Books on the Nightstand discussion

September??!!

I am reading Teaching the Cat to Sit: A Memoir which was a book recommended by one of the booksellers at Boulder Booktopia. I really like this book. I'm also reading Ice Bound: A Doctor's Incredible Battle for Survival at the South Pole
which has been on my book shelf for too long.

In the car I'm listening to the unabridged version of The Year of Living Biblically and on my iPad I'm starting to listen to Astonish Me

I am reading and listening to .

I've just started Nobody Is Ever Missing and while I was initially intrigued, my enthusiasm may be fading. Lovely writing, though. It all reminds me of a denser Dept. of Speculation (which I loved.) I also WILL get to We Are Not Ourselves this month. I was given an ARC months ago but there were always too many other things in the way. Also planned for this month is the very slim The Spinning Heart, which has been on my radar since it first came out; finally grabbed it at a little indie bookstore while on vacation last week. Happy fall reading, all!

Was there ever a more exasperating character than Raskolnikov? He's so full of contradictory traits, that he's among the most realistic of all literary protagonists. Yet you'll find yourself yelling at him quite a bit, if you're the type that talks back to books. He just keeps shooting himself in the foot, all the while thinking himself superior to the others around him.

In addition to having one of the most fascinating characters, this novel is one of the most suspenseful page-turners of all 19th century novels. It's also a great glimpse into Russian life and culture. The grasping plight of the poor, who are yet able to be incredibly generous. The fondness for wild philosophical discourse over tea or vodka, The "I'll scratch your back if you'll scratch mine" system of doling out bureaucratic jobs. The passionate emotional intensity. The gregariousness. The sense of hospitality. The way that 19th century Russian culture was in thrall to French and English culture.

Ultimately, this is a crime novel where the identity of the criminal is known, but the struggle is not between the criminal and the law, but between the criminal and himself.

The Brothers K I love this book, but it is apparently about to turn terribly sad.

Yes, I finished two great books in one day!

Unlike the other Murakami books I've read, which engaged my mind (in a waking way that evokes the sleeping dream-state), this book engaged my emotions.

It's about emotional pain and how we sometimes try to protect ourselves from it by burying it. Burying memory. It's about finding closure. It's about finding love. It's about making yourself vulnerable enough to find love.

This book worked for me. It made me "feel all the feels" by avoiding being overly cloying and sentimental, and by choosing a protagonist who is "colorless" and can therefore stand in as an alter ego for any reader.

Murakami is not difficult or heavy reading, despite his reputation as a literary heavyweight. What makes him great are the mental and emotional states he's able to evoke using simple, matter-of-fact language. His books, even the very long can be read briskly.

Finished DE Stevenson's Miss Buncle's Book last night and quickly picked up Pig Tales: A Novel of Lust and Transformation by Marie Darrieussecq.

I am reading The Visionist for my book club. It is a little slow, but I am hoping it picks up. I also have The Lowland from the library that I am eager to start.

Looking forward to hearing what folks have to say about We Are Not Ourselves. My book club is a debut novels one, and I notice that book is a debut. The author is coming to my local indy bookseller next week; going to do my best to attend.

my Sept read is a very special copy of The Bone Clocks which I've just bought and had signed by David Mitchell - I am very excited to have met my favourite author and cannot wait to devour this book.

I started The Interestings. I like the characters so far.

Linda wrote: "September??!!

I am reading Teaching the Cat to Sit: A Memoir which was a book recommended by one of the booksellers at Boulde..."

Icebound is really fascinating. The resilience the men and women have to possess in order to isolate themselves for so long and in such extreme conditions is admirable. I could never subject myself to such isolation, but the book does well in creating the environment of Antarctica.

I'm reading and on ebook, in paperback and listening to I can't always listen to it though, as there are naughty bits and not appropriate for my 11 year old daughter. I am totally enjoying the other books so much that I find myself sneak reading at my desk.

I continue to read and . Just started because my sister-in-law highly recommended it. Also on the table is and .

i really loved salt sugar fat!

i'm now reading for my book club and after than i want to read (finally!):

Because of due dates, I started listening to rather than Maggie Shipstead's newest.

Despite wanting to reread all my Booktopia Asheville books right away, I am moving on—for now—with new titles. I finished Dragonfly in Amber, the second in Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series, and am reading a short fantasy novel, part of Catherynne Valente's Fairyland series, The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two. My audiobook is Michael Chabon's Telegraph Avenue. Quite a contrast between those two titles, but they're both terrific in their own ways.

This is the second book of Atkinson's Liberation Trilogy. It's as good as the first.

In this one we follow the Allies to Sicily, then to the landing on the Italian mainland at Salerno, and the long push to Rome through mountainous terrain. To assist the advance by providing a second front and cutting off German supplies to the south, another landing further north, at Anzio, is made. The troops at Anzio don't have as easy a time as expected, and are kept contained for months by the enemy.

Finally, the Allies break through and rush into Rome, just as Operation Overlord occurs at Normandy. This will be where the third book picks up, and I'm heading right into it.

I just finished Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands

Jen wrote: "I just finished Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands"

I did too! I just started in audio because everyone has said you must listen to the audio. I also have a copy of the book which I started over a month ago and then got distracted. In print, I just started

Just downloaded the audio version of Lee Child's latest Jack Reacher book, Personal. This is a first Reacher audio for me. I have a back log of books I'm reading, but needed to get my Reacher fix right away! Love the convenience of audio as a supplement. Any other audio folks out there?

started The Flight of Gemma Hardy

just started reading

James wrote: "Just downloaded the audio version of Lee Child's latest Jack Reacher book, Personal. This is a first Reacher audio for me. I have a back log of books I'm reading, but needed to get my Reacher fix ..."

James,
I'm a 2 hr a day audiobook listener because that's how long I'm on the road.

It takes me ten minutes to get to work.

Gerald wrote: "It takes me ten minutes to get to work."

It takes me less than 5 minutes if the light at the end of my street is green.

I was able to get a free audio of by joining the GoodReads group Ford audiobook club, introducing myself, and putting California on my TBR.

I was then sent a link to get the audiobook through Audible.

Audiophile, here! I commute just over an hour to work each way and audiobooks have saved my sanity.

James wrote: "Just downloaded the audio version of Lee Child's latest Jack Reacher book, Personal. This is a first Reacher audio for me. I have a back log of books I'm reading, but needed to get my Reacher fix ..."

Wow, great deal! I wonder if there are more available. I'm looking forward to reading that one.

Linda wrote: "Gerald wrote: "It takes me ten minutes to get to work."

It takes me less than 5 minutes if the light at the end of my street is green.

I was able to get a free audio of [bookcover:California|1877..."

Most of my listening is done on the job if the job I am doing allows me to listen. I usually do not listen at home.

Looks like I might be in luck! I joined the Ford Audio Book Group and will let you know if a code for California shows up in my inbox. Thanks for the great tip, Linda!

Sue wrote: "Wow, great deal! I wonder if there are more available. I'm looking forward to reading that one.

Linda wrote: "Gerald wrote: "It takes me ten minutes to get to work."

It takes me less than 5 minu..."

I was wondering and yes it's the Ford motor company! Just google Ford audio book club and that will take you right to it.Thanks

Just started reading . Wondering if I should have first re-read Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children since I read it so long ago.

I just started Where'd You Go, Bernadette and then The Painter, The Fever

Linda wrote: "Gerald wrote: "It takes me ten minutes to get to work."

It takes me less than 5 minutes if the light at the end of my street is green.

I was able to get a free audio of [bookcover:California|1877..."

same here!!

I get three miles of augobook listening every day walking the dogs.
Dogs got some extra mileage this week as I finished In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette. What a great story!I was so nervous even though I knew the ending.

Found The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History at my library on audio. Yahoo! Diving into this one!

To clarify, I listen to one book in my car, but going to work is so short that most of the CDs I get from my local library are listened to on longer trips (to the library, the grocery store which are 5 minute drives or every few weeks longer trips to Springfield - 20 minutes in each direction.) I listen to books the same way I read - one sentence at a time.

I also listen to books that I download from Ohio ebook project onto my iPad. These I listen to at work or occasionally at home (if I'm stationary).

I'm careful about what I listen to and where - something light and breezy works better in the car because of the limited time.

My husband lent me his iPod a few weeks ago and that was nice to listen while I walked around, but I haven't gotten completely committed to that. Yet.

I'm currently listening to "Sometimes a Great Notion" by Ken Kesey, which is particularly interesting to me as the setting is in Oregon and I recently moved here. Also reading "Free the Animals" by Ingrid Newkirk, which so far is better than I expected.

Linda I love my iPod to read because I have more space and battery life is better also I don't have to stream on the I pod like the iPhone. Battery life is my biggest consideration on the phone.

Janet wrote: "Jen wrote: "I just finished Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands"

I did too! I just started in audio becau..."

Did you like it? I didn't really expect the ending/last 40 pages.
And I LOVED The Martian. Couldn't do the audio (even if I liked audio) because it was so technical at parts that I had to re-read. I've made two other science nerds read it too :)

Just started Frog Music

I just finished Wonderstruck and loved it. Also reading Insurgent, The Book Thief, The Giver, and The Law of the Jungle. And lest I forget (since it's such a staple in my reading), various comic books.

Just finished "Shady Characters" by Keith Houston recommended in a podcast last October. I am a book nerd and I'm finding that I'm also a typography nerd. This is a great book for history nerds too.

For the book group I'm leading in September I'll be re-reading "The Guns of August" by Barbara Tuchman. For the book group I participate in I'll be reading "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith.

I've recently read "She is not invisible" by Marcus Sedgwick, shortlisted for the Guardian Prize. I will now read the other Guardian shortlisted books / authors for 2014. I've just read "Tall Story" by Candy Gorlay,which was a finalist for the Guardian Prize last year. Watch out for my review of this textured story. I've started reading "Shine" by her which is 2014's Guardian Prize finalist. Prolific and talented author!

As always, so many good books mentioned! I finished my ARC of The Bone Clocks. I really enjoyed it (I even left a review!) and think it has broken my fear of David Mitchell. I might move onto some of his other books now. Maybe.

I'm also 1/2 throughGlitter and Glue which I didn't think I would be interested in at all until I heard Kelly Corrigan on the podcast and she sounded so much like me or someone I would choose as a friend. I'm enjoying the book, she makes some very insightful comments about mothers, even when she's doing it in an unobvious way.

Whoohoo! I've finished , , and ! Now if only I can pick up where I left off with ...

Finally getting around to I love the show, hopefully the book will live up to the show (not something I normally say! Usually the other way around!)

Becky wrote: "started The Flight of Gemma Hardy"
How is it? Every time i see it at the library I think about getting it.

Tonya wrote: "Becky wrote: "started The Flight of Gemma Hardy"
How is it? Every time i see it at the library I think about getting it."
I will keep you posted, has a Jane Eyre feel to it

I love reading what everyone is reading, I get so many ideas to add to my shelf...if only there was more time.