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Kat wrote: "Finished Middlemarch by George Eliot and I loved it! Can anyone recommend hunting for the 1994 TV adaptation of it?"

I've both read the book and watched the 1994 six-part series. I loved the book and I thought the adaptation was pretty good, although every adaptation has to leave some things out, so it's good to have read the book first.

Rachel (Sfogs) wrote: "Finished The Nose by Nikolai Gogol. Only 31 pages so didn't take long!
What an odd little story!
A nose goes missing, and the adventures that follow~"
I just finished this as well -- after Anna Karenina, I needed a short one -- and I feel like there's some political satire going on, but I could be trying to look too deeply into it... in any case, nice to mark one off quickly.

Just finished Story of O...wow...it's considered in the erotica category, but it's SO much more than that. For a SHORT book, it's not a "quick" read. It's DARK. It's also a "warning" book. Do NOT leave this one lying around if you have kids of an age to read & comprehend the subject matter, because it's BDSM, torture, & slavery of a woman, who does it willingly.

However, I'm also in the middle of Tipping the Velvet, which explores lesbianism in the 1800's, & is well written, & quite honestly, an adorable love story.

I just finished Like Water for Chocolate. I don't know what to say about this book... It was little weird.

Mia wrote: "I just finished Like Water for Chocolate. I don't know what to say about this book... It was little weird."

I felt the same way. Yet I have friends who RAVED about it.

Finished Storm of Steel by Ernst Jünger. I don't really know what to think about it: it's neither really anti-war nor pro-war.

Ellinor wrote: "Finished The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. I was bit underwhelmed."

The movie was infinitely funnier....

Tipping the Velvet- this turned out to be a VERY good story, even given the subject matter!

Linda wrote: "Rachel (Sfogs) wrote: "Finished The Nose by Nikolai Gogol. Only 31 pages so didn't take long!
What an odd little story!
A nose goes missing, and the adventures that fol..."

Yip really to tick this one off the list!

Just finished Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell.
Wow!
This book isn't nice, in fact it would likely punch you in the gut if it would get the point across.
Though I still loved this book, the different stories from different 'times' in the human timeline, and sadly the truths of human character that comes through. Though there are good points, and brave and happy times!
Just go and read this book, I can't right a good review for it! :-P

Just finished Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and it really exceeded my expectations. I'm normally hesitant about books like Frankenstein because they're so entrenched in pop culture that I tend to find the original material underwhelming, but Frankenstein was brilliant!

(And I also found Middlemarch on DVD in the library, thanks everyone who recommended it :D)

A Maggot by Fowles

A Maggot

Really good read!

Breakfast at Tiffany's: And Three Stories
I was surprised by how much I liked this. I'm reminded of the saying about how it would be a pleasure to listen to a talented vocalist singing the phonebook. I feel the same way about Capote - any story becomes a gem in his hands.

Just finished Les Misérables - complete edition. After all the misery the characters endured, the last few pages were extremely satisfying. Even with the long-winded bits I suffered through reading, I give the book 5 stars.

So many since I last posted (only due to the length of time not the proclivity of my reading):

Les Miserables -Hugo
The Mayor of Casterbridge -Hardy
Nausea -Sartre
The Razor's Edge -Maugham
Elective Affinities -Goethe
At Swim-Two-Birds -O'Brien
The Forsyte Saga -Galsworthy
Three Lives -Stein
Eyeless in Gaza -Huxley
Good Morning, Midnight -Rhys
A Handful of Dust -Waugh
Daniel Deronda -Eliot
Embers -Marai

Hugo, Eliot, Hardy, Galsworthy, Maugham, Huxley, and Waugh all were more than worth my time (especially Les Miserables, Deronda, and Eyeless). Sartre and O'Brien brought on the two most challenging of the pack and I know I must return to those to gain full measure their gifts.

Also just finished:
Zeno's Conscience -Svevo (who was a English language pupil of Joyce--and Joyce read Svevo's work and encouraged him to continue writing).
and
The Enchanted Wanderer -Leskov
-This felt somewhat like the story within a story structure of Arabian Nights, albeit simple and not nearly as long.

I just finished Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons. It's a brilliant parody on the novels by the Bronte Sisters and Jane Austen.

Craig wrote: "Also just finished:
Zeno's Conscience -Svevo (who was a English language pupil of Joyce--and Joyce read Svevo's work and encouraged him to continue writing).
and
The Enchanted Wanderer -Leskov
-Thi..."

How did you like Zeno's Conscience? I'm starting to read it soon.

I just finished Nights at the Circus. I gave it 3 stars. Not my favorite.

Just finished Umberto Eco's "The Name of the Rose". 5 Stars.

I finished To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and started A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami.

Ed wrote: "Just finished Umberto Eco's "The Name of the Rose". 5 Stars."

I'm reading this right now, I hope I'll like it as much as you do!

I just finished The Judge and His Hangman by Friedrich Dürrenmatt.

Sophia wrote: "I finished To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and started A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami."

Edited to add:
A Wild Sheep Chase is not a list book, although Murakami has many books on the list.

Just finished Life of Pi by Yann Martell. It was engaging, but I think I would have liked it more in my youth.

Just finished The Three Musketeers. It was way different than what I was expecting!

The Death of Ivan Ilych. This was a short read but packed a big punch!

The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolaño; review here.

Howards End - absolutely fab, why didn't I read it years ago!

Finished Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov yesterday. I enjoyed it but I think parts of it may have gone over my head!

Dracula - I liked it so much better when I was younger.

I just completed The Sea. It was unique and definitely belongs on the list. I may have read it too early as it was set in the summer, by the sea and perhaps would make a great beach novel; just a suggested opinion.

Heather wrote: "Howards End - absolutely fab, why didn't I read it years ago!"

I just finished it as well, and I agree! My review is here.

I just finished The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood and I just loved it.

Just finished The English Patient and I am still mulling it over. It is beautifully written, although the melodrama is not to my tastes ...

I just finished, "The Comfort of Strangers," by Isn McEwan. I previously had sworn off all McEwan's books, but though macabre I'm giving this book 5 stars! Well executed-quick read.

I finished The Color Purple this afternoon. I really enjoyed this book, although it was hard to read in some places because of the subject matter. 5 Stars

Strait is the Gait - Andre Gide ... Interesting and lovely short read

Zadie Smith's "White Teeth"...still mulling it over.

Finished "The Safety Net" by Boll yesterday. Dense writing, but well worth the time investment.

The Safety Net

A Room with a View by E.M. Forster; review here.

I finished Hideous Kinky by Esther Freud. I did not like it nor did I connect with the lead character. The day-in-the-life ramblings of a child did not interest me in this novel.

I've just finished Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernières.
I think I'm going to cry.
I really can't read another war anything soon.
This book is beautiful, the story while overly slow in parts, it's beautiful. Then the history of the war comes in and you just feel cold and numb, how can people be so cruel?
And the years those two lovebirds could have had!! WHY?!

I just finished Platform my Michel Houellebecq. I don't really know what to think about it. It was a super easy read, and interesting in a way, but it did feel like I was reading porn instead of a novel.

I love "Platform". Houellebecq is such a punk ass and boy is he fun to read.

I read Miss Lonelyhearts by Nathanael West. Depressing, but it only took a couple of hours to read.

Rachel (Sfogs) wrote: "I've just finished Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernières.
I think I'm going to cry.
I really can't read another war anything soon.
This book is beautiful, the..."

Absolutely one of my favorite books...

The Lion of Flanders - Conscience

The Lion of Flanders

Supposedly historical fiction, but reads more like a fairy tale. I could picture this made into a big screen film all the way though.

Joel wrote: "just finished Home by Marilyn Robinson. Loved it, couldn't put it down. reminded me of The Gathering by Anne Enright"

It did me also. I enjoyed both.

Aubrey wrote: "The Leopard; that did not go well at all."

There is a film version that might go better for you now that you have read the novel. Burt Lancaster stars, no less.