Hemlokgang's 75 Book Challenge

Nice list! I think that I may put some of your books on my TBR list.

Thanks! Decided to move up to 75 book challenge from 50, since it looks like I'll hit 50 in the relatively near future.

46- Ladies of Liberty: The Women Who Shaped our Nation by Cokie Roberts

Welcome to the 75'ers group!!!!

Great List. Couple of them I'd like your thoughts on as they are on my shelves but I haven't yet read them.

Silas Marner A couple of threads on the site here have commented by I wanted to see what you thought. Also Middlemarch as that's another George Eliot.

The magnificent Ambersons I put this one on my shelves because it's on one of my 100 best lists but I haven't gotten 'round to it yet.

You're the second or third person i've seen who recently finished house of Seven Gables. i haven't read any hawthorne since my junior high school read of The Scarlet Letter. Was it a good read?

Must know how you found Blood Meridian as I finished this up late last year. i'm a big McCarthy fan and I enjoyed the book. But i found it the most difficult to get through of his that I've read so far. The style is a little more involved than usual for him and the violence and dark mood of the novel is a little magnified in this one. What'd you think?

Also, if you like Willa Cather and haven't read Death Comes for the Archbishop, I highly recommend it!!

Thanks for the welcome!

I listened to Silas Marner and really enjoyed it.

The Magnificent Ambersons was a very good read about the demise of the grand old families of medium sized cities. Really well done!

I have to admit that The House of the Seven Gables dragged a bit, but I kept hanging in there because Hawthorne's characters are so wonderful.

Blood Meridian was my first Cormac McCarthy read. What an amazingly stark and staggering talent! Love his landscapes!

Death Comes for the Archbishop is wonderful! I just finished reading A Lost Lady, also very good. I love Willa Cather.

If you liked Blood Meridian you are sure to like his other stories; you read what I think is the most difficult one of his books. Try The Border Triology with All the Pretty horses The Crossing and Cities of the Plain.

Thanks for your thoughts on the other books.

I've got your list starred! I'm keen to know your thoughts on The Space Between Us?

I had to re-do my list so my postings are a bit messed up.

1- The Ministry of Special Cases byNathan Englander
2- the glass castle : a memoir by Jeannette Walls
3- suite française by Irene Nemirovsky
4- a thousand splendid suns by Khaled Hosseini
5- for the relief of unbearable urges by Nathan Englander
6- Black & White by Dani Shapiro
7- the Last Town On Earth : a Novel by Thomas Mullen
8- the Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman
9- intrusions by Ursula Hegi
10- hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits by Laila Lalami
11- The Air we breathe by Andrea Barrett

12- the sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
13- into the wild by Jon Krakauer
14- Blood Meridian, or, The Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy
15- The mapmaker's Opera by Bea Gonzalez
16- Life and Times of Michael K by J. M. Coetzee
17- Survival of the Fittest by Jonathan Kellerman

18- As I lay Dying by William Faulkner
19- The Collected poems of Octavio Paz, 1957-1987 by Octavio Paz
20- The Full Cupboard of Life by Alexander McCall Smith
21- twenty love poems and a song of despair by Pablo Neruda
22- after dark by Haruki Murakami
23- sacred time by Ursula Hegi
24- children of god : a novel by Mary Doria Russell

25- divisadero by Michael Ondaatje
26- The piano teacher by Elfriede Jelinek
27- The call of the wild by Jack London
28- Silas Marner by George Eliot
29- Middlemarch by George Eliot
30- mistress of the art of death by Ariana Franklin
31- The size of the world by Joan Silber
32- The grass is singing by Doris Lessing
33- The widow's war by Sally Gunning

34- The curious incident of the dog in the night-time by Mark Haddon
35- The magnificent ambersons by Booth Tarkington
36- two little girls in blue by Mary Higgins Clark
37- my antonia by Willa Cather
38- elizabeth costello by J. M. Coetzee
39- mao II by Don DeLillo
40- The mountain wreath of P.P. Nyegosh: Prince-Bishop of Montenegro,… by Prince Bishop of Montenegro Petar II
41-medicus : a novel of the Roman Empire by Ruth Downie
42- the return of the native by Thomas Hardy
43- snow flower and the secret fan : a novel by Lisa See

44- A Lost Lady by Willa Cather
45- The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne

46- Ladies of Liberty: The Women Who Shaped our Nation by Cokie Roberts

47 - The Secret History by Donna Tartt
48 - The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar

49 - Shame by Salman Rushdie
50 - Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

51 - Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

Hello there,

Noticed you posted in the 100 best thread. That section is not as popular as the 75'er pages here but I also posted there. The various 100 best lists have been very useful for me over the last few years. I have uncovered authors I missed in my lacking English education, picking up books I never would have tried otherwise. You have read a lot of the books on the 100 best posted there, a well rounded reader!!

Thanks. I actually created a blog with the lists I have read from so that I can keep track of how I am doing. The blog address is on my profile page.

52 - The Genizah at the House of Shepher by Tamar Yellin

53 - Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev
54 - The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

55 - The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Just got a copy of Fathers and Sons as it was on some of my 100 best lists. What did you think?

Also, what did you think of The Road?

blackdogbooks,

First of all I particularly like Russian literature. I thought Fathers and Sons was a well written treatise on the universal experience of individuation and identity development, as revealed in the relationships between father and son. Both perspectives came through clearly. The characters were engaging and the plot, though a little predictable in some aspects, was very good. This was the second book by Turgenev I've read. Torrents of Spring shared the same melodramatic style, which I find quite entertaining.

The Road is amazing. I think Cormac McCarthy is a brilliant writer. His use of language is staggering, poetic, and horrifying, all at the same time. A third of the way through it I could hardly put it down. Actually, it ended up being interesting having read it shortly after Fathers and Sons. It is also a father/son story, in which the author does the opposite of Turgenev. McCarthy's use of the pronoun, "he", creates a clear sense of the father and son as one being, this story occurring prior to the adolescent breaking away found in Turgenev's work.

Enjoyed both and I hope you do as well!

I have already enjoyed The Road and found it brilliant also. The father and son thing happened for me as well, reading it after I read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. A bit of an odd pairing, but completely unintended. Nonetheless, they were an interesting couple; both travel oriented and both played out, in different ways, in the heads of the characters rather than in the events surrounding them.

Thanks for your comments on Fathers and Sons. I look forward to that read.

56 - The Elephant Man by Bernard Pomerance
57 - Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey

58 - Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

59 - The Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie

60 - The Plague of the Doves by Louise Erdrich

First, congratulations on reading 60 books thus far! I am envious! I note to recent reads on your list that I hope to have time to delve into during the next few weeks when I'm on vacation. Plese tell me your impressions of Half a Yellow Sun (many people recommend this book), and Salman Rushdie's The Enchantress of Florence. I'm number five on the waiting list at my local library for this one.

Whisper,

I loved both books. My reviews can be found in library listing of the books.
Thanks for the encouragement.

Hi.

I read your reviews. You are quite a good writer! I was able to obtain Half a Yellow Sun from my local library and will begin it tomorrow. I'm on vacation after next week and I look forward to down time to read.

By the way, I agree with you regarding The Celestine Prophecy. It truly was a terrible book. I never could understand why it had a cult-like following. Friends told me I would love it...They were very wrong.

I jotted the title A Plague of Doves down from my BOMC flyer. What did you think?

I enjoy Louise Erdrich's writing, and I think this is one of her best. It is as close as the oral tradition of storytelling can come to being oral in a book. Does that make any sense? The characters are heartachingly poignant, and I don't even care that I am half way through the book and cannot truly tell you what it is about so far plotwise. The ride is so pleasant.

Update: Frankly, I was a little disappointed in this book. It started out very well, with moving, poignant characters and some semblance of a plot. Set on the edge of the Ojibwe reservation it is, I suppose, a book about two peoples and the history in one little town, and about the history of that town and how it comes full circle. For me, the whole thing was too circuitous and by the last 100 pages I was a bit bored and frustrated. I usually like Erdrich more than this.

61 - The Chopin Manuscript: A Serial Thriller by Multiple authors, audiobook

62 - Henry James Short Stories by Henry James, audiobook

63 - Bleak House by Charles Dickens

64 - Dr. Death by Jonathan Kellerman

Hemlokgang
I note you recently read a short story collection by Henry James.

A few days ago I finished a Joyce Carol Oates book Wild Nights! Stories About the Last Days of Poe, Dickinson, Twain, James and Hemingway.

Using some facts taken from Henry James diary, Oates wove a fictional account of his last days and his previous volunteer work at a hospital in London where he helped the wounded soldiers.

This lead me to want to read about Henry James. I'm curious to know if you liked his writings.
Thanks.
Linda

I am a huge Henry James fan. My library is full of his works, some still TBR. There is always some melodrama and stereotypical gender typecasting, but if you can just relax and enjoy the way he tells a story, he is wonderful.

The Oates book sounds marvelous. I think I'll try to get it on BookMooch.

ok, I'm curious, what is BookMooch? I've never heard of this...

The Joyce Carol Oates book is fascinating, but dark...as most of her works tend to be.

She seemed to portray James as a foppishly dandy and a snob and in the end a pathetic person.

Oates is probably right, and in the light of present day belief systems he would not come off too well.

BookMooch.com is a book swapping website. You pay postage for books you send out and pay nothing for the books you mooch from other people. It is amazing!

Thanks for letting me know about BookMooch.com. I'll check this.
Much appreciated,
Linda

65 - The Beast in the Jungle by Henry James
66 - The Altar of the Dead by Henry James
67 - A Week in October by Elizabeth Subercaseaux

68 -The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti

69 - The Bone Garden by Tess Gerritsen

70 - The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood

Hi
I'm curious regarding your recent read. I obtained the book The Penelopiad from my local library and will be reading it in a few days.

I first learned of Penelope via the paintings of J.W. Waterhouse (a Pre Raphelite artist.) There is an incredibly beautiful portrait titled Penelope and the Suitors.

In addition, the Celtic song writer/artist Loreena McKennitt wrote and sings a beautiful piece of music called Penelopes Song.

My hope is to revisit mythology and read more on this subject. I read Greek mythology in college -- a long time ago.

If you have a minute, can you please tell me if you liked this book. Thanks.

And, congratulations on near completion of the 75 book challenge!

Whisper1> I hate to say this, but don't do it. I was really disappointed. The book was not up to the usual Atwood standards in my opinion. It was witty in a few places but seemed quite mundane otherwise. Take into consideration that I loved The Odyssey and just found this boring. I also don't like politically correct fairy tales if that helps understand where my bias may lie.

71 - The Zahir: A Novel of obsession by Paulo Coelho

Hi
I read The Penolopiad before seeing your message.

I enjoyed it because it like Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys the author spun a widely known subject and twisted it to give a different telling.

But, I do agree with you that parts did seem mundane. In particular I did not enjoy the poems of the maidens...they seemed stretched and cutesy ... kind of contrived. If you loved The Odyssey you might want to visit the site jwwaterhouse.com.

Waterhouse was a Victorian artist who painted during what is known as the Pre-Raphaelite period. He painted many mythological figures in a stunningly beautiful way. His painting of Circe in particular is one of my favorites.

Thank you for the tip, and I am certainly glad you enjoyed the book!

72 - Felicia's Journey by William Trevor

73 - The American Dream and Zoo Story by Edward Albee

74 - The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo

WOW! Only one more to go!

75 - The Blue Flower by Penelope Fitzgerald

CONGRATULATIONS ON COMPLETING THE GOAL!

congratulations on reaching #75 !!

WOOOHOOOO!

Congrats! We *do* seem to be having a wave of completions...

Thanks for the congrats, everyone! Is there a 100 book challenge? :)

76 - Loving Frank by Nancy Horan

77 - Compulsion by Jonathan Kellerman

78 - Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset

edited to change title

Just purchased some Proust to work into my 100 best list reading. Thoughts?

What are your thoughts on Loving Frank?

Great job hemlokgang! Welcome to the 'Challenge Completed' club - we are having a party at the end of the year, lol.

#61: What did you think of The Blue Flower? I read it a couple of years ago and enjoyed Fitzgerald's writing, but have had problems tracking down any more of her books at my local library which greatly surprised me since she wrote several books, both fiction and nonfiction.

Actually, I have put Proust down to join in a group read of Kristin lavransdatter. I was blown away by his imagery as far as I had read.

Really enjoyed Loving Frank on multiple levels, socio-politically, as a love story, and as a window into the life of Frank Lloyd Wright.

I thought The Blue flower was marvelous. I have since put two of her other pieces on my wishlist at bookmooch.com.

Thanks for the post regarding Loving Frank. WOW. yet another book that I would not have heard about save for this group of very interesting readers.

I've added this one to my list of tbr. A few years ago I visited falling water, his house in PA. The tour guide was very informative regarding his life and I remember her stating that he procrastinated in his building projects, but did take the advance $, spent the money and then simply kept the people waiting, waiting, waiting.

I thought this particular house was gloomy...all stone and dark...but worth seeing.

78 - Duma Key by Stephen King

Excellent! what did you think?

Duma Key is wonderful. Engaging from the first page, and definitely one of my favorite Stephen King novels.

79 - The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

hemlokgang

Are you joining the list of many people who have such high praise for The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I was finally able to obtain this from my local library and hoped to start to read it last week, but alas finished two others instead. I hope to start to read this book tomorrow.

Your thoughts on the book please....

Whisper1, I read Guernsey in one long rainy afternoon. I did write a brief review of it. I thoroughly enjoyed it and learned a bit of history as well. It is one of those books that sounds light, but really isn't. Very well done! Go for it and let me know what you think.

80 - Fear and Trembling by Amelie Nothomb : Fabulous, fast, thought-provoking. Zen meets the theater of the absurd. A must read.

#81 hemlokgang: Even though I do not know much about Zen - OK, I do not know anything about Zen - I do know about the absurd, so on to Continent TBR Fear and Trembling goes.

yet an other one for the wishlist Met angst en beven the Dutch translation of Fear and Trembling

#81 - Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dagarembga- a five star read!

Hi.
Can you please take a minute and tell me what you liked about Nervous Conditions I'm interested in hearing your opinions.
Thanks.

No problem. The first reason I liked Nervous Conditions was the engaging narrator. The story is about her coming of age, which is nothing new in literature. However, the author is able to weave together a story about a young girl's dreams and her reality, the changing social structure as Whites creep into Rhodesian culture, and the dilemmas and resentments which occur under colonization. Somehow she is able to describe change on both a macro and micro level, which isn't all that easy to do it seems to me, while also creating a poignant and thought provoking story. I was left at the end wanting to know what happens to the narrator as she moves on through her life. For a short book, I wrote a lot in my reading journal, always a sign, for me, of depth as well as a good story.

Thanks! On to the huge to be read pile it goes!

#82 - The Seasons of Beento Blackbird by Akosua Busia - A lovely, moving story

#88 hemlokgang: The Seasons of Beento Blackbird sounds like something I would enjoy. I noticed that you listened to it in audiobook form - who was the narrator you were praising so highly?

I do not know her name, but I listened to the version available on Audible.com. if that is any help whatsoever.

I have a copy (still not listened to) narrated by Akosua Busia.

Maybe it was her.....you'd think I would have paid closer attention to that little detail!!!

#83 - The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz - Fabulous plot, historical reference, and amazing writing style!

#84 - The Whole Truth by David Baldacci - Audiobook....................The best suspense novel I have read in a while. A scary story about the manipulation of the truth by "perception management" firms on behalf of the greedy. Good characters and fast moving plot.

The Diaz book has been on Continent TBR for a while now, so I guess I will move it up to the top. Sounds like something I would really enjoy.

The only Baldacci books I have read are the ones featuring Maxwell and King, but I will give The Whole Truth a shot.

Thanks for the recommendations!

Hemlokgang, I really enjoy your book choices, and seem to agree with you most of the time. The Seasons of Beento Blackbird by Akosua Busia is going to have to move right to the top of my TBR pile! Thanks!

#85 - The Sea Wolf by Jack London - Fabulous! Primal!

And thanks for the nice feedback about my book choices!

HI hemlokgang

I agree with akeela's reference re. enjoying your book choices.

Your notation re. The Sea Wolf brought back many wonderful memories of a special Engish teacher in high school. I vividly remember reading short stories of Jack London and the themes of man against nature. To this day, I can hear the teachers voice gravely saying "AND, nature ALWAYS wins!"

#86 - The Titian Committee by Iain Pears - It may have been my mood, but it was disppointing, too predictable. Tired of the art mysteries for a while I guess.

If you enjoyed The Sea Wolf, I would highly recommend finding a copy of Jack London's Tales of Adventure edited by Irving Shepard. This compendium includes much of London's fascinating and 'primal' journalism on some of the events of his world; the Russo-Japanese War, the Depression, etc. It's fasicnating and engrossing!

#87 - The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather - Wonderful!

Yet another Cather I have not read. I brought home A Lost Lady from the library the other day, so I will have to try The Song of the Lark once I am done with it.

I've never read any books by Willa Cather but have wanted to do so. I'm adding The Song of the Lark to the HUGE tbr pile. How I wish I had more time to read.

#88 - Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh - pretty good

#102 Whisper: I love Willa Cather's works (those that I have read anyway). My Antonia will probably always be my favorite, even though I know she won the Pulitzer for One of Ours and Death Comes for the Archbishop seems to have more critical acclaim.

Just finished this week Alexander's Bridge, which is Willa Cather's first published novel. She disavowed it in later life, but I loved it--simple story, beautifully told. It's less than 100 pages, but certainly shows a strong writing talent which later bloomed into her better-known works.

My Antonia will be yet another on the tbr pile...I've added this one. Thanks Stasia....

#89 - Night by Elie Wiesel.................overwhelming!

#90 - Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov

What a wonderful diverse list of books you've read. Glad I finally made it over here--I got some good suggestions for me for next year.

I hope you will do the 75 challenge. Since I will be starting in January in 2009 I will be able to keep up with more participants than I did this year, when I found this group in August.

MusicMom, I have really enjoyed the 75 challenge, and definitely plan on doing it again next year.

I'm glad you liked Night. It was one of my favorite reads this year.

Completely agree about Night. I read it a couple of years ago, and it is one of those books that just stays with you long after you have read it.

#91 -The Crow Road by Iain Banks - No great shakes

#92 - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson - really enjoyable mystery

#115: I have heard a lot of good things from drneutron and TadAD, I think, about The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, so your mention makes 3 favorable reviews. Definitely one for me to check out. Thanks!

#93 - Dangerous Liaisons by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos - great French melodrama

Hi hemlokgang
I've been very busy with work these last few weeks and haven't checked the posts as often as usual. I'm catching up on your thread regarding the book Night by Elie Wiesel. I read this years ago and then followed it with some of his others. This man is a hero! Conicidentally after reading Night, I saw him on tv when he was very angry at Ronald Regan for visiting a cemetary in Bitburg.

Your use of the word "overwhelming" to discribe the book and your reaction is very appropriate.

#94 - Classic German Short Stories by Schiller, Hebel, von Hofmannsthal, Goethe

#95 - Infected by Scott Sigler - So-so, good plot, but a bit too vulgar for me

#96 - The Trial by Franz Kafka - Why did it take me so long to read Kafka? Maybe because I couldn't appreciate it at an earlier point in my life.

#97 - On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan - Marvelous!!!

Hi hemlokgang

I'm curious regarding On Chesil Beach. Please tell me why it was "marvelous" What did you like about this book. And, congratulations on reading 97 books...wow!

Whisper, here are some of the reasons. One of the two protagonists is a professional violinist, and the author weaves musical imagery throughout the story, going so far as to coordinate the musical references to the specific works the violinist is working on, and works the imagery to represent the tie which bound the couple. The interior monologues of the two protagonists are fascinating when compared to each of their actions, and leads the reader to an in depth understanding of the complexity of the human creature and its interpersonal interactions. The psychological insight gives the reader information of which even the characters may not be aware, yet significantly impacts the choices of the characters. I am a therapist by profession and found the dynamics to be incredibly true to life. Additionally, the author built the tension for the reader in a manner similar to the tension mounting between the characters. Fantastic writing!

>121 hemlokgang:: I have got an omnibus of Kafka - it is going on my 2009 list. Thanks for the reminder.

- TT

#124 - I agree with all of this re On Chesil Beach - it was my "best" pick for my reads of 07.

#98 - The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe - What fun! A long (600+) book, but so much fun. Written in the late 1700s, this book is a sweeping gothic romance, with poetry, sweeping poetic landscapes, a thwarted love affair, evil step-uncles, secrets (some even kept from the reader but known by the protagonist, our dear Emily!), ghosts, castles, Carnivale in Venice......come on, now....who can resist all this? Due to a couple of extraneous tangents in the plot, which I felt were completely unnecessary, I only give out four stars. It was not particularly profound, but boy, oh boy, was it fun?!

Thanks Hemlokgang and dihiba. I've just added On Chesil Beach to my tbr pile. By the way, your description of this book reminds me of one of my favorites, ie Hilary and Jackie by Hilary Du Pre based on the life of Hilary and her sister Jacqueline Du Pre, the extraordinarily gifted chello player who died at a young age from MS. The masterful psychological tension and story of the intertwining of their lives was/is a wonderful story.

#127 hemlokgang: The Mysteries of Udolpho has been on Continent TBR since approximately the time that the book was written. I am definitely going to have to dig up a copy!

#99 - The Third Angel by Alice Hoffman - Too New Age for me.

Hemolkgang...Alice Hoffman is one of my favorite authors, but I have to agree with you. She somehow has gone over the edge...

Or, in this case, over the crystal.

LOL

#100 - Blindsided: Living a Life Above Illness: a Reluctant Memoir by Richard M. Cohen - Moving and depressing.

Congratulations - an inspiration to us all!!

Now I have to add Loving Frank and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society to my list - don't think it will be this year but perhaps they will lead off for next year's 75.

Congratulations!!

Wow! I go away for a few days and you read 100 books! And there are still 5 weeks left in the year! Congratulations!

Message 135

Orangeena

I'll be interested in hearing your impressions of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Soceity. It is one of my top reads for 2008.

I am on the waiting list at my local library for Loving Frank. A few years ago I visited his house near Pittsburg, PA called Falling Water. The guide had so not so nice things to say about him.
I will also look for your comments on this one after you have finished.

#137 MusicMom: The moral to the story is you are not allowed to miss any days on anybody's thread EVER, lol.

Thanks everybody!

#101 - Blood and Smoke by Stephen King - No great Shakes!

#139 alcottacre

I'm discovering that--my time on LT here in Chicago is hit and miss and I usually have more threads to check that I can do in one sitting! However, although the rest of my family often feels neglected at home, my grandsons take priority over reading! ;-)

#138 Whisper1

I brought Loving Frank with me to read in Chicago, but I may have to take it home to read. I've already borrowed about 6 books from the library here to take home and can't possibly cram in any more. So now I'm reading books from their library while I'm here. Although he has only 646 books cataloged so far on LT he probably has about as many as I do at home.

Edited to move the next part to the "What Are You Reading this week" thread! I momentarily forgot where I was! I don't mean to hijack hemlokgang's 75 thread!

#102 - Balance of Power by Richard North Patterson - A bit boring.

#141 MusicMom: I understand about grandchildren taking precedence! I have 6 of my own.

Stasia:

Six grandchildren...How wonderfully exciting!

I have four... a set of twin boys and two girls

Life is good!

Yes, it is!

My hubby and I have 3 girls and 3 boys, so we are split down the middle just as you are. Our oldest granddaughter is 9, the youngest is 8 months.

Stasia, I have 400 odd books on my TBR pile you have 2000 odd, I have five grandchildren you have six - let's see? Thinks....? Ah! my granddaughter is 16! yours is only 9!

Hold on, how is that a plus - now I feel old!!!

- TT

Must say I'm enjoying this talk of grandchildren :) Hoping I'm a way off that as my eldest is only 9... but my husband is very attached to that motto, "If I'd known having grandchildren was this much fun, I'd have had them first."

(sorry, hemlok!)

continuing the conversation re. grandchildren, I was blessed to have a wonderful, incredible grandmother. I am who I am because of her! I knew she loved me, but truly, it wasn't until I held my first grandchild and felt such soulful, warm, intense feelings, that I understood how much she loved me.

#103 - Soldier's Heart: Reading Literature Through Peace and War at West Point by Elizabeth D. Samet - Quite good!

#104 - Where Are You Now? by Mary Higgins Clark - pretty good

#105 - The Scarlet Pimpernel - A great swashbuckling adventure!

Oh, and I've been watching Leslie Howard and Merle Oberon versus Raymond Massey in an early film version of The Scarlet Pimpernel this week. So much fun!

#106 - The King's General by Daphne du Maurier - Excellent historical fiction

#152 hemlokgang: I have not read that one by du Maurier. I will have to look for it. Thanks for the recommendation!

#107 - Origin by Diana Abu-Jaber - A literary suspense novel.....a great read!

Hmmm, an Abu-Jaber I haven't read. I'm glad you gave it a good review; I'll put it on the list of books to pick up post-Christmas.

#154 hemlokgang: I agree with you regarding Origin. I thought it was great! Thanks for reminding me to look for her other books.

#108 - Astrid and Veronika by Linda Olsson - a lovely story!

#109 - The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell - good plot, the writing is nothing to write home about.

hemlokgang
I read The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox and really enjoyed it.
I followed it with After You'd Gone and liked this as well.

#110 - The Final Solution: A Story of Detection by Michael Chabon;a poignant, thought provoking novella

I read The Final Solution this year also--I loved it and plan to read more by Michael Chabon.

#111 - Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens; very disappointed, found it quite dull even though I am a huge Dickens fan

#112 - Medea by Euripides - Great!

#113 - Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston - Beautiful

#111

That may explain why, even though I too am a huge Dickens fan, I've started Mutual Friend 3 times I've never finished it. Guess I won't try to do it this year for my 999 challenge! ;-)

I've added book #113 to my list to be read in 2009.
What made the book beautiful? What did you like?

The main character was completely engaging. The writing was at once genuine and poetic, yet not idealistic. I felt that Hurston was able to address multiple life themes in ways that resonated with me. The reader is given a glimpse of a subculture in the United States in a manner unlike any other book I've read. This is not just another book about post-slavery adaptation. This is a book about people living their lives and making do with what life throws at them. There were so many interesting turns of phrase that I lost count. Enjoy!

I read There Eyes Were Watching God several years ago for a book group. We all loved it--it may be time for a reread! That's one of the reasons I like to buy books--I still have it on my shelf.

Another one for the pile. Your comments make it sound very good. Actually, the title, alone, made me want to read the book; it's a beautiful turn of phrase.

Would definitely concur with recommendations for Their Eyes Were Watching God. Particularly if you're at all interested in Toni Morrison, Alice Walker et al, this is a must-read as it was 'there first'. My copy is still on my shelves at my mum's.