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The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy - lots of twists in this "detective" novel based in 1940s L.A.

Laura wrote: "I'm overjoyed to have FINALLY finished Don Quixote. It was very long and boring!!!"

Ditto that, Laura! That was a hard slog for me. I soooo wish it had been short, I think I would have enjoyed it. I wonder if they didn't have editors back then...

Editors existed but they weren't the same as they are today. They would typically be the ones who took a manuscript written by hand and put it into typeface for printing in folios, quartos, etc. they commonly made errors and spelled things based on their personal preference (this is before spelling was standardized).

-source I'm an English major who reads all the Norton historical essay introductions to the period, plus sometime they cover it in class

Stephanie "Jedigal" wrote: "Laura wrote: "I'm overjoyed to have FINALLY finished Don Quixote. It was very long and boring!!!"

Ditto that, Laura! That was a hard slog for me. I soooo wish it had been short, I think I would ..."

Haha I know it was definitely a mean feat getting through all of that! Glad I'm not the only one that found it hard work (one of my Spanish friends loves it and has read it TWICE!!)

Sorry, I haven't updated in the last month. Here are my latest:

July's People by Nadine Gordimer 4 stars
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 4.5 stars
Daisy Miller by Henry James 3 stars
Chess Story by Stefan Zweig 5 stars
The Book of Laughter and Forgetting by Milan Kundera 2.5 stars
Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell 3.5 stars


This is my first Kundera and I hope they get better than this, since he has a bunch on the list. Just not my thing.

Chess Story blew me away. Such a powerful little book. I look forward to reading more Zweig.

I Liked The Dogs of Riga (not on the list) better than Faceless Killers.
I Liked Purple Hibiscus (not on the list) a little better than Half a Yellow Sun, although that book was also very good.

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

Just finished The Quiet American by Graham Greene
very good book, Greene is fannnnnntastic.

/book/show/3...

Babbitt -Lewis
Look Homeward, Angel -Wolfe
Burmese Days-Orwell
Temptation of St. Anthony -Flaubert
The Return of the Native -Hardy
Tarzan of the Apes -Burroughs
The Rainbow- Lawrence

all were very good in their own various patterns and motives.

Dictionary of the Khazars by Milorad Pavić; review here.

I just finished Schooling by Heather McGowan and hated it. Stream of consciousness is not my thing in general, but this was truly the worst book I have ever read. I am starting to wonder why I am on a mission to read the 1001 list because this was truly a waste of time.

White Teeth by Zadie Smith; review here.

Finally finished all seven books in In Search of Lost Time. It has taken me all year. My question is why does this only count as one book by Boxall (4000+ pages) while some books in other series count as separate books?

The Maltese Falcon.

Um, hell yeah!

Jonpaul wrote: "The Maltese Falcon.

Um, hell yeah!"

amen jonpaul, helllll yeahhhh, the postman always rings twice or red harvest remind me of maltese falcon.

Steve, I love all three. Dashiell Hammett (veteran of both World Wars and buried at Arlington, by the way), Chandler, Cain, Thompson, and Ellroy are all among my favorites.

Also on the list and worth checking out is Chester Himes. I haven't read the novel on the list but I have read other books he wrote and he's terrific

Jonpaul wrote: "The Maltese Falcon.

Um, hell yeah!"

GREAT book!

Finished another one I have been working on for a while: Doctor Zhivago. (Not an easy read, but good)

I have also squeezed in a few shorter books in hopes of bringing my count up to 250 by the end of the year:
2001: A Space Odyssey (Great book)
Northanger Abbey (Not my favorite Austen, but still good)
The Wonderful O (Cute, but for a very young audience)

I have one more to finish to get to 250: The very short The Return of the Soldier.

FINALLY finished Roxana. It was such a drag in the middle! Here is my review:

Roxana

If you do check it out, please let me know if anything's too spoiler-y, I wasn't sure what should and shouldn't be given it's one of the classics.

I just finished Love's Work. It was a memoir, which I thought was strange for a book on the list. I thought it was ok except for some parts about philosophy that I zoned out on.

Finished In the Forest. Disturbing book, but very well written.

Just finished The Kindly Ones by Jonathan Littell. It took me a full 4 months (with long breaks) to slog through. It was worth it, I think. It breaks down a little toward the end though.

Starburn wrote: "Just finished The Kindly Ones by Jonathan Littell. It took me a full 4 months (with long breaks) to slog through. It was worth it, I think. It breaks down a little toward the end though."

That is a huge book. I saw it in a bookstore the other day for the first time.

Just finished #250! The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West.

Diane wrote: "Starburn wrote: "Just finished The Kindly Ones by Jonathan Littell. It took me a full 4 months (with long breaks) to slog through. It was worth it, I think. It breaks down a little toward the end t..."

It is. I read it on my kindle, which tells me how much longer it estimates it will take me to finish, and it was a little disheartening to see that I still had 16 or so hours left on it :)

Silas Marner. There's a fairly long chapter in the middle when it bogs down but it's a really worthwhile read. The whole beginning and ending of the book are morally and ethically infuriating in the best ways possible. It's a pretty seamless and compact book that I was close to loving but not quite in love with.

This Is How You Lose Her

The 39 Steps - short and easy.

I just finished The Blind Assassin

Karena wrote: "This Is How You Lose Her"

Hi Karena, I also read , but I didn't realize it was a list book. I knew that was on the list but I didn't realize this one was. When was it added?

It must be a newly added my list doesnt have it. Just his brief wondrous life of oscar wao, which I am listening to now on audiobook.

Finished The Color Purple by Alice Walker. Fantastic book!

This Is How You Lose Her isn't on the list. Just Oscar Wao.

Finished Father Goriot. Enjoyed it.

Black Dogs - McEwan
Black Dogs

Very, very good!

byZadie Smith Just a so-so read for me.

A Question of Upbringing, the first novel in Anthony Powell's "A Dance to the Music of Time".

I loved it. I may end up reading all twelve much more quickly than one per month.

Pride and Prejudiceby Jane Austen

Am I the only one who isn't a huge fan of Jane Austen?

I'm with you April. I've read two-Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion-and can't seem to really enjoy them. I have liked the Bronte I've read-Anne's "Tenant of Wildefell Hall" and especially Emily Bronte's "Wuthering Heights". Tonally, both writers are much different and much darker.

Jonpaul wrote: "I'm with you April. I've read two-Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion-and can't seem to really enjoy them. I have liked the Bronte I've read-Anne's "Tenant of Wildefell Hall" and especially Emily Br..."

Thank you for the comment, Jonpaul! I must admit that my "boredom" with Austen had put a negative taste in mouth for female authors of English literature in that particular time period. After my "recovery" I will try Wuthering Heights .

April wrote: "Pride and Prejudiceby Jane Austen

Am I the only one who isn't a huge fan of Jane Austen?"

omg all my teachers think she is the best and have put Northanger Abbey on their introductory reading lists, rather than Jane Eyre or something more sensible. The amount of rage I feel. I've read it twice and hated it both times.

I recommend Fanny Burney in her place. I thoroughly enjoyed Evelina and Cecilia, though Cecilia has a much slower start.

Finished A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce. Not my thing. Very different from Ulysses.

Amber wrote: "I recommend Fanny Burney in her place. I thoroughly enjoyed Evelina and Cecilia, though Cecilia has a much slower start. "

George Eliot is a bit later, but she is sooo preferable.

Elizabeth, I agree. I just finished "Silas Marner" and enjoyed it much more than Austen.

Jonpaul wrote: "Elizabeth, I agree. I just finished "Silas Marner" and enjoyed it much more than Austen."

That is one we read in high school. I enjoyed it then and I should re-read it. I have read both her Middlemarch and Daniel Deronda as list books, but I have others I hope to get to that are not on the list. One of the great things about the list is helping readers find authors they enjoy and can explore further.

Just finished "This Way For The Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen" by Tadeusz Borowski. Devastating and grim reading.

Interview With The Vampire. This was awful. I don't know why I expected it to be intelligent. The existentialism got boring very quickly. Everything was overly sensual, and not in a way I could appreciate.

Maggie wrote: "Interview With The Vampire. This was awful. "

Finally someone who felt the same way about this book! I don't get why it's so popular.

Amber wrote: "April wrote: "Pride and Prejudiceby Jane Austen

Am I the only one who isn't a huge fan of Jane Austen?"

omg all my teachers think she..."

Amber, you have me laughing out loud!

Diane wrote: "Finished A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce. Not my thing. Very different from Ulysses."

Diane, I detest James Joyce! He is the reason why I will never complete the full list!

Finished yesterday The Swimming-Pool Library by Alan Hollinghurst.
Finally finished. The parts in this book showing the prejudice and hate etc, shown to the gay community made me really angry. The rest of the book was just following the main character's 'rich kid' whims. Though the connection with his grandfather's politics career at the end of the book, was a clever link.