage-related thriller combined with a murder mystery with as many twists and turns as a labyrinth. There were some interesting, almost surrealistic chase scenes, funny characters, false identities, murder, shoot-outs and daring escapes. In fact, it read like an Enid Blyton adventure for adults. If only it hadn't been so wordy, I would have enjoyed it more.

I am reading the Guernsey L &PPPS and enjoying it.
Several incidents that occur in the book sound very familiar to me, then I remembered that PBS Masterpiece Theater had a show last year about this very subject-the German occupation and the things that happened during those years. The flyleaf of the book doesn't mention that it was adapted for TV or anything - did anyone else see the TV program I mentioned?
I won't cite the similarities since I don't want to mention any spoilers.

Pat

Pat, I did see that PBS show, but I don't think it was based on GL&PPPS. I read GL from the library and then went out and bought a copy to pass around my family and then have for my very own.

I've been reading Where Serpents Sleep, the new Sebastian St. Cyr by C. S. Harris. Very good.

Cece, did you know there is a new Louise Penny out? I'm fourth on the library list for it.

I didn't get past the first page of "The Quincunx" by Charles Palliser but I suppose I shall have to try again. It's been in my TBR pile for about a year and getting dusty.

Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire was so-so and not as good as The Aristocrats by Stella Tillyard about the Lennox sisters.

Because of this long winter I am re-reading gardening books at present. The Well-tempered Garden by Christopher Lloyd now after having finished A Breath from Elsewhere by Mirabel Osler.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo-just finished it and couldn't put it down.
I am a great mystery/thriller lover. Why does it seem that all the best mystery writers are from the UK, or more recently I've been discovering more authors from Scandinavia-esp. Sweden.
Of course, Girl was published way back in Europe-we always have to wait. Another thing I notice is all the good mystery shows in the UK, past and present-many based on books I've read and/or their characters. To buy the DVDs is prohibitive.
Oh well, I know this has been discussed before and I know we have many fine mystery writers But....

pam53-try Louise Penny. Canadian. Start with Still Life-yes, carolyn-I did see and I'm on the list too!
Jacqueline Winspear is due out with a new one in February-I think the street date is the 17th.
pam53-ever try Daniel Silva? Start with The Kill Artist

oh heck-just go to Stop You're Killing Me and you'll be as happy as a pig on ice! (see thread about folksy expressions!)

Here is a link that might be useful: best mystery site ever!

I tried to email martin z, but alas he doesn't have that option. So, I'll just recommend another book to him about evolution, The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution by Richard Dawkins. It is structured a bit like Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Very enjoyable.

Thank you for all the input above, it's given me many more books to order thru paperbackswap dot com.

I'm reading a silly little series by Selma Eichler about a fiesty, chubby NY private investigator named Desiree Shapiro. They were in a free pile at the local library. They are mostly pretty good, no worse than some of the other mystery series featuring fiesty, interesting women investigators.

mariannese, Quincunx was one of my favorite books, you'll have to try it again!
I am currently reading The Longest Trip Home which was highly recommended by a sister. Certainly one I can relate to, and I'm enjoying it but biting at the bit to read something with a little more substance.
I did finish The Terror, and wanted to thank chris_in_the_valley for the link to the old discussion. It is a book that I won't easily forget, and ultimately remained uncertain about whether I liked it or not. Can't say that about too many books. wig

Last night I finished Harðskafi by Arnaldur Indriðason, which will be published later in the year in English, probably under the title Hypothermia. It's quite dark and full of twists. Loved it.

I am now reading The Poisoned Chocolate Case by Anthony Berkeley and continuing with The Shadow of the Wind (my current slow read).

I finished a thriller called Final Theory by Mark Alpert. It had a lot of physics in it, but well explained, and was quite good for a first novel.
Now on to Death of a Dancer, the second Victorian mystery by Caro Peacock. I haven't read the first but they come highly recommended by my supervisor at work.

I'm still saddled with my addiction to Alexander McCall Smith. Finally am reading the only one of the Isabel Dalhousie series I've not yet explored: "The Sunday Philosophy Club." These are mysteries of a sort, but very gentle ones....

read my way through all the "Domesday" mysteries by Edward Marston...at least all of them owned by the library. Interesting premise, pleasant characters, very easy to read. I won't go looking for the ones I missed, but if I should stumble over them, I'd buy. Used.
Now reading Death of a Cozy Writer which is quite dry-witty-funny....for instance, a newspaper-perusing character is bemused to notice that "all the unimportant people die in alphabetical order."
When a suspect attempts to finish the DCI's sentence with the standard form of "do you mean 'where was I on the 6th of June?'"....the officer replies, "Yes, I try to talk in cliches whenever possible." Laughed out loud last night at one point.

I am reading so slowly at the moment - work is crazy busy (and has been all month) and DH (who usually works evenings) has had school all month so it means he is home at night when I usually do the reading.

All this means I have been working late and then coming home to TV so not much reading done. I am going into severe withdrawals here. Hopefully, this weekend will correct this imbalance as work deadlines will be done and life goes back to normal next week.

This just brings to light how important reading is to me and my life. I am still reading "Birds without Wings" although finding it slow-going for some reason. Also reading "Flowers Confidential" although finding that slow going as well. This is the first time that I have seriously tried to read two books simoultaneously and I am not sure it is up my alley. We'll see. Maybe it's just the week.

Last night I started reading The Poisoned Chocolate Case by Anthony Berkeley and couldn't get to sleep until I had finished it. It's one of those mysteries that are a joy to read. Not only did it provide 7 different solutions to the murder, all working from the same few clues but using different detection methods, but the characters were delightful and the book funny.

Ooh, sounds like one to look for netla, thanks!

Isn't that one of the books on the Guardian list? From the "Golden Age" of mysteries?

The month has almost past! My has time flown. I finished the Little House series. I liked These Happy Golden Years best. I also squeezed in People of the Book, The Shack, Sixpence House, and Thin is the New Happy.

CC, it is, and not surprisingly. I first found it on a list of what the members of the British Crime Writer's Association think are the best mysteries of all time. It is one of those books that all aspiring mystery writers should read, because it holds some interesting lessons on do's and dont's of mystery writing. It showcases different detection methods, shows how many different conclusions can be drawn from the same clues and teaches you how to convince the reader that the solution you have presented is the only possible one. it also makes fun of the genre while still being very much part of it.

I have made an executive decision and decided to put down both Flower Confidental and Birds without Wings and just pick up something else.

Phew. Big decision for me to give up on a book, let alone two. Yeeh for me.

I need some bon bons books.

lemonhead, IMHO, the Alexander McCall Smith books are bon-bons, but not chick lit. (But you may have read them all). Also, I put "Garden Spells" into that category.

Sorry you could not get into "Birds Without Wings." I read it around the time I read "Corelli's Mandolin" and some of the same characters were in both books. One would also have to be interested in the love/hate relationship between Greece and Turkey, historically.

Wood -

I think the story of Birds/Wings is wonderful, but my timing is off. Work is very stressful at the moment (I am a grant-writer and some big heavy-duty ones are due today) so by the time I get home, I am tired and grumpy and not into the Ottoman Empire. I like the characters though. Did you find it a bit dry in places?

I just finished No-Man's Land: One Man's Odyssey Through the Odyssey by Scott Huler. The author has been fascinated by The Odyssey for years and decided to try to follow in Odysseus's footstep as he travelled home from the Trojan War. I found it quite interesting and read it in two evenings.

Much less interesting was The Quilter's Kitchen by Jennifer Chiaverini. I've read most of the other books in this series and thought this one might be a "bonbon" read. My thoughts upon finishing it were...Why bother? Out of the 200+ pages, most were recipes and maybe 1/4 were story. I certianly wouldn't go out and buy the book, not even for the recipes (a few of which did look tasty).

lemonhead, your work does indeed sound stressful! We read "Birds Without Wings" for a discussion here at RP, some years ago. I don't recall the book being dry, as I had just come from "Correlli's Mandolin." Perhaps I just got used to the author's style. I can recall being fascinated by the complexity of the various characters. I hope you can find a "bon bon" :-)

I thought so-I went through the list and copied out all the "golden age" ones to add to my search list-the county library has some of them, but alas not Poisoned Chocolates! I'll have to search for that and some others....PC is on many wish lists on bookmooch, netla, so I can't even ask if you'll be posting ;-D

Carolyn,

I tried to read the Independence of Mary Bennett and got annoyed with it so took it back to the library. What bothered me was the impression given that Elizabeth and Darcy were in a loveless marriage and I couldn't get past that impression. I felt, based on the ending of Pride and Prejudice, that they were intended to have a happy marriage, so when Colleen McCullough changed that, I couldn't get into the story. Should I have persevered after all?

Rouan, yes!

Just finished Headcase by Peter Helton. Liked it alot-an artist/detective in Bath, England. Slyly witty:

"I'd only sprinted a couple hundred yards but my lungs were screaming and my head was pounding as though I had just climbed Mont Blanc. I had to stop. And rest my hands on my knees. And wheeze a lot. Heroically, I resisted the temptation to make rash resolutions concerning big lunches and as soon as I got my breath back I lit a defiant Camel and enjoyed a little coughing fit."
I do wish he would stop smoking-there are only two more books in the series so far and I'd like more. ;-)

CC, I send it to you if it was my own book, but I got it from the library :-)

You might be able to get it through inter-library loan.

cc, I bought Poisoned Chocolates on Amazon a couple of days ago for around $5 with shipping.

wig-don't tempt me-we have had several rather expensive unbudgeted house repairs this winter, and our DD is getting married in may-I am heroically resisting the temptation to buy any books!
however....
no-step away from the amazon website....