pontalba

Actually I was surprised at some of the derogatory remarks made by the article's author. And...while I agree with some of them, it didn't stop me from enjoying the stories. I do feel I'll do a reread someday, and perhaps I'll be more equipped to analyze the flaws. For me, the first reading of this type of book is almost a race...I have to know What Happens, and I'm sure I miss details. So a reread will give me those details, and probably I'll be better able to see the faults.

You've read it then? What was your take on the story?

Wrong Thinking Kylie!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! Once every 40th Blue Moon I get rid of a book. That's the rule. Remember it. Live by it! First off, what is a Billy?? Secondly.....believe me, intentions have Nothing to do with it! /sigh/ Great pictures, we definitely could use your organizational skills.

Gads! I don't have enough, right? Sounds good to me, just ordered a second hand copy.

Terrific and accurate review! Still waiting on The Leopard.....grrrrrrr!

I found it in a massive short story collection called The Art of the Story edited by Daniel Halpern. It's billed as An International Anthology of Contemporary Short Stories, and is as advertised. Both famous and unknown [to me] authors are within its pages. The short story Pornography is perhaps intended to be plain and sleazy. If that was McEwan's intent, he succeeded. It is more a story of revenge in which pornography [or actually the antithesis of] features, and is told in an unemotional style, and with a definite lack of flair. It seemed altogether too analytical and flat sounding. I do wonder if the author deliberately wrote the story to reflect the ordinariness, and depressive nature of that business. Given McEwan's reputation, I'd expect so, but for me the story simply left a bad taste in my brain cells, and was a disappointment. The same story could have been told with a richer flavor and certainly more imagination. Only my opinion.

I have a couple in the stack, haven't gotten to them yet, but I have high hopes. From the few pages I did manage at purchase time, the sense of humor is healthy too.

A poster on another forum gave an interesting link to an article in the New Yorker magazine about Stieg Larsson that I found interesting. Man of Mystery by Joan Acocella A great article that brought out a few items I'd not heard of before.

I am intrigued by y'alls comments regarding The Woman in Black, I'll add it to my list for sure. I wonder if it's on Kobo......

No, I found the title in my account at Library Thing, it's Sylvia Plath: A Biography by Linda Wagner-Martin, and I haven't read it yet. I agree, Hughes cannot be literally blamed for their deaths, ultimately, it's the person themselves that bears that burden. I do feel that it's more likely that he was simply drawn to a particular type of vulnerability in a woman, and the situation snowballed from there. From what I could tell in A Lover of Unreason he was totally insensitive to the women.....it seemed to be a vicious cycle. Horrible. Maybe he was "just" a User. Not an attractive trait to say the least.

I have at that. I have a couple of other books that I'd started, and not finished. I'm a firm believer in not slogging my way through a book. If I start and it doesn't take my fancy, I just put it aside with the bookmark in it, and wait for the mood to move me once again. The system works. I've read all but two, they were Locked Rooms and The Game. They are in my stack though, and I'll get to them someday. Probably in a couple of months. I'd actually like to go back and do a reread from the front of the series to get my bearings in them again. LOL I wish you could too Kylie! We're pretty hopeless at it so far. But with the new bookcases coming in soon, I think we might be able to bring some order to chaos. Exactly. and I really do think Revelation is the best so far. I loved the way Sansom integrated the past and present thinking. Well, that's not entirely true, he doesn't talk about the present conditions, but the parallels are sooooo strong and obvious that I couldn't help but draw comparisons to present day events.

For me at least, it's the consistency, dense, but tender. I either toast them, or cook in a toaster oven till the insides are a golden color..

I googled "Irish Family Saga", and came up with this page. http://www.google.com/search?q=Irish+family+saga&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a#q=Irish+family+saga&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=pom&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&prmd=ivnsb&source=univ&tbs=bks:1&tbo=u&ei=n8c9TZ34CIiq8Aa7rpisCg&sa=X&oi=book_group&ct=title&cad=bottom-3results&resnum=11&ved=0CGUQsAMwCg&fp=ae7ff3dec986e07e Is any of that familiar?

Toasted bagels dripping with butter and peanut butter. /sigh/ Or cream cheese...onion and chive cream cheese.

Welllll.........between us, we have just over 5,000 books, God alone knows how many we buy a year, Every book is skimmed, at least. I think. And you've seen my book lists, Last year I only managed 75 books read. OH about half that. Two years ago he was reading 50-60 a year. So, we have Lots of Unread Books. It's true. However, we do manage to come home with at least one or two books every time we venture out into the Big Bad World of shopping. And, as you can see, our buying tends to be rather ahead of our reading. But every book is wanted, and has a nice home. Why just last night when we came in with that bag of books, they were hailing their brethren....from the same shop. Lots of shouting and whistling was goin' on. You could feel the love.

Just finished plain black tea and oatmeal toast with peanut butter. yum

We have a Plath bio, but I forget the author, and it's buried in the pile. Yes, I did enjoy the book, she was an interesting woman in her own right, and IMO was run down by Him. grrrrr She was a sensitive soul. I'll be interested to read your take on it. I'll dig it out and look again when you do.

LOL we loved Lost, and have seen all 6 seasons. I'd missed it while on TV. well, missed the first few episodes of the second season, and could never catch up. So, we finally bought it after watching several seasons of it from the library. I just couldn't stand it! Had to have it finally. You'll love it! We are now watching the second season of The Wire. Good stuff.

As soon as it's delivered, and loaded up I will be sure to take pics! We'll be moving out three single bookcases and putting that one in it's place. Just where those three bookcases will go is still a mystery. /chortle/ We visited our favorite second hand book store on the South Shore today, McKeown's down on Tchoupitoulas Street, New Orleans. /sigh/ What a great store she has. Amazing, some hard to find stuff. We bought..... A Night At the Movies by Robert Coover The Tale of the Rose by Consuelo De Saint-Exupery Hyperspace by Michio Kaku Beyond Einstein by Michio Kaku Dream of the Red Chamber by Tsao Hsueh-Chin The Heretic Queen by Michelle Moran Nefertiti by Michelle Moran The Book of Eleanor by Pamela Kaufman Some Do Not } FMF No More Parades } FMF A Man Could Stand Up } FMF Last Post } by Ford Madox Ford The Good Soldier } FMF An Experiment in Love by Hilary Mantel The Cold Six Thousand by James Ellroy Ancient Evenings by Norman Mailer I The Supreme by Augusto Roa Bastos The Drowned and The Saved by Primo Levi The Alienist by Caleb Carr Stopped at Borders on the way home and found three more.... Rainbow's End by Vernor Vinge Marooned in Realtime by Vernor Vinge Bayou Farewell by Mike Tidwell

The Winter Ghosts is coming out over here next month, I'll be looking for it, be sure. I'd read all of the Grafton's up to S is for Silence. I don't know if it was my mood, or what was going on, but it seemed at the time that her writing or condinuity was off, I'm not sure anymore, it's been several years. I'd liked her a lot up till then. I do have the later books, unread in the pile. I'll have to catch up. Your review has certainly peaked my curiosity. I also have Fear the Worst in the pile. /sigh/

I read A Lover of Unreason a couple of years ago. Infuriated me with Hughes. Yays! Now we need to play some combination of Twilight Zone and Jaws music....... AIE: Forgot to mention the 7 foot bookcase we bought yesterday. Can't wait to shift books!

I'll have to make it my next read...I've started a couple of books already. I have to find it again...what with OH's books coming our of storage, we are in the midst of rearranging his 60 boxes, moving mine around, and so forth. It's here, I know it!

I just finished C.J. Sansom's Revelation, the 4th in his Tudor series. Probably the best of the lot so far, although every one should be read to savor the full flavor. Matthew is again in the thick of machinations of the court, in spite of attempting to live a quiet life. When his best friend and brother lawyer is gruesomely murdered, he swears to find the killer. This leads him right into the monster's maw, risking everything, his own life, the life of his household, and the lives of those he values and loves the most in the world. Sansom's meticulous research pays off in his treatment of both the religious fever and treatment of the insane of the times. The story lines dealing with those highly controversial issues is masterful. Highly Recommended.

Andre Norton's Time Traders is part of a series, but this was the first as far as I am aware. Great adventure story, complete with aliens and time travel.

I read A.C. Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles, and The Moor by Laurie R. King again this month. I'd read Baskerville many decades ago, and King's probably very soon after it came out in 1998. So, they were familiar, but all sorts of new data came of my new reading. Something I found interesting was the way Dartmouth Moor itself was treated by the authors. Doyle seemed to not care about it as much as a character aside from demonizing the place, saying practically nothing about the humanity of the moor's inhabitants. Holmes sarcasm towards Watson grated on my nerves at times, and seemed to make Holmes less than I remembered. Less what you ask? Good question. Less of a man, and less of a friend actually. The young Holmes had something to prove, and that lack of maturity was his "failing". I realize other Holmes entries proved the friendship, but I only speak of this one. King's Holmes in The Moor, the 4th installment in her wonderful Mary Russell series brings a more mature Holmes, a married Holmes at that! Marriage has not matured him, but life in general has done that, preparing him for said marriage and partnership. The two stories gel beautifully, and King's Dartmouth Moor is still a dangerous and forbidding place, but she brings the inhabitants out into the open, good and bad alike, and the moor becomes a wonderfully changeable character in the book. Mary Russell has to be one of the most interesting creations, anyone that could capture Holmes's heart and mind would be. Highly Recommended.