Current Reads

Audible is offering How the Grinch Stole Christmas for free. It's narrated by Walter Matthau.

Say whaaat? Must grab that. Walter Matthau is the jam! I named my car after him, dude!

Loooved Faithful Place! It's funny b/c I hadn't cared much for Mackey in The Likeness, but he was a really great, complex character here. And a great dad. I loved his kid.

Now, should I move right onto Broken Harbor or what? Who has read that?

Broken Harbor gets a little out there, plot-wise, but I think it was yet another very solid book from French. Definitely read it!

Broken Harbor is weird as hell, but a good read. I think The Likeness is my favorite, implausible as it is. I just really like Cassie as a character.

Yeah, I think The Likeness is my favourite too! I wasn't too fond of Broken Harbour.

Miles behind everyone else, I've finally started reading Gone Girl. I'm already a bit spoiled on it, but right now I don't like either of the main characters.

I liked Beautiful Ruins a lot. It had an ease to it and the setting was beautiful - a very pleasant, relaxing read. (Also, the small amount of Richard Burton helped soften the blow that when Furious Love came in at the library, I forgot to get it and am now at the end of a very long holds list.)

Reading The Illumination by Kevin Brockmeier, about what happens when suddenly everyone's pain gets illuminated, from auras of grief to tiny pricks of light around papercuts or hangnails. It also follows the passage of a journal through various characters, so each chapter is a different person, their pain, and this journal. It's all very interesting thus far.

Next will be Broken Harbor for sure.

I've started reading John Marsden's Tomorrow When the War Began series. Finished the first book quickly and I'm now on the second. They're just fast, easy read--perfect for the holidays.

Audible is offering A Christmas Carol read by Tim Curry for free.

The Illumination sounds amazing, MaddyCat! It's scary how many books I end up putting on my reading list every few days because of you guys!

I'm really enjoying Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, about a laid-off techie who takes a job as a clerk at a very strange bookshop that never closes, mostly filled with books to be loaned, not sold, and only to a very strange assortment of scholars. And the owner of the shop wants the clerk to take very detailed notes on every person who comes in ... and under no circumstances is he to read the books he loans....

Enchanting and funny.

I was hoping someone here would read and review that book! I trust snarker opinions very much, and I've been thinking of borrowing that novel from the library, so thanks for posting your positive experience so far, Shadowlass! (I almost missed the "L" and typed Shadowass. Hee!)

It's really charming. I'm less than halfway through, admittedly, but I recommend it wholeheartedly.

(Also, hee!)

I hope it stays great the whole way through. I suppose I shall find out for myself soon enough!

(Yes, I am twelve on the inside, so I'm still snickering over here.)

I read Habibi by Craig Thompson yesterday. It's beautifully drawn and engrossing enough that I finished it in one sitting, but holy fuck it is depressing. I don't think I could stand to read it again.

I started reading The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb by Melanie Benjamin, and it's pretty good so far. Some of the character descriptions and word choices are a bit twee, but I'm enjoying it. I love reading fake memoirs of real people.

I can't recommend Far From The Tree enough. Just a stunning book.

Now I'm onto Stephen Tobolowsky's memoir-slash-story collection, The Dangerous Animals Club. It made me cry no fewer than four times in the first 70 pages, which was unexpected to say the least. He's a beautiful writer.

Crowbridge, that book is amazing! I read it last year and couldn't put it down!

I'm reading The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets, which I do believe I heard about from fellow Snarkers, back on the old boards for heaven's sake!
It is, as promised, delightful.

The Illumination turned out to be good not great. It got bogged down a bit in the middle and didn't have the hugely satisfying ending I had hoped for. I enjoyed it, but it could have been better.

I got Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore as a gift from a friend, so I'm glad to hear it's worthwhile! I was worried it was just a clever premise and not much more.

whatthedeuce wrote:Crowbridge, that book is amazing! I read it last year and couldn't put it down!

It is a good read. I also bought her other book, Alice I Have Been, which I plan on reading after TAoMTT.

I almost tried Alice I Have Been this past summer, but I just wasn't in the mood for it yet. Maybe next year though!

MaddyCat wrote:I'm reading The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets, which I do believe I heard about from fellow Snarkers, back on the old boards for heaven's sake!
It is, as promised, delightful.

So glad you liked it! I thought it was a lovely book when I read it. The great news is that her next book The Misinterpretation of Tara Jupp is FINALLY coming out in January 2013! I don't know what's been holding it up but I cannot wait to get my hands on it.
(Also, I didn't know what she was the daughter of Sir Tim Rice, songwriter extraordinaire. The things you learn on the internet).

Oooh, thank you for that thrilling announcement, QueenSix! I've been feverishly anticipating another novel from that author for years now!

It seems like people have actually gotten their hands on copies of the book! IT ACTUALLY EXISTS!!! I wonder when it comes out in the US because Amazon doesn't seem to allow Book Depository to sell books which aren't out in the US yet to those in the US. Oddly, Amazon Canada says the Kindle version is available now.

Just finished Jellicoe Road thanks to fellow Snarkers. It was a great read; it didn't hit me as hard emotionally as it seemed to have hit many here, but I definitely enjoyed it. It was super-confusing at first, but as it unfolded, I got more and more into it. Plus, I loved Griggs so much!