finished my silly mystery with recipes that I read as an antidote to The Emperor's Children...Looking ahead to 4 days of television dominated by college basketball from noon-midnight, I may settle in with the last Harry Potter, which I have yet to read so don't tell me anything! I have been promising it to myself as a reward for tasks accomplished since it came out-but another task always loomed-but the taxes are finished and Easter is easy this year-two make-ahead dishes and some last minute purchases-so this might finally be the time! (My students have been very protective of my ignorance of the last book...if one started to discuss it in my hearing, others would hiss!)

ok, I won't tell you that Snape and McGonagal get married- just kidding! I loved it and was sad when I finished because I knew it was the last so enjoy it.

Been laid up with a foot surgery so have been doing lots of reading at home. Read "Kitchen Confidential" by Anthony Bourdain - he seems like such a boor, arrogant and know-it-all. Still, it was interesting to read about the background of famous restaurants etc.

Then read "A Year of Living Life Biblically" by AJ Jacobs. This was a good read and I learned a lot (not having read much of the bible since I was a teenager in religious education classes at school). I really liked his take on the whole thing and at the end, I finished up like he did: as a reverent agnostic.

Currently reading "Shadow Divers" by Robert Kurson. It's very different than I normally read, but I am on a non-fiction jag right now and this fit right in. It's a fascinating story.

oh-I predicted that after book 1-they were so obviously hiding a torrid affair by pretending to hold each other in dire contempt. Why else do you think one or the other was always tripping over the threesome when H,H and R were carousing at night? Snape and McG were on their way to or from secret trysts. Many a smoldering glance was exchanged across the Quidditch field, no doubt. And that's the real reason Snape needed to get his hands on the magic map.

veer: I have no idea what you are refering to. Primitive? I was speaking of the loooong talks my DH and I are sharinig of late in the evening! :)

ccr, here's the scoop - Harry sees dead people, Voldermor is his father, and his sleigh is called rose bud :)

Sheri, LOL you have it even worse than I do in the TBR department. Hope you enjoy the new Kluger book, it's really good.

I finally decided on The Reluctant Fundamentalist. I've heard good things about it and Barnes & Noble had it on sale for under $4.00.

ccrdmrbks: The best 4 days of the year. Which I extend through Tues, as we will be going to the first two rounds of the women's tournament. The squeak of sneakers, the twang of the rim...I think I might pull out a couple of college basketball tomes to skim through on commercials!

I am reading Friends, Lovers, Chocolate by Smith. My daughter passed it on to me. Initially, I wasn't sure if I would like it, but it is pleasant, and fun, and I am enjoying it quite a bit. I enjoy the descriptions and the sarcasm. There are many giggles in the book. So that will be sufficient for those minutes that aren't filled by the round ball.

veronica-oh, we love it-Easter Sunday has been rescheduled around the games and travel times! and I am jealous of your Monday and Tuesday-any chance you'll be seeing UVa?

Cindy-thanks...you saved me all those pages...;-) (But wouldn't his broom be called Rosebud?)
Cracking open the box in about an hour, when everyone leaves for practice, class, etc and I am ALONE. hehehehe!

No - no UVa for us.

We're having Easter dinner on Sat. night, before the vigil mass. That also gives the "children" the chance to have the holiday with their other families.

We have reservations for Sunday dinner between the sessions of the games.

Unfortunately, the Notre Dame women are playing Sunday afternoon...so we won't get to see them - but will record it. But I never watch recorded games...so I don't know why I do.

I will take Friends, lovers and chocolate with me...there is a lot of down time between games at the tournament...and of course there is talking.

>But wouldn't his broom be called Rosebud

Hee, whats funny is that what I originally wrote, but for some reason changed it....Well, happy reading!

Finished it-Stayed up until 3-woke up early-and enjoyed it very much-liked the way she wrapped it all up-DS and I tried to explain to DH that it is the kind of book that you just can't read fast enough. This one was spare and lean...of course, if readers don't know the characters and backstory by now, they haven't been paying attention! Will now go read the dedicated thread, as I do not wish to hijack this one.
It really does leave you with a "what do I read now?" feeling, doesn't it?

Cece, now that you're done with Goblet of Fire, you might want to read Rowling's webcast in which she further explains what happened after the book ends. (Click on "webchat".)

Here is a link that might be useful: 30 July 2007 webchat with JKR

Sorry! Brain dead. Not Goblet of Fire, Deathly Hallows!!!

(It really needs to stop raining here, my brain is soggy today. Sorry!)

Thanks-that was fun.

Based on the recommendations here I bought Suite Francaise the other day. IMO it doesn't flow evenly, maybe that is based on the translation? as Sandra Smith said it was difficult to get the feel and that she was sure the author would have done some revisions.
I only just finished rereading Antonement, so was feeling much sympthy for those fleeing Paris! But, as in Atonement I was appalled (although I knew it happened) that the German planes swooped down on the innocents walking the lanes & working the fields and just shooting them-for sport-or practice-or just because they could? Appalling to me that innocent civilians were targeted trying to escape the cities with their children.

Pat

sherwood, Suite Francaise is a rough draft. She died before she could edit or publish the book, and the 'story' is actually two parts of a planned 5 part epic. So consider that as you read. Its going to feel a bit choppier than usual.

someone here had mentioned Elin Hilderbrandt-I just finished her Barefoot which was a good "woman's" story. I have And Sometimes Why by Rebecca Johnson from the library as well as Mozart's Ghost, The Florist's Daughter and Lady Macbeth-seems like riches....hope they are good.

Sherwood (Pat), it took me 2 attempts to really get into "Suite Francaise." I think Nemirovsky's style takes some getting used to. Try reading "Dulce" first, or better yet, her shorter novel, "A Fire in the Blood."

I'm currently enjoying Rumer Godden's "Kingfisher Catch Fire", based upon her life in a remote part of Kashmir, alone in a mountain cottage, with her children. IMHO, Godden is a master story-teller.

Spent a lot of this weekend reading away and got caught up in "A kind of Loving" by Stan Barstow (which I LOVED) and then also "The Little Princesses" by Queen Elizabeth II's nanny, Marion Crawford. I have no idea why the royal family got so annoyed at her for publishing this -- it's a wonderful description of the royal family and how they were raised. I suppose they just weren't used to "Royal Tell-Alls" like they have nowadays.

Now - what shall I read next?

My daughter likes books about dolls that come to life, so we read Margaret Mahy's The Five Sisters together last night. It is a very lovely book about the adventures of five conjoined paper dolls and the power of the imagination. I've decided to collect more of Mahy's books (she writes both Children's and YA books). She is a wonderful writer, IMO.

My current adult book is Imperium by Robert Harris.

I put aside Nowhere Else on Earth after trying to get into it all weekend. Its about a group of Native Americans who live on the edge of a small town in South Carolina during the end of the Civil War. The premise of is interesting, but she badly needed an editor. Too many things were repeated, names were very confusing to keep straight, and it was very slow. By the time I saw how much I'd read, I realized that the romance between the Indian girl and the Union soldier who'd been kidnapping men to be slaves was not going to happen in my lifetime. So...

Reading two books now: Beward of Pity, by Stefan Zweig, an Austrian writer of the 20s and 30s. Since its a very sober book with a pessimistic look at the world, I am also reading Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett. Ahhhhhh...just right.

Well, in between being the CEO, President, janitor, secretary, and chief cook and bottle washer of my own firm, I've been catching glimpses of Batman from the 30s to the 70s by E. Nelson Bridwell. It's an interesting survey of how Batman developed from the 1930s all the way to the 1970s.

It's a nice, light read. Oh, and I'm now also trying to fill in the gaps of Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe series.

I finished People of the Book, which I discussed on its own thread and have now moved on to Dog Years by Mark Doty. So far I'm not finding it very readable and it is a bit too depressing for me at this time. I will probably skim it and return it to the library. I am re-reading, for the third time in a row, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly which should be depressing but isn't. I am well on my way to having large passages of this small book memorized. I have even purchased a copy as a gift for one of my professors, something I would never have dreamed I would do.

Also, I have completed my midterm exams and gave my senior case presentation last Friday, which was well received. So I am at the very end of the road leading to graduation in May! Soon I will put away my textbooks and read for pleasure once again. (Although I seem to be doing okay in that regard right now! I just won't have to feel guilty about it.)

I read, People of the Book, The Sunday Philosophy Club and I am trying to stay interested in The Time Traveler's Wife but I am having a hard time with the way it is written, bouncing back and forth and I don't like how it is so choppy. Will it be explained how Henry knows when he will be back?

I failed to "sell" In This House of Brede to my book club for our next read (I foolishly mentioned that the paperback is over 600 pages, and as we are all gardeners too, they blanched at having to read a 600+ page book while trying to get the mulching done.....;-). We chose The Painted Veil instead. much shorter.
Consequently, I have settled down to reread it for my own pleasure (friend with a landscaping business=no mulching worries here) and am loving every well-written word of it yet again. Woodnymph, I couldn't agree more.

I'm almost finished with Suite Francaise, and I must admit if I hadn't been reading it for my book group I probably wouldn't have finished it. I just couldn't find any characters to really like or admire ... except maybe the Michauds(?). The writing is okay, but the stories just didn't wow me as I had hoped they would. As a whole, I found this a pretty grim picture of the French people and their society. Did anyone else feel that way?

I don't know what I'll read next, although Three Cups of Tea is our next book group choice so that will be in the mix somewhere during the next few weeks.

sarah, I didn't think we were supposed to admire any of the characters; I think the point was how people (not just French) react in time of crisis. Some become greedy and selfish, some become generous and selfless and some do both at different times for different reasons. Its a grim picture I think of the potential for humans in general to be pretty awful.

ccr, I loved Painted Veil. If people have seen the movie, it could be a good discussion about the different endings. Both actually work, I just haven't decided which one I like the most.

>Will it be explained how Henry knows when he will be back?

Yes, but if you are having trouble now with the bouncing back and forth, you might not get to that point, because towards the end, all sorts of shanegans happen to make your mind twirl. I had fun with that part, but I know folks who got confused by the way the different Henrys traveled back and forth.

cindy-we are going to read, discuss, and then watch the movie-so the whole enchilada, as it were! I am looking forward to reading it.

sarah, I agree with what Cindy wrote about "Suite Francaise". It took me 2 attempts to finish it. Try reading Nemirovsky's much shorter novel, "A Fire in the Blood", to get used to her style....

Have just finished a thumping good read Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin and must thank Kath for recommending it.
Our heroine uncovers dark deeds in twelfth century Cambridge. Franklin's research is first-rate without being 'in your face'. Along the way we learn about the Crusades, the treatment of Jews by Henry II (quite enlightened) the development of Common Law and the use of twelve good men and true. Such a relief after trial by combat, or tested for honesty by red-hot irons.
I hope it is available in the US for all you historic novel readers.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mistress of the Art of Death

cindy and woodnymph - I see your point(s), and understand what she was striving to say about war and occupation. But given the extreme circumstances I would have expected a bit more generosity and selflessness, I guess. My book group met tonight, and most agreed that the characters just didn't engage us. I actually felt that the letters and telegrams at the end that were written by Nemerovsky, her husband and her publisher were much more poignant and gripping -- probably because they were real. :) I actually got the chills while reading those. If she had been able to better capture that passion and tension in her story, it would have made for a better read.

We also wondered why there was no significant discussion of the Jewish people in France and what they experienced during the occupation. Given the author's own history, we found this surprising. We wondered if it was intentional so as to avoid any more notice than she was already receiving. Although the books weren't published until after her death.

Another aspect that we discussed was the whole issue of class and the role it played in the stories. In some ways it was more significant than the war and the occupation. At least that's what some of us felt.

We're reading Three Cups of Tea for our discussion next month. But I'm hoping to move onto something light and humorous before I get started on that.

I found Suite Francaise to be powerful in that the reader did only get snippets of the characters-just as you would if you, too, were involved in fleeing Paris. People come together, give or take, and then separate again-and their stories diverge forever. The frustration of not being able to engage with the characters echoed the frustration of not knowing "whatever happened to so-and-so." I know that she planned to polish the stories and add to the series, but the immediacy of the writing and the overlying quality of sudden insecurity was so strong-and I wonder if too much more tinkering might have weakened that to some extent.

>We also wondered why there was no significant discussion of the Jewish people in France and what they experienced during the occupation. Given the author's own history, we found this surprising. We wondered if it was intentional so as to avoid any more notice than she was already receiving.

Many people have asked this. A few theories: the French were as antisemitic as the rest of Europe and probably didn't realize what was happening to them until it started happening to them. She had no reason to think that her readers would be interested. Second - she hated her mother and came to hate her heritage; hence her conversion (read the story The Ball in the David Golder book for a rather authobiographical sense of that relationship). She even wrote stories for magazines considered anti-semitic (however, its probably that they were the only ones she was able to get published given the times). Third - I think she wanted to keep it contained to this small group, and suspect if given the chance would have included what was happening to the Jews later. Finally, given that this was a rough draft of the first two of five volumes, I'd suspect that she was going to include something about Jewish issues, even if the characters were portrayed as stereotypes and she does in other books.

I do agree that class is a big part of that story, and agree that the notes in the back were particularly poignant and we probably spent half our time in the group discussing those

I am reading the utterly wonderful Ladies of Grace Adieu by Susanna Clarke. These are short stories set, for the most part, in the world she created for Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. I'm finding them delightful.

Next up is Laurie Graham's new one, The Importance of Being Kennedy. It looks promising.

I am reading "Ultramarathon Man" by Dean Karnazes. This is a guy who runs 100-miles at a time. It's an interesting story although it's talked up a lot in places. I have a good friend who runs ultras and she says that the ultras are more of a walk than a run.

Still, interesting book though. It's also homework in a way, as my friend has asked me to help her write her autobiography. Should be an interesting journey.

Finished re-visiting Rumer Godden, and moved on to read M. Hamid's "The Reluctant Fundamentalist." I found this so well-written and thoroughly engaging. Its stunning ending is one of the best I have ever read. Very timely theme, too, in terms of the Middle East. Did anyone else here read and like this novel/subtle thriller as much as I did?

I'm now yawning through Margaret Forster's newest: "Keeping the World Away." This novel concerns Gwen Johns, sister of artist/bon vivant Augustus Johns. She was a fine artist in her own right and became the mistress of sculptor Rodin in Paris. I think Forster is slipping a bit; I loved her "Lady's Maid". I hope the book picks up a bit.....It's such a comedown after Hamid's novel.

Woodnymph, I started Keeping the World Away and put it down after one chapter. It just didn't grab me at all.

Woodnymph, a few of us discussed The Reluctant Fundamentalist not too long ago. Here's the link if you would like to read it and share your thoughts:

Here is a link that might be useful: RP Discussion

color, thanks so much for the reminder. I have brought up the thread and added my comments.

I am taking "Keeping the World Away" back to the Library, unfinished.

Now reading The Reading Group for, well, a reading group. I expected it to be rather cliche and by page 13 already made a prediction of the ending. But I am liking the writing and characters well enough to enjoy the ride. So far (Just got to the February group)

I also managed to pick up about five or so books on the Middle Ages, one of my favorite subjects, because the used bookstore had a display of them for our local Ren Faire. Not sure which to choose first, tho Norah Lofts Queen Eleanor is calling to me the loudest.

I read late into the night: Thomas Cahill's new book on one of my favorite topics: "Mysteries of the Middle Ages and the Beginning of the Modern World." This is part of his on-going series on the hinges of history. He really covers a lot of territory in this work: art history, Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry II, the Cult of the Virgin, St. Francis of Assisi, and Hildegaard von Bingen. I am eager to see what he will have to say about Islam....

Oh no, woodnymph, now I have to add another book to my TBR list! Truly though, it sounds like something I would love so thanks for the recommendation.

I loved Lady Macbeth. Now I want to read other books about that period.

pam53, Lady Macbeth? Do you mean the L M from Shakespeare's Scottish Play or is there a book about her; can you clarify?
Can someone from the US tell me about Thomas Cahill please; is he serious historian? If so I wonder that his scholarship can be so wide-ranging . . . and does he really expect us to believe that the Irish are somehow a chosen race of people? I notice he receives far more praise on the US Amazon site than the UK one.

Vee, I can't speak for the sophistication of his scholarship, but Cahill is definitely an entertaining and very readable historian, and I've enjoyed his books. Mysteries of the Middle Ages is sitting on my bedside table and it's time to move it up in the pile.

I just flew through Laurie Graham's The Importance of Being Kennedy. It was just as good as Gone With the Windsors and it sent me scrambling to Wikipedia and the Kennedy Library website to verify facts and dates. From what I can tell, she's quite accurate with her facts, though of course this is fiction. She tells the story of the Kennedy family through the voice of the children's fictional nursemaid, Nora. It starts when Joseph Patrick is a toddler and ends with JFK's first bid for elected office. It also focuses on two Kennedy sisters I knew almost nothing about, Rose Marie (who was tragically lobotomized in 1941) and Kathleen, who defied the family and married a Protestant (William Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington) during WWII. I found it fascinating.

Lady Macbeth by Susan Fraser King

It is listed on amazon-us, and I am about 23rd on the library list-but several here have read it.

Vee, I like Thomas Cahill because I find he makes history readable and digestible. His style is vibrant and lively. I am certain that no one has impeccable scholarship, but he cites his sources and they are impressive, in this volume, at least. The book about the Middle Ages is worth buying alone for the exquisite full color art reproductions therein. (No way to fake those!). Cahill is a Catholic and he has his biases (as do we all!). However, his book is written in such a way that we are aware when he veers off course and states his passions and opinions. So I don't have a problem with his scholarship.

I read again late into the night and am enthralled with it. Incidently, he cites Sigrid Unset's "Kristin Lavransdatter" as being one of the finest works to accurately portray Medieval life in Scandinavia. As some of you recall, we read and discussed the trilogy here at RP.

veer, I'd mentioned reading Lady Macbeth upthread, the Fraser King novel. It is a very interesting retelling of the story based on her research of Scotland in the 1100s.

A 'serious' historian would probably scoff at the idea that Cahill would be one as well. That being said, I find his books to be very interesting and well researched, as well as readable. How the Irish Saved Civilization is a wonderful look at not only the topic, but of the early conflicts in the church between the Celtics and the Romans. I didn't care that much for the one on the Jews, probably because it was old history to me. But "Desire of the Everlasting Hills" about the time just before Jesus in the Middle East was excellent. Havent read the Greek one yet and am chomping at the bit for the Middle Ages one, and I think its out in paperback....