orangeena's 75 for 2008

Getting a late start documenting but here is the list so far:

1. American Creation Joseph Ellis
2. Age of Upheaval Jay Winick
3. Journals: 1952-2000 Arthur Schlesinger, jr.
4.When a Crocodile Eats the Sun Peter Godwin
5. Geography of Bliss Eric Weiner
6. Real Food Michael Pollan
7. God's Problem Bart Ehrman
8. The Moonstone Wilkie Collins
9. The Quiet American Graham Greene
10. Possession A.S. Byatt
11. Breakfast at Tiffany's Truman Capote
12. The Return of the Native Thomas Hardy
13. The Nine; Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court Jeffrey Toobin
14. Bridge of Sighs Richard Russo
15. The Rest is Noise Alex Ross
16. Eat, Pray, Love Elizabeth Gilbert
17. King, Kaiser, Czar Catrine Clay
18.Inside the Frame: My Life in Words and Pictures Helen Mirren

some editing of my first post. thanks for the tips and your patience.

Welcome orangeena,

I see you have tackled a Graham Greene there. I was recommended to The Heart of the Matter and read it, expecting much from the recommendation. I can't say I was disappointed but I can't say I was thrilled either. I had a funny feeling after reading it that I missed something alonlg the way?!?!?! Did you like The Quiet American? I would like to try another Greene but am afraid that I will end up with the same unfulfilled yet not quite unhappy feeling at the end.

Hello blackdog - this is my one and only Graham Greene. I can't promise you won't feel unhappy and unfulfilled if you read it, but if so, it will likely be the story that elicits those feeling and not his writing. He is quite good at painting the atmosphere of SE Asia and developing his characters. He is both direct and subtle(somewhat Hemmingway-esque), telling a big story in little pieces and when you are through you realize the force of what he has written. This book, of course, is a story of naivete and arrogance in American foreign policy - Greene, writing in the '50s, had an amazing prescience of what woes were building from mistaking theory as reality. Give it a try - it is a short book.

18. In the Frame Helen Mirren

This is my second post to the group - only joined a few days ago. I hope I am getting this touchstone notation right - not sure why a few key words seem to bring up and then list an entirely different book but continuing to plow on. Hopefully someone will advise if I'm off base and I'll try to correct any errors. Meanwhile - this is great and its a joy to see what others are passionate about reading and what they absolutely detest!

Orangeena - put single brackets around the title and then double brackets around the author's name.

With the book touchstones... if the one that pops up isn't the correct one you can usually click on 'others' and look through the list to find the right one.

Thanks for the encouragement on the Greene novels. I did quite enjoy his writing to set the scene of the story in The Heart of the Matter, so I would probably enjoy The Quiet American also for that reason. Your review of the book was very insightful and should help when I embark on that journey.

19. Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri Her third book and best yet, IMHO. Collection of short stories, beautifully crafted.
20. A Lifetime of Secrets one of Frank Warren's books of collected postcards bearing secrets from people of all ages and walks of life. Heartening, despairing, hopeful, painful - very moving.

21. Come to Think of It by Daniel Schorr
22. The Miracle at Speedy Motors by Alexander McCall Smith

23. The Memory Keeper's Daughter Kim Edwards

Orangeena - what did you think of #23?

dihiba- I thought it beautifully written- she strikes a very believable balance between struggle and darkness and hope and redemption -also a story almost everyone can relate to in one way or another - the ripple effects of what we do, forgivness, going on in spite of righteous anger, so many things.
I don't read a lot of contemporary fiction. This was recommended by a friend and I'm really glad I read it. What about you - have you read it? thoughts?

Yes, I have read it. I thought the story idea was v.good - I was really drawn into it at first. But I found her writing very uneven - that said, I believe it was a good first novel and hopefully she will keep writing more books that will show her maturity.
You might find it interesting to read the LT reviews on this book - there are lots of opinions that vary widely!

24. The Life of the Skies by Jonathan Rosen nature writing, history, philosophy

"Environmentally, our fate is intertwined with the natural world around us, and so the more we protect it, the more we protect ourselves. We need to subdue the natural world in order to thrive in its midst, but subduing it too fully will ultimately destroy us."

25. The Bookseller of Kabul. If you were expecting a lovely little story of the triumph of literacy and love of books in war torn Afghan culture, not for you. I found it progressively more and more depressing and dreary. Ferocious and oppresive misogeny beyond comprehension, hopelessly despairing society filled with violence, stifling poverty and disease. The author who was a war reporter and lived with the family of the bookseller of whom she wrote was oddly removed emotionally from the story, for the most part. It is horrific - couldn't wait to finish if and move on.

26. The Life of Thomas More by Peter Ackroyd

"He embodied law all his life, and he died for it."

27. What Moves at the Margins: Selected Nonfiction by Toni Morrison

"All water has perfect memory and is forever trying to get back to where it was. Writers are like that; remembering where we were, what valley we ran through, what the banks were like, the light that was there, and the route back to our original place."

28. The Life and Times of Elizabeth I by Neville Williams
one in the series Kings and Queens of England edited by Antonia Fraser

"...there will never queen sit in my seat with more zeal to my country, care for my subjects and that sooner with willingness will venture her life for your good and safety than myself. And though you have had, and may have, many princes more mighty and wise, sitting in this state, yet you never had, or shall have any that will be more careful and loving."

29. When We Get to Surf City by Bob Greene

"But in the middle of a person's life, or so it turns out, it is possible to find that feeling. Because just when we think we have given up on ever capturing again the freedom and the exhiliration and the blithesome mornings of our world when it was first forming; just when we have begun to settle in for the long, slow slide; just when the sun begins to feel not so high in the sky......Sometimes something happens to keep the sun up there a while longer. Sometimes we find something we weren't even aware we were looking for.
If we're lucky, we run to catch up with it before it has the chance to leave us behind."

30. The New Yorker Book of Literary Cartoons edited by Robert Mankoff

31. Middlemarch by George Eliot

32. Ladies of Liberty by Cokie Roberts

33. Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers

Harriet Vane shows up in Lord Peter's life. Vane is based on Sayers herself, and although only introduced and not really developed as a character, this sets the stage for their future partnership.
Witty, literate, and lively writing. Easy and fun read.

34. Rabbit redux by John Updike

Updike is an accomplished wordsmith and the beauty of his writing is the only thing that keeps me coming back to the 4 Rabbit Angstrom books. Sordid and depressing characters acting and reacting at the basest of levels. Haven't seen redemption yet.

Well, you just hit on the reason I did not get more than about 30 pages into the first Rabbit book....I am just not an Updike fan....I've tried several and never gotten through any of them.

I'm questioning my will to complete the foursome. I start out so hopeful and really enchanted by his writing, but inevitably the squalor and bleakness make it difficult to continue. I would never be accused of being a naive optimist, but I can't agree with anyone who calls these the realities of middle class America.

Definitely agree. I don't need every book to be hopeful but there are plenty of hope filled lives out there and the same is true of stories. The gritty can be interesting but sometimes it seems authors think to be art or to be good, it has to be gritty and dark. One of my favorite new authors argues against this trend. Kent Haruf. I highly recommend Plainsong and Eventide as they both are about real people facing real troubles but whose lives filled me with hope.

35. Creators: From Chaucer and Durer to Picasso and Disney by Paul Johnson

essays about outstanding creative spirits and their outputs. Informative, well written, valuable for those with interest who don't wish to wade through voluminous bios of each.

36. Have His Carcase by Dorothy L. Sayers

Hi. I write regarding #26 book that you posted regarding A Life of Thomas More. A few months ago I read the book Portrait of an Unknown Woman by Varona Bennett. You might want to add this to your to be read book. The story was an interesting one regarding Hans Holbein and his paiting of More's family.
Thomas More was a fascinating man indeed.

37. People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks

much reviewed at LT so I won't add too much. A compelling page turner but a rushed and deus ex machina ending keeps it from being really great, IMHO.

38. Fugitive Denim; A Moving Story of People and Pants in the Borderless World of Global Trade by Rachel Louise Snyder

hi orangeena -- book 38's title caught my attention. i suppose it's a non-fiction about the "evils" of globalization? how did u find it?

yes, deebee1 - there is a strain of those conclusions through the book. It is more, however, - really the intricacies of the garment industry through cotton growers, factory workers, designers, marketers from Cambodia to Italy. It is written by an investigative journalist and as opposed to dry statistics and impending doom, she makes it more personal and leaves the reader to apply their own logic. That makes it a better read, but there are so many disperate threads that it is difficult to bring them all together and while some economic, environmental, personal implications are clear, the book often seemed too disjointed. I did not like it as well as The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy written several years ago by Pietra Rivoli which was easier to follow, IMHO.

39.Moyers on Democracy by Bill Moyers

He is brilliant, he is wise, he is eloquent.

Moyers on Democracy looks great. I put it on my wish list back when he was doing the rounds to promote it -- hopefully I'll be able to squeeze it in before the election.

40. Magnifico: the Brilliant Life and Violent Times of Lorenzo de' Medici by Miles Unger

Meticulously researched, laboriously footnoted - fascinating life of Lorenzo the Magnificent, first among equals, amidst the labrynthine world of Florentine politics, wealth, power struggles, art and culture, and the Church during the Renaissance.
The author seemed to follow every rabbit trail which presented itself and the narrative line of the life of Lorenzo was often hard to hang onto in the middle of the history, the families, the rivalaries, and the battles - almost more than a reader can keep in mental capacity. Nevertheless, a rich and entertaining book.

41. Counselor: A Life at the Edge of History by Ted Sorensen

He is one of the last of the JFK administration - his valued friend and speech writer, responsible for much of Kennedy's oratorical gems. It is impossible not to appreciate his stature and his love and loyalty to JFK. Still, it is steeped in hero worship -Kennedy's foibles and miscalculations excused or explained as aberations or misinformation with constant assurances that had he lived through a second administration civil rights, Vietnam, nuclear proliferation, and a host of other domestic and foreign issues would have been solved with Kennedy's wisdom and integrity.
Interesting and pleasant to read but other memoirs of the Kennedy years are better references.

42. The Age of American Unreason by Susan Jacoby

How did you like Jacoby's book? I put it on my wishlist when it came out and I'm curious to know what you thought of it.

#39 - as I am sure you know, this is an examination of the strains of anti-intellectualism and anti-rationalism that prevade our society and culture today. It is well researched and certainly thought provoking, if not despairing to realize the loss of "middlebrow culture" and appreciation of intellect and serious thought as well as rational science in the lives of Americans today. She particularly diatribes against the fundamentalist religious right and the pervasiveness of dumbing-down-media but thrashes both the right and left for their embrace of junk science and entertainment in lieu of investigation, research, and example.

Her conclusions and opinions are well supported, but much of the book is terribly repetitive and often labrynthine in reaching her resolutions. A book of half the words, more tightly constructed would serve its purpose better, IMHO.

43. This Land is Their Land by Barbara Ehrenreich

I read a description of this one in my book club this month and my interest was tweaked. What did you think?

#42- in reference to This Land Is Their Land

I would trumpet praise for Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickle and Dimed and also liked Bait and Switch. She is a no-holds-barred, rip-it-up commentator and this is a collection of short essays unified in theme of "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer." It is scathingly sarcastic and almost oppressively satirical - that doesn't dilute the disheartening truths of her theses, but it makes it a difficult and often unpleasant book to get through. She is rightfully outraged and angry about many things of which we should all take heed, but a less caustic approach would make for better reading and appeal.

44. The Summer of 1787: the Men who Invented the Constitution by David Stewart

45. Too Close to the Sun: The Audacious Life and Times of Denys Finch Hatton by Sara Wheeler

Hi Orangeena
I'm interested in learning your impressions regrding your most recent read of the book Too Close to the Sun: The Audacious Life and Times of Denys Finch Hatton. After reading Out of Africa, I read many books about Karen Blixen, and Denys Finch Hatton.
Both were exceedingly interesting people.

A recommendation here on these people. The Life and Destiny of Isak Dinesen collected and edited by Frans Lasson. Another great colleciton of information and stories on thes wonderfully interesting folks.

Also, if you liked these folks because of their adventurous spirits, you must read West With the Night. Beryl Markham, in my mind, is one of the most interesting people I've ever read. Hemingway even commentd that she was surprisingly great writer, and she had great stories to tell because of the unusual life she led.

Too Close to the Sun: The Audacious Life and Times of Denys Finch Hatton has been on my wishlist forever! Perhaps it'll end up in my basket the next shopping trip I take. And West with the Night sounds fab as well. Must add that too. Thanks blackdogbooks!

Hi to all.
I agree with both of blackdogbooks recommendations. Both books noted are excellent. Beryl Markham wais yet another fascinating person. Her story is worth reading.

In my previous post I forgot to mention the following books that might be of interest regarding Beryl Markham, Dennis Finch Hatton and Isak Dinesen, they are as follows:
Bror Blixen The African Letters by Bror Blixen
Out of Isak Dinesen in Africa: Karen Blixen's Untold Story Linda Donelson
Splendid Outcast:Beryl Markham's African Stories byBeryl Markham

Excellent Whisper1, I'll add those as well!

I've read Markham's West with the Night but not her African stories or any of the Dinesen biographies. Thanks for the recommendations - this life of Finch Hatton is a good addtion to the literature of these times. He is fascinating - certainly daring and also immature in many ways as well. The book is an easy and quick read.

West with the Night has been on my TBR list for oh, a century or so now, so I will bump it up. Maybe next week's trip to the library.

alcottacre,

from the looks of the books you read, I think you will love Markham's memoir. Her prose is spare and direct but so beautiful and her courage and adventurous nature is inspiring. I have reflected on the book so often since reading it. I may go back to my profile page and add it to my list of all time favorites now that I am thinking about it.

I've just mooched a copy of West with the Night!

#54 blackdogbooks: I don't know what can be told from what I read since I seem to be all over the place, but I am definitely going to have to check out West with the Night. Did you ever add it to your list of favorites?

46. Bleak House by Charles Dickens
With the blessing of vacation 2 weeks ago and lots of reading time, I finished BH. I have always appreciated Dickens for his unsurpassed abilities as a storyteller, but in this book I have come to marvel at him as a writer - really, his imagery is without equal. I know this tome's length and its well deserved reputation of being a labrynthine plot and burdened with innumerable characters is offsetting, but it is a splendid piece of literature and worth a reader's investment of time and thought.

47. The Friendly Dickens: being a good-natured guide to the art and adventures of the man who invented Scrooge by Norrie Epstein

His work is much more admirable than he was personally. Perhaps his flaws were integral to his talents and they certainly don't diminish his oeuvre....still, not exactly a laudable guy.

Hi Orangeena

Noting books #46 and #47 makes me smile. I, like you, seem to like to read books by or about the same author consecutively. I read Rick Bragg's books this way and now seem to be on a Joyce Carol Oates reading path.

yes, I sometimes go on mini binges with an author or a subject.

48. Ex Libris : Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman
winsome essays on the delights of bibliophilia

#60: Ex Libris is one of my favorite books. Every time I read it, I feel like it was written especially for me.

Anne Fadiman has put out another book of essays titled At Large and At Small, if you are interested. I did not enjoy it to the extent that I do Ex Libris, but it is still worth the effort of reading.

#61 -
Thanks for the tip - I'll look out for it. In the same genre is Anna Quindlen and How Reading Changed My Life - a chorus of "yes, yes, yes" from me on every page.

adding to my list- #49
Forward From Here: Leaving Middle Age-and Other Unexpected Adventures by Reeve Lindbergh

#50 Predictably Irrational: the Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions by Dan Arierly
A behavioral economist shares research and commentary indicating in spite of information, education, morality, and experience, we deceive ourselves to think we are making sound decisions. In fact, we systematically and automatically overestimate, procrastinate and are subject to conditioning, emotion, and suggestion in making the most basic of decisions - all predictably irrational.
Short, easy read reminds us how we are really not in such control of ourselves and our thinking and deciding as we might think.

# 51 Great Tales from English History by Robert Lacey

an omnibus edition of his three volumes of true stories about the people and personalities who made Great Britian great

#52 Remains of the Day byKazuo Ishiguro

#53 The Shack by William Young

Hi Orangeena

Thanks for the tip regarding the Quindlen book How Reading Changed My Life I'm heading to my local library after work today to check out this book.

#64: I have read the first of Robert Lacey's Great Tales series, but not the other two. I will have to see if my local library has them. Did you enjoy the books?

#54 Dark Summit: The True Story of Everest's Most Controversial Season by
Nick Heil

in the tradition of Krakauer's Into Thin Air - adventure, reflection, increasing evidence of gross commercialism and excesses for the ultimate prize of mountaineering

#55 The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
difficult to put down - Collins is the author of two of the first great detective novels. This is suspenseful as well as cleverly written with the use of multiple narrators - very entertaining

I re-read The Woman in White this year and I loved it even more this time around. I've got The Moonstone, which I'm saving for autumn.

orangeena and hjelliot, after reading your comments, I've added The Woman in White to my list. I also read the reviews posted on LT and it sounds like a fascinating book.

Great to hear you are both so enthused about your future reads of Wilkie Collins. Unlike his contemporary, Dickens, he wasn't very prolific, but these two are certainly gems. Happy reading.

Once you get done with The Woman in White, you may want to try The Suspicions of Mr Whicher. Summerscale tells the story of a true crime, but also goes talks about how these real Victorian detectives influenced Collins and Dickens, etc, and vice versa.

Oooh, I've never heard of that one before. Added to list!

#56 The Optimist's Daughter by Eudora Welty

a small gem of a book which won the Pulitzer Prize in the 70s. Welty is not often mentioned in the pantheon of American literature and this is my first of her books. She is a Southern writer and this is the story of a young woman coming home and coming to closure following the death of her parents. Short, beautifully written - remarkable insights that jump out from the richness of the story telling.

#76: If you enjoy Welty, try One Writer's Beginnings. It is a rather short autobiography and well worth reading.

I just added the Welty books to my list.
I like the description of the Optimist's Daughter.

#57 Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six Word Memoirs By Writers Famous & Obscure

edited by Smith Magazine

Figured it out.
Mostly too late.

# 58 The Comforts of a Muddy Saturday by Alexander McCall Smith

#4 in the Isabel Dalhousie Sunday Philosophy Club series

#59 The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene
its official - Greene is not my guy. Too vague, not really feeling the angst and anxiety he portrays - too much Catholic guilt in this one as well. Thought of trying End of the Affair but not sure I can labor through if it is like this one.

#60 The Last Campaign: Robert F. Kennedy and 82 Days that Inspired America by Thurston Clarke

I'm curious to learn your thoughts about book #60.

I read a two volume biography of Robert Kennedy written by Arthur Schlesinger some years ago and it never left my mind. Bobby was brought alive in the biography in a way I was not used to with other biographies. It remains one of my favorite biographies.

Also, highly recommend the movie "Bobby" written and directed by Emelio Estevez. A real surprise of a movie for me. Worth the time to watch.

Thanks blackdogbooks. I will look for both of these.

The two volume biography is called Robert Kennedy and His Times

#83 & 84 -
The Last Campaign:Robert F. Kennedy and 82 Days that Inspired America is very good - a compelling look at a campaign driven by Kennedy's passion to fight injustice, racism, and poverty. He was not the charmer nor did he have the suave confidence of his brother, but he eschewed political wisdom and correctness for what he believed was morally right. Like him or not, it is a vivid contrast to the issues driving today's campaigns and those in them.
A good book

Sounds like The Last Campaign needs to go on Continent TBR. Thanks for the recommendation. I will also keep my eyes open for the 2-volume biography as well.

#61 Why We Hate Us: American Discontent in the New Millennium by Dick Meyer

#61 orangeena: Meyer's books sounds very good and definitely thought provoking. What did you think of it?

I am interested in your thoughts, too!!!!!

Who knew there could be two people interested in my thoughts!!!

The thesis of Why We Hate Us is in the midst of freedom and prosperity, our dislike and in some sense disgust with the culture we have created in America - the huge excesses, phoniness, vulgarity, material preoccupation, loss of faith in our institutions, saturation of media. He presents a detailed and very reader friendly examination - causes and symptoms.
It is really a good and important book to read - very prescient and certainly worrying; I wouldn't discourage anyone from it.

Lately there seems to be a spate of books examining the social fabric of our times - as I told alcottacre, I think I've overloaded a bit. It is easy to feel rather hopeless or swing to the other end of the spectrum and become somewhat jaded. I'm going to take a break and resort to something light such as Wurthering Heights. ;-)

#92 orangeena: I have put Why We Hate Us on hold at my local library - I am anxious to read it after having read your review.

I hope you like Wuthering Heights better than I do - I cannot stand it, lol.

BTW - I think it is very cool that we are so close to each other. Very small world.

Thanks for your thoughts.....and I am sure there are several more than just us two who were interested. I took a look at the book's page here on LT and was interested further. I often rant about the causual direction we have put ourselves upon and the constant lack of personal responsibility exhibited in pour new society. This sounds like something to read to help focus my feelings about these things.

Thanks.

Let me know what you think abou tWuthering Heights, yet another of those classics I seemed to have missed years ago and hope to read to help complete my literary education.

Count me among those who are interested in Why We Hate Us. It's going onto the enormous wishlist.

Please add me to the list of those interested in your thoughts/impressions of Why We Hate Us
I work in academia..I see the next generation of people who have a lack of respect for others and are part of a me generation that refuses to accept personal responsibility. I know I sound old, but I am very concerned about the future of the USA.

This book will be at the top of the TBR pile.

It seems that the message of Why We Hate Us has struck a chord so I am glad to have been able to recommend it. I first learned about it on NPR - the author is a digital columnist there. As a preview or for a quick fix without taking on his entire text, anyone interested might search the npr.org site with the book title - there is a review with Meyer reading from his book as well as an interview from "Talk of the Nation."

#62 Wurthering Heights by Emily Bronte

interesting how time and maturity can change literary perceptions. What was once a romantic story for the ages now seems a dark and disturbing tale of hatred, revenge, and dreadful isolation. Though beautifully written with some wonderful imagery, I was honestly quite relieved to finish it!
Just an aside - I always wonder about these eternal lingering illnesses of Victorian times depicted in such books - vague symptoms, physical and mental fragility, languishing for months on end, copious hand wringing and sorrow knowing the end is coming. Obviously, medical care and medicines were a far cry from anything remotely possible today, but these folk just seem to fade away........it gets to be a bit much after a while, even for me, and I am a great reader of Dickens, Austen, the Brontes, and the like.

I wonder, orangeena, if maybe the Victorian writers consciously chose what sounds to me like consumption over and over again because they were essentially a very squeamish bunch. Having your heroine/hero suffer from terminal Typhoid (all those gross fluids spewing all over the place) or diptheria (choking and gagging themselves to death) was probably just a little bit much for them. That's my idea on it anyway.

Orangeena, I agree with you regarding "these eternal lingering illnesses of Victorian times." While recently reading the book The Brontes, Branwell, Anne, Emily, Charlotte by Bettina Knapp, I was struck by page after page of doom, gloom and illness that occurred in all their lives...

Even poor Charlotte, who at last escapes some modicum of drudgery, and marries, becomes pregnant and then dies from "phthisis."

I checked this terminology on google and it was listed as "hyperemesis gravidarum," basically she died of uncontrolled morning sickness.

Yes, I agree with all these theories - certainly literary standards of the day would not have allowed for great detail of suffering, symptoms, etc. so consumption, bad colds, pnuemonia and the like seem to the sufferings of choice.
On the one hand you have these many characters trudging incessantly about the countryside or the moors - the Bennett girls, the Dashwwod sisters, Catherine Litton and Ellen Dean, and also the sisters in Woman in White. An ill wind or a rain seems to often be just the catalyst needed for an awfully long spell in bed with grevious sufferings and anxiousness ( and often just perfect for romance to bloom from somewhere for those heroines destined to triumph)! If a character needed to exit the story, they could then simply languish and fade away.

Woman in White will be moved up to near top on the TBR pile. Did you like this book?

Interesting to note that reportedly Charlotte was walking through the moors when she caught a very bad cold which precipitated the onslaught of her death....

I love the art of the Pre-Raphelities. The Victorian age was such an interesting time period. One of my favorite J.W. Waterhouse paintings (found on my LT home page) is The Lady of Shalott I read articles on this painting that referenced it was the Victorian belief that women should stay sheltered inside and not go out to face the perils of the world.

In Tennyson's poem, based on the Arthurian Legend of the lady of Astalat, it is only when the lady leaves her lonely room and stops weaving what she perceives dimly but does not experience in reality, and takes a boat down the river to see Camelot and Lancelot, that she dies.

Thus, as long as women remain at home, sequestered and virginal -- out of reach -- they are safe, but in traveling into the "real" world of men, they die.

Heavy stuff eh?

hee hee - keep women at home, sequestered and out of reach and then they are safe.....some man came up with that, no doubt!!

As for Woman in White - outstanding. I didn't think it could equal Collins' The Moonstone, but they are both excellent.

I have read The Moonstone but not yet tried Woman in White, so I will have to add it to Continent TBR.

#63 Can You Ever forgive Me? Memoirs of a Literary Forger by Lee Israel

Down and out writer finds fun and funds forging and stealing letters from the likes of Dorothy Parker, Noel Coward, Lillian Hellman and the like. Not exemplary conduct but hilarious.

I read about this one in a publication called "The Week" that has world wide news and such. Did you find it well written? I remember the review was a bit lukewarm!?!?!

#106 - I wouldn't add it to a list of must-reads, but it is funny and very short so the quality is not so much in the writing as in entertainment value.

#64 Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution and How it Can Renew America by Thomas Friedman

an important book about the challenges and opportunities of the future - his intelligence, his prescience and common sense combined with clear and coherent writing show why he has won 3 Pulitzers.

This one's definitely on my list. Friedman's The World is Flat was really good.

#65 Old Masters, New World: America's Raid on Europe's Great Pictures by Cynthia Saltzman

#110 orangeena: What did you think of Old Masters, New World? It looks very good!

re: #111
Interesting only if you really like paintings and knowing their provenance - lots about rich Americans who schemed and spent to acquire European masterpieces. An easy and quick read - I enjoyed it.

Sounds like I would probably like it. I will look for it. Thanks for the info!

Well, given that I liked The Billionaire's Vinegar about the same thing in the wine world, I'd probably like Old Masters, New World. I'll have to check into it.

Yes, they are similar books in some respects. Of course, the authenticity of most of the paintings is not the focus (as opposed to the wine sold as from Jefferson's collection) - the book revolves around the collections ammassed by wealthy American such as Gardner and Frick which became the foundation of the great museums of New York and Boston.

I'm grateful you mentioned the wine book - I somehow neglected to add it to my list of 75 for the year.
#66 The Billionaire's Vinegar by Benjamin Wallace

#67 Sophie's Choice by William Styron

Just finished it after a 2 1/2 hour reading push. It is unquestionably a tour de force - compelling, philosophical, and beautifully written. Terribly disturbing though. Anyone who reads it will certainly never forget its power - those who love it say a second reading -when you know the story and the evil - makes it even more beautiful, but I am certain I won't go through it again.

I'm not sure I understand why Styron blankets the book with such a stifling emphasis on sex - it seemed far beyond all proportion and actually took away from the meat and meaning of the beauty and despair of the story.

I clearly remember the day when I saw the movie version of Sophie's Choice. It was a rare day off of work for me back in the days when I was unmarried and a confirmed workaholic. I saw it back to back with Tootsie, starring Dustin Hoffman and Jessica Lange. Talk about an interesting double feature. The movie version of Sophie's Choice just about broke my heart - the decision of the mother on which child to sacrifice. The truly horrendous thing for me was knowing that such decisions were made. I have never read the book, and I do not know that I ever will.

I saw the movie Sophie's Choice and it was ever so grippingly sad. After watching the movie, I tried to read the book, but William Styron's writing style was too difficult and cumbersome.

His writing reminded me of the books of Thomas Hardy. I loved the movie Tess of the D'Urberville's the cinematography was stunningly beautiful...But, when I read the book, it was too frustratingly hard to follow...worse than nails on chalk.....or squeaking floor boards.

orangeena, thanks again for laying the groundwork here. Sophie's Choice is one of the books on my 100 best lists that I haven't gotten to. I only just found a good used hardcover copy at my book haunt. I, too, have seen the movie version. Based on your thoughts and the thoughts of our other fellow 75'ers, I know more what to expect. Maybe I will get to it next year and let you all know my thoughts.

orangeena, I don't know how I've managed it but somehow I've missed your thread in my time on the 75 Book Challenge... what an oversight. Loads of stuff on here that I wanted to read - and lots that I didn't know I wanted to read before I saw your thread. A Toni Morrison I didn't know about!! I did one of my finals dissertations on Toni Morrison. So excited about A Mercy.

What did you think of Alex Ross - The Rest is Noise? My brother bought me this for my birthday (I did ask for it!), but I'm feeling a little bit fazed by the sheer size of it.

Have to say I really disliked Wuthering Heights. eurgh.

Edit to add thoughts that occurred to me after hitting the submit button... I have to be more organised!

I am with FlossieT on Wuthering Heights. Never have been able to stand it. Another 'classic' I do not like is The Great Gatsby. Maybe my brain is not wired for classic literature.

for Flossie, whisper, blackdog, and alcot ...more on Sophie's Choice - the movie is one vivid and visceral experience compressed; the book painfully, slowly reveals a more complicated Sophie, forced to make not only THE choice, but a number of odious choices to suvive the horrors she endured. Thus her guilt, her willingness to bear, even crave the tortured love of Nathan, and also her resiliency of spirit. Any reader will find both the writing and the story making an indelible imprint, but only the most dispassionate would not find it a heavy burden to read and contemplate. Styron has a narrative technique that draws you into the abyss and when you think you can't take anymore, he pulls you out, in a more palatable direction; you read along and before you know it you have returned to the black of night. Whew!

as for The Rest is Noise - it is formidable and parts were too heavy with music dissection for me. But there is much history, biography, and social texture in the stories of 20th century classical music and those parts I particularly appreciated.

#122 orangeena: I will add The Rest is Noise to Continent TBR, because I am a huge classical music fan although I really do not know all that much about it. Maybe the book wll help!

FlossieT and alcottacre

My vote: Wuthering Heights tolerated it when I was a teenager; read it for a book group as an adult and decided
YUK!

The Great Gatsby hated it in college and now it's one of my favorite books.

#68 Christmas on Jane Street by Billy Romp

>124 MusicMom41:: MusicMom, somehow I have still never read The Great Gatsby... I have a copy, I've just never managed to read more than 5 pages. Guess I ought to at some point if I want to continue to think of myself as someone who likes American lit!!

FlossieT

Read The Great Gatsby and stick with it then read The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian--apart you may or may not like them, but together they really pack a "whammy!" I wouldn't have enjoyed Double Bind nearly as well with Gatsby.

Of course, I'm not sure what kind of literature you like...get them from the library so you don't take any chances.

#69 The Forger's Spell: A True Story of Vermeer, Nazis, and the Greatest Art Hoax of the Twentieth Century by Edward Colnick

again - if you enjoy art, its provenance, - a forger, not even a master forger, but a frustrated artist suceeds in fooling almost all the people almost all the time. Incredible too - his work was junk and to the untrained eye screamed out to be totally unlike anything Vermeer ever did.

Is this book about Han van Meegeren?

Yes, it is. I'm not sure how much new information there would be for you as his forgeries of Vermeer are likely well chronicled and known in your country, but I found it quite interesting.

Hi Orangeena...
You are close to the 75 book challenge. Hang in there..
I'm adding The Forger's Spell to be pile of tbr. I like your description of this one.

Thanks!
Linda

Thanks for the encouragment - I'll definitely get there unless I step off a a curb and into traffic while my nose is stuck in a book!

I have a couple of books about modern China and its economic and political emergence in line, along with Carson McCuller's Member of the Wedding. An annual rereading of A Christmas Carol will put 75 within sight.

#128 orangeena - I have The Forger's Spell checked out of the library right now. I hope I enjoy it as much as you seem to have done.

More Vermeer....

#70 Vermeer 1632-1675: Veiled Emotions by Norbert Schneider

themes, motifs, techniques throughout his works. No provenance here but beautiful reproductions and interpretation of his small but awesome body of paintings.

Thanks for posting the book re. Vermeer. I'll see if my local library has this one.

#71 Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh

This has long been on my TBR list - picked it up by chance and was immediately absorbed. In a lifetime of reading, how have I missed it? But I'm thankful for this pleasure that lay in wait for me all these years. So beautifully written - a complex story with characters who are definitely flawed yet charmingly attractive. The heavy weight of religion and morality, familial ties, love and suffering - its all there and Waugh's prose is especially magnetic. I consider this one of the treasures of this year's reading and will certainly try more of his writing (though I believe BR is considered his magnum opus).

I haven't read this one but did read A Handful of Dust and was pleasantly surprised! I'd recommend that one if you want more.

>137 orangeena: orangeena & 138 BDB: I have got several Waugh's on my reading list, including A Handful of Dust Couldn't stomach Brideshead Revisited but I just may not have been in the mood. I will try three others in 2009 before I look at Brideshead again. I'll probably start with HoD as you (BDB) recommend it.

- TT

#72 Where Angels Fear to Tread by E.M. Forster

#140: What did you think of Where Angels Fear to Tread? I admit, I have not heard of this one by Forster.

>140 orangeena: & >141 alcottacre: I have all of Forster's books. He only wrote six novels. I enjoyed Maurice, I think, but I hated A Passage to India but I absolutely loved the film! I haven't read Where Angels Fear To Tread yet. Tell me it is brilliant and that it's worth reading!

- TT

Hmmm.....it is worth reading, but I don't think I can say it is brilliant. It is one of his very early works and displays flashes of exceptional writing - set in Italy and very short. I, too, was not a great admirer of A Passage to India but wanted to try more of Forster and get a better sense of his much lauded writing. I'll have a go at Room With a View and then perhaps Howard's End.

>143 orangeena: orangeena, I have seen both the films of Room With a View and Howards End. I haven't read the books yet. I believe Howards End is quite well regarded. Must get round to reading these books!

- TT

I've not read Howards End yet (still in the TBR) but I've read Room with a View. I loved it; it's definitely worth having a go at. I thought it was much better than the film - and I enjoyed the film. My copy of the book is battered and creased from having been carted to and from work with me to read on the eight-minute journey. Too engaging to leave at home and pick up again later.

My message vanished!

- TT

Message 137
I've been meaning to read Brideshead Revisited and your post prompts me to do so in 2009. Thanks for your excellent description.

#73 Outliers: the Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell

Gladwell has become a bestselling author by isolating and then empirically supporting logic and reasoning we already know but don't often consciously dwell upon -relying on first impression and judgment in Blink and the power of the small to shift the blance of events in The Tipping Point.
This is his best, IMHO, -those whose achievements are beyond normal experience have followed a particular and predictable logic - yes, incredible hard work, brains, certainly luck, but peculiar opportunities and legacies which intersect to enable some to find incredible success. His stuff is facinating and it often seems very basic and so obvious - but he has the knack of presenting it so well and backing up what he says.

#74 A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

God bless us everyone.

Orangeena
This book was recently noted on Porch Reader's list as well. And her impressions parallel yours. I'll be sure to read this one soon. Thanks for the well written review!

You are most welcome - Gladwell is showing up everywhere, it seems. I'm currently in the middle of an article by him in the "New Yorker" about isolating, predicting, and selecting the best teachers. His conclusions are fascinating.

#75 (and a couple more likely to finish the year)
A Book of Ages: An Eccentric Miscellany of Great & Offbeat Moments in the Lives of the Famous and Infamous, Ages 1 to 100 by Eric Hanson

And there it is - next year I think I will also keep a list of the books I have abandoned - this year's would include Doris Lessing's The Golden Notebook, Wally Lamb's newest book, two books on modernity in China, a biography of FDR, among others.

I often lament that I will never have enough time in whatever years remain to me to read all the works I would like to get through. When I look at this year's list and see it included great classics Middlemarch, Bleak House, The Moonstone and The Woman in White, Remains of the Day, Brideshead Revisited, two Dorothy Sayers as well as great contemporary works such as Unaccustomed Earth, Possession, Arthur Schlesinger's journals and Hot, Flat, and Crowded,I feel encouraged to believe I can still cover a lot of
literary ground!

Woo Hoo!! Congratulations!

Congratulations!

orangeena
Congratulations!

Add my congratulations to the mix. Your list is one that I have watched and enjoyed a great deal over the course of the year.

orangeena... you have done some impressive reading this year, some that I hope to read in 2009, Congrats on reaching 75.

What a great year of reading you have had! I've enjoyed following your comments and add to my tbr pile.

Take a bow and accept your well earned accolades for "mission accomplished!" I look forward to seeing what you read in 2009!

Congratulations Emily on reaching 75!

Thanks everyone for your kind words. It has been so wonderful to find LT this year and so many fellow book lovers. Your comments, suggestions, reviews have improved and added to the enjoyment of my reading experiences. It is immensely gratifying to find there are so many around the world who have sprawling book tastes and read as if possessed, as I do!

#76 The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway

a well-written and compelling little novel based on the story of a cellist who played in the streets for 22 days during the seige of Sarajevo - a collection of four characters who struggle to hang on their humanity during the worst of times
My interest was piqued when I read of this on several Best of 2008 lists - definitely a good choice.

The Cellist of Sarajevo has been on Continent TBR for a while now. I am definitely going to have to find a copy!

Well done, orangeena!

Interested to hear you abandoned The Golden Notebook - I finally struggled to the end of this last week, and can't say I really enjoyed it. What do you think made you give up?

>152 orangeena: Orangeena, it's good to take stock and realise that it is about quality as much as quantity. So congrats on achieving both in 2008.

- TT

And congratulations--especially having included so many "literary" classics!!

#77 How Fiction Works by James Wood

short dissection of the elements of fiction - some history of the development of the novel and requisite character, narrative voice, dialogue, etc.
mildly interesting

As for The Golden Notebook - I wanted so badly to love it but honestly, I simply couldn't get much into the narrative and after 60 pages, found I was dreading even picking it up. Read on to those who love it - but for me, life is too short and there is too much out there begging to be read right now. Perhaps I'll give it another go at another time.

>165 orangeena: Orangeena: "Perhaps I'll give it another go at another time." Why?

Masochists of the world unite!: "I was dreading even picking it up." Oh, I see, not enough anguish!

- TT

Oh no - I have no qualms about abandoning a book. It really doesn't have to inflict that much pain to be put aside after a reasonable attempt. Still, there have been some books that I have come back to and found appealing - different ages and stages of life and that sort of thing. No promises - there are a lot in line before I pick it up again!

#78 In The Woods by Tana French

read for my book club - mildly engaging but really too much angst and inner turmoil and not enough mystery for my tastes.
I believe this will be it for good ole '08 - current reads will end in 2009.
A great year of reading.

I noticed you're reading my book. I hope I'm not being too forward. I hope you like it. The rest of your reading list looks fabulous. Bleak House is my second favorite Dickens. And I'm a big fan of Evelyn Waugh (quite a bit about him in A Book of Ages) but that's not my favorite of his books. I like Decline and Fall better, also Vile Bodies. Funnier and cleverer, not as pondrous.