What BOOK are you reading right now?

Well, I've got the book from the library, so we'll see.

If memory serves, which it does on occasion, I once picked up one of the Harry Potter series. Someone, a kid, I'd bet, had dropped it on the floor and I placed it on the re-shelving cart.

If you'd care to have my take on her new book, I'll report back. That is, if it's not one of those voluminously (it's 455 pages) padded tomes in which the author takes three paragraphs to say what could be better said in a dozen words or less. In that case, I'll not bother with it very long.

I can't abide those wearisome writers whose styles only serve to remind me of my own rambling shambling constipated meanderings. That's the one thing I liked about Hemingway; he said very little and was quick about it. He wasn't quite as succinct as Mr. Jingles in The Pickwick Papers, but pert nigh.

You won't have read Proust then Deb?

You've missed a festival of treats.

The book was rejected by the first publisher it was offered to because, he said, his readers didn't want to read 30 pages about turning over in bed.

I'll be waiting with bated....something

I found two more Alexander McCall Smith books at the thrift shop yesterday.

Can't wait to dive in tomorrow morning

No. That is to say, yes, I haven't. Not for a lack of trying. I once sweated through five or six pages, only to realize it made Tris Shandy's autobio seem a quick read on the tube. Afterall, it only took Tris three volumes to be born.

I surely admire the fortitude of those intrepid souls, perhaps you are one, who have not only read Proust but also enjoyed him. But I would judge my own experience to be similar to that of an ESL student whose (unlikely) first reading assignment is Finnegan's Wake.

That said, there are exceptions to what I writ before which prompted your inquiry. Apart from Sterne, there is also Mezzanine by Nicholson Baker, which is not only an exception, but also exceptionally brill. It concerns a one-floor escalator ride by an office worker during his lunch hour. The ride consumes the entire 135 pages, although something like 80% is in the form of footnotes. Some footnotes even occur in mid-sentence and consist of 4 or 5 pages of tiny print. A totally absorbing and hilarious read.

Sounds interesting. I'll look out for it.

Dylan's other version of TUIB has--"I woke up a she was gone, got out of bed and put my head back on" has a Sternian feel to it. Like his essay on writing hungry and writing full. Or the blank page invitation.

The big mistake is writing when you think you know what you are talking about. That's the pits. I don't think Sterne ever made that silly error.

a guilty pleasure , those Ma Romatswe and Ma Makutsi books, I get them on download and lissen to them in the car. The lady who narrates is from Botswana or South Afrika

I've given up on those two books. Life is too short. I did check amazon for reviews on the hedgehog tome, and a great many people liked/loved it, and a goodly number were really put off for similar reasons to mine. Some middle of the roaders said they had tough going for the first hundred pages and then began to really like it. I'd never make it to a hundred pages.

I picked an oldie from my shelves (well, actually, it's a tall shoe rack for the novels/memoirs) and am already a somewhat cheerier person. It's Barbarian in the Garden by the Polish poet and essayist, Zbigniew Herbert. It's small, but he goes to places that interest me still, even though I've read it before and have been to a couple of the places: Lascaux, Arles, Orvieto, Siena, Paris, talks about his craze to see a lot of French cathedrals; talks about Albigensians, Inquisitors and Troubadours; Templars; Piero della Francesca, Valois.

Sounds like you're now in your element, osso. Quite a change from reading about someone who very seldom crossed her own her own threshold.

True. A big part of why I read is the armchair travel involved.

Have fun - I did.
I enjoy the books.

Here's a bit of a lark. Laugh and learn. I've read it a couple of times. Didn't learn much, but I laughed quite a lot while not doing so.

http://www.amazon.com/Radical-Prunings-Officious-Contessa-Compost/dp/1578602033/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1374017391&sr=1-1&keywords=Radical+prunings+%3A+a+novel+of+officious+advice+from+the+contessa+of+compost

Or, in the UK:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Radical-Prunings-Officious-Contessa-Compost/dp/1578602033/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1374017598&sr=8-1&keywords=Radical+prunings+%3A+a+novel+of+officious+advice+from+the+contessa+of+compost

what?


I'm still happy with Barbarian in the Garden.

And well you should be, osso. The only thing they have in common is having pages. Otherwise it's like comparing a Nehi grape to a Courvoisier XO.

I just finished the Millennium series. (Girl with dragon tattoo, girl who played with fire, and girl who kicked the hornets next). Very exciting and well thought out story, one of the best series I've read in years. It actually bumped Stephen kings Dark tower series down to number 4 to take number 3 in best series I've read.

I would suggest everyone of you give the first book a try and I promise 75% percent of you will be hooked.

My experience was:
Loved the first book
Tolerated the second book
Suffered through the third book

I read the first two. Liked the first one - it did keep my interest. Tolerated the second (or so I remember at this point). Haven't gotten the third.

I'm more of a fan of Jo Nesbo, the norwegian author, but I've only read two of his as well.

The three books by Stieg Larson my husband got for Christmas one year.He enjoyed them. I did not even finish page one in book one.
Following Christmas I got the three books by Stieg Larson for Christmas. I have not even opened them.

Nicholson Baker - I've not read his books. Read some slambang article by him, though, against getting rid of library card indices. I so agreed.

panzade, I finished The Cuckoo's Calling last evening. It's a fun read, with a decent plot and good characterization, but if she had omitted the four-letter words, it would have saved 100 or so pages and numerous trees. I suppose the choice of language was made to lend credence to the male pseudonym. Or perhaps vice versa.

All in all, I enjoyed the read, although had I not known the true identity of the author but had merely picked up the book to browse, I'd have given it a miss. I'm not in the least interested in the world of fashion, rock stars, rappers, nor much of anything considered trendy in the days since Ma & Pa Kettle.

I suppose the book will be quite popular.