Sanddancer's 2009 Reading

So this will be my thread for my 2009 reading. I'm not going to set a specific target now, other than to say that I would like to continue to enjoy reading as much as I have been in the second half of this year.

I hope my reading will take me further a field than the USA and UK and I'd like to make some progress with the 1001 list too.

As it nears the end of January, I feel that I want to set myself some targets
As I'm taking part in the 999 challenge, if I complete that I should read 81 books for that, but I will be reading outside of that challenge too. So I think 100 books in the year is a good target to set for now (I don't expect to read as much in other months as I have in January).

I would also like to set myself the target of reading at least one non-fiction book each month.

Welcome.

Welcome to the group!

One of the people from the 2008 group, Prop2gether, has been working on the 1001 list so you may want to go back and check the posts on her thread from last year as well as this one. She does some great reviews!

Thank you for the welcomes. I had already starred Prop2gether's thread in the 999 challenge but will also check out her 75 challenge threads.

Cloudstreet by Tim Winton

Kicking off my new year with a book set in Perth, Western Australia that I'd read recommendations for in the Reading Globally forum.

Cloudstreet is about two families, the Pickles and the Lambs who live together in a large house at Number 1 Cloud Street. The families are very different, Sam Pickles is a doomed gambler, his wife Dolly is a drunk, whereas Lester and Oriel Lamb are hardworking Christians who have suffered a crisis of faith since their middle son, Fish was nearly drowned and left brain-damaged. The book follows the fortunes of these characters over a twenty year period, from the end of the Second World War to the 1960s.

I found the story of the two families compelling and I really wanted to know what would happen to them, but the book also had something that raised it above the standard family melodrama. It is rich with symbolism and there are some touches of magical realism in there too, which add to the narrative. I also loved the fragmented structure of the book, with varying perspectives and sub-headed sections.

The book was a good choice as an example of Australian literature as the location of Perth is very important, the dialogue is full of Australian slang and Australian politics and history provide a background for the story.

I really enjoyed this and am hoping to read some more Australian literature soon to see how it compares.

Ah... Cloudstreet! The first chapter opens in my hometown of Geraldton.

I don't read as many Australian novels as I feel I should, but a couple of further suggestions that are staring at me right now from my bookcase...

Another Miles Franklin Literary Award winner (1999), Eucalyptus by Murray Bail

An all-time personal favourite and at the top of my top 5 books, Wake in Fright by Kenneth Cook

Not sure if you're interested in speculative fiction at all, but Dreaming Again, edited by Jack Dann, is a collection of 35 short stories by Australian authors. I'm only about 1/3rd of the way through, but I'm really enjoying it. It's interesting to see how a nationality can influence one's writing in subtle ways!

Retro Retro edited by Amy Prior
A collection of short stories loosely based on our obsession with retrospective culture that I picked because I have a huge obsession with everything retro.

I normally struggle to maintain my interest with short stories, so I'm feeling rather pleased with myself for completing this anthology. However it did remind me what one of my main problems are with these collections, i.e. that the quality of the stories can be very mixed. At least here though some of the good ones were good enough to give me hope that others would be too and to keep reading.

My favourite was Empty Boxes by Nicholas Royle which was about a man's obsession with old cinemas in London. I also enjoyed Joyce Carol Oates story "Strand Used Books 1956" about a chance meeting with Marilyn Monroe in a bookshop and "The Death of Blonde" by Christopher Kenworthy about history and hair!

The stories I enjoyed the least were the ones where the retro element was tenuous. The stories "The Stock Exchange" by Matthew de Abaituo and "Lets Go" by Emily Perkins were the weakest in the collection and I didn't really see what was retro about these at all.

#7: Sounds like some of the short stories, particularly the one by Nicholas Royle that you mentioned, would be of interest to me. I will see if I can find the book. Thanks for the review!

I enjoyed your review of Cloud Street; I spent a month in Australia, mostly near Perth, in 2007, and would love to read more about the area. Thanks!

PeterMC and dk_phoenix - I've only just noticed your comments following Cloudstreet. Thank you for the additional recommendations - I will investigate those further.

LisaMorr - I've never been to Perth my OH spent some time there a few years ago so some of the places names were familiar to me. It was a good book, but am sure you would appreciate it more having been there.

The Boy Who Kicked Pigs by Tom Baker
I had already started another book, but I bought this yesterday based on a recommendation I read on another site and I fancied a quick easy read today.

The book is written by Tom Baker who is best known for playing Doctor Who and more recently providing the voice over in the UK comedy Little Britain. As I was reading it, I could hear Tom Baker's distinctive voice in my head, which I think added to the pleasure. It is a short book, so I wouldn't recommend paying full recommended price for it. Alternate pages have illustrations by David Roberts which are just as good as the text. It is a strange little book, that certainly wouldn't be to everyone's taste, but I enjoyed its macabre black humour. I would compare it to Roald Dahl, who can also be quite nasty in places.

Hi Sanddancer,
Tim Winton is one of my favourite authors. Another Australian author Robert Drewe has written an excellent autobiographical account of his childhood The Shark Net: set in Western Australia,as is Cloudstreet and similar era. Well worth reading if you are interested in Australian authors. Alex Miller. Landscape of Farewell also recommended.

Hello Belinda. Thank you for the further recommendations of Australian authors. I like the sound of The Shark Net.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
I won't say much about this book as most people know it already, except to say it surprised me. I expected it to be difficult reading - it wasn't. I expected it to have dated - it seemed modern. I expected it to be very bleak - it was thought-provoking but had more humour than I'd have ever thought. I loved it.

Sanddancer, I've got Brave New World on my list as well. I'm really looking forward to it, because I feel as you did about the book, based on your comments here and other LT threads.

The version I'm planning on reading has an essay, Brave New World Revisited included. Did you happen to read that as well?

Lisa - I look forward to reading your thoughts when you've read it. My copy has a foreward by the author written years later but it isn't called Brave New World Revisited. There were also two introductions by other authors in my edition but I didn't read any of these as I wanted to come to the book fresh without reading other people's ideas on it first, but I will probably go back and read these soon. I have seen a whole book called Brave New World Revisited which I think is a collection of his essays on the subject and I may read that at some point later in the year when I've read more dystopian novels.

Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann
I loved the idea of this book - the murder of a shepherd solved by his flock of sheep. However, I didn't find the execution of the idea as good as I'd expected. I thought the book was far too long for what was a pretty simple plot and I found it surprisingly hard to get into it for the first hundred or so pages. I did end up enjoying it a bit more later in the book and liked the different sheep characters.

Shakespeare: The World as a Stage by Bill Bryson
My first non-fiction book of the year. I loved this book. Very little is known for certain about William Shakespeare which was explained in the first chapter and I worried that this didn't bode well for the rest of the book, but I need not have worried. The book isn't just about Shakespeare but contains some great gems of information on the society in which he lived. I particularly enjoyed the final chapter which debunks the various theories about who else could have written Shakespeare's plays. I learnt quite a lot from this book, but smiled a lot too.

The Fat Man in History by Peter Carey
Another collection of short stories, but this time a consistently brilliant collection. The stories could all be termed speculative fiction and cover a range of imagined circumstances including an Australia of the future where fat people are outcasts, another version of the country where citizens can enter a lottery to win a new body and a story about a drug with the side effect of turning hands blue. All of the stories were imaginative, but there was such variety in the stories. Very impressive.

Hi sanddancer
It looks like you are off to a great start. Thanks for these well-written reviews.

#17: Glad to see yet another Bill Bryson fan! I have read just about all of his books and really enjoy the sense of humor and the fun he has in his writings.

I will try the Peter Carey book. I tried his book The True Story of the Kelly Gang and got absolutely no where with it. (Touchstone is wrong for the book). Maybe I will give him a try in short stories instead.

Alcottacre - I read Oscar and Lucinda and The Tax Inspector by Peter Carey years ago and neither impressed me that much. So I would definitely still recommend these short stories.

I tried read the Kelly book by Carey because it won the Booker(?) prize. I have given up for the most part on reading prizewinning books, because most of them are so incomprehensible to me I have decided the committees are full of aliens. Still, I will give the short stories a try.

Thanks Sanddancer for your reviews - I will add The Fat Man in History to my TBR pile.

edited for ytpos

Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow by Peter Hoeg
It felt like I was reading this book for eons, but it was only a couple of days. The book is part crime thriller, part comment on the conflict between the cultures of Greenland and Europe. I enjoyed the first part of the book, although it had a slow pace, and I was interested in the detail about Greenlanders. Unfortunately, I didn't think the second part, once the action had moved to a ship heading for Greenland, was so successful and I think it failed as a thriller.

I have decided the committees are full of aliens.

So that's where they've been hiding! Finally! Do you want to notify the MIB or should I?

#24: Be my guest, dk. Just tell them to miss the one who suggested J.M. Coetzee for the prize - his book, The Life and Times of Michael K, I actually thought deserved the prize.

Regarding aliens on judging panels, I'd particuarly like the MIB to take away whoever gave the Booker Prize to The Gathering by Anne Enright.

>17 sanddancer: Thanks for your review of Shakespeare: The World as Stage. I've had this on my TBR pile for awhile now, and your review will prompt me to dig it up and actually read it!

Black Water by Joyce Carol Oates
I enjoyed Joyce Carol Oates' contribution to the short stories collection Retro Retro (my second book of the year) and then saw this short novel mentioned on the 1001 thread. My library had a copy but it had to be fetched from the storage area. After Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow, I felt in the need for something short and this fitted the bill perfectly. It is a fictionalised version of the incident where Ted Kennedy crashed his car and the female passenger died. Some details have been changed here (the year, the location and the girl's name) but it is unmistakeably modelled on that event. The story is from the point of view of the girl as she drowns. It is beautifully written, but at times very disturbing. "Enjoyed" probably isn't the right word to describe how I felt about this, perhaps "appreciated" is better.

Three Bags Full sounds like fun if only for the novelty :) Nice reviews.

#28: I get the feeling with a lot of Oates' books that "enjoyed" probably is not the right word for them (Rape:A Love Story and Zombie both spring to mind).

Yeah, after just finishing Zombie, I'm getting that same feeling...8^}

Dr Neutron - I've read your review of Zombie and it does similar that it inspired similar feelings in you. I think Zombie sounds rather interesting, but perhaps not so soon after Black Water.

East is East by T C Boyle

I really enjoy T C Boyle's books (this is the third book of his I've read). They are very much comfort reading. Unusual situations and an interesting mixture of characters, plus some really witty writing and a serious undertone. This book wasn't life changing, but it was a real pleasure to read. I'm aiming to read all of his novels for the 999 challenge this year, and I may end up writing the same thing about each of them!

hi Sanddancer,

Just wanted to say hi and thanks for the reviews- I've added the short story collections to my wishlists.

How you've already read 9 books this year is beyond me...

Pummz

Pummzie - Hello. I can explain how I've read 10 books this year - I read on my commute to and from work each day, some of them were very short books and I haven't done much else. I don't expect to keep up this pace as next week I actually have a social life so won't have so much free time, plus the rest of books are a lot longer.

I think there are people here who've read more books already than me, but I don't think they sleep!

>33 sanddancer:: I am also a fan of T. C. Boyle's quirky writing. I have this one on my TBR pile, but I'm tempted to read his new one (due for release on Feb. 10) first. It is about Frank Lloyd Wright, told from the perspective of the four main women in his life. Hence, titled The Women. Apparently no touchstone on this this one as yet. I enjoyed reading about one of these women in Loving Frank by Nancy Horan.

I see - I think I fail to read anywhere near as much less because of an exciting social life than because of a little black box in the corner with flickering images...shame on me

Next a pair of acclaimed books

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
I was reluctant to read this, thinking that it couldn't possibly live up to the hype and never quite feeling in the mood for a tale of misery. The first few pages seemed to confirm my fears (in particular something about a mother having a lazy eye) but then I really got caught up in the story. It moved along at a good pace and kept my interest. It was grim in places, but undoubtedly realistic and it did have moments of upliftingness (if that is a word!). It isn't my favourite book of all time, probably not even my favourite book this month, but I can see why it has been so popular.

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
The latest Booker Prize Winner. Unfortunately yet more evidence to support Alcottacre's theory (message 21) that the judging panels are full of aliens. It wasn't a bad book, but it wasn't a great book either. I read it and was left thinking "is that it?". It never really seemed to get going properly, it threatened to be interesting in places, but then just fizzled back out again.

Hi Sanddancer,

Your White Tiger review has made me curious. It is sitting on my shelf, waiting to be read.

Have you read many other books set in India - eg Rushdie, Roy, Narayan, Mistry - and if so, how does it compare to them?

Hi Sanddancer,

Your White Tiger review has made me curious. It is sitting on my shelf, waiting to be read.

Have you read many other books set in India - eg Rushdie, Roy, Narayan, Mistry - and if so, how does it compare to them?

Pummzie - I haven't read much else from India (I've not read anything by Rushdie which I should do something about). I have read God of Small Things which I loved and The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri which I enjoyed, so of the very small selection of books by Indian authors, this is probably the one I've enjoyed least. It was a fairly quick and easy read though so you should try to read it soon - I'd be interested to hear what you think about.

I have to say that I wasn't that impressed with Namesake. I think Lahiri's short stories are exquisite but the longer work did not live up to her promise.

I also loved God of Small Things - I was averse to her overwraught metaphors at first but then as it became clear how they were woven together and repeated throughout to build up the tension and intensity, I was completely won over by it.

Rohinton Mistry is a fantastic writer - you should give A Fine Balance a go.

Rushdie, on the other hand, is something of an acquired taste...

Pummzie - I shall add A Fine Balance to my ever-growing list of books to seek out and read. I may also attempt something by Rushdie at some point - perhaps something shorter though.

The Declaration by Gemma Malley

I don't usually read Young Adult Literature, not since I stopped being a Young Adult myself (with the exception of Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, but I picked this one up because it fitted with my Dystopia theme for the 999 challenge. The dystopia in this book is another utopia that isn't as good as it first seems - people take a drug, Longevity, to stay alive forever, but must forsake the right to have children. The world in the book, where there is overpopulation, a strain on the earth's natural resources and all-powerful drugs companies seems very plausible. The book reminded me a bit of Never Let Me Go as it follows one of the underclass in society, but it was a much more simplistic book than Never Let Me Go - the world system was outlined clearly straightaway, the characters weren't particularly complex and one of the "twists" I thought was quite obvious. For all its merits, I think it is these things that make it a book aimed at Young Adults as there is nothing difficult to understand in terms of structure, plot or language. I was engrossed by it and enjoyed reading it, but think it suffered in comparison with the more complex Dystopian novels I've read recently.

Sanddancer

I really like your numbers! How do you do this?

Message 28 -- Regarding Black Water by Joyce Carol Oates, I read this book in 2008 and agree with you regarding the fact that it is well written.

After reading this book, I was interested enough to follow through with reading

Senatorial Privilege: the Chappaquiddick cover up by Leon Damore.

Here are my comments written on the 2008 75 book challenge:

A meticulous account of a day and night of partying gone awry and the tragic death of young, beautiful Mary Jo Kopechne.

Using materials and quotes from the inquest, Damore carefully shows the lack of judgment evidenced by Ted Kennedy.

A clear portrait emerges of a hedonistic, self-absorbed politician who was responsible for the death of Mary Jo, both by his reckless driving and in the fact that if he would have sought immediate help, could have saved her life.

At the end of the book, Demore plainly writes that while this terrible incident did not cost Kennedy the loss of his senatorialship, it certainly haunted his career and did indeed cost him the presidency. To that I say AMEN!

Whisper - I made the numbers myself in PaintShop, uploaded them to Photobucket and put the link here. I "borrowed" the idea from someone else's thread.

After reading Black Water I did look up the Chappaquiddick incident on Wikipedia. I'm English and just in my 30s, so whilst I knew something vaguely about this, I didn't know too much as I assume people in the USA would know. I was quite shocked to read how lightly he got off - I know his career was halted, but it doesn't come close to justice for the loss of a life.

~44 - I agree. I am totally jealous of the numbers...

Just wanted to chime in and say that I agree with you and Alcot that the people who chose the Booker prize are from another planet. I read The Gathering last year and it was one of the most frustrating books I have ever had the misfortune to read. Lets just say I was so glad when I turned the last page.

Trish - completely agree about The Gathering - the best thing I can find to say about is at least it wasn't very long, so it was over fairly quickly.

Another pair of books read. I was going to describe this pair as from the sublime to the ridiculous, but actually I think they were probably both closer to ridiculous.

Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien
Last year I became a fan of Magnus Mills and read all five of his novels, and have been on a quest to find similar authors. A website that plots a literary map put Flann O'Brien very close to Mills and The Third Policeman seemed to be his most famous work. It is a very odd tale about murder, guilt, eternity and bicycles. Parts of the main plot were amusing in an absurdist way, but some of it was just frustrating. The narrator is obsessed with a philosopher/scientist called de Selby who he mentions frequently and then there are footnotes to explain de Selby's theories, and the various critical reactions to them. I loved this part of the book, because de Selby is entirely fictional so I admired the author's imagination for not only inventing him and his body of work, but also a whole league of critics and their disputes. The utterly serious academic tone here is a hilarious contrast to the ridiculous ideas of de Selby.

Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella.
I would like to point out that this book does not reflect my tastes, it is not something I would normally read. It was a book group's choice this month so I felt I should read it, rather than just being a literary snob about it. But now I've read it, I will revert back to literary snob mode and say it was dreadful.

This is chick lit. On a positive note, it is very readable, but other than that it has no merits. It sort of pretends to be against shallow materialistic things, but actually it isn't at all - there are great long lists of designer brands and products (but always quite the most obvious things) but the conclusion (spoiler alert - although really it is blatantly obvious what will happen) the heroine doesn't exactly end up with a pauper, just a slightly less rich person, but with better taste than the mega rich one. There was nothing particularly likeable about the main character, but nor did the way she thought or spoke seem at all realistic.

I would describe this book as the equivilent of eating at McDonalds.

LOL You have me literally laughing out loud with your review of Kinsella. (still) I think she's a hoot, but have only read Shopaholic and Sister. Nothing I would have chosen either, but I'm not sorry you read it. Hope your bookclub has selections more to your taste in the future!

Love your review of Remember Me?... it's the only Kinsella book I haven't read yet, and your review just reminds me how much of a guilty pleasure they are. I know they're crap (ie. your McDonalds analogy), but I just can't help for reach for one every so often!

your review of Remember Me? was brilliant!
(although McDonalds = 1euro hamburgers, can't beat that :D)

Everyone craves a little McDonald's once in a while!

Thanks for the comments about the Remember Me review. I am actually looking forward to the book group discussion on it although I hope I don't offend anyone who only reads this type of book.

And now for something completely different...

Real World by Natsuo Kirino
This book was described as Japanese Feminist Noir, which I can safely say is not a genre I'd read anything of before and in fact I wonder how many authors actually come into this It was very bleak portrayal of alienated youth in Japan. It is about a group of four girls and how they each become involved with a teenage boy who has murdered his mother. With each chapter, the story moves to a different person's perspective, including chapters from the point of view of the murderer. There is no mystery element here about the crime, but rather about his motivations and the feelings of girls. This image of ammoral youth is very familiar from Japanese films, and the detached tone of the narrators made it difficult to really care for them, but that worked well with the story.

The Flying Troutmans by Miriam Toews
I received this book through the Early Reviewers programme. It is about a dysfunctional family who go on a road trip and it has inevitably attracted comparisions with the film "Little Miss Sunshine". On that basis, I expected to love it as I loved that film, but this book didn't quite work for me. The quirkiness of the characters here really has been laid on thick. It suffers from quirkiness overload, to the point where the characters rather than being loveable for their uniqueness, just become irritating. Underneath the self-consciously alternative references and dialogue, this is a pretty conventional novel - a road trip as a voyage of discovery to mend broken relationship. Nothing new there. The parts of the book that worked best for me where the recollections of the past, about the sister Min's mental illness and the sisters' relationship growing up. These parts were genuinely touching in a way that the rest of the book failed to be.

Have you read Out by Natsuo Kirino, also described as "Japanese feminist noir"? In it a group of women who know each other from working the night shift at a factory, unite to help one of the women when she kills her abusive husband. In that sense, there is no crime to solve, but through exploration of the lives of each of the distinct women we view a spectrum of life in contemporary Japan, and the status of women is not all that much better than it was in years long past. I haven't read Real World yet, (I intend to), but Out is a great read.

Arubabookwoman - I haven't read Out yet - I did want to read that first, but just came across a copy of Real World so read that instead. I've heard that Out is gory though.

1968: The Year that Rocked the World by Murk Kurlansky
I started this book about ten days ago and intended to read it chapter at a time as it is quite dense and that worked for a while, but then I found myself at home sick and managed to read a huge chunk of it (the only upside of being ill). So in the end I finished it quite quickly. It was a great introduction to the politics and political movements of the time, how they started and the impact that has had on the world since. It seemed obvious that the author was on the side of the protesters, but it is a very honest account and does look at the limitations of their actions. There is a recurring theme about the use of violence in the media age. I liked the international perspective of book, and how some lighter stories of the year balanced the big political events. Another interesting thing was the way in which he dealt with the deaths of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy - this was done is very understated way, and it was very honest in its portrayal of them, rather than showing them as idealised martyrs. I was expecting the book to have a bit more in it about the culture (music, film etc) of the time than it did, although in retrospect there was quite enough information here to take in. I feel like I've really achieved something in completing this book!

Hi sanddancer -- What a neat name...it has connotations of happiness...

I added 1968: The Year That Rocked the World to my tbr pile in 2008. Your excellent review inspires me to follow through and read it in 2009.
Thanks for the well-written description.

And, congratulations on reading 18 books thus far.. That is quite an accomplishment.

Sanddancer--The murder of the abusive husband is gruesome, but I would not characterize the book as a whole as gorey.

#57: I am glad to see your great review of the book, sanddancer. I have it home from the library to read now. I read several of Kurlansky's books last year and really enjoy his style, and since I am trying to learn more about the Vietnam War-Civil Rights era this year, this book seemed to fit right in.

Whisper1 - the name is the nickname for people from the town I'm from - something to do with dancing on the beaches. Of the 18 books, many were really short easy reads. 1968 feels like the first proper achivement of the year.

Arubabookwoman - murders do tend to be gruesome I suppose, but glad it isn't all gore.

Alcottacre - Which books of Kurlansky's have you read? I quite fancy reading Salt from what I've read about it.

#61: Sanddancer, I read both The Basque History of the World and Cod by Kurlansky last year. I have not yet read Salt by him.

i've only read Cod, but can highly recommend it, it's well-researched and tightly written.

In that case I might seek out Cod (I was put off because I don't eat fish!)

Another short book, but not an easy read by any means:

Distant Star by Roberto Bolano
There has been a lot written about Roberto Bolano recently but frankly I felt daunted by the length of Savage Detectives and 2666 so since this was in my local library and under 150 pages, I thought I'd have a taster of his style. The book centres on a mysterious poet who becomes both a ruthless killer under the Pinochet's new regime and a celebrated artist. I loved the first part of the book - it was really sinister and gripped me. But then it moved away from Chile and was about what various poets and writers did in exile. I know nothing about Latin American writers and having recently read Third Policeman I wasn't even sure which were real and which were just characters in this book, and I think a deeper meaning my have been lost on me.

Finally finished
The Inner Circle by T C Boyle

Rather a slog this one. I liked the idea, a fictionalised version of Dr Kinsey, the sex researcher, but it turned out to be rather dull and repetitive. I didn't hate the book by any means but so little happened in it that I didn't really have much impetutus to pick it up.

I hate books like that! I hope your next one is better :)

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Another classic dystopian novel, although this one sadly failed to live up to its reputation. The concept is an interesting one - books are banned, the job of firemen now is to start fires, to burn the books and homes of those found hiding them. I found the writing style hard to get into and it seemed much more dated than Brave New World did, and there wasn't much depth to any of it, in either the characters nor in the concept of the society. There was an afterword in my edition which described the genesis of the book from severeal short stories he'd written and I think this would have been better as a short story.

Los Angeles without a Map by Richard Rayner
A memoir about an Englishman who moves to Los Angeles because he has become infatuated with a beautiful but crazy woman. It is a typical "fish out water" book, full of bizarre wannabe actors and film-makers. The actions of the author are hard to understand and the attraction of Barbara isn't particularly clear beyond the fact that she is good-looking. But it is a fun light read that was just what I needed after I struggled with the last two books.

#68: Sanddancer, I ran into the same problem with The Martian Chronicles by Bradbury earlier this year that you did with Fahrenheit 451, which I never really considered to be a novel, rather more of a novella. I liked it better than you did, though. Back to the Chronicles - they were written originally as magazine short stories, and it showed, and the whole book felt dated to me. I felt as if I was reading scripts for The Twilight Zone rather than a purported book.

I hope your reading picks up for you since you have had a couple of clunkers now. It sounds as if book 22 was at least marginally better.

>68 sanddancer: aww that's too bad, I really liked Fahrenheit 451, especially the ending!

>68 sanddancer:: I had the exact same reaction to Fahrenheit 451. Though one of his most famous, I don't think it's one of his best.

Alcottacre - I was starting to worry that I'd hit a bad run that was going to put me off reading, which is what happened to me early last year. However, neither of these two books were quite that bad, perhaps I just had too high hopes for them and was disappointed,

Girlunderglass - you seem to be in the majority with it. Maybe if I hadn't just read other dystopia novels I loved I would have liked this more.

TadAD - good to find another dissenting voice in the sea of praise!

#72: I think it happens to all of us - we get so excited about reading a particular book, especially if it came highly recommended and then when done, shake our heads and go "Why was I in such a hurry to read this?' I have had it happen on more than one occasion.

I am glad to see your enthusiasm for reading is not dampened. I hope your next book lives up to your expectations!

Something that did live up to the hype:

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
I absolutely loved this. It is partly the story of Oscar, an overweight science fiction fan, who falls in love too easily, and at first I was wary that I don't know enough about sci-fi to appreciate this. Equally, the frequent use of Spanish could have been a problem (I'm English - French is the language we are taught at school here) but in both cases, it was still easy to follow the meaning. It is however more than Oscar's story, it is about three generations of his family and the impact of the dictator Trujillo. I knew nothing about the history of the Domincan Republic either, but there were plenty of footnotes to enlighten my ignorance, and these worked well with the rest of the book. It was fascinating reading, and moving without ever being mawkish.

#74: The Brief Life was another book I wanted to love, and just could not. I forced myself to finish it. I was very disappointed. I know lots of people here on LT loved it, but I am not one of them.

The book club I'm in just read Oscar last month and none of us loved it. I think we all came to the same conclusion -- we were glad to have read it, but didn't enjoy the experience. For once, our discussion of the book actually increased my appreciation for the author's work, but I just couldn't get into it while I was reading it.

Interesting to hear some different opinions. I will confess to having a fascination with dictators so perhaps that helped.

Hello Sanddancer
Just to say I happened to click on your thread today and I am most impressed by your reviews.
Ceri

I love your numbers (and the reviews of course)!

I've read The Basque History of the World and really enjoyed it, and have eyed 1968 several times in book shops. Somehow Cod and Salt do not appeal as much! Thanks for the review - I'm adding it to my library book list.

Thank you for the kind words about the numbers and reviews!

Slow Man by J M Coetzee
The first book I'd read by this author. I knew the writer was South African so hoped it would be set there so it would fit with the Reading Globally Africa theme this month, but it was set in Adelaide. That wasn't to be the only surprising thing about the book though. It is about an aging man who loses his leg in an accident. The book is going along quite nicely and then the rug is pulled from under our feet when a stranger turns up unannounced. Despite this strange twist, I found it very easy to read, which I wasn't expecting - with the amount of acclaim he's received I was expecting the style to be more difficult. All in all an interesting book. Not one I loved, but certainly one that has given me an interest in reading more of his work.

The Underground Man by Mick Jackson
Another strange book and yet again another book I selected because it was compared to books by Magnus Mills. This is about an eccentric aristocrat who has the wealth in indulge in his whims, which include building a series of tunnels under his estate, an obsession with phrenology and some strange habits. It is told mainly in the form of his journal entries but every so often there will be statements from people who encountered him. It was rather odd. It was funny in places but with an air of sadness. I enjoyed it but it passed over very quickly and I think it might benefit from re-reading in the future.

#80: You might try The Life and Times of Michael K by Coetzee which won the Booker Prize several years ago. I read it last year and thought it was very good. It is set in South Africa, BTW.

>80 sanddancer: I read Slow Man not long ago, and had the same reaction as you. I enjoyed it, but I wouldn't say I loved it. It definitely made me want to read more of his work, though.

Ice Moon by Jan Costin Wagner
A policeman's wife dies and he returns to work, where they are investigating a serial killer who murders people in their sleep. Because of the death of his wife, the policeman feels he has a greater understanding of the killer. This was a crime story set in Finland (although by a German author) and it did have a similar feel as the other Scandinavian crime I'd read. The main character's grief felt very real and this was as important here as the crime aspect.

A Friend of the Earth by T C Boyle
Thankfully I enjoyed this one more than the last Boyle book I read. This is about the life of an environmentalist, jumping between his life in the late 80s and 90s to the 2020s where the planet has been all but destroyed due to man's excesses. Some reviews have criticised it for being too preachy, but I didn't find that at all - the actions of the environmentalists are shown to have been pointless and their motivations at times questionable. It is also as much a story about loss and family, which was much more moving than the environmental aspect. The rock star character was a great creation, and typical of what I'd liked about other of Boyle's books.

#83: The only of Boyle's books that I have read is The Tortilla Curtain which I liked, so I will give A Friend of the Earth a try, too. Thanks for the recommendation.

While at the library today I was able to obtain a copy of The Women by T.C. Boyle. I'm looking forward to reading this in the next few weeks. Have you read this one Sanddancer?

74: sanddancer - I just wanted to say that's a great summary of "Oscar Wao." I found your thread looking up conversations on " Wao." I enjoyed your other reviews here too.

Alcottacre - I think Drop City is still my favourite of his.

Whisper - I haven't read that one yet. I'm in the UK and I don't think it out here until later this year.

Dchaikin - thank you!

#87: I will see if I can find Drop City as well then, too. Thanks!

I finally got around to reading some books from Africa for the Global Reading themed discussion.

Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
A coming-of-age story set against a backdrop of corruption, unrest and domestic violence in Nigeria. It was interesting to read about the tension between the old religion and Catholicism in Nigeria, as well as the use of English as opposed to native language, but the abusive personality of the father was one that is universally recognisable.

Tropical Fish Tales from Entebbe by Doreen Baingana
Another African coming-of-age story, but this time from Uganda. It is structured as eight separate stories, which could be read separately (and I think some of them may have been published on their own in magazines) but they do work together as a whole as they all concern Christine and her family. They are ordered chronologically starting with Christine as a child and ending with her nearing 30, but the style varies across the stories. The three stories from the point of view of her older sisters are particularly affecting. I absolutely loved this book and wholly recommend it.

Hi sanddancer - I've read Purple Hibiscus and I found it a really uncomfortable read. I was constantly worried about how the father would react and what he would do next. I couldn't call it an enjoyable read as I was tense throughout, but certainly engaging.

Hello. Yes it was a tense read, but one that kept me reading. I think I've read quite a few books that fall into that category, where "enjoyed" isn't the right word - perhaps "appreciated" is.

#89 - I have read only one of Adichie's books, Half a Yellow Sun, and liked it OK, so I will give Purple Hibiscus a try as well. It goes without saying that Tropical Fish Tales from Entebbe is going on to the Continent. Any book absolutely loved has got to be tried!

A pair of books about two strange creatures:


Giraffe by J M Ledgard
Another LT user recommended this book to me and it was such a great recommendation for me as it combined animals, a multi-perspective narrative and set in Czechoslovkia under communist rule, all of which are things I've loved reading about in the past. This is fictonalised account of real-life events (another thing I'm drawn to) where giraffes where slaughtered in a zoo in the mid 1970s. Like pretty much everything in that time, the giraffes were being used as a propaganda tool. The book is written from the point of view of a scientist, a sleep-walker, a sharp-shooter and a giraffe. Despite the drawing of a giraffe on the cover, this is not a children's story, but it is a great book.

The Natural History of Unicorns by Chris Laver
This is a non-fiction book looking at the persistent image of the unicorn, as it appears in ancient texts and then later adopted as a symbol in Christianity. The author looks at what real creatures may have been a unicorn, moving onto its use in symbolism and the search for it in India and Africa. It was an interesting read, which takes in romanticism, colonialism and religion as well as the natural world. I would have liked something more on the New Age use of the unicorn which is just mentioned, but mostly it was a fascinating read.

#93: I will have to get The Natural History of Unicorns for Catey, based on the title alone. She collects all things unicorn, lol.

The Touchstone for the book is completely incorrect and does not allow for any other choices, hmm.

>93 sanddancer: Giraffe sounds really interesting! ... oh damn I just searched Bookmooch and there aren't any copies. It's always like that :(

>93 sanddancer:: Oh wow! I had no idea that there was a historical inquiry into unicorns out there... I'm very much interested in cryptozoology and had planned to write some research/historical books just like this one in the future... I'm so glad to know about this one!

About the "Unicorns," what a fun sounding book.

The unicorns book has just been published (in the UK at least and I think the author is British) so not sure if it is available elsewhere yet. I would definitely be interested in reading other similar things

Giraffe - I order from my library but now wish I'd bought a copy of it. That seems to happen a lot.

Next a pair of books that won't be to everyone's taste:

Hippie by Barry Miles
A large book, mainly of photographs of the counter-culture movement from 1965 to 1971, but it did have a fair amout of text too that provided a good overview of people and events. As it was about the hippies who weren't the most political group of the era, it concentrates on the music, fashions and culture of the time. There are a lot of stories about drug use in here but the tone of the book is neither to condemn nor condone it outright, although the latter period when the harder drugs took hold is portrayed with some regret by the author. At times I would have liked more detail on some things, but it is a good overview of the period and I liked that the author did sometimes report negative aspects, rather than just looking back on it as a golden period and is quite honest about how the ideals didn't work out in reality.

The Flood by David Maine
This is retelling of the Noah and the ark story, but written very much in modern language with the characters fleshed out. I really enjoyed this book - the characters (especially Noa's daughters-in-law) were very believable and the Old Testament certainly has some great stories. However, some people may not feel this is appropriate to revamp this story in this way and towards the end there are some parts that do question some beliefs.

Great reviews, I have put Giraffe on the TBR mountain. Will keep watching to see what else you read this year.

I've enjoyed a couple of David Maine's retelling of biblical stories. I would agree that they're not for everyone. Monster 1959 was a retelling of King Kong. Flood was released in the US as The Preservationist.

It appears your reading year has been an interesting one thus far.

I'm glad so many people have been interested in Giraffe as it really does deserve a wider audience.

VisibleGhost - thanks for the comment about Monster 1959 - I knew David Maine had written other Bible-related books, but didn't know about this one. I'm reading a book about 1950s and Hollywood (very slowly as I'm watching the films it mentions alongside it) so that books sounds like an interesting companion to that.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy
No where near the difficult read I was expecting, but in all other ways it exceeded my expectations. I'd heard complaints about a lack of punctuation but it wasn't that extreme. I wasn't prepared for how moving it would be. I was reading it on the train but had to stop as I neared the end as I could feel tears forming. Fantastic.

Trout Fishing in America by Richard Brautigan
A short book and not exactly a hard read, but still I'm not sure I entirely "got" it. Bizarre and very much of its time, I didn't hate it but I didn't exactly love it either. One section "Trout Fishing in America Terrorists" was excellent though and enough to make me tempted to try another of his books at some point.

The Attack of the Unsinkable Rubber Ducks by Christopher Brookmyre
I really loved Brookmyre's early books featuring the investigative journalist Jack Parlabane but thought the last couple I'd read had gone off the boil somewhat. But this was a great return to form. It is about the seedy world of psychics and mediums, a subject that I do find rather interesting and had been discussing with my partner recently. There was a twist that I saw coming a little way off, but that didn't matter so much. It was still a great read.

Good grief sanddancer, five more books already! ;) I had a similar reaction to "The Road." I was surprised how much I got out it, how much it had me thinking.

I haven't read The Road and thought maybe I had passed the optimal age for it. What do you guys think?

Once again, sanddancer, I am open-mouthed in admiration of your read rate. It is staggering!

I don't think there is an optimal age for The Road at all - I'd recommend it to anyone. Are you thinking of On the Road instead - that I certainly think needs to be read before you reach 20.

Pummzie - It never occurred to me that there might be an optimal younger age for The Road. It's a book I would normally recommend as, while not everyone loves it, over 90% of ratings are 3 stars or higher, ~45% are 5 stars. So, there is a pretty good chance you will like it at least a little.

I'm approaching 60 and it was "optimal" for me. In fact, I think "younger" readers (not sure how this is defined) probably wouldn't care for it. It's very dark, but focuses on a father's love for his son.

Message 95
You can obtain a copy of Giraffe from bookcloseouts.com..very reasonably priced.

http://www.bookcloseouts.com/default.asp?N=0&Nty=1&D=Giraffe&Ntk=Def...

Message 95
You can obtain a copy of Giraffe from bookcloseouts.com..very reasonably priced.

http://www.bookcloseouts.com/default.asp?N=0&Nty=1&D=Giraffe&Ntk=Def...

Message 96, Faith, While searching for The Natural History of Unicorns, this one came up as well:
http://www.librarything.com/work/1077729/book/42829503

I'm adding both to my list.

Sanddancer.
I'm glad I stopped by your thread. You are reading some incredible books. I've added your book #29, 31 and 32 to my list.
Thanks for all these lovely recommendations.

>109 Whisper1:: Linda, that looks fantastic! Thanks so much for telling me about it!!! Ooooh, I must track down a copy... :D

Whisper - I had a great run of books then, which I loved and all the more for the variety.

Next up a pair of old (by my modern tastes) and short books

The Man Who was Thursday by G K Chesterton
A very very odd book. One of those like The Third Policeman who you think you might go insane reading it. I nearly gave up on it after two chapters but decided to stick with it and was glad that I did. It is absurdly funny. I think the higher allegorical meaning may have been lost on me but I enjoyed the ride. It is about a secret policeman going undercover in a group of anarchists.

The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M Cain
A classic piece of noir, but to be honest I'm not sure that I like noir in print very much. I quite like noir on the screen but at times here the dialogue which was aiming for tense passion just made me want to laugh. I was intending to read more classic noir this year but now I'm not so sure. I didn't hate it by any means, I just wasn't enthralled by it.

Sanddancer--finally got to read your thread through (and found a lovely note about mine--thanks). You've read a very interesting assortment of books, but found it interesting you recently finished The Man Who Was Thursday by Chesterton because "Me too" this week. I read the Father Brown mysteries years ago, but added this one to my 999 Challenge because I'd never heard of it. I also was ready to give it up relatively early, but stayed and enjoyed the novella. While several of the plot surprises were not too surprising, I thought Chesterton handled them quite deftly and there was a lot of chuckling with the reading.

I've also been reading a lot of noir in the past year, and suggest that you might want to go to Before the Fact by Iles (sometimes found under Berkeley), which was the book behind Hitchcock's "Suspicion" or try Cornell Woolrich with The Bride Wore Black. Two earlier, and lesser known, but masters of the genre.

Thanks for some great suggestions.

Prop2gether - thank you for the noir sugestions. I will add them to the list.

I had a bit of a reading block for a week or so and then I went on holiday, so I've not been reading as much recently but have a few updates to add.

I also forgot to add this to the list before I went away:
The Suspicions of Mr Whicher by Kate Summerscale
I was really looking forward to this book as I'd heard so much about it and I'm interested in detective fiction. It was an interesting read, and obviously very well researched, but it didn't quite live up to the hype. It is about a murder of a child in a country house in the Victorian era that fascinated the media and public of the time. Where the book is best is in its portrayal of that society, which is fascinating and shocking, as well as the effect of the crime and the figure of the detective on writers such as Dickens, but it didn't work for me as a mystery as the resolution was pretty obvious.

The Morning Rides Behind Us by Tariq Goddard
I loved his first two books but this one took me longer to get into but I was glad I returned to it. It is set in England just after the Second World War. It is about the how life in one village has been changed by the war, and how different personalities have responded to it. That really doesn't do it justice. It is a really intelligent book with great characters and some pithy descriptions.

Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde
My light reading for my outward flight. Just as enjoyable as The Eyre Affair, but quite moving too. I'm in awe of his imagination. I will no doubt be reading the next installment before too long.

Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
As I was on holiday in San Francisco I'd been meaning to read this for a while but didn't get around to it, but the apartment we were staying in had a copy on their bookshelves so I read it while I was there. It was pretty light reading, made more interesting by the references to San Francisco. But the naiveity of the 1970s and the sexual free for all didn't sit comfortably with me, knowing that the scene it was portraying was later to be hit by AIDS. I found it hard to read it in the light way it was written with this hindsight and I wonder if the later books in the series tackle that reality.

Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell
Another book I found in the holiday apartment. For something about poverty, it was a surprisingly easy read, with some amusing incidents and interesting observations. I'd previously read 1984 and Animal Farm which I loved but this has inspired me to read other Orwell too.

Right as Rain by George Pelecanos
The easy read for the return flight. The first of the series featuring the detectives Strange and Quinn. It was typical Pelecanos fayre - the mean streets of Washington DC, awash with popular culture references, multi-racial characters and a big showdown at the end. As the fifth book of his I've read, I'm beginning to wish that they didn't all go the same way, but they are an enjoyable read.

Hi Sandancer just catching up on threads and decided to de-lurk!

Thanks for you reviews, The Morning Rides Behind us by Tarik Goddard looks interesting add that to my growing TBR list. I notice he has written some fiction set in the Spanish civil war. If you have tried it is any good?

Also if you like Down & Out in Paris & London I would recommend trying either a selection of his Essays or another autobiographical work such as Homage to Catalonia, I think they are tiny bit better then some of his novels.

Hello. Homage to a Firing Squad is the one set in the Spanish Civil War and is his first book. I loved it, but I think it received some criticism for not being historically accurate. That doesn't bother me as it didn't claim or intend to be a historic novel but it might if you know alot about that period and are looking for something authentic. My favourite of his is Dynamo which is about football teams under communism.

On Orwell, I did think that Homage to Catalonia might be interesting so I think I will try it soon.

I don't think the accuracy will bother me that much, thanks for the tip.

An Elegy for Easterly by Petina Gappah
I was so pleased to win this book through the Early Reviewers programme as the subject matter was similar to things that I'd enjoyed reading recently. It is a collection of short stories set mainly in Zimbabewe (there is one story set outside the country but still about someone from there). I've really enjoyed the couple of African books I've read recently as well as developing a fascination with books about dictators so this was great. Mugabe doesn't appear directly in the book, but his regime casts a shadow over most of the stories. Hyper-inflation is mentioned frequently as is people losing their farms. The stories cover a wide range of people in society, none of whom are particularly happy, but the quality of the writing made this a compelling read nonetheless.

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
This was the book chosen for a book group I belong to. It isn't something I would otherwise have picked up - I tend to shy away from best-selling British female authors and books with covers like this one. However, despite my reservations, I found myself hooked from the opening. This is good old fashioned story telling, and a book about books as much as a family saga and ghost story. The actual details of the plot perhaps don't bear close scrutiny but it was a hugely enjoyable read if you are willing to go with it.

The Book of Chameleons by Jose Eduardo Agualusa
I picked this up in a charity shop, having heard about it on this site. I was drawn to it because of its unusual narrator - a gecko. It is a strange story about a man who provides fake histories for people, so it is very much about identities. It was a surprisingly easy read despite the strange narrator, unfamiliar places and mixture of dreams into the narrative.

I have been curious about The Book of Chameleons myself. It is nice to know that is a readable book in spite of the strange narrator, et al.

Add me to the fans of Orwell's Homage to Catalonia if for no other reason than I finally understood some of the politics behind the Spanish Civil War. Orwell was certainly biased in his reasons for participating, but once there--he is amazingly unbiased in explaining the "whys" of the participants. I also heartily recommend the Penguin edition of his essays Why I Write which was published a couple of years ago. Both are strongly recommended, especially if you want to follow Orwell's political reasoning and how it changed over the years.

>118 sanddancer: sanddancer, An Elegy for Easterly was one of my real 'doh!' Early Reviewer moments - somehow I completely failed to notice that it was on the list... so didn't request, and have been desperately seeking a copy ever since - it looked great. Glad to hear that it isn't just all good looks :)

>114 sanddancer: I've only read Orwell's Animal Farm and like you, I loved it but for some reason never felt compelled to read more by him. I just had a strange feeling about his books, that they would be very different than AF and thus not to my taste. Obviously my "strange feelings" are useless and I need to ignore them form now on.

I am now in possession of Homage to Catalonia so will read it soon.

Girlunderglass - I think I forgot how readable a writer Orwell is and even if the subject matter can look dense, he makes it interesting. I hope I have find the same of Homage to Catalonia.

Quite a few updates to add

The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
I vaguely remembered the television adaptation of this from my childhood and was expecting a dated story about killer plants. The killer plants were certainly present, but it was a much more thoughtful book than I was expecting, more about how different people react to extreme situations and how society copes. It seemed incredibly modern. Very impressed.

Messenger of Athens by Anne Zouroudi
A mysterious detective arrives on a small Greek island to investigate the death of a woman that police have dismissed as suicide. The book moved between the present and the last weeks of the woman's life. It showed a world dominated by superstitions, pride and shame. The portrait of the community wasn't a pleasant one, but still it made me yearn for a holiday in Greece as the descriptions of the landscape and food were so good.

Talk Talk by T C Boyle
This may be may favoruite Boyle book yet. A deaf woman is the victim of identity theft and when the police fail to help, she and her boyfriend set off to find the criminal themselves. Boyle creates great characters and then really makes them suffer! As well as the gripping plot, the book offers a lot on how we communicate and how we react to difference.

I think therefore who am I by Peter Weissman
I was offered a copy of this by the author via this website who saw my interest in the 1960s. The book is a memoir of his experiences in 1967, looking to find himself through LSD. It struck me as a very honest account as he doesn't shy away from portraying his younger self as naive, but equally he doesn't make any apologies for who he was or was trying to be. As the book moves on, the tone inevitably becomes darker, when youthful experimentation gives way to disillusionment.

Oh! The Day of the Triffids I remembered as a Saturday night film, but I went through a host of Wyndham's work last year because I just found his stories pretty solid and, aside from some dating, pretty on the mark about their subject matter. Well, maybe not The Midwich Cuckoos, but who knows?

Congratulations on passing the 50 book milepost! It looks like you will surpass your 100 book goal by the end of the year.

#123: I think I will just add them all and be done with it, lol. Thanks for the recommendations!

Edited because my 1 was missing.

Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham
After Day of the Triffids I was eager to read more from John Wyndham and my library happened to have this one. In case anyone doesm't know it is about a village where suddenly most of the women of child-bearing age become pregnant and give birth to strange children. For the first half, although it was an intriguing idea, I wasn't as engaged by it as I had been with the previous book, but once the narrator returned to the village for the second part, it did capture my imagination. I also loved the cover art on this one.

The Last Shot: City Streets, Basketball Dreams by Darcy Frey
My sports obsessed partner challenged me to read one his books and picked this as the one I'd most likely enjoy. I was sceptical but it was a great choice and I enjoyed more than I ever thought possible. The author spent a year in a Coney Island High School getting to know young basketball players as they try to get college scholarships and get good enough grades to go. The amount of pressure on them is enormous, especially as this is pretty much their only means of escaping their impoverished backgrounds. The college system and the recruiting process is insane, it would be funny if young lives weren't hanging in the balance. I was moved by their stories in a way I didn't ever expect to be. Excellent.

The Gum Thief by Douglas Coupland
A middle aged alcoholic and a twenty-something goth find a connection while working at a Staples office supply store. The book is mainly in the form of notes they write to each other, but the other component is the (terrible) novel that the man is writing about a drunken couple in the style of Burton and Taylor in Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolf. The letters between the protagonists part of the book is excellent, and in particular the girl's thoughts are entirely convincing (which is something male authors don't always manage), but I'm still not sure about the novel within the novel part. At first it seemed funny and clever, but later I think it was overused and wonder if it is really that clever to write badly. But overall I did enjoy it and would put it in the group of Coupland's books I liked (Hey Nostradamus, All Families are Psychotic Miss Wyoming) as opposed to the ones I didn't Generation X, Shampoo Planet.

#127: Same as message 126 *sigh*

My pace has slowed to a crawl.

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
I'd avoided reading this for years because a friend hated it so much (it took them 18 months to read it). But it was a great book - a thought-provoking topic but not hard-going in the reading at all. I wonder though if it is perhaps more popular with women than men, who don't come out of the book very well. The last chapter written as a speech at a conference, about the book that had preceeded it, marred the novel for me slightly. I preferred the book ending before that.

Suffer the Children by Adam Creed
This was an Early Reviewer book and sadly the worst of the three I've been given so far. It is a crime story, set in London, involving revenge killings of paedophiles. It was clearly written in a cynical move to fill the gap in the market left by Rebus and Morse, as the main detective is a mixture of every lone detective cliche. The crimes were gory but the characters and their motivations never felt real. It was obviously written to be the first in a series about the policeman, but I will not be reading anymore.

The Girls by Lori Lansens
I have a terror of cojoined twins, so I've no idea what possessed me to pick up this story about a pair joined at the head. But it was a good read. In the end perhaps not as much happened as I thought it would but it was poignant and absorbing. Rather like The Thirteenth Tale, it isn't intellectual but good old fashioned story telling.

#129: I am hoping to read The Handmaid's Tale some time this year. I had not read any Atwood until earlier this year when I read Oryx and Crake and have since read The Penelopiad as well. I will try to remember about the ending of Tale.

I read The Girls earlier this year and like it very much. Glad to see that despite your fear, you enjoyed the book as well.

Just catching up on your thread. You've read some great books, I've noted a few for future reading.

Alcottacre - I'm intrigued by The Penelopiad and now I know her writing isn't difficult, I will try to read it at some point in the future

When I was Five I Killed Myself by Howard Buten
This is a book about a boy with some sort of behaviour problem (I don't think it is ever properly explained in the book but I notice many people assume it to be autism, who has been put in an institution following an incident with a little girl that isn't immediately clear. I found the voice of the child convincing, although the idea that words of the book had been written on the wall of hospital was less plausible. It has an eerie feeling to it, as you don't quite know what has happened. Ultimately though I expected something more from it than it delivered, I think possibly because I was comparing it with The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.

The Other Hand by Chris Cleave
Like many others, I was lured in by the vague, air of mystery blurb on the back of the book from the publisher, about not telling us what it is about. It may seem like a pretty silly tactic but to be honest I probably wouldn't have bought it if it had said "this is a story about a middle-class English woman's friendship a Nigerian refugee". That is what it is about, but if I had ignored it on that summary, I would have missed out on a wonderfully written book, that was beautiful and moving. I may have also been put off by a story told from the perspective of two women that was written by one man, but again this was done brilliantly. It has some very bittersweet bits of humour in here and is very moving. Loved this.

I have The Other Hand on my TBR pile. Looks like a good read. Looking forward to getting to it.

You are reading some great books!

#132: The Other Hand looks very good. I did not realize until I started looking for it that I already have it on the Planet under the US title Little Bee. Now, I just have to find a copy!

60. The Feast of the Goat by Mario Vargas Llosa
I feel I should have liked this book more than I did. It had a few different perspectives interwoven and was about a dictatorship, which I find fascinating, but for some reason I was never fully engrossed in it. I enjoyed the parts about Urania, the woman returning to the Dominican Republic after 30 years, the most and wanted more of her story.

61. The Snack Thief by Andrea Camilleri
The third Inspector Montalbano book and I feel I'm coming to know the main character more. There seemed to be even more references to food in this one than the previous books in the series so I feel I'm learning about Sicilian cuisine along the way. Despite being a crime story with several murders, I would still classify this as a light read as there isn't any gore which suits me fine. The murder mystery part of the story was wrapped up by the end of the book but it ended with a development for the Inspector that will have me reading the next in the series to find out what happens.

I'm also reading the Inspector Montalbano books and enjoying the atmosphere the writer conjours up of Sicily.

You've been reading some great books! I finished The Thirteenth Tale last week and agree with your assessment - a page turner for sure, if a bit too convoluted, esp. toward the end. I'll also give a bump to The Penelopiad, terrific - and quick!

Avatiakh - I love the portrayal of Sicily too - despite the murders and crime!

Callen - I have acquired a copy of The Penelopiad so will read it fairly soon.

62. When I was Cool: My Life at the Jack Kerouac School by Sam Kashner
The author looks back at his time at the Beat's University, where he was their first and for a time, only student. He studied poetry under Burroughs, Corso and Ginsberg, but more of his duties seemed to involve looking after the poets and their families. The author comes across as naive but beyond that I don't really get much of a sense of him. By far the coolest person in the book is his father, who outshines all of the cult writers. The book made me realise how little of the Beats work I've actually read but I don't feel that motivated to correct that.

63. Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
Ishiguro is another author, like Margaret Atwood, that I'd put off reading, assuming based on absolutely nothing, that I wouldn't like his work. But this is now the third book of his I've read and I absolutely loved it. It is written in such subtle way, gradually revealing things to the reader. Brilliant.

I just finished Remains of the Day myself and just loved it! I'll have to seek out his other work. Also....if you like Margaret Atwood, The Penelopiad is really good (and a quick read!)

Callen610 - I highly recommend Never Let Me Go by Ishiguro, which I read last year and was in my top five reads for the year. Penelopiad is on my pile - I imagine I'll read it in July.

64. The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
A French novel in translation, it struck me as being very French in its style. The blurb describes it as what happens when a concierge meets a 12 year old girl in her buliding, but really this doesn't happen until about 3/4 of the way through the book. I particularly liked the character of Renee, the concierge who is intelligent and well-read, but feels she must hide this and conform to society's preconceptions about someone in her job. There are a lot of big ideas in here about class, society, life and Art, and at times I would have liked a bit less.

65. In Watermelon Sugar by Richard Brautigan
My second Brautigan book this year, and I'm still confused. Again, I was left with the feeling that he can certainly write, but it wasn't quite put to use here. There were some good parts, but overall I think just modicum of convention would have made it better. I have Willard and his Bowling Trophies from the library too so I will give him another go.

LOL for your comments on In Watermelon Sugar--me too. Confused by Brautigan, I mean. I've now read three of his works, and while I'm not always sure I can tell you why, I have felt intrigued enough each time to finish the works. In Watermelon Sugar frankly sounded like a typical "trip" through that time period, only the Elois from Wells The Time Machine were the lead characters. However, I loved Willard and His Bowling Trophies--it really is the mystery the blurbs promise it is, and everything is resolved--except the Logan sisters. I hope you enjoy the read.

Prop2 - glad you liked Willard. It is odd that I do still want to read it so I haven't been entirely put off him.

66. The Giver by Lois Lowry
A young adult/children's book but on the theme of dystopia. I really enjoyed this. Because it was aimed at a young audience, it was an easy read, but still had some interesting ideas and was still powerful. My only criticism is that it seemed rather rushed towards the end, it ended too soon.

#146: There are 2 follow up books to The Giver if you are interested, although IMHO, they are not nearly as well-written. The books are Gathering Blue and Messenger.

Alcottacre - I suspected there might be at least one follow-on, but I don't really feel the need to read anymore even though I enjoyed it. If I do come across the others, I may read them but I won't rush out to find them.

My reading has been so slow, being limited to just my commute in recent weeks so not much to add.

67. The Successor by Ismail Kadare
This is set in a fictionalised version of Albany. A successor has been chosen to take over from the current leader, but he is involved in a scandal regarding his daughter's choice of husband, then he kills himself. This is mainly about what happens after his death, told from the point of view of different people including his daughter, the current leader and his political rival. It has all of the ingredients that I normally love, but somehow it failed to excite me. This may have been because I've not been in a reading mood though so I would still recommend that anyone who is interested in it, gives it a try.

68. Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell
I'm intrigued by the Spanish Civil War, mainly from my visits to Spain and things I've pciked up from films, but I know very little about it. Orwell's book was very interesting, telling his story from his time fighting in the POUM against the fascists. It provides an interesting insight into what things were like for the soldiers in this makeshift army and is obviously a very personal account rather an objective history. Orwell's writing style is alwasy engaging but I found it hardgoing at times because my knowledge of the war was so scant. There were two chapters as appendices in my version that detailed the political situation and the factions, which had originally been in the main body of the book. Although I understand why they were moved to the end, as they interrupted the narrative, I would have found it helpful to have read these explanations earlier.

I'm going to search my shelves for something lighter after these two.

There is a LT Spanish Civil War group and one of the few fiction books that is recommended there is Winter in Madrid by CJ Sansom, which I'm going to read fairly soon.

Avatiakh - I'll take a look at that group as it is a subject I'd still like to read more about. I have a copy of Guerra by Jason Webster to read which is about the lasting impact of the war on Spain today.

I said I wanted something lighter to read and my next choice was an easier read in style, although hardly an uplifting subject!

69. Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith
The hunt for a child killer in the Stalinist Soviet Union when officially such crimes didn't exist. The thought of the murder was disturbing but the book was fascinating for its portrayal of the political period. Excellent.

#150: The Secret Speech, follow up to Child 44, is due out in September, I believe, so you might want to keep your eyes open for it.

Alcottacre - my copy did have a bit about the sequel in the back but I don't like reading those tasters for other books when I've just finished one. I will probably still get hold of it when it comes out though.

70. Good to be God by Tibor Fischer
Finally a light read! This is about a man who considers himself to be unlucky and a failure, and yet he decides he is going to convince everyone he is God. It is a comic tale but with some good insights into life and growing older. It is full of quirky characters and I really enjoyed it although at times I thought it might be a bit too full of wit and I would have liked a change of pace.

You asked in April if the later Tales of the City books address HIV/AIDS, and I wanted to let you know the answer is yes if you still are interested. So they are a really good, if lighthearted, peek into the evolution of both the larger and smaller gay/allies community as it moves through the rapture of its early freedom into the political and social unity brought by the epidemic.

Nancy - thank you for the info about the Tales of the City books. You've made the later books sound quite interesting so I might read another if I come across one.

71. Budding Prospects by T C Boyle
I'd had this one on the go for a while but kept putting it down in favour of other things. I ws expecting it to be funnier than it was and I felt like I did with The Inner Circle that it could have been cut down considerably.

72. Willard and his Bowling Trophies by Richard Brautigan
Finally a Brautigan book that I liked. This was excellent. Although decidedly odd, it had more feeling to it than the other ones - there was some real emotion in here. I loved the descriptions of Willard. It was funny but oddly touching. Perhaps I will read more of his stuff afterall.

73. Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall
Described as being a combination of Jaws and the Matrix, I didn't let that put me off. It was one of the those books that I just about managed to understand so am in absolute awe of anyone who can write something like this. There were probably some things that I didn't fully understand, but it was still good for the adventure of it all. It reminded me of The End of Mr Y but I think I actually preferred this book.

#154: I read Raw Shark Texts last year and some parts I thought were brilliant and others I was going "Huh?" Overall, I liked the book quite a lot.

#154/155 I thought that it would make a very good film, visually it was stunning. I did get a bit bored by the Jaws recreation though ;)

74. Downtown Owl by Chuck Klosterman
This has received some pretty poor reviews, so despite loving his non-fiction writing, it took me a while to get around to reading this. It isn't the greatest work of literature ever, by any means. But I found it an enjoyable read. It is a story set in a small town in North Dakota and much of the book concerns how strange that small town life would seem to an outsider. It being Klosterman and the book being set in the 1980s, it also full of pop culture references.

75. The Maintenance of Headway by Magnus Mills
Typical Magnus Mills' fayre, very similar to his earlier novel The Scheme for Full Employment. This time it is about the absurd routine and regulations that control a public transport system, narrated by a nameless bus driver. Not much happens but I like Mills' style and it was a short, quick read.

Congratulations on your 75!

I've had The Raw Shark Texts on the shelf for over a year and not got round to it (not that this is unusual at the moment - my acquisition is way out of control), but I'm glad you thought it was good.

The Maintenance of Headway sounds interesting too - I've never read any Magnus Mills.

Thank you for the congratulations on reaching 75. I had hardly noticed that I'd reached the landmark as I was more concerned with my lack of progress on my 999 challenge.

FlossieT - I love Magnus Mills, but he is definitely the sort of writer that people either love or hate. His style and humour is very British.

76. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
I was daunted by the length - I really must get over my fear of books that are longer than 350 pages. Admittedly it did take me about 10 days to read this, but I have just started a new job and reading has fallen down my list of priorities. I found this strange story of gender-issues and incest entirely absorbing. I loved all of the characters and the unusual narrator. If anything, I would have liked to have read more - after 500 pages it seemed to end rather abruptly.

77. The Bradshaw Variations by Rachel Cusk
The phrase "biting the hand that feeds" springs to mind here. I received this book through the Early Reviewers program, which I remain entirely grateful for, but sadly gratitutude will only go so far and I still absolutely detested this book. There isn't anything more to it than the synopsis on the back. It is about a family of self-absorbed over-thinkers. The characters have different names and a couple of traits to distinguish them, but they are all the same. All of their thoughts sound the same - even the 8 year old child. It is written in a flowery way, with similies and metaphors piled on to lend some weight to what is essentially a pretentious variation on chick lit. Chick lit at least has a plot and is fun, this goes nowhere and has nothing original to say.

Well, I hope Middlesex made up for the fact that the next one was so bad. Maybe your next read will be an improvement!

Congratulations on reaching the 75 challenge goal!

Congrats!

Thank you!

Another one down. Feeling hopeful of reaching 100 by the end of the year.

78. Riven Rock by T C Boyle
The story of a mentally ill man locked away from women for most of his adult life, this is an epic novel but unlike some of Boyle's other works, it actually has a story that deserves the 450+ pages. Funny in places, it was ultimately very moving and had me crying.

#165: Adding that one to Planet TBR.

Good luck on your new goal of 100!

>161 sanddancer: I have really gone off Rachel Cusk. I enjoyed her memoir of motherhood, A Life's Work (which most of the rest of the world seems to have hated, but it captured how I felt at the time), and a collection of short stories, The Lucky Ones, but In the Fold was tedious and Arlington Park I wanted to throw across the room. I think she's really got stuck in a rut lately and don't really intend to read her again.

Flossie - I certainly won't be rushing to read anything more of hers.

79. We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
An early dystopian novel from Russia that is known to have influenced 1984. It started strongly and I enjoyed the described of the regimented society, but I found the writing too melodramatic later in the book.

80. Hippo eats Dwarf by Alex Boese
A non-fiction book about hoaxes, urban myths and lies, and how to spot them. It was actually a lot more serious in place than the title would suggest which I appreciated, although it still made me laugh in places. Recommended.

81. Hippie Hippie Shake by Richard Neville
Neville was the founder and editor of Oz magazine which was prominent in the alternative scene in London in the 60s and was prosecuted for obscenity. There isn't much depth to most of the book - it is very much "I did this. So so did that. Then we did this" but it does have a certain energy that perhaps befits the subject. The author does admit at one point that he became an editor because he wasn't a very good writer! However, the later chapters focus on the Oz trial and the book really improves here. The trial is a farce which provides some funny material. If only he'd written the rest of the book in such depth.

#168: Adding Hippo Eats Dwarf to Planet TBR. It looks right up my alley. Thanks for the recommendation!

82. Mr Vertigo by Paul Auster
I loved the first half this novel about an orphan who learns to fly. The characters and expressions were just so distinctive - it was a great yarn. Unfortunately, the latter part of the novel, covering his adulthood wasn't quite so good, but overall I still enjoyed it and am in awe of Auster's imagination.

83. World's End by T C Boyle
It took me a while to get into this weighty tome, but once I did, I enjoyed it. It is a story of families and destiny, covering 17th century Dutch settlers in America and the reprecussions of their actions with later generation in the 1940s and 1960s. I didn't love it as much as Riven Rock but certainly one of his better novels.

84. You cannot live as like I have and not end up like this The Thoroughly Disgracefull Life and Times of Willie Donaldson by Terence Blacker
A biography of the writer Donaldson, who I will admit to being unaware of before coming across this book in a charity shop. I had however read some fiction by the author Blacker before and the writing here did not disappoint. Donaldson wasn't likeable - he was born rich, had talent but squandered his wealth and behaved terribly to most people who came into his life, but it certainly made for interesting reading.

85. Dekok and the Somber Nude by A C Banntjer
I really enjoyed this book by the leading Dutch author. It was a pretty straightforward crime story, that I breezed through in an afternoon. Very readable and I'll no doubt return to this policeman again in the future.

#171: Looks like Banntjr is another new author for me to check into. Thanks for the recommendation!

86. The Laughing Policeman by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo
A police procedural classic from Sweden in the 1970! The setting is Stockholm and the crime is an intriguing one involving a bus-load of passengers being murdered, including a policeman whose presence on the bus is noone can explain. I like the book's slow pace, as the team of police gradually unravel the mystery piece by piece and although the "whodunnit" wasn particularly interesting, the climax of the book was still deftly handled.

87. The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Safak
Putting aside my worries that some might find the title of the book offensive, I loved this book. It is about a family in Turkey that consists almost entirely of women since the men in their family die young. It is also the story of an Armenianian-Amercian girl's search for identity, which leds her back to Istanbul. This book has some serious stuff in it - the Armenian genocide by the Ottoman Empire is a key part of the book and there is a sickening part later in the book that I won't divulge here. But other parts are written with such lightness, humour and warmth that I was utterly charmed by it.

#173: Another couple for Planet TBR *sigh*

Alcottacre - I'm sure at the rate you read, a few more on the pile won't matter! Anyway my next one, you won't need to add to your list, as I think you were one of the people who recommended it to me.

88. The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood
This was great and thanks again to those who recommended it after I read The Handmaid's Tale. I'm rather fond of imaginative retellings of famous stories, so this fulfilled that. I loved the humour of much of Penelope's narration especially her encounters with the legendary Helen. I also liked the chorus of maids, which varied from humourous and foreboding in their tone. Towards the end, I wasn't so sure about the part about the significance of the number 12 - I understood it, but thought this explanation interupted the flow of the book somewhat, but that is a small gripe with an otherwise great book.

Has anyone read any of the other books in the Canongate Myths series?

89. The Pigeon by Peter Suskind
I picked this up in the library as I needed something to read on my journey home the other night having read The Penelopiad very quickly. This was very strange. Basically a pigeon appears inside the building where a dull man lives, and it completely disrupts his life. Not much at all happens, but the narrator blows everything out of proportion in his mind. I tihnk I liked it although I think I was more amused than disturbed by it.

#175: Yes, I did read The Penelopiad already this year. Whisper recommended it to me. I have not read any of the others in the Myths seresi.

90. Crippen by John Boyne
A fictionalised account of the notorious wife-killer, Dr Crippen. Not a particularly high-brow read, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. The story of his miserable life and marriage was interwoven with stories of the passengers of the ship he boards for Canada to escape prosecution. It probably isn't terribly historically accurate, but I don't mind that - it isn't claiming to be anything other than fiction. If I wanted to analyse it closely, I could perhaps feel a bit aggrieved at the portrayal of women in the book, who (with one exception) pretty all portrayed as monsterous in one way or another, so often seem like cariacatures. But really it was rather a good romp of a book, which is a strange thing to say about something with a dark subject matter.

91 Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
My first venture into Vonnegut. It was strange, but I think I liked it. Essentially very serious subjects (destruction of the world, war, religion - that sort of thing) have been looked at in an absurd, almost surreal way. I was anticipating that it would have an unsatisfactory ending, but I was pleasantly surprised on that front too. I will probably approach Slaughterhouse 5 at some point next year.

92. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
Completely different from the previous book I read, I had two reasons for picking up this book. Firstly it is on the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die and secondly, this week is Agatha Christie week. Annoyingly I had previously read a very inconsiderate review of this book on this site, where the reviewer gave away the "whodunnit". This marred the surprise for me as I had this idea in the back of my mind all of the time while I was reading it. In some ways, it is pretty much the standard Christie mystery - countryhouse setting, masters and servants and the group of suspects gathered together for the revelation, but the twist itself may have been rather revolutionary at the time.

Have you ever read Endless Night by Agatha Christie? I think you might like that one - can't tell you why without giving you any spoilers though.

Amwmsw04 - I'll look out for that one when I'm next in the mood for some Christie. Thanks for the recommendation.

93. The Road to Wellville by T C Boyle
This book is pretty much typifies Boyle's work, featuring a number of his obsessions/trademarks: based on a real character, cliques, dubious science, a preoccupration with sexual relations, contrasting perspectives and doomed ventures. The subject this time was Dr Kellogg, the godfather of healthy eating fads. I rather enjoyed this - it wasn't as emotionally engaging as Riven Rock but it was far more interesting than The Inner Circle which covered a similar area.

94. The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon
A Jewish Hardboiled Detective Story! I'm not Jewish and I'm not a big fan of the hardboiled genre, the latter being more of a stumbling block than the former. This is undoubtedly well-written and imaginative, but I struggled to concentrate on parts of it.

I agree with your assessment of The Yiddish Policeman's Union. Chabon is a great writer but I sometimes found this to be a hard slog. His Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay is a far superior book and I suppose it's unfair to compare all his books to that one.

I've read all of Agatha Christie's books and have often re-read them because I forget who done it. But I remember everything about The Murder of Roger Ackroyd which is just wonderful. How rotten for anyone to give away the villain!

I agree with your assessment of The Yiddish Policeman's Union. Chabon is a great writer but I sometimes found this to be a hard slog. His Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay is a far superior book and I suppose it's unfair to compare all his books to that one.

I've read all of Agatha Christie's books and have often re-read them because I forget who done it. But I remember everything about The Murder of Roger Ackroyd which is just wonderful. How rotten for anyone to give away the villain!

The Yiddish Policeman's Union was the first book by Chabon that I read, and while I liked it, I did not like it nearly as much as I thought I would. I read his Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay and loved it! I have read a couple of his since and preferred them to YPU, so you might want to give him another go, Sandy.

95. Imagine This by Sade Adeniran
Written in the form of diary, this book is about Lola, a girl born in London, but who goes to live in Nigeria aged 9 to grow up in a village with various relatives. It is hard for her adapt to village life after London, but this is not a funny story about culture clashes - the first half is full of abuse, violence and neglect. The traditional way of life does not come off well here. The second part of the book, we meet Lola again in her teenage years, living in the city, but still suffering. At times there is just too much misery and some things that happen are rather easy for us to see coming, which may be intentional that we can understand things better than Lola. But there are a few moments that do genuinely shock and I never stopped rooting for her.

96. Stone Junction by Jim Dodge
Fup was one of my favourite books last year, so I had high hopes for this. It started well and was just the kind of thing I like - an imaginative premise, with a whole host of colourful characters. I really enjoyed the introduction to the character of Annallee, her relationship with her and the early parts of his training in a secret network of outlaws. But once it moved onto being about the diamond and vanishing, I thought it dragged on a bit. There were still some good parts to the latter section of the book, but it failed to measure up to my expectations.

Imagine This sounds good. Thanks

Ditto what Diane said.

Try & read 'Dutch Point' by Barbara Yates Rothwell. History of the area where I now live.
Angie
http://yanchepangie.blogspot.com/

Seagal - I shall look out for that book.

97. Guerra! by Jason Webster
Jason Webster is an Englisman living in Spain. However, his romantic notions of the country are threatened when he is shown a mass grave of Republican supporters from the Spanish Civil War. The book is his journey finding out more about the war and about attitudes towards it in present day Spain. Chapters tend to alternate between Webster's own experiences travelling around Spain and a chronlogical explanation of the war. His own experiences are interesting, as he discovers some surprising attitudes towards the past, although sometimes I did wonder the things that happened to him were a bit contrived, and one particular section about him being robbed, does really have any relation to the war at all. The history parts were great, for example it explained the different factions clearly, without being dull and the whole text was littered with interesting pieces of information, ideal as introduction to this subject.

#188: Since my knowledge of the Spanish Civil War is pretty much nonexistent, I will look for that one. Thanks for the recommendation, Sandy.

>175 sanddancer: the only other one I've read in the Canongate Myths is The Fire Gospel, which I'm afraid I found really disappointing. There were some passages of genius humour (especially the section on Amazon reviews), but for the most part, it didn't tie strongly enough to the myth, and essentially felt like an opportunity to do something really interesting had been thrown away in favour of some good old-fashioned (and not especially imaginative) Christian-bashing.

I've got several of them though - I bought my mother-in-law the 'box set' (i.e. of the first few titles that were issued together) so she's lent me back Jeanette Winterson's Weight, which she particularly recommended. Separately, I've also acquired copies of Dream Angus (which she didn't think was that good), Girl Meets Boy and Where Three Roads Meet, but have yet to read any of them... they're regularly well-reviewed though.

Flossie, I'd be interested in your takes on Weight, Dream Angus, and Where Three Roads Meet, because while I enjoyed all of them to a degree, some were more fun and entertaining than others. I haven't found Girl Meets Boy yet, but generally, I've enjoyed this series--some of them are pretty interesting retellings!

Flossie - I'll look forward to your comments once you've read some of them.

Prop2 - glad you enjoyed them - I will probably read more of them next year, although I don't think I actually know many of the other myths that are being retold.

98 Pigtopia by Kitty Fitzgerald
This a simple story about a friendship between a misunderstood deformed man, his pigs and a teenage girl. Chapters alternate between the man and the girl's point of views - sadly none written from the pigs' perspective! The man has been self-educated by listening to the radio, so his chapters are written in a strange dialect that makes it a little bit difficult to read. It follows a fairly predictable path and didn't really have anything new to say.

99. Guernica by Dave Boling
Returning to the fascinating but enraging subject of the Spanish Civil War with a fictionalised account of the bombing of the Basque town, Guernica. The atrocity is at the centre of the novel, but its scope is much wider, giving a full family history of its characters and following them (those few who survive) up until the early part of the Second World War. This was a great read, although the part about the actual bombing was truly disturbing. I particularly liked the little sections interspersed through the book about Picasso and his mural, Guernica. The end part was perhaps a little too neat for my liking, but after the heaps of misery piled on his characters, I suppose the author felt he owed them some respite.

#193: I have the Boling book on Planet TBR already or I would add it again.

Hey, only 1 more book to one hundred for the year. Great going!

100 Water Music by T C Boyle
My 100th book was also my final book for the 999 challenge and unfortunately it was a tough one that took me almost a week to finish. It was mainly about an explorer, Mungo Park, who in typical Boyle style, was a real explorer. The other part of the story is about a low-life called Ned in London, whose story eventually coincides with Park's. Some parts about Park's adventures in Africa were amusing enough but it took too long for him and Ned to come together and when they did, it didn't really serve much purpose. A shorter book just about Park would have been better - note to Boyle not every book has to be 400+ pages.

I haven't stopped reading just because I've met my target, but I'm not going to set myself any more goals for the rest of the year.

101. The Other Half Lives by Sophie Hannah
I saw the author on the Book Show earlier in the year and was intrigued by the description of this book. A man confessed to his partner about committing a murder, but the woman knows that the person he claims was the victim is still alive. In order to convince him of his innocence, she goes to the police, and two police officers are sucked into the strange story. I continued to be intrigued for most of the book, which was over 500 pages long, although I guessed part of the twist before it was revealed. I found the conclusion rather disappointing, but I'm increasingly finding that I feel that way about the resolution of most crime books. The "whodunnit" part rarely seems to live up to the set up for me.

102. Rant by Chuck Palahniuk
Palahniuk is falling into the category of authors that I read but am not sure whether I like yet (the other prime example being Douglas Coupland). I loved Choke, didn't mind Diary which is generally considered one of his weakest and wished I'd not seen the film when I read Fight Club. But Rant created more mixed feelings. I admired his imagination but sometimes I wished that it was a little less yuck and that there was a character who felt more like a real human. On several times, I recoiled from this book, and I'm normally pretty open-minded and unsqueamish. I did quite like the oral history style of the narrative, which here was used as the ultimate unreliable narrator device, as there are dozens of people who may not be telling the truth. I'll probably read more by this author, but my jury is still out on whether I actually like him. Edited to add - I realised that I didn't say wha the book is actually about - it is about a man who spreads rabies, lives at night and crashes cars apparently for fun. He also picks his nose and put the contents on his walls. Yuck!

#195: I think I am skipping every single one of those books. Yuck indeed!

103. Back on the Road: A Journey through Latin America by Ernesto Guevara
I quite enjoyed The Motorcycle Diaries - it was interesting to see how "Che" developed his beliefs, but it was also mixed with the exploits of a young man enjoying life. In this journey, he moans constantly - often about a lack of money which hardly seems Marxist. He also seems a very harsh judge of character, frequently describing people as not very intelligent or making judgments based solely on how political people are. There is a coldness in the way he describes relationships in particular with the wife he suddenly acquires along the way. The narrator has changed since his earlier book, obviously developing a stronger political conscious, but it would seem here, losing some of his humanity. The descriptions of places such as Mache Picchu were the most interesting parts.

#197: I think I will pass on that one, but I will check out The Motorcycle Diaries.

#188: Regarding the legacy of the Spanish Civil War, you might like to look out for Ghosts of Spain: Travels through a country's hidden past by Giles Tremlett, an English journalist who lives in Madrid.
I have Guernica on my tbr pile, I'm hoping to get to it in te near future as I've been reading about Spain quite a bit these past couple of years.

Avatiakh - thanks for the recommendation of Ghosts of Spain - it looks great so I've ordered a copy from the library.

104. The Picture of Contented New Wealth: A Metaphysical Horror by Tariq Goddard
Although this is only his fourth book, Tariq Goddard is one of my favourite authors. This book is rather different in its subject matter from his previous work which covered the Spanish Civil War, football in Soviet-era Moscow, and village life in England after the Second World War. This one is an intellectual horror story set in the 1980s. The plot involves a couple who live in a creepy old house, and the wife seems to be possessed. The descriptions of the possession are eery and disturbing - the obvious comparision being The Turn of the Screw. Besides the horror, the book contains a lot of big ideas, about God, evil and consumerism, and this makes the book more than just a spooky tale, but never weighs the story down too much so it always remains readable.

105 Northern Lights by Philip Pullman
The first in the His Dark Materials trilogy. This has been sat on our shelves for ages - I finally got around to reading it this week as I was in the mood for something with a good plot that wouldn't take too much thinking about. I don't suppose I've anything particularly new to add to existing comments about this book. I really enjoyed it - it wasn't as controversial as I thought it would be - the religious aspect is hardly mentioned with much of the book being a typical quest. I loved the alternate world, particularly their version of Oxford. And I really want a daemon - I imagine mine would be a rather frightened looking rabbit.

106. Carter Beats the Devil by Glen David Gold
This book is typical of the books I like. It takes huge liberties with history - the real life magician Carter here is caught up in the death of President Harding and the invention of television by Philo Farnsworth - two events that in reality, he had not involvement with at all. The book may have been a tad too long, but I enjoyed it on the whole.

107. Firmin by Sam Savage
A quirky little book about a rat who lives in a bookshop and learns how to read. It wasn't as cutesy as that brief description might suggesti and was all the better for it. The rat is rather cynical, and prefers the Big Ones in literature like Nabakov to animal stories like Wind in the Willows. He hates being a rat and wants to communicate with humans. The setting is a rundown part of Boston on the brink of being torn down. All of this adds an air of melancholy to the book, but there are also some flashes of humour in there too. My edition also had some beautiful illustrations which added to the book's charm.

#202: I own Carter Beats the Devil (a book I bough because of the cover, lol) and one of these days I will actually read it.

I am on the fence about Firmin. I guess I will just have to track down a copy and see if I like it or not!

108. The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things by J T LeRoy
This book was described as a series of connected autobiographical short stories. It isn't. The "stories" are more like chapters as they each involve the same characters and are written from the same viewpoint and follow in chronological order - that to me is just novel with named chapters. Also it isn't autobiographical as the figure of J T LeRoy was exposed as a fake/hoax. I picked this book because I was aware of the issue with the author's identity, vaguely remember reading about "him" when the assumed identity was still believed, but had never got around to reading any books by "him". I was interested to see how the writing would seem knowing that it wasn't autobiographical. Actually that didn't bother me at all - I don't see why something should be praised more if people think it is true. My bigger issue with the book was that it just wasn't that interesting. This is exactly the sort of thing I would have loved when I was about 18 and I still thought sordid squalid lives were glamorous. Now, I just find it sordid and squalid, sometimes depressing and sometimes just boring. The writing is raw and powerful at times, but after a few chapters it just becomes repetitive.

109. Zarafa by Michael Allin
I didn't realise when I swapped this over the internet, that it is a non-fiction book. I was expecting something similar to the fantastic Giraffe that I read earlier in the year (book no. 30), but instead it was a fairly straightforward history book, albeit one about an unusual subject. It is about a giraffe who was given as a gift to the King of France by the ruler of Egypt in 1826. The prologue to the book explains that the giraffe travelled to Paris from Africa, where she wowed French society. The book that follows then looks at this story in more depth, with the early chapters explaining the political situation in Africa and France's position in the world. I wasn't that interested in this - although scene setting is necessary, I wanted Giraffe! Unsurprisingly, the parts of the book that came alive for me were those about Zarafa the giraffe, mainly in the descriptions from journals, letters and newspapers from that time. There were also some interesting parts about the Enlightment age, and Western interest in science, culture and curiosities. Overall, the book was informative and the subject matter interesting, but I would have still liked more about the giraffe and less about the politics of the time.

Severely losted the motivation to read - even on my epic commute, I've been listening to music, picking up newspapers or just staring out of the window.

110. Hell to Pay by George Pelecanos
I've had this lying around for ages, but decided to read the series in order, so had to read the first one first, which I did back in April. Pelecanos has joined my list of comfort reads - which is bizarre considering all of his books are about the tough streets of Washington DC, murder and drugs - but I know what I'm getting with his books. The good guys do always kind of win - the battle at least if not the war. This is one of the series about the private investigators Strange and Quinn. The plot was probably the most upseting of his books I've read as it involved the shooting of an 8 year old boy.

Lack of reading motivation seems to be a common problem at the moment - maybe the time of year? I have to force myself to read more than a few pages at a time at the moment (though if I can get over the hump I seem to relax into it). Bring on the holidays, say I.

I haven't picked up a book in over a week now. I do have a very good excuse though - I have just moved 6 hours up the country, are completely zapped and still have to go and get registered with the local library. (Maybe when the boxes are unpacked)

Thanks again to avatiakh for recommending this book which kept me busy for over a week
111. Ghosts of Spain by Giles Tremlett
This was a very thorough exploration of Spain, and how the Civil War and Franco have affected the country. Each chapter was on a different subject such as family roles, attitudes towards sex, the Basque region, Catalan etc. It was brilliantly written - Tremlett adds incidents from his own life, but he never becomes the main focus of the story. There was so much in here of interest to me - I was mainly interested in the Franco/Civil War aspect, but this covers so much more.

#208: I put that one in the BlackHole when Kerry recommended it, so I do not have to add it again. Now if only my local library would get a copy! It sounds very good.

BTW - If you are interested in learning more about the Basques, you might give Mark Kurlansky's The Basque History of the World a try.

I have The Basque History of the World on my WishList. It was mentioned in the Basque chapter of Ghosts of Spain.

Good! I think you will find it interesting.

Ghosts of Spain sounds really interesting!

I though The Basque History of the World was pretty good. Kurlansky seemed biased in favor of Eta when discussing relations between the Basques and the Spanish government, so I'd like to read some other authors at some point to get a more well-rounded sense of the subject.

Dr Neutron - that is exactly what Giles Tremlett said about Kurlanksy in The Ghosts of Spain - he said it was otherwise an excellent book, but unfair towards the Spanish Government.

Sanddancer, thanks for reviewing Ghosts of Spain - I've added it to my wishlist.

DrNeutron, I enjoyed Kurlansky's book but it did feel pretty favourable to ETA, even with my next-to-nonexistent knowledge of Spanish politics.

112 Book of Illusions by Paul Auster
Paul Auster is gradually becoming one of my favourite authors. I love his inventiveness and that so far, each of his books has been very different. This is about a man whose whole family are killed in a plane crash and he finds solace in the silent movies of a little known actor who disappeared back in the 30s. Then he is contacted by someone saying the silent star wants to meet him and he is pulled into the mystery of what happened to him. I really enjoyed this - I was equally absorbed by what was happening to the main character in the present and by the retelling of the life of the silent film star.

113 Fallen by David Maine
Back at book no. 33, I read The Flood by David Maine (known as The Preservationist elsewhere I believe). Like that book, this was another retelling of a familiar Bible story, this time Cain and Abel and Adam and Eve's expulsion from the Garden of Eden. The book has an additional quirk of telling the story backwards, beginning with the night that Cain dies, working 'back through his murder of Abel and then at Adam and Eve's temptation in the Garden. It is written in a contemporary style and I'm always a sucker for these retellings, but it wasn't as entertaining as the other book by the same author I'd read as this one was much more serious and lacked the humour of the Noah story.

#215: I already have both of those in the BlackHole, although it sounds like I should read The Preservationist by Maine rather than Fallen.

114 Wait Until Spring Bandini by John Fante
I'd had John Fante on my mental "must read" list for a while now and finally bought a copy of Wait Until Spring, Bandini, thinking the whole Bandini Quartet might be too much, especially if I didn't like it. I wasn't sure about the book at first - Depression era and equally depressing characters and situations. None of the characters seemed particularly likeable and I wasn't sure I cared what happened to them. That was my impression over the first few chapters, but then I really started to enjoy it - somehow I found myself interested in these very normal people and even though they still weren't exactly likeable and I often wanted to say "oh why did you do that!", I began to care about them. In this book, our "hero" Arturo Bandini is 14 and it is winter, a time of year hated by both him and his father - young Bandini hates Christmas as it is a time for the rich and there is no baseball, while for his father, the winter means no building work and even further poverty. The writing style is deceptively simple and similar Charles Bukowski who was influenced by Fante. I will certainly be tracking down the rest of the Bandini books as I want to know what happens to him as he grows up.

#217: That one sounds good. I will hunt for it. Thanks for the recommendation!

115 The Music of Chance by Paul Auster
A man squanders his inheritance so risks his last $10,000 on a poker game, backing a stranger he has just met. Ordinarily I hate plots involving gambling - the loss often seems inevitable, and if they don't lose, then it seems unbelieveable - a no-win situation. But this I enjoyed as the actual card game was kept brief and much of the story was concerned with the strange aftermath. Although I had just read another Auster book a few books back, I still enjoyed this one, as so far all of his books have been completely different.

116. Lamb The Gospel according to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore
The third book about the Bible that I've read this year. I thought this one would be a good book to read around Christmas time. It was very funny and played with the familiar stories from the Gospels, but it was never disrespectful to Christianity in my opinion and I think even religious people could enjoy this (you probably need a decent knowledge of the Bible to appreciate it fully anyway). The book is mainly about the "missing years" in Christ's life, which are explained here as a quest for him to find the three Wise Men and learn how to be a Messiah. Parts of this journey was interesting, but I found the real strength of the book to be in the retelling of parts of the Bible. I particularly liked the passage about writing the Sermon on the Mount.

#219: I had not heard of Auster's book The Music of Chance before. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. I will see if I can find a copy!

I got The Music of Chance off a bookswap, having never heard of it before, but still haven't got round to it - sounds good.

117. How Mumbo-Jumbo Conquered the World by Francis Wheen
My final book of 2009 and it was another non-fiction - I certainly achieved my aim of reading more non-fiction this year. The quotation on the front of the book from Jeremy Paxman described it as "hilarious" - obviously Mr Paxman and my ideas on humour differ greatly as this book didn't raise many laughs. Parts of it did raise a wry smile and it pointed the finger at many ludicrous things, but this book is not humour as I have seen it categoried - unless like Paxman your idea of fun is terrorism, Islam, Enron, New Labour and post-modernism then don't come here looking for laughs. Having said that, I did enjoyed most of this book. The most light-hearted that looked at the popularity of self-help books which just rehash platitudes. Some times, I was confused by how certain things were going to be connected (Iran and post-modernism for example) and I did wonder that in some cases if his connections and conclusions would really hold up to close scrutiny. That he pours similar scorn on people playing the lottery as terrorists misinterpreting the Koran seems a bit off at times. But overall an interesting book even if I didn't always agree totally with the author. And it made me relieved that I didn't always "get" post-modernism.

Are you going to be joining us for the 2010 challenge? The group is already running amock!

Yes, I am. I've just seen the group and joined. I'll set up a list shortly. I expect you have already read several books!

Glad you will be back! I have finished 2 books in the New Year and that's it.