Paul Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 (edited) TBR 2014I'll start with just a few. The list (and backlog) will grow. Faust pt1 - Wolfgang von Goethe. Completed.Waverly - Walter Scott. Currently reading.Wilhelm Meister's Journeyman Years - Wolfgang von Goethe. StartedThe Red and the Black - Stendahl A Hero of Our Time - Mikhail Lermontov. StartedMadame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert. Completed.Daniel Deronda - George Eliot. Completed.Washington Square - Henry James. CompletedThe Way of All Flesh - Samuel ButlerCryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson. Part way, will have to restart.Crossing to Safety - Wallace Stegner Completed.Stoner - John Williams. Completed.If On a Winter's Night a Traveler - Italo Calvino. Completed.The Sound and the Fury - William FaulknerMidnight in the Garden of Good and Evil - John Berendt Started That makes 5 completed from the decade list, so far. Edited August 8, 2014 by Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted January 1, 2014 Author Share Posted January 1, 2014 (edited) Books Read 2014Faust pt1 by Wolfgang von Goethe.Washington Square by Henry James.Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert.Stoner by John Williams.Bangkok Haunts by John Burdett.Poison Study by Maria V.Snyder.To Kill A Mockingbird 100-page summary by Trisha Lively.The Intercept by Dick Wolf.Love and Math by Edward Frenkel.The Answer to the Riddle is Me by David Stuart MacLean.The Martian by Andy WeirIf on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino.On the Beach by Nevil Shute.The Good Soldier by Ford Madox FordRegeneration by Pat BarkerCrossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner.By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept by Elizabeth Smart.100 Selected Poems by e.e. cumming100 Best-Loved Poems ed. by Philip SmithIn The Land Of Dreamy Dreams by Ellen GilchristThe Mind Sifter, novella in Star Trek the New Voyages, ed b S Marshak, M CulbreathRunner by Thomas Perry. V2.Vanishing Act by Thomas Perry. V1The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares.Daniel Deronda by George Eliot. The Map Thief by Michael Blanding.Coney Island of the Mind by Lawrence FerlinghettiCounterfeit Lies by Oliver North and Bob HamerThe Selected Poems of Stephen SpenderMIstress by James Patterson and Dave EllisThe Dinner by Herman Koch Summer House With Pool by Herman KochGone Girl by Gillian Flynn Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion An Event in Autumn by Henning Mankell. The Company We Keep by Robert Baer and Dayna Baer. That's 35. Currently reading: Waverly by Sir Walter Scott. Then, Pillar of Iron by Taylor Caldwell. May take all of April, May, June, July and August at current rate. And also, meanwhile, A Hero of Our Time by Mikhail Lermontov. Edited August 28, 2014 by Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted January 1, 2014 Author Share Posted January 1, 2014 (edited) Best of 2014There will be a few. I'll know them when I see them: Stoner by John Williams.The Intercept by Dick Wolf.The Martian by Andy Weir.On the Beach by Nevil Shute.By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept by Elizabeth Smart. Daniel Deronda by George Eliot. Edited June 9, 2014 by Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted January 1, 2014 Author Share Posted January 1, 2014 (edited) So, we are off and running for 2014! Clang! Currently reading Washington Square and surprised by the unexpectedly sharp and cynical tone of the narrator as it begins. I always imagined James as smooth, suave and debonair. Edited January 1, 2014 by Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 Clang, clang, clang went the trolley!! Hey, hey! I'll wait and see how James grows on you, then, and only then, perhaps....will I dip my toe in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted January 1, 2014 Author Share Posted January 1, 2014 (edited) ROTFL. I'll let ya know. Edited January 1, 2014 by Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 ROTFL. I'll let ya know. I look forward to hearing from you................ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muggle not Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 Hey Paul....bout' time you started doing a little more posting over here. why don't you try some Westerns........you could start with Lonesome Dove. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted January 1, 2014 Author Share Posted January 1, 2014 (edited) Hey Paul....bout' time you started doing a little more posting over here. why don't you try some Westerns........you could start with Lonesome Dove. Hi Muggle, Happy New Year! You are right. Someday I really will have to start mining the Westerns vein. Maybe late Victorian will drive me to it. Edited January 1, 2014 by Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 I hope 2014 will be a good reading year for you, Charles ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Pixie Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 Clang, clang, clang went the trolley!! Hey, hey! I'll wait and see how James grows on you, then, and only then, perhaps....will I dip my toe in. I loved The Wings of the Dove - I was feverishly turning the last 30 or so pages, to see what happens. However, I understand from reading others` critiques that James is perhaps an acquired taste, to put it politely. Happy reading in 2014, Charles ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted January 1, 2014 Author Share Posted January 1, 2014 (edited) I loved The Wings of the Dove - I was feverishly turning the last 30 or so pages, to see what happens. However, I understand from reading others` critiques that James is perhaps an acquired taste, to put it politely. Happy reading in 2014, Charles ! Acquired taste it seems to be. I have heard that his sentences are impenetrable. On the other hand, from my own scanning he seems to write in different styles. The opening pages of Turn of the Screw seem to be rather different from The Wings of the Dove (I think). And I had a colleague who had read all of his novels and read no other author. When he was finished with the last novel, he just started rereading with the first one all over again.(!) It was he who recommended Washington Square for a beginner like me. So I have hope I'll find a way. Happy New Year to you too, All you could wish for. Edited January 1, 2014 by Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 Happy New Year Charles and Happy Reading in 2014! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissy Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 Happy Reading this coming year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted January 8, 2014 Author Share Posted January 8, 2014 (edited) Oops, Poppyshake and Chrissy, Happy reading to you also in the New Year. Been slow getting back here to update with a few more books. I'm figuring that starting one per month should get me through the list, in among my regular reading. Happy and Successful New Years to you both. Edited January 9, 2014 by Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted January 15, 2014 Author Share Posted January 15, 2014 Adding two more, from pontalba's recent recommendations: Crossing to Safety - Wallace Stegner Stoner - John Williams And, though I jest about difficulty staying with Victorian novels, Madame Bovary has now hooked me (after 20%) and I think I am with it to the end. Wonderful characters, wonderful, story, wonderfully written. No higher praise, so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Pixie Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 (edited) Acquired taste it seems to be. I have heard that his sentences are impenetrable. On the other hand, from my own scanning he seems to write in different styles. The opening pages of Turn of the Screw seem to be rather different from The Wings of the Dove (I think). And I had a colleague who had read all of his novels and read no other author. When he was finished with the last novel, he just started rereading with the first one all over again.(!) I can`t decide if that`s fabulous or strange. Perhaps both. Perhaps someone like me who reads books where cats help solve murders shouldn`t be judging other people`s reading. Edited January 16, 2014 by Little Pixie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 I can`t decide if that`s fabulous or strange. Perhaps both. Perhaps someone like me who reads books where cats help solve murders shouldn`t be judging other people`s reading. Yes, that's a colleague I'd have enjoyed meeting! I'm in that same glass house, LP. Joe Grey or Quill? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Pixie Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 Yes, that's a colleague I'd have enjoyed meeting! I'm in that same glass house, LP. Joe Grey or Quill? Ooh, the Qwilleran book and those of Rita Mae Brown - the first one was Wish You Were Here, I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 (edited) Ooh, the Qwilleran book and those of Rita Mae Brown - the first one was Wish You Were Here, I think. I think I've read one of RMB, but in the middle. I ought to try the first one. Also, the Joe Grey series is fantastic. Of course as the series goes on, the quality goes up and down but all in all, I love them. Shirley Rousseau Murphy writes them. The first one is Cat on the Edge. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_23?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=shirley%20rousseau%20murphy%20joe%20grey%20mysteries&sprefix=Shirley+Rousseau+Murphy%2Cstripbooks%2C304 This author knows cats! Edited January 18, 2014 by pontalba Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muggle not Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 Rita Mae Brown lived in the same small town as me a few years back. I recall down on the mall there was a bookstore where all her books were featured and it was full of "cat" stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Pixie Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 I think I've read one of RMB, but in the middle. I ought to try the first one. Also, the Joe Grey series is fantastic. Of course as the series goes on, the quality goes up and down but all in all, I love them. Shirley Rousseau Murphy writes them. The first one is Cat on the Edge. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_23?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=shirley%20rousseau%20murphy%20joe%20grey%20mysteries&sprefix=Shirley+Rousseau+Murphy%2Cstripbooks%2C304 This author knows cats! I think that was the one I tried and wasn`t too keen on ; I`ve downloaded some samples for other books from the series, but is there one you especially enjoyed which I could try ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Pixie Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Rita Mae Brown lived in the same small town as me a few years back. I recall down on the mall there was a bookstore where all her books were featured and it was full of "cat" stuff. Awwww. I think that`s the sort of bookshop I`d really like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 I think that was the one I tried and wasn`t too keen on ; I`ve downloaded some samples for other books from the series, but is there one you especially enjoyed which I could try ? Drat, that was one of my favorites! /sigh/ Rita Mae Brown lived in the same small town as me a few years back. I recall down on the mall there was a bookstore where all her books were featured and it was full of "cat" stuff. Neat! I'd love that book store as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted January 20, 2014 Author Share Posted January 20, 2014 (edited) Have just finished Stoner by John Williams. Five stars, and already a definite Best Book for 2014. Twelve months from now it might even survive to be the Best of Best for 2014. Organizing a review. Edited January 20, 2014 by Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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