<p>Yay garland!!</p>
<p>Karabel is referenced in On Beauty.</p>
<p>Ditto on the Bird by Bird read. She’s marvelous. If only I weren’t plot challenged…Continued good luck to you, g. Let us know when you send anything out so we can wish the publishing fairies your way.</p>
<p>The Smiley book sounds good. I love her writing but I tired of her overuse of ‘Oprah’ themes.</p>
<p>After reading the reviews–and knowing the publisher–I had high hopes for The Emperor’s Children but found it flat and not at all entertaining–and not even close to the daggers and rapiers of real Manhattan jousting. Did I miss something? Pessl’s novel sounds more interesting.</p>
<p>I read Pynchon in a night course at the university. Don’t quiz me. :eek:</p>
<p>Nah, you didn’t miss smething. I found it harder and harder to read as i went through it. I wanted to like it and could imagine it going in more interesting directions, but alas, it did not.</p>
<p>I am plot challenged, too. YOu should see the hash I am making of this; it will not make sense to anyone but me (but that’s okay, it’s not likely to have too many more readers than that…)</p>
<p>I haven’t done much reading this year, but I did enjoy A Disorder Peculiar To The Country by Ken Kalfus.</p>
<p>I completely agree with Cheers re: The Emperor’s Children. I had also read all the reviews and was looking forward to a satisfying read…What a disappointment! Just a bunch of shallow, self-centered characters with boring lives!</p>
<p>BTW, I’ve started keeping a notebook with a list of books I want to read. Put in about 30 titles from a year-end New York Times Book Review, and I just jotted down a few that people mentioned on this thread. I take the notebook with me to the library so I have a Plan and don’t just wander the stacks.</p>
<p>I enjoyed the Pessl book very much. I was so surprised by the ending that I immediately started re-reading it, to find all the clues that I totally missed.</p>
<p>I tried Sabbath’s Theater by Philip Roth and thought it was absolutely disgusting. I read about one third of it and gave up.</p>
<p>Also read The Sociopath Next Door (Martha Stout), based on a CC-er’s recommendation. Fascinating, about co-workers I have known and hated.</p>
<p>I am with the others on The Emperors Children. Very nice individual descriptions, elegant sentences, but a “meh” plot and I didn’t care about any of the characters.</p>
<p>Bummer, eh?</p>
<p>Just shows you how many readers are eager to read dishy novels about Manhattan.</p>
<p>I’m still loving On Beauty. I had a feeling Smith must have spent a year at an East Coast Ivy or top LAC–and sure enough–she spent a year at Harvard. Lots of good observations about the insular life of academics–and good takes on the difference between Brits and Americans.</p>
<p>Will post a few of my favorite passages when I finish.</p>
<p>I cannot believe Smith was born in 1975…wowza…the girl can write.</p>
<p>Very Happy, I don’t feel so nerdy now, I’ve started doing that since we’ve been having these book threads. I think I’ll be busy for the next 5 years.</p>
<p>Has anyone read The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss? It is a fantasy book, not like most of these serious literature books listed here, but it is good.</p>
<p>As long as we’re panning disappointing reads, I am positive that Updike’s Terrorist would not have been published if Updike hadn’t written it. The plot was choppy and full of holes, the characters were cardboard, unpleasant stereotypes, and the factual descriptions of North Jersey were full of mistakes (I realize that part might not bother most readers.) </p>
<p>All in all, he was plainly phoning it in, even if he was tackling a “Big” theme.</p>
<p>Cangel, you callin’ me nerdy??</p>
<p>Not a new book but really good is Wally Lamb’s “I Know These Things Are True.”</p>
<p>And Allen Garganis “The Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All.” IMO, one of the best books ever.</p>
<p>And not quite in the same league but very enjoyable: “And Ladies of the Club.” By Santmyer.</p>
<p>
Oh this sort of thing drives me bananas! I read a book where the author had confused the dates for RFK’s and JFK’s assassinations and had JFK being assassinated in the spring - it soured the whole book for me. I think it was the same book where there were seatbelts in the cars long before they were common.</p>
<p>I actually, I’m calling ME nerdy, I felt like the restaurant critic for libraries, slinking around with my notebook under my arm, stopping to try to puzzle out what I had scribbled on the list.</p>
<p>Our countywide library system does reservations. They will even transfer from other branches. Get an email when the book is ready and just pick it up. Should call it Netboox.</p>
<p>I really liked Wally Lamb’s “I Know These Things Are True.” I also read “Confederate Widow” but don’t remember it at all. Says more about my middle age than the book.</p>
<p>I also recently read and enjoyed E. Annie Proulx’s “That Old Ace in the Hole”</p>
<p>The most popular book among staff and students in my library is the Wally Lamb book.</p>
<p>During the summer, I like to read historical fiction…Any good recommendations CC’ers???</p>
<p>The March: EL Doctorow</p>
<p>Second the * March* recommendation–which was from the 2006 list. I read it and loved it and gave it to my mum for her bday.</p>
<p>…not historical fiction, but historical excitement:
Mayflower,
by Nathaniel Philbrick.</p>
<p>Not historical fiction, but an AWESOME novel – A Map of the World, by Jane Hamilton. A wonderful book for mothers to read. Very very powerful.</p>
<p>And, “When I was Puerto Rican,” by Santiago.</p>
<p>And “The Namesake” by Lahiri.</p>
<p>BTW, I often go to Oprah’s booklist for suggestions. It rarely disappoints. (My library has her list in the catologue.)</p>