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I just finished White Noise by DeLillo. I wasn't thrilled. I'll be starting Animal Farm tomorrow.

Denise, Really?! I was just about to start Cocaine Nights... and it took me forever to find it! Well I'll keep you posted as I get into it!

I just finished The Time Traveler's Wife, not on this list but a great book still.

I just finished, "girl bomb: a halfway homeless memoir," and "me talk pretty one day," by dave sedaris... both were good.

Thanks, Coalbanks! I'm quite pleased with myself also!

It will be awhile before I tackle "The Odessey".
I'm reading "Middlemarch" now along with some lighter fare, so I'm pretty busy for the time being.

V. by Thomas Pynchon. One of my least favorite books read in quite a long time. But I can check it off my list now.

It took everything I had in me to get through The Sound and the Fury. Did you enjoy it? Perhaps I just missed what was so wonderful about it and need to give it another try...

Kristie, I might have been hasty in my judgement. Sometimes it's good to be annoyed; I feel more compelled to explain myself and that makes me think harder. Curious to see what you think of it.

I just finished "The Moonstone" by Wilkie Collins. My review: "...meh..." Not my favorite, just sort of blah.

tess

I just finished "To Kill a Mockingbird ". Awesome. Just started "Quentins" by Maeve Binchy

Just reread East of Eden and Tortilla Flat in preparation for a California coast trip.

I heart Steinbeck.

If you have the time, you should make a stop at the Steinbeck museum in Salinas CA. My wife and I went there a few years ago as part of a trip to Monterey and we really enjoyed it.

OKAY -- WHICH BOOKS DID YOU HATE/DIDN'T READ IN HIGH SCHOOL -- BUT NOW ENJOY?

For some reason, I can't post a heading.

So maybe all caps will grab your attention?

Darcy,

I never warmed to Owen Meany, and I'm one of the few. So many love that book. Meany was quite a memborable character, and like the narrator, I'm planning to move (back) to Canada, in protest of the political situation.

But I just found the Catholic (?) stuff contrived -- to many coincidences. I liked the intellectual minister, but I'm that kind of girl.

Still, I never forget Meany's small role in some play -- "There are no small roles!" Reminds me of my favorite actor, Mongomery Clift's performance in "Judgemment at Nuremburg, who, in minutes, blew all the other actors away. Hmm-- if I can remember this much since I read it over 15 years ago, maybe it's a better book than I thought.

I finished "Middlemarch" last night. George Eliot was already one of my favorite writers of this era, and her status is secured for all time with the addition of this this. Unlike some others, I loved "Silas Marner" and "Ethan Fromm", so of course I loved "Middlemarch"!

I can't wait to read her stuff, Judith. Which is your favorite? I have been looking forward to Silas Marner, Mill on the Floss, and Middlemarch. Would love to know where to start...

I've just finished the Witch of Portobello by Paulo Coehlo.

And now, The Book Thief...

Jenn, glad to hear you "heart" Steinbeck. He is really amazing...was just having a conversation about his work in another group. You should read Cannery Row as well...it is a great read, as well as quick.

I read Travels with Charley earlier this year and really enjoyed it. Have you read it? Which Steinbeck is your favorite so far? I am trying to decide which should be my next Steinbeck read: East of Eden, Tortilla Flat or Cannery Row? Suggestion?

The one book I remember not liking in hs is Grapes of Wrath - I thought it was so boring. Reading it later in life, I won't say I LOVE it, but I certainly enjoyed it more and appreciated the struggles of the Joad famly.

Linda - I'm a big Steinbeck fan. I highly recommend East of Eden -- one of my all-time faves.

Just finished Middlesex. Very interesting and well written. I was almost disappointed when the book ended, as I wanted the journey to continue.

Kevin-
I have two glorious days dedicated to the Museum, Cannery Row and the agriculture areas to the direct north and south. Any places in particular that you enjoyed for dining?

My personal favorite Steinbeck is East of Eden. I struggled with Grapes of Wrath in HS and was on a vaction in Oklahoma, found a used copy and decided to try it again about 10 yrs ago and I loved it. Its relevant somewhat in our current economic woes- however the abruptness to the ending of the book always gets me. Travels with Charley is on my nightstand as prep work as well. Tortilla Flat is a quick, lovely snapshot of that area as well as Cannery Row- read them together if you can!
Apparently in the Big Sur area exists the Henry Miller Library- so I have more reading to do!!!

Linda, I too would recommend East of Eden. Beautifully written.

As part of my 50 Novels in a Year reading challenge, I've just begun a 'Steinbeck Special', which consists of reading four titles - Tortilla Flat, Of Mice and Men, Grapes of Wrath and The Pearl. So far I've only read Tortilla Flat and I've already fallen in love with his writing - what an absolute genius!!!

Never let me go ... Vietnamese's translation :D

First of all, I should correct my attribution of "Ethan Fromm" to Eliot! I meant "Adam Bede"!

My favorite is still "Silas Marner" followed by "Meddlemarch", then "Adam Bede".

"Silas" affected me pretty strongly when I read it years ago, and I still remember feeling as if I had been let in on one of life's little secrets with Silas' character. I was quite young and naive, and
thus shocked at his behavior, yet I still thought I had come to understand him in the end. Quite poignant for a teenager!

OH, and "Mill on the Floss" is right up there with "Adam Bede". I forgot that one!

Thanks for the reminder, Charity!

Thanks Judith! I'll have to pick some Eliot up in my next splurge. :-)

Judith if you like those try, more Edith Wharton I told class once where we read all her books, short stories and I had great fun with almost also (I think Ethan Fromm was my least favorite). Her ghost stories are along the lines of my all time fave "Turn of the Screw" by Henry James.

Happy reading!

Linda,

I have not read East of Eden or Cannery Row but they are on my list of books to read. I have read Tortilla Flat and I have to say it was very funny. I'm not sure if it was meant to be funny but I laughed quite a bit when I read it. I thought The Grapes of Wrath was strange but it was an ok book. Of Mice and Men was strange too. I'm not sure if I am a big Steinbeck fan; I will have to read a couple more to find out which way I go on that.

I just read Candide for the first time.
Great book!!

Courtney:

I do already love Edith Wharton, and she was so prolific! You can always depend on her books to be excellent historical fiction. Which is your favorite?

Has anyone read "The Winter of My Discontent"?
I have had that one on my tbr list and on my shelf forever!

I finished Lord of the Flies. I really liked. It was eerie and disturbing, but well written.

I just finished the Country Girls Trilogy and Epilogue by Edna O'brien. I really liked it. Had I read it at a different time in my life I would have been frustrated with the characters. Now, I appreciate O'brien's sympathy and compassion while portraying people muddling through, thwarted by circumstance and their own very human weaknesses.

Judith, The Winter of My Discontent has also been sitting here on my shelf unread. I have heard nothing but good things about it.....that it is a gem, but gets completely overshadowed by his other works. I think I'll pick it up when the weather turns. Seems like a great hibernation read.

Judith-
Winter of Discontent is a glorious book- Its 100 percent relevant today and the inscription to his sister has always touched me.

Just finished The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo. Great book really enjoyed probably more than Les Miserables.
As for George Eliot I've only read Daniel Deronda, great book when your're travelling from Heathrow through Singapore to Auckland by yourself. Trip took about 36 hours, and I was still reading at the end.

"The Age of Innocence" by Edith Wharton. I didn't expect to like it as much as I did. I thought the ending was perfect.
Right before that, I whipped through "The 13 Clocks" a children's story by James Thurber (off the new, expanded list). Delightful and delicious.

"The Children" is up there at top, but not "House of Mirth" because to close to my own family's archaic values. That being said, I do like Lily Bart...What about you?

Are you a Henry James fan as well or is he too misogynistic for you? I take him with a grain of salt and love "Washigton Square".

My fave of all fave books though is Virginia Woolf tie between "Room of my Own" and "Orlando".

Happy reading!
Peace,
C

I just finished rereading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and I have to say that if you only read it as a child, you should break it out again as an adult...you get WAY more out of it! Twain is my hero. Very entertaining read.

I just finished "Death in Venice" by Thomas Mann ***

Probably to my own discredit as a literary critic, I really didn't "get" this book as well as I expected to. It has been raved about so often. I thought the professor was more physically and mentally ill than anything else and not much happens. Lots of excellent symbolism though and beautiful word pictures.

Courtney, don't know if you were addressing me in your last post; but I'll respond nevertheless.

I did like "The House of Mirth" and "The Age of Innocence" very much. Also "Ethan Frome". That may be all I have read by her to date...can't think of any others.

I am a Henry James fan: and I don't really think of him as misogynistic -- just a man of his times, I guess. I've read "The Aspern Papers", "The Turn of the Screw", "The American", "The Golden Bowl". Did he also write "Women In Love" or was that D.H. Lawrence? "What Maisie Knew" and "Daisy Miller" are on my wish list right now. I've not read "Washington Square". Is it especially good?

I LOVED "Orlando" and "A Room of One's Own"!

When I read East of Eden a few years ago, I finished and sat looking at the cover and thought "This is the classic example of a classic." A book that will always be relevant, always a good rood, a book that will always move people.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime

I finished it in a day... it was a refreshing read but Christopher just tugged at my heart strings.

Of Mice & Men by Steinbeck...amazing read!

Courtney & Judith,

I love Edith Wharton, especially House of Mirth. The movie starring Gillian Anderson is particularly well done, but then, so is the Scorsese movie of Age of Innocence.

I had never read Henry James, and I know he and Wharton were great friends, so I decided to tackle Portrait of a Lady. I really didn't know the story at all, except that the "lady" of the title is wronged in some way. Well, I read part 1, and I really liked Isabelle Archer, but I was starting to get nervous about the machinations of her so called friends. At this point I made the mistake of reading the inside flap, which told me who she marries. ARGHHHH! I always intended to read part 1, take a break to read some shorter, escapist books, and then go back. But I've been unable so far to pick it back up. I don't want her to marry that guy!!!!

Just finished Choke. It was entertaining and I got to feel all hip and irreverent while reading it, but I don't think it deserves a place on this list.

It did make me (and my wife) laugh out loud and that is invaluable.