Yes, it is "A Killing Kindness" and did you get the name of the killer in the beginning? I certainly missed it!
If you didn't, read the beginning again, perhaps out loud.

frieda, I'm sure you have already read Tracey Chevalier's "The Lady and the Unicorn" which is about the weaving of a mediaeval tapestry. I found it fascinating.

I ususally read fiction, but am now trying to get through a NF work: "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell. The gist thus far is that often the "snap-second" decisions we make as humans are wiser than those which are preceded by long periods of mulling and weighing pros and cons.

Finally picked up the first volume of the Cazalet Chronicle (The Light Years) and am really enjoying that. I do have to refer to the family tree diagram every now and then to keep people straight, but I think that this will stop when I have read a little deeper into the story. Really enjoying it so far, and would never have found this if not for RPers so thanks!

Also found a book at the library which has been on the radar lately: Cinderella Ate my Daughter by Peggy Orenstein. The subtitle is Dispatches from the Front Lines of the New Girly-Girl Culture and it is a look at the "pink-ness" and the "princessing" of yuong girls now. Is being a princess good for your daughter? Or does it have a negative effect? Very similar in style to Mary Roach, this is a provocative look at the effect of letting one's daughter be engulfed by the pink culture of today. i don't have kids, but this is still an interesting look at a pervasive influence today. Lots to think about.

Siobhan,

Yes, I've read some of the early China Bayles series by Susan Wittig Albert. I should go back and refresh my memory before continuing with the series. I think I read the 1st 3 or 4 of them and I know she's written several more since then. So it's about time to get back to them. :)

Annpan,

Thanks for the recommendation. I've placed a hold on The discovery of Jeanne Baret and am eagerly awaiting it's arrival.

Recently finished a P. D. James novel, The Private Patient. I used to be a fan of James, but eventually lost interest in her books.

I didn't like Tinkers. However, I believe I found a new, future, favorite, Author. Drop City by T. C. Boyle. I really like the way he writes.

ladyrose - Boyle is an excellent writer. Tortilla Curtain is painfully well written.

friedag, I asked my sister in law if she had any recommendations of books dealing with textiles. She is an accomplished weaver specializing in traditional Filipino techniques, but she is interested in all things about cloth. She suggested these two: "Textiles: 5000 Years" by Jennifer Harris and "Chasing the Wild Madder: The History, Mystery, and Lore of the Persian Carpet" by Brian Murphy. They look really interesting and I may even read them myself. Your enthusiasm is infectious, friedag. It is always fun to read how much someone is enjoying the books she is reading.

I wish I could say that I am enjoying my current book. It is a book club read, "The Year of the Flood" by Margaret Atwood. It is billed as a "dystopic masterpiece," but I do not find it very compelling. I cannot imagine how our discussion of this book will go. I wonder how many of the members will actually finish it.

Frieda, I have several books on textiles, but they are all about relatively modern textiles, the past 400 years or so. I noticed that Amazon offers a book called In Sheep's Clothing: A Handspinner's Guide to Wool. It describes the characteristics of the wool from 100 different breeds of sheep. I also saw there a book called Women's Work: The First 20,000 Years Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times, described as a social history of women and the development of textiles. I neither spin nor weave, and don't even knit, but I am fascinated by textiles. I find myself intrigued by both of these book descriptions. If you do read either one, let me know what you thought of it.

Note: I was just about to post this message when I noticed that Women's Work is by the same author as The Mummiew of Urumchi,

Rosefolly

Thanks Sarah. I know what I will be reading next.

Sheriz, I didn't see that Sarah Addison Allen had a new book out! Thanks for mentioning it--I've put it on hold at my library. She's great!

I am in the middle of reading Into the Beautiful North by Luis Urrea and I am LOVING it! This is definitely going on the Top 10 list for 2011. Nayeli notices that all the men have gone up north to the U.S. for work, leaving her small Mexican town open to bandidos. So, after seeing The Magnificent Seven she gathers up her friends and they go to the United States to bring their men home. It's funny, makes interesting points about American policies on immigration and trade, and the characters are awesome. I don't want it to end.

I have finished reading "Annie Dunne" by Sebastian Barry, it sure did pull at my heart strings with its beautiful simplicity.
I have now started on "The Secret Scripture" also by Sebastian Barry.

carolyn ky,
Did you enjoy "Tim" by Colleen??

ladyrose,
I was not impressed with "Tinkers", some interesting characers, but the book was overrated in my opinion.

Junek, it's been a really long time since I read Tim, but I have liked all the McCullough books. It's just that I particularly loved the Rome series.

I finished Dark Road to Darjeeling this afternoon and found three glaring grammar errors in it; one was the use of affect instead of effect, and another one was the use of somebody and I in the objective case. The author information said Ms. Raybourn has a double major in English and History and taught high school English for three years before she began writing. For shame! Otherwise, I like her books a lot.

Just finished China Mieville's The City and The City. It took me 3 stabs at this novel and I'm glad I persisted. Ended up fascinated and wanting more.

Carolyn: Overlooked printer's errors, perhaps? I still get annoyed at the misuse of procrastination, (putting something off) for prevarication (speaking evasively). It is so commonly done, even by people who should know better, that I should stop shrieking when I see or hear it!

June, I read Tim some time ago and found the very unlikely 'storyline' was so far off the edge of the page . . . successful career woman meets and marries a 'simple' builder's labourer (tea-stirrers mate as they are known in the UK). Just checked the revues about it and many people get mixed up with the book and the film starring Mel Gibson made in the days when he was just young and hansom. ;-)
Carolyn, I notice lots of confusion with I-me, on these sites and was wondering if it is a difference in how Americans v English people use these words.

Finished two very quick reads this week, Casting Spells by Barbara Bretton (a likable enough light romance with magic and knitting), and Black Sheep by the always wonderful Georgette Heyer.

I'm trying to tackle my TBR pile and have finally started Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, which started a bit off-kilter and has now pulled me in. I've been off the computer and on a reading jag lately, and it's wonderful :)

Picked up another non-fiction, this one called The Genius Factory: The Curious History of the Nobel Prize Sperm Bank by David Plotz. The "science" of eugenics convinced a rich American to develop a sperm bank of only Nobel Prize winners in order to "save" the human race from becoming more and more stupid over time, as he believed was happening during his life. So - he convinced these people (not all of whom ended up being Nobel Prize winners), but then after a lot of controversy (naturally enough), the bank shut down in the early 1990's. The author then goes on to track down some of the people who been affected by the sperm bank - mothers who had used the service and some of the children who had been created.

It's very interesting, and the author has a super sense of humor throughout it. I find it quite amazing that something like this project lasted until relatively recently until it was quietly shut down.

As an interesting parallel, the university museum is also holding a months-long look at eugenics with a traveling exhibit from the U.S. Holocaust Museum (because of the Hitler link).

This is an interesting part of U.S. history that I had not heard about.

Vee, I don't think it is a "two nations separated by a common language" thing. It is probably more carelessness or a lack of knowledge. In the book, the sentence was of the "Jack and Jill had lunch with Bob and I" variety; i.e., it should have been "me" as the object of the preposition. I'm sorry; I can't help it--school teacher mother and English major--like AnnPan, I should just stop shrieking.

I started the newest Anne Perry book today and have read almost half of it.

Thanks Carolyn, don't apologies. I seemed to have missed out on grammar lessons after the age of 10, so subjects/objects/gerunds/past participles etc are rather wasted on me. I have either to rely on my better educated husband or just go with my instinct as to what sounds correct.

Back to reading. I have just finished David Nichols One Day as recommended here.
I have to say, although I enjoyed the idea of following a young couple from their first meeting on St Swithin's Day and thereafter picking them up on the same day for 20 years made me feel really old and depressed. Although the two characters were well-drawn, it was SO sad. A story of wasted ability and chances. Of too little/too much money sex and drugs. Was life during the 80's and 90's really like that? I was having/bringing up 3 children at the time and seemed to have missed out on life.
I suppose the same could have been said of the Swinging Sixties . . . except for 98% of us who were young then, they didn't go past in a haze of substances and for the other 2% didn't get going until about 1968. So the saying "If you can remember what you were doing in the sixties you can't have been there" never really rings true. ;-(
So, if you 'came of age' from the mid 80's onwards this might be the book for you.

I have been reading the ends of several books this weekend because I didn't really get in the mood for reading a whole story! I read a short story from one book, went to another I was half-way through and finished up one I had put aside! What a fidget! I blame the cooler weather.

I finished The Help and enjoyed it immensely. I will go back and read the thread here about it. There is a film coming out soon - someone at Facebook posted a link to it and it looks quite good. (BTW anyone who is on FB I am Kath Pigou there).
Have started Prophesy by S J Parris, set in Elizabethan times. I thought her first was OK so trying this one.

astrokath, I'm on Facebook, too. I just sent you a request.

As for reading, I'm exploring my adopted new city of historic Charleston, SC while reading a NF work written in 1946, which traces the founding of the city all the way back to the 1600's, up to the 1940's. Very interesting to note how much is the same, and how much has changed, re neighborhoods.

Just got the new Alexander McCall Smith's No 1 Ladies Detective Agency hardcover "The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party".
We have a five day holiday break over Easter, so I shall need to stock up on reading material. Hope my Abebooks mysteries arrive in time!

I just finished Fingersmith by Sarah Waters. I enjoyed it very much. She sure can spin a tale and this one had some really unexpected twists and turns.

Now I am reading The Paris Wife by Paula McLain. I am reading everything I can find about the Parisian experience after my all-too-brief visit to Paris last month. This is the (fictional)story of Hadley Richardson, Ernest Hemingway's first wife. I am learning a great deal about Paris in the Jazz Age and also about Hemingway's early years. The book is more about Hemingway than Richardson.

FYI, Hadley Richardson is the grandmother of the actress Mariel Hemingway.

dedtired, I 'heard' the Paris Wife as a dramatised series on the BBC, at about the same time as I watched a TV play about the wild drunken life of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas and wondered what it was/is about 'literary types' that made them not just shun convention, but behave so badly to their spouses and children.

Still reading Volume One of the Cazelet Chronicles. It is odd that I am reading this so slowly, but we have had visitors staying with us which rather cuts into the reading time. (I have yet to find a way to go off and read without thinking that it's rather to rude...)

Also, we have a new 18 week puppy (another Australian Shepherd) who is adorable but very unaware of where his legs and body are so needs constant supervision to avoid mishap. I had forgotten how much work a new puppy was!

And for my non-fiction read, I am reading The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival by John Vaillant. Set in Russia's Far East, a man-eating tiger is stalking and killing people in a village, and the book studies that and also the geographical area where it is set.

I was reading (but quickly put down) a rather ponderous languid book about the history of libraries, but it was so intensely boring, I had to stop. The topic is fascinating to me, but crikey - this author was b-o-r-i-n-g.

I am perserving with "The Illusionist" by my favourite writer Jennifer Johnston, it is not her best.

I just finished John Grisham's "Runaway Jury" and it is the first of his novels I have read. This was a rather long book and the mobi Kindle format was filled with transcription errors--very irritating. I have been reading a lot of light mysteries like those of Sue Grafton and I decided I needed something more thought provoking. I found this book to be slow reading at times, but it is the story of a long trial and the plot twists were interesting. I did enjoy the end. Also, the book I read previously to Grisham's was Jodi Picoult's "Nineteen Minutes." That ending did surprise me, but I don't find it very satisfying.

I have just started "Bird Song" by Sebastian Faulks.

"Magnificent-Deeply Moving" say The Sunday Times!!

Hi everyone! I'm back from a 4 year hiatus. Glad to see a lot of familiar names here! Though I do miss capital letters in usernames...

Anyway, currently I'm still reading Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn. It's not a heavy read, but perfect for the commute. While reading about this series online, I accidentally read quite a bit of spoilers. Mistborn is good enough that I am still looking forward to the sequels!

Wow! So many books I haven't thought of discussed here. Has anyone read The Tiger's Wife yet? I'm debating whether to wait for it on paperback.

I just finished Jennifer Egan's A Visit From The Goon Squad and found it marvelous- so happy she won the Pulitzer, such a beautiful book. Also Janice Shapiro's short story collection Bummer, great fun read.

Another book that really moved me was Nina-Marie Gardner's Sherry & Narcotics - gripping and haunting, could not put it down!

Now I'm enjoying AM Homes Music For Torching. I love her...

I've just finished The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. I read it straight through like a novel in a couple of days. It isn't something I ever would have picked up on my own, but a friend loaned it to me with her strong recommendation. Cell division and science, no less, but the author wrote about the family as well as the cell use and ethical ramifications. I found it very interesting.

Reading the posting from triplew reminded me that I recently read the 'scary book' thread and noticed how many posters we never hear from now. Where are they?

Just finished 'The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party". Has anyone else read it?

SPOILER.....
I would like an opinion on who really did the crime, it is rather ambiguous as to who the culprit was but I have my own idea.

carolyn -- I'm glad to hear you enjoyed "Henrietta Lacks." We're scheduled to read that for my book group in a few months. I recommended it based on reading a sample on my Kindle. I thought it was intriguing.

I read a book called Soul Identity by Dennis Batchelder - light, quick read, but fun.

I've just started a book titled: Invisible the first in the Ivy Malone series. It looks promising.

I'd been hearing about the Adriana Triagami novels for years and finally got around to reading one of her "Big Gap" books. These are set in the little town of Wise, in Southwest Virginia, in the mountains. Her characters are quite vivid, with interesting speech quirks. I would describe her work as similar to that of Ann Tyler and Jan Karon, but infinitely more lively and vivid.

Welcome back, Triplew. We've lost a number of old friends over the years. It's a pleasure to see one return.

Rosefolly

Welcome new faces....! Always happy to meet more readers...

I *finally* finished up volume one of the Cazalet Chronicles. I am not quite sure why it took so long to read this as it's an amalgam of really interesting topics. Oh well. I have volume two in the wings, but must read my ILLs that are due.

Reading the third Flavia de Luce mystery, A Red Herring Without Mustand which is charmingly written, and although I am not a huge mystery reader, I do enjoy these.

Also picked up South Riding by Winifred Holtby to see if I can get through it before the BBC series on PBS finishes. It's good so far.

And my gosh, it's windy today.

I am almost finished with The Lacuna by Kingsolver. A searing commentary on the media and the damage they can do to innocent folks.
I had had very little knowledge of Trotsky before reading this book. Now I wonder what the differences would have been in Russia if Trotsky had taken the reins of government instead of Stalin. Were the news reports really so twisted? Did deception play such a role in Stalin's coming to power? Is there any way to know for sure?

Just finished Daphne du Maurier's My Cousin Rachel, which I had never read before. I recently discovered a sturdy copy (once owned by a deceased relative) in a box of books my mother is planning to donate to a charity book sale. I enjoyed it very much, though it is certainly a dark book.

Many welcomes to old and new RP friends!

For some reason I have become very interested in Shakespeare and am pouring over Hamlet as well as watching various movie productions. It will be some time before I am ready to move on to another play, don't know what I will choose next. Maybe King Lear.

I've been collecting hardback copies of the Brother Cadfael series by Ellis Peters. Believe it or not, some of them have become quite difficult to find. I now have all but two, one of those on its way. One from somewhere in the middle of the range I have not yet been able to find at a reasonable price in decent condition, but I'll wait until I do. Meanwhile I continue my project to read them in order. I have finished The Sanctuary Sparrow, 7th of the novels, and to fill in the time until the 8th arrives, the short stories A Rare Benedictine. I read it out of order of publication but I don't think it matters.

Meanwhile I am reading an old James Hilton novel Random Harvest. I recently saw the movie and thought I'd see how close they are. The answer is that they follow the same general plot outline, at least so far, but many of the details are different. My mother really liked James Hilton's books. I like his work moderately well, but not as much as she did.

Rosefolly

Whipped through that Flavia de Luce volume- good and fluffy as usual...

Now reading "India Calling" by Anand Girdharadas, a young-ish Indian-American who was born in the US to immigrant parents and decides to head back to India to see how things really are. It is very interesting to read as he realizes how different "his" India is (the one in his mind and how he imagined it to be) when you compare it to the "real" India. Good sense of humor too.

Oh, and BTW: suppose someone has a new puppy and the new puppy, hypothetically, jumped on to the bed and chewed the spine of an ILL book. How much, hypothetically, do you think the financial fine would be for that? It's not that damaged, but you can tell something has happened. You know... hypothetically... :->

Hypothetically, I'd just turn the book in and see what happens.

I'm reading A Dark and Stormy Night by Jeanne M. Dams. It is her first book in several years and plays out, intentionally, like an Agatha Christie. The setting is a country house party, terrible hurricane-style storm, no power or phones, completely cut off by downed trees and flooding river, and people are dying one by one. Her books are deemed cozies and are a little silly but fun.

I'm almost finished with "An Irish Country Doctor" by Patrick Taylor. This is a charming, delightful memoir set in Antrim, with vignettes of inimitable rural characters from a small village. The author has provided a useful glossary, but I found that we in the southern U.S. already have been using some of these quaint expressions.

I am sooo enjoying "Dandelion Soup" by Babs Horton, this author has a wickedly enjoyable sense of humour, lots of LOLs'.

woodnymph2,
Your Patrick Taylor book sounds good to me, I have a copy of his on my TBR stack, my one is "An Irish Country Village".

Am still reading "Bleak House' (C.Dickens) ... still enjoying it. There's just one problem -- the legal tie-ups in the story evade my comprehension. I know Jarndyce v. Jarndyce is *supposed to be* convoluted -- but even the small legal snarls in the story are tough going. . . .E.g. -- the problem between George the gym-owner and his creditor baffles me. Why is his good friend somehow tied into it?

Finished "Unbroken" - Laura Hillenbrand, wrote the great "Seabisquit." It's about Louis Zamperini, a very great runner. The first chapters were really exciting. But then WWII takes over -- he's sent to the So. Pacific... lands up living on a life raft for many months-- almost dies. Is rescued and spends years under horrifying circumstances in Japanese prisoner of war camps.

This book didn't take off for me after the first quarter because I kept waiting for him to perform some BIG HEROIC feat to escape, save prisoners... SOMETHING. But it's mostly about holding up under terrible, awful conditions for a very long time. While that is "grabbing" to read for awhile, it palls after a point because it's too repetitious.

Another thing I didn't like were the last few chapters -- the "Bible-thumping" turn in his life; no mention at all of his sweet, long-suffering parents who were soooo proud of him -- why are they dropped from the book all of a sudden(?)... Most bothersome of all -- how can I believe that after some five years of heavy drinking, terrible nightmares, raging tantrums (against Jap. prison leader who beat him to a pulp over and over), etc., etc. - did he overcome ALL OF THESE IN ONE NIGHT -- simply by going to a tent-shaking evangelist meeting, when all the help, encouragement, psychiatric care didn't do it? I just don't believe it -- AT ALL!

For light, non-fiction: "Journey to the South: A Calabrian Homecoming"
Annie Hawes I just loved her first book -- "Extra Virgin" -- she and her sister leave England to do work in northern Italy grafting roses ... only to wind up buying a hillside shack (but a roomy, sturdy one!) above the Mediteranean Sea -- for less than US $3,000. [Sigh!] That shack today is worth far, far more than what she paid for it (early-90s).

Anyway, this "Journey..." book is no where near as lively and fascinating as that first adventure ... But it's still fun, and has lots of goofy, or charming -- or both! -- kinds of characters.

woodnymph2, did you read any more by Adriana Trigiani? I've read most of her books and just finished "Home to Big Stone Gap" and really enjoyed it. Hard to get any real details, but "Big Stone Gap" is being made into a movie. Trigiani is screenwriter and directing it. I'm hoping that means it will be just as good as the book.

Welcome back triplew! It's good to have you back here with us again.