Vee - sorry to hear about the weather. If it's any consolation, we have had significantly cooler temperatures and more rain this summer than we have had for quite some time. But still no coat needed. You have my sympathies, but what I would do for a nice gentle all-day rainy day here in Texas....

Just finished "The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox" by Maggie O'Farrell. Strange little book with sudden changes of view point, perspective and warped memories which gets confusing at times. (At least it did for me.) It finally all comes together at the end and makes sense, but up until then, it keeps you wondering...

Not sure what next. I need to see what the library has in store for me. I just heard that they're not going to order any more new books until October due to budget difficulties. Sigh.

Cece, I'm glad I just asked you if you had read Three Bags Full and didn't recommend it. I ended up not liking it at all--too silly for me. I like my mysteries to be mysterious. If you read it, I'd be interested in knowing what you think.

Bah, humbug, Martin! Just jealous, of course. Enjoy your holiday. We are going to Chattanooga for a whole family get together over Labor Day weekend, but that's pretty low key.

I devoured "A Writer's House in Wales" by Jan Morris which was recommended by a fellow RPer (but sorry - can't remember who it was).. It was a lyrical melodic book, a love song to Wales and its environs, and I really enjoyed it.

Only one bit stuck out and that is when the author admits that she had a sex change. I had no idea how it fit in the book and to me, it totally detracted from the book. I have nothing against people who change their sex but just couldn't see how this advanced the book in any way.

Overall, loved the book and the descriptions. Thanks to whoever it was who recommended it. I read it in one evening.

Next - Barbara Trapido's "Frankie and Stankie".

Woodnymph - quite correct. We in England call it "Captain Corelli's Mandolin", but it's the same book. We're in Sami today - which is where large amounts of the film were done, I'm told; and where the book is set (again - I think - it's a while since I read it.)

Cephalonia is a strange place - because of the earthquake in 1953, the vast majority of the island is very newly built - you don't get that mix of new and old like some of the other islands. But it's a beautiful island - rather greener than those in the Agean sea. Unsurprisingly, it reminds me a bit of Corfu.

Finished "Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid" yesterday by Bill Bryson. I gave it to my wife for her birthday, and I spent the first three days of this holiday listening to her giggling over it - so I grabbed it as soon as she'd finished it. Very good - typical Bryson, but one of his better ones.

Finished "Frankie and Stankie" by Barbara Trapido and loved it. A story of two sisters coming of age in the 1950's South Africa. Very interesting to learn about the apartheid and all that it involved plus Trapido talks about the politics and the policies that came aboud so I learned a lot.

Again, it was an RP recommendation so gracias for that.

Now on to Meg Wolitzer's "The Position"....

The Daniel Silva Moscow Rules was as good as ever, and I have now moved on to the latest Jack Kerley (now listed on the cover as J Kerley) which has a promising start.
I will be travelling overseas soon, so have saved up a few books to take, including The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, the latest J A Konrath and Chris Collett books and The Good Thief which was highly recommended to me at a publishing 'do' last week.

Still reading Queen Isabella and enjoying it-but it is nonfiction with tiny print, and the Olympics are still on TV...and the weeds have gotten together and are mounting a counterattack in the flowerbeds, anxious to establish their winter camps.

Finished Meg Wolitzer's "The Position" - very good story about a couple who wrote a best-selling sex book and how it affected their children (and their relationship itself) over the years. Fiction. Wolitzer also wrote "The Ten Year Nap" which I thought was good as well. Anyway, good writing combined with good story = enjoyable read.

Then zipped through "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch, a Carnegie Mellon professor who died recently from pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancer is the 4th most lethal cancer and most people who get it will die within a year as it takes ages to get diagnosed and so usually it's a late stage when not much can be done. This lecture was originally written for his children, but applies to anyone. Very inspiring and the money went to a good cause.

Not sure what next... Will have to troll my bookshelves to see what jumps out.

Blossomgirl, IÂm a little late but wanted to thank you for the recommendation for Birds in Fall. It sounds good and IÂve added it to my TBR list.

Astrokath, I also have The Good Thief on my to be read list. I loved the excerpt I read and look forward to reading more.

I read Alive in Necropolis, about a rookie cop in Colma, California, which is a city of many cemeteries. This book was billed as part police procedural, part ghost story, but I was a bit disappointed with a few things. Too much time was spent overdeveloping minor characters at the expense of plot and pacing, and I wasnÂt fond of the ending. But the author did keep my interest in the story and showed a talent for character development. Finished Jack KerleyÂs Blood Brother as well and enjoyed it as much I usually do his books. Right now IÂm in the middle of Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. I was expecting a humorous book but not a farce. Once I adjusted my thought process, I started enjoying the novel for what it is. Ignatius is really the most self-centered mess of a slob IÂve ever read about. It makes me wonder what else Toole could have produced had he lived.

I just finished Out by Natsuo Kirino. Not for the faint of heart, it's about four women friends who dispose of the evidence of a crime one of them commits. They then start a downward spiral as things get worse and worse. A very intense and captivating read. I rated it a 8.5/10.

Kelly

Martin...thanks so much for recommending Thunderbolt Kid...I read the excerpt from Amazon, called B&N to reserve a copy and picked it up. It is my childhood! I have to finish a trash novel I am enjoying...and then shall delve completely into Bryson's book. It is just what I need right now.

For my book club this month I am reading Loving Frank, and I'm about halfway through it. So far I'm not loving it. I find neither of the two main characters particularly attractive. Frank is Frank Lloyd Wright. I'm finding that I can admire a person's accomplishments without especially liking the person himself -- or herself, since I'm not liking Mamah any better.

Rosefolly

dorieanne-I hope you enjoy "Birds in Fall" as much as I did.I have been on a good book streak lately due to this forum and reccommends from friends and reading club pals.

Kren250 ( Kelly)-I read "Out" as well and could not put it down. Grisly and brutal but captivating.

Read "Brick Lane" by Monica Ali about a young Muslim girl being taken to London for an arranged marriage and "River of Heaven" a family mystery by Lee Martin. I loved both of these well written books.

I have a TBR pile that is steadily growing. "Monster of Florence" by Douglas Preston and "Norweigan Wood" by Huruki Murakami is on top right now. And of course "The story of Edgar Sawtelle". Anyone read the new Sedaris book?
I am curious about it. I have read his other books but this one got a mixed review from a friend.

One of the nice things about being on holiday is that you get such a lot of time to read...!

Still basking in Cephalonia. Temperature has been around 40 degrees C, which is a bit 'ot...but given that we've had non-stop rain back home, I for one am not going to complain about it.

Tried to read Legends of the Fall by Jim Harrison. It's actually three novellas. The first (Revenge) was a bit violent and brutal and tedious - so unless I actually run out of reading matter, I won't bother with the rest.

Finished three books by David Lodge - Changing Places, Small World and Nice Work. I found them in a one-volume omnibus second hand - seemed like perfect holiday reading - which indeed they were. Very very good books indeed - also very funny. Each stands by itself, but they have a lot of the same characters - particularly the first two. The second and third were actually short-listed for the Booker prize - just to prove that the Booker doesn't always mean unreadable heavy literature.

Now half-way through The Wind Singer by William Nicholson. It's a kids book - my ten-year-old absolutely loved it, so I thought it would be interesting to see what it was all about. Thoroughly enjoying it so far.

Forgot to mention, just before going on holiday, I read After Dark by Murakami, which inspired me to re-read Kafka on the Shore by the same author. The more I read KotS, the more I'm impressed by it. Sad, happy, poignant, laugh-out-loud funny - it's got everything. A wonderful, wonderful book.

Blossomgirl - Brick Lane I think is a "either love it or hate it" book - both my wife and I are in the latter category. It's not often we agree about books (except Harry Potter).

Home on Sunday. Sigh.

Just read "Shakespeare" by Bill Bryson. Enjoyable and learned a lot about it. Very interesting information about the people who think Shakespeare did write all the plays vs those who think he didn't....

Not sure what to read next, but looking forward to it.

I thought that since we are approaching the end of the summer, that "Last Days of Summer" by Steve Kluger would be appropriate. I have heard good things about this, so looking forward to it. After this, I must start working on the old library books I borrowed so they don't go back unread.

Just finished up "The Invisible Wall" which is a memoir written by 96 yr old Harry Bernstein. He writes about his pre-WWI childhood in Lancashire, a mill town in England. The title refers to the divide on his rowhome street; on one side lives the Jews, the other the Christians and never the twain shall meet except once a week during the Jewish Sabbath when the Christian "fire goys" cross the street to take care of the forbidden fires/cooking for a penny or two. The book is about the forbidden romance between one of Harry's sisters and a Christian boy across the street.

I highly recommend this book; it is well-written in a straighforward way but also offers a first-person look at growing up surrounded by extreme poverty, deprivation and bigotry. To some extent, it reminded me of my own (much) older relatives who lived in similar, though not so harsh, circumstances and their saying that one didn't dwell on the hard life since everyone around them was in the same boat.

I just finished Kinsolver's "Prodigal Summer" and have commented on the thread by that name. I really became engrossed in the intertwined stories with such memorable characters. It's a novel I will never forget, nor its powerful message....

Now I am reading for the 2nd time, G. Brooks "Year of Wonders". So many here complained of the ending that I wanted to re-visit it for myself. The first time I read it, I was not bothered by the outcome. Maybe I will pick up on flaws this time and be more critical.....

After Isabella I raced through two Priscilla Royal medieval mysteries (both Goodreads and my local library have them listed as medeival mysteries, which drives me bonkers) and am now reading Death at the Priory to compare it with The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher. So far, I am liking Priory better. Smoother style, less disruption caused by infusions of necessary background information...and no distracting "history of mystery literature" sidetracking.

I'm reading Landsman, which is a debut novel by Peter Charles Melman, about a young Jewish man who finds himself fighting in the Confederate Army to avoid being prosecuted for a crime and possibly beaten to a bloody pulp by fellow gang members. The premise is interesting, but it's one of those novels that tries too hard to be something more than it is, and I'm finding the author's style offputting (present tense just slows the story down and isn't at all necessary, IMO). At this point, I'm forcing myself to finish so I can move on to something better (perhaps Shaara's The Killer Angels, keeping with the Civil War theme).

Georgia, The Killer Angels is one my 13 yr old's school reading books this year; when I looked at her list yesterday, I wondered what that was. Today, my neighbor mentioned it as a good Civil War book and now it is mentioned in this thread. Guess I'll read it along with her.

I zipped through The Invisible Wall and Jancee Dunn's first novel, Don't You Forget About Me, a very funny look at returning to her parents' home in Jersey after a divorce and attempting to recreate the glory days of high school in the 80's. Now I'm back to slogging through Junot Diaz's Pulitzer winner The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Has anyone else read it? Liked it? It is more raw than I had anticipated and rather sad.

I'm on my second book (and the first of his garden-mystery series) called The Blue Rose by Anthony Eglin. They are nice, pleasant reads, especially if you like gardening.

The Killer Angels is one of the best Civil War books ever written, focusing on the Battle of Gettysburg. After Shaara's death, his son wrote the prequel, Gods and Generals, and the sequel, The Last Full Measure.

CC, thanks for the information. I will pick up my own copy to read along with her. We've visited Gettysburg a few times and this summer, my son toured the battlefields with my father. Apparently, the new visitors center (badly needed) is a great enhancement.

I finished Beloved by Toni Morrison, which is now in the ranks of one of my favorite books ever. Beautiful writing, an amazing story...what more can you ask for;-). It reminds me that I really should read more of her books; I've been in awe of the few by her I've read. She's just a brillant writer.

Any other fans of hers here? What are more books by her that I should read? Any that aren't that good? I've read Song of Solomon, The Bluest Eye, Beloved, and Sula (but Sula was so long ago I really don't remember much).

Finished "Last Days of Sumnmer" by Steve Kluger -- funny and sad and really well done. How would you describe it (those of you who have read it)? Is it post-modern? Is it epistolary? Can epistolary novels include things like menus and tickets to events? I was thinking that epistolary novels were just letters, but I could be just being pedantic on this.

Now on to something completely different: "Bury Me Standing: The Gypsies and their Journey" by Isabel Foneca. I have always been interested in this group but know little about them. In England, if you want to be PC, they are called "travelling people" or "travelers". At least that is what my mum says. Maybe Vee or Dido have a different point of view?

Kren-"Beloved" was my favorite Morrison book. I loved it too.She does have a new book coming out this fall called "A Mercy". I read it was about slavery and a mother-daughter relationship. Sounds similar to Beloved. I plan on reading it.

Lemonhead, I loved Last Days of Summer. I would definitely regard it an epistolary novel, and found it a refreshingly different way to read a story. I must admit I didn't care as much for Kluger's other two books, but his recent one My Most Excellent Year: A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins and Fenway Park was as good as Last Days of Summer IMO, even if it was marketed to young adults. (Hey, I'm a kid at heart.) And it has a very happy ending.

Still in Cephalonia. I wouldn't normally post so often on holiday, but my daughter has to keep up with Club Penguin, and I can't leave her in the internet cafe by herself, now can I?

Finished The Wind Singer. A bit too much shoved into a book, in my opinion. There were two or three very good ideas, each of which could have made a single good story. In particular, the idea of the main town is very interesting - it's a meritocracy taken to it's logical conclusion - the quality of your life, the size of your house, the colour of the clothes you wear depend on how well your children do at school, and how well your father does on the yearly examination. But my daughter loved it.

Now reading Codex by someone or other - it's a Da Vinci Code type book - a mysterious book in a hidden library contains some missing clues to something, and it's all mixed up with a computer game too....it's good enough for a holiday read. I found it in the cupboard at the apartment, and it'll probably go back there - along with my copy of Legends of the Fall.

I just started The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan, the story of the dust storms that blanketed the High Plains of Texas and Oklahoma during the Depression. Don't be put off by the bland description. On Black Sunday, April 14, 1935, a dust storm carrying twice the amount of soil as was dug to create the Panama Canal occurred. On that day 300,000 TONS of topsoil flew, and this is the story of the land and the people who lived there.

Next to read is The Education of Little Tree by Forrest Carter, a young adult book.

Tangerine - I loved The Worst Hard Time as I happen to live on the cusp of the area where it happened. My husband's grandma lived through it and talks of putting wet towels around the windows and the doors to prevent the dust etc. It's an amazing story to read.

We still have occasional dust storms which are interesting to see - if it rains at the same time, it rains mud which is strange.

It's getting better though due to the farmers planting more crops to hold down the top soil and people being more careful. We grow mostly cotton around here which doesn't make sense as it takes a lot of water and that's something we don't have a lot of.

lemonhead, I own and have read the I. Fonseca book about gypsies. It tells their side of the story, how they have been kicked out of various European countries throughout history. I found this book fascinating. Let me know what you think of it. We have gypsies in the U.S. and they are called "Travellers." (Gypsy has become a perjorative term).

Just chiming in to say that I'm another admirer of Egan's The Worst Hard Time. It's one of my favorite reads of the year, in fact.

I've now begun Shaara's The Killer Angels which lives up to its reputation. I find it sad, though, that the book didn't receive commercial success until after the author died and mostly due to the success of the film Gettysburg. CC, have you read any of his son's books? I wondered how they compared. Jeff Shaara seems to be enjoying a successful writing career, anyway.

Lemonhead - Your husband's Grandmother is among the last of the generation that can give a firsthand account of the Dust Bowl! How cool.

Tangerine - she is 96 and still pretty feisty! About four feet tall and wow - is her mind sharp! Hope I can say the same if I live that long....

I'm back from vacation but didn't get much reading done at all. I did finally have a chance to read Tom's Midnight Garden, a YA story about a boy staying with his Aunt and Uncle and the magical garden that appears when the old hall clock strikes thirteen - it was a near-perfect book. Thank you, Vee, for the recommendation, it was WONDERFUL.

I also breezed through two organize-your-home-type books, both by Julie Morgenstern, Organizing from the Inside Out and When Organizing Isn't Enough: SHED Your Stuff, Change Your Life -- you can guess the state of my house based on those titles, lol. Both books were very helpful but now I need to find time to implement the ideas therein! Once school is back in session ...

I'm now reading a book Vee very kindly sent my way, A Child in the Forest by Winifred Foley. It's a memoir of the author's impoverished childhood in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire. It's absolutely captivating and I've had a hard time putting it down. Thank you, again, Vee!

I, too, read and enjoyed Foley"s "A Child in the Forest." It's a keeper!

Sheri, glad you are enjoying the Foley book. Amazing to think this became a best-seller after she wrote some of her childhood memoirs and sent them to the BBC where they were read on the Woman's Hour slot. After a tough life with little formal schooling she is now in her nineties and has written a couple of follow-up books.
She was brought up in a small hamlet in the Forest the 'setting' for the newspaper article below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Love Among the Pumps

bookmom- The only book my husband has ever read cover to cover is The Killer Angels, so I guess that's quite an endorsement! I have just finished two great mysteries-Shatter by Michael Robotham and Jilliane Hoffman's latest Plea of Insanity. If you love mystery/thrillers as much as I do, they are both "sorry to see you go" type books. Also read Jack Kerley's latest-his Carson Ryder mysteries are so good-I can't believe I had to send to the UK for it.

It's funny -- you can see how busy we all are with our summers by the lower number of posts on this thread. During the winter we kept bumping up against the 150 post limit.

I am about to head off for vacation and have packed my TBR pile to take along with me. Our extended family is off to Jamaica for a big celebration. With the tropical storm just past I'm expecting rainy weather, so I am making sure I will be well provided with indoor entertainment.

Rosefolly

Rose-hope hurricane Hanna doesn't impact your trip.

bookmom-I have not, but I know three people who have read them all, in order, and they all loved them. One being my duaghter's college roommate, and another her fiance. DD and her fiance went to Gettysburg College, (as did her roommate, obviously...she was majoring in Civil War Studies)so we are very familiar with all things Gettysburg!

Pam, I enjoyed Jack Kerley's Blood Brother too, he writes a good thriller. I am now reading Katge Atkinson's Case Histories and am quite fascinated to see where it is going and how it will end - the stories are quite disparate, and I want to know how they will pull together.

I liked Leonie Swann's "Three Bags Full". At least the sheep acted quite naturally which is more than can be said for some of the animal detectives!
Being winter and cold, windy, raining etc. (Like the UK Summer this year apparently) I have been curling up under my cheap misprinted Winnie the Pooh blankie and listening to tapes so that I can keep my frozen mitts under wraps. I bought a lot of them from the local library who are selling old and donated, almost new, tapes. I like books I have already read, I find them easier to follow. I also like women readers better as they can deepen their voices for male characters but men don't sound right becoming women! What do other listeners think?
I have been trying to get Kate Fenton's two early books from the Australian library system but no luck so far. I enjoyed her books very much and was reminded of her from another thread.
Almost Spring, so a lot of my reading will be garden catalogues!

I always wish that I had a list of all the books we mention each month. It takes so long to cull through all the posting. Maybe I will attempt on Monday to make a list and post it...if it doesn't become too burdensome.

Are titles enough...or would it need author and title?

Veronica, I think that is a fantastic idea. I think the author should be listed as well, because there are so many books with the same title.

I finished Leather Maiden by Joe Lansdale, and was disappointed. Not recommended, even if you are a fan.

I've started The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti, and loved the first couple of chapters. The image of the orphan boys trying so hard to impress a prospective "father" tore at my heart.

A good idea Veronica. Would it take too long to add whether the book was described as good, bad or indifferent?
Personally I never bother to write comments on books I have found unmemorable as there is so little worth saying about them. But with something such as The Da Vinci Code I found myself in a rage fest, both at myself for having wasted time reading it, for believing people who found it 'brilliant' and for Dan Brown for having written it. :-)

Veer --

Hey! The Da Vinci Code wasn't that bad -- it had its uses! I used it to prop up an old useless table .... and it CAN be used for kindling.

;-)

An excellent idea Dyno, pity it was a library copy.
I recently met a couple of women at a second-hand book stall discussing it. I was just about to open my mouth and say "What a load of **** haha!" when one of them said she and her husband enjoyed it so much they had to buy two copies as one couldn't wait for the other to finish reading it. Hopefully Dan Brown is now so rich he will never need to write another book.

Vee, did you object to the theme of this novel, or its style, or both? Just curious.

I originally started reading the DVC because the 'theme' sounded interesting, although I have never been very quick at codes etc. I therefore became somewhat suspicious when the puzzle that was found at the Louvre was so simple . . . even for me.
But really what I found the most annoying was the very sloppy style of writing, along with the two-dimensional cardboard characters.
No-one to blame but myself; I could have thrown it at next door's cat.
I have tried to find an original book review from the English papers but, of course, when the book first came out it wouldn't have merited any interest.
Below is the next best thing I could find.

Here is a link that might be useful: Are we literary snobs?