i'm reading 'the streetbird' by this dutch author with a big name that i can't recall... i bought it because i was in amsterdam last year and thought that it'd be great to read a book about the dark side of the city... the prostitutes, red light district, etc.

i'm reserving judgement on it right now, though... its pretty dry so far.

before that, i read 'the bishops man' by timothy findlay, i believe... it was a pretty good book, for that genre.  reading about pedophiles gets a little old after awhile, and there wasn't anything in there that made it stand out from all the others.

Currently reading Tickle "The Great Emergence" and generally enjoying it even if I think her analysis is oversimplified or outright misses points at times.

Also re-reading "The LAst Week" for the book study group here,

I'm reading Jodi Picoult's "Sing You Home".  Excellent!

Caves of Ice by Sandy Mitchell.  You pretty much have to know what the Warhammer 40K Universe is to appreciate the book.

Well, let's see. Right now I am re-reading the Star Wars Darth Bane trilogy. Read them last summer and they were three of the best books I have read.

Supposed to be reading Ovid's Metamorphoses but kind of lagging right now. Been reading some Christina Rossetti poetry on the Kobo app on my BB and I think I like her. Need to read more.

Indigo Springs sounds interesting, Lighthouseghost. Will look it up. I like modern/urban fantasy but detest paranormal romance and that seems to be 90% of the contemporary fantasy being written right now.

Mendalla

 I'm reading Biocentrism: How Life and Consciousness Are the Keys to Understanding the True Nature of the Universe,".  Fasinating stuff, but I'm not totally sure I buy the argument.

I've been re-reading the Harry Potter series and the Outlander series while I wait for the final book in the Clan of the Cavebear series to FINALLY come out next week!

Mendalla,

I love my romance, but perfer it clearly marked as such. Stealth romance novels labled as fantasy annoy me. I just got off a string of them, and will be happy never to read another.

I'm just beginning The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.  I've heard a lot of great things about it, but so far I'm just distracted by the writing style and the unusual perspective. 

We shall see.

 I just finished reading Pillars of the Earth; definitley some differences from the tv miniseries.  Am now part way through the sequel, "World Without End'". So far so good.  Today I took a leap in the green direction and laid down (MY OWN) plastic on an ebike. It's going to take a bit to pay that sucker off but it should pay for itself in gas savings by and by.  Now I get to read...THE MANUAL!!

I am reading The Slight Edge which provides guidance on making small consistent changes to improve our capacity to reach our goals.  Next will be a rereading of 7 Habits.  I thoroughly enjoyed the Girl with the Dragon Tatoo trilogy and the movie version.  From Stones to Schools by Greg Mortenson is on my short list of intend to read books --Three Cups of Tea really inspired me, and encouraged greater anger at the mismanagement of the war in Afghanistan by NATO.

Anger, yes, but what Greg did in Pakistan and Afghanistan is also quite an inspiring story and should be the model for our efforts in the region rather than the military one.

My son's school did a fundraiser for Pennies for Peace and his class read the children's/YA version of Three Cups. I was then inspired to use the picture book Greg did based on Three Cups for a children's story at my UU fellowship.

As for the Girl... series, I've seen the first Swedish movie and liked it and will likely see the sequels at some point. Not sure how quickly I'll get to the books in this case.

Mendalla

My irritation is with the way monsters have been turned into quasi-angelic superheroes in the the genre. I don't have a problem with humanizing vampires and werewolves (as Rice did quite nicely in the Interview with the Vampire and Vampire Lestat before getting bitten by the brain eater when she wrote Queen of the Damned), but turning them into superhuman heroes is just as one-dimentional as making them tormented souls or superhuman villains.

Mendalla

I am also reading Multiple Intelligences: New Horizons by Dr. Howard Gardner and just finished, The Schools Our Children Deserve: Moving Beyond Traditional Classrooms and "Tougher Standards" by Alfie Kohn.

I'm rereading Weaveworld by Clive Barker.  He is one of my favorite authors and this is my favorite book by him.  It's about a magical world that has been hidden inside a rug.

I just finished 'Ben & Me" by Cameron Gunn - interesting read - non-fiction

I've started "Still Alice" by Liza Genova - too early to tell.  Seelergirl said it was both sad and uplifting

will be reading 'Sarah's Key" by Tatiana De Rosnay, and "The Bishops Men" for book club in the next two months

And I have "Room" on my reading list.

I am currently reading "Introduction to the History of Christianity", but it is mandatory reading and not much fun. "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie was my last fun read. Arnold "Junior" Spirit was a great character.

I am reorganizing my bookshelves, I think I need more shelves or fewer books.

I think that if they were actually quasi-angelic, I'd have less of a problem with them. I've run into too many of these novels where the "hero" is a total jerk/emotionally abusive/a creepy stalker, but it's totally okay for the heroine to fall for him in all his dickishness because he's a vampire with a soul/werewolf/minor deity/demon offspring of a Kitsune and a Selkie, and she's just a mortal. It's a dynamic that I avoid in straight up romances, and I don't understand why it's found a new home in urban fantasy.

More shelves!

While I would agree with that  in principle (there is no such thing as too many books) I haven't got anywhere to put any more shelves.  sigh.

Time for a Kobo?

Mendalla

I've never adjusted to reading actual books on a computer.  It just dosen't feel the same.

Rowan, a firend of mine told me that whenever she reads a book she decides 'is she likely to read it again or not?'   If she isn't, then she donates it to the public library or the church library.  Another friend, perhaps in a different financial bracket, takes hers to a second hand book store. 

I've got to find something to do with my books.  Last fall I loaded up several laundry baskets and took them to the church book sale.  Suspense novels - no matter how much you've enjoyed them the first time, once you know who-done-it then you aren't apt to read them again.  And cheap paperbacks deteriorate over a period of a few years - the pages turning yellow and brittle, the print shrinking.  Get rid of them while they are still in good condition.  Let someone else enjoy them.

On the other hand, I have books that I'm sure I will read over again in a few years, or that I just want to keep to remind myself of how much I enjoyed them - and of course other books that I keep for reference - mainly non-fiction.  I'm even careful when I loan these out. 

In the meantime, if after a caeful cull you still have more books than you have room for shelves for, consider double shelving - one row of paper backs behind the other.  Or hang shelves on the walls - above the TV, the bed, the computer desk, whereever. 

Another friend used book shelves to make a partition between the dining area and the living room of an L shaped room. 

My UU fellowship runs a book table after church on Sunday. People drop off their unwanted used books which are sold for something like 25 cents with the money going to the Unitarian Service Committee of Canada. USC is corporately separate from the Canadian Unitarian Council but it kind of functions as our M&S fund all the same.

Mendalla

All the books I have are the 'keep to re-read' or 'have been read a dozen times and will be read again' type.  I have five 5-shelf bookshelves, one of which is for my husband's books.  Except for the shleves with hardcovers on I do double stack the books, some times triple, one row of paperbacks on top of the other then a third row in front.  I could stock the sci-fi /fantasy section and a chunk of the general fiction section of a good sized library with what I own.

I thought that I would never be able to get used to an ereader, but I love mine.  It's much lighter than a book but is about the same size so I find my hand and arm don't go to sleep when I'm reading in bed.  The only thing I don't like about it is that I can't take it in the tub.  I'm looking into good ziplock bags that I could put it in to take it in the tub.

 Rowan, have you read any Dan Abnett?  He is by far my favourite 40k author. 

I am currently reading "Fidel and Ché: A Revolutionary Friendship" and thoroughly enjoying it so far!

As-salaamu alaikum

-Omni

I'm currently reading a book called "The Butterfly Mosque" by G. Willow Wilson.  Not too far into it yet, but basically it is a book about an American girl raised as an Athiest who converts to Islam, moves to Egypt, and falls in love with and marries a Moslim Egyptian.  She talks a lot about the culture and religion she experiences there.

But she does not talk specifically a lot about Islam or the Moslim faith, but rather her experience in it.  So, I have a question, Omni . . . perhaps one of those silly questions, but I ask in my lack of knowledge . . .

As I was reading she talks about the Qur'an and it is sometimes quoted.  My question is . . . You know how the Bible has so many different translations and versions, sometimes with quite a difference in the wording - does the Qur'an have different translations or is the text/language always the same?  Hope you pop in Omni and can answer this question.

I have studied Islam somewhat over the years so I'll attempt an answer in case Omni doesn't pop in. First off, the original Arabic text of the Qu'ran is regarded as the real text. If you're not reading it in Arabic, you're not reading the real Qu'ran, just an interpretation of it. Given this attitude, there are many translations/interpretations available in English and other languages but no Qu'ran not in Arabic is considered to be a "version" in the way the KJV or NIV is for English-speaking Christians. If there is any question about what the real Qu'ran says, you have to go back to the Arabic. This is why even non-Arab Muslims often end up studying Arabic. E.g. my son's friend, whose parents are a Pakistani and a Dutch convert to Islam, goes to religion classes at his mosque that include Arabic.

Mendalla

Now that I got myself a KOBO, I am reading Star Wars: Lost Tribe of the Sith. It is an ebook series that goes a bit deeper into the origin of the Sith. My KOBO came loaded with a bunch of classic books, so next up.....The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.

By the way. I am really enjoying my KOBO. I got the version with wifi. Pretty sweet.

Little Mendalla picked one up with money and gifts cards that he got for his birthday. Haven't been able to read it much myself yet (I want to check it out with a view to getting one for myself when my b-day comes up in a few weeks). He's actually reading "classics" through the free books right now and liking them. First was Treasure Island (which he tried reading on paper a year or so ago but didn't finish) now he's reading A Christmas Carol. He was eyeing the Lost Tribe free ebooks but I don't know if he's added them to his library yet.

I did start reading The Canterbury Tales but the way that they've interpolated the footnotes into the text in the Project Gutenburg edition that they used was getting on my nerves.

Mendalla

Is your son liking the Kobo? does he have the original or the wifi edition?

I thought that the switch from paper to ereading would be painstaking, but I actually really enjoy the experience. I am going to subscribe to a few magazines and news papers that will be sent right to my Kobo. I was excited to see so many included books as many of them I have wanted to read for a while. I deleated some of them however. Little Women just ain't my cup of tea.

For me, in general, the Kobo is a great purchase. The new edition is faster and you can download books right to the Kobo from the online store, thanks to the wifi addition. I really dig the reading experience on the Kobo.

The Lost Tribe books are good. They are shorter, at around 100 pages give or take, but they go a bit deeper in relation to the origin of the Sith. Great stuff.

Thanks for the answer Mendalla.

I just finished 'Still Alice' and would love to discuss it with somebody, either on this thread or starting a new thread.

I loved Room, Seeler!!!

Would enjoy discussing it when you have read it . . . P3

It's the new wi-fi edition. He really likes it. Neither Mrs. Mendalla nor I have had a chance to use it enough to say what we think of it. He's a great reader and I think the eBook is just going to get him reading more, esp. since our library has eBook lending on their web portal. We don't have wi-fi at home yet so we haven't tried managing the library directly on the Kobo. We're just hooking with USB and running the PC software. Someday I'll take it to work where I have an access point running and give it a try.

Mendalla

Raising a reader.

Just finished "Franny and Zooey" by J.D. Salinger. I loved it.

My wondercafe name cames from a song that was written for Franny.

I'm just finishing The Fuller Memorandum by Charles Stross. It's the third book in his Laundry Files series about The Laundry, a super-secret, super-bureaucratic U.K. spy agency battling beings from other dimensions and the humans who try to let them into our world. The mix of horror, espionage, paranormal investigation and humour is spot-on for my tastes. Can get a bit grisly at times (there's a really squicky cannibalism scene in this episode) so be warned.

Oh, and if you have a Kobo, there's a free eBook edition in their store of the short story "Overtime" by Stross, which is set in The Laundry universe just after the third novel. It's not completely standalone (i.e. it helps if you've read at least one of the novels to know what's going on) but is also a fairly good intro to the universe of The Laundry.

EDIT: apparently, the eBook is no longer free. My son was on Kobo last night and they are now charging 89 cents for it. Still an inexpensive way to check out the series before you go for the novels, though.

Mendalla

 I like my husband's Kobo because I can lay in bed while I nurse my son to sleep and read it and because it is so light I can hold it up and my wrist doesn't get sore as fast and carpal tunnel doesnt' make hand go to sleep so quickly. (Whew long sentece. Almost as bad as the apostle Paul)

I just finished reading 'Sarah's Key'.  A gripping book, difficult to put down.  But somewhat disturbing - I was hoping for a different outcome for one character. 

Warning - very sad in places.  Will bring tears, or anger, or both.

Seeler,

Have you seen the film?

It loses itself after a good beginning - but it's still very disturbing on many levels.

 Water For Elephants comes into theaters on Friday.  I LOVED the book. I wonder who will go see it with me?  I'll ask my Mum.

Pilgrim - I didn't know there was a film.  Is it on DVD?  

I hate books where they kill little boys, after they've made us love them.  I kept hoping right to the moment that he would have been found in time and raised by a kind family passing him off as their own.  Maybe after many years he and his sister . . .     But that wasn't the story.   I did find the book gripping, hard to put down, but very disturbing.  Could it happen again - here?   Of course it could. 

Seeler - I read "Still Alice" a while ago - loved it; thought it to be quite an accurate portrayal of the slip into Alzheimers, and so extraordinary to be told from the first person perspective.

I've just started "The Help" by kathryn Stockett.  It opens in 1960 Mississippi, a story being told in the voice of a black woman who is a maid - this is while segregation was still the way of life in the South.  I visited Mississippi (my aunt lived there) in the 60's and was so struck by the attitudes of segregation - it seemed almost incomprehensible to me as a Canadian kid.  So I'm looking forward to getting further into the book.  In fact, I think I'll turn off the computer & go read right now!!

I just finished  Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. I loved it. I have ordered in the next two from the library.

 Carolla, "The Help" is on my to-read list.

I am roughly half way through "The Diary of Ann Frank."  My daughter ordered it from Scholastic.

As for Water For Elephants, I just read the movie reviews.  It is as I suspected wih Mr Vampire in the leading role.  Cinematography, great.  Elephant, a joy to behold.  Acting?  Meh.  But I still want to see it on the big screen. Elephants look better that way.   If they change the ending from the book or move it to NOT the ending of the movie, I'm gonna be PISSED! (the ending of that story is one of my all time favorites)