Aussie Author Challenge

Hosted by Booklover Book Reviews.

1 January 2010 to 31 December 2010

I have chosen the FAIR DINKUM category. "Read and review 8 books by Australian authors, a minimum of 5 different Australian authors."

Books on hand, with completed books numbered or linked to reviews:

1.Of a Boy***** by Sonya Hartnett (What the Birds See in US)
2.The Arrival***** by Shaun Tan 
3.Dog Boy***** by Eva Hornung
4. The Siege***** by Helen Dunmore
5.Living in the Maniototo***+ by Janet Frame (actually NZ lit)

The Betrayal by Helen Dunmore
Remembering Babylon by David Malouf
The White Earth by Andrew McGahan
1988 by Andrew McGahan
The Turning by Tim Winton
That Eye, The Sky by Tim Winton
Prochownik's Dream by Alex Miller
Talking to the Dead by Helen Dunmore
Mourning Ruby by Helen Dunmore

Listening for Small Sounds by Penelope Trevor
The Sound of One Hand Clapping by Richard Flanagan
Gould's Book of Fish: A Novel in Twelve Fish by Richard Flanagan
Year of Wonders: a novel of the Plague by Geraldine Brooks
Sixty Lights by Gail Jones
The Sixteen Pleasures by Robert Hellenga
The Road from Coorain by Jill Ker Conway
The Orchard by Drusilla Modjeska
The Book of Colour by Julia Blackburn
My Place by Sally Morgan
My Father's Moon by Elizabeth Jolley
Listening for Small Sounds by Penelope Trevor
Illywhacker by Peter Carey
How the Light Gets In by M. J. Hyland
Everyman's Rules for Scientific Living by Carrie Tiffany
The Earthquake Bird by Susanna Jones
Drown Them in the Sea by Nicholas Angel
Devotion by Ffion Murphy
Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally
Victim of the Aurora by Thomas Keneally
A Family Madness by Thomas Keneally
Season in Purgatory by Thomas Keneally
Coonardoo by Katharine Susannah Prichard
Corfu by Robert Dessaix
The Chosen by David Ireland
The Book of Mercy by Kathleen Cambor
Birds of Passage by Linda Leith
Angel Rock by Darren Williams
The Ancestor Game by Alex Miller
The Artist is a Thief by Stephen Gray
Morgan's Run by Colleen McCullough
Another World by Pat Barker
Kewpie Doll by Barbara Hanrahan
Morgan's Run by Colleen McCullough
Riders in the Chariot by Patrick White
Grace by Robert Drewe
Careless by Deborah Robertson
The Garden Book by Brian Castro
The Voices by Susan Elderkin
The Submerged Cathedral by Charlotte Wood
Candle Life by Venero Armanno
Pieces of Light by Adam Thorpe

Non fiction:

My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin
Walkabout (The Outback Saga) by Aaron Fletcher
A Secret Country by John Pilger
Mutant Message Down Under     Marlo Morgan

Books I really want:

Careful, He Might Hear You by Sumner Locke Elliott

Australian fiction I have read and can recommmend:

Salt Rain**** by Sarah Armstrong
Addition**** by Toni Jordan
The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith**** by Thomas Keneally (wrote Schindler's Ark)
Cloudstreet***** by Tim Winton
Dirt Music**** by Tim Winton
The Riders**** by Tim Winton
Breath****by Tim Winton
Wanting****+ by Richard Flanagan
After the Fire, a Still Small Voice****+ by Evie Wyld
The Book Thief***** by Markus Zusak
Sorry***** by Gail Jones
Eucalyptus**** by Murray Bail
Homesickness*** by Murray Bail
Holden's performance*** by Murray Bail
The People of the Book***** by Geraldine Brooks
Carpentaria**** by Alexis Wright
The Secret River****+ by Kate Grenville
The Idea of Perfection**** by Kate Grenville
The Lieutenant****+ by Kate Grenville
Dreamhouse*** by Kate Grenville
Disquiet***+ by Julia Leigh
The Lost Dog**** by Michelle de Kretser
Orpheus Lost***** by Janette Turner Hospital
Carry Me Down**** by M.J. Hyland
This Is How**** by M.J. Hyland
The Spare Room***+ by Helen Garner
The Leper's Companions***+ by Julia Blackburn
Lost***** by Michael Robotham
Suspect**** by Michael Robotham
The Night Ferry**** by Michael Robotham
Shatter**** by Michael Robotham
The Well***** by Elizabeth Jolley
Newspaper of Claremont Street**** by Elizabeth Jolley
Theft: A Love Story**** Peter Carey
Tirra Lirra by the River*** by Jessica Anderson
A Town Like Alice**** by Nevil Shute 
Unreliable Memoirs: Autobiography**** by Clive James
The Man Who Loved Children**** by Christina Stead
The Broken Book*** by Susan Johnson
Arthur Upfield Mysteries*****-several:
An Author Bites the Dust
The Lure of the Bush
The Will of the tribe
The Bone is Pointed
The Bachelors of Broken Hill
Death of a Lake
The Widows of Broome
The Mountains Have a Secret
Murder Must Wait
Wings Above the Diamantina
The Torn Branch
Venom House
Winds of Evil
The Devil's Steps
Murder Down Under
Bony And The White Savage
Sinister Stones
Bony and the Kelly Gang
Death Of A Swagman
The Lake Frome Monster

Non fiction:

The Fatal Shore***** by Robert Hughes
Rabbit-Proof Fence***** by Doris (Nugi Garimara) Pilkington
Burning Bush: A Fire History of Australia***** by Stephen J. Pyne

________________________________

Miles Franklin Awards

I'm including this major Australian award list for those interested. It's where I find some of my best reads in Australian literature. The official award site may be found here.

A full list of past winners (1957-2009) and the 2010 nominees may be found here .

Longlist announcement 11 March 2010
Shortlist announcement 15 April 2010
Winner’s announcement 17 June 2010


Nominees I have read:

2009 Winner - Breath***** by Tim Winton
2007 Winner - Carpentaria**** by Alexis Wright
2002 Winner - Dirt Music***** by Tim Winton
1999 Winner - Eucalyptus***** by Murray Bail
1992 Winner - Cloudstreet***** by Tim Winton -
1986 Winner - The Well***** by Elizabeth Jolley
1978 Winner - Tirra Lirra by the River**** by Jessica Anderson

2009 Shortlist - The Pages***+ by Murray Bail
2009 Shortlist - Wanting***** by Richard Flanagan
2009 Longlist - Addition**** by Toni Jordan
2008 Shortlist - Sorry***** by Gail Jones
2008 Shortlist - Orpheus Lost***** by Janette Turner Hospital
2007 Shortlist - Theft: A Love Story**** by Peter Carey
2006 Shortlist - The Secret River***** by Kate Grenville
2005 Shortlist - Salt Rain**** by Sarah Armstrong
2003 Shortlist - Of a Boy***** by Sonia Hartnett (What the Birds See in US)

On my shelves Tbr

1957 Winner - Voss by Patrick White
1961 Winner - Riders in the Chariot by Patrick White
1967 Winner - Bring Larks and Heroes by Thomas Keneally
2005 Winner - Prochownik's Dream by Alex Miller
2007 Shortlist - Careless by Deborah Robertson
2006 Longlist - Prochownik's Dream by  Alex Miller
2006 Shortlist - Everyman's Rules for Scientific Living by Carrie Tiffany
2005 Shortlist - Sixty Lights by Gail Jones
2005 Shortlist - The Submerged Cathedral by Charlotte Wood
2002 Shortlist - Gould's Book of Fish  by Richard Flanagan
1994 Shortlist - Remembering Babylon by David Malouf


Unowned but wanted

1983 Careful, He Might Hear You by Sumner Locke Elliott
1984 Shallows by Tim Winton

Copycat Covers

Embers by Sandor Marai


All for Love by Dan Jacobson







The Sweetest Dream by Doris Lessing


Lovers or Something Like It by Florian Zeller



I read Embers because the author is Hungarian and so is my husband. I own a copy and it is a gorgeous cover. It's a portrait of Countess de Keller by Alexandre Cabanel, 1873, in the Musee d'Orsay, Paris. I've actually seen a third book using this cover but I can't remember where.

I read half of The Sweetest Dream while traveling and never finished it when I got home because it got lost in the shuffle. My cover is very bland and even darker than it appears here. You'd think a Nobel author would warrant something nicer than that. But then we're told that authors often have no say in their covers. And why such horridly small print on the Zeller book? Their only attempt at a little colour and it's unreadable.

It occurred to me while posting that these last two may not be the same cover but they do take several shots of things and can fiddle with the photos to make them look slightly different. I can't imagine two separate photo sessions coming up with the same shot setup. What say ye?

More copycat covers: here, here, and here.

What's on Your Nightstand?

Hosted by Jennifer at 5 Minutes For Books.

Books read this month:

13.Blacklands by Belinda Bauer UK 2009
14.The Outcast by Sadie Jones UK 2009
15.Good To a Fault by Marina Endicott Canada 2008
16.The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova US 2010
17.The Practice of Perfection by Mary Frances Coady Canada 2009 18.The Piano Teacher by Janice Y. K. Lee Hong Kong 2006
19.Orlando by Virginia Woolf UK 1928
20.Dead Man's Share by Yasmina Khadra Algeria 1999

Still on the Nightstand:

Library Loot

Hosted alternately by Eva at A Stripped Armchair this week and next week by Marge at Reading Adventures.

Books completed this week:


17.The Practice of Perfection****+ by Mary Frances Coady Canada 2009 (213 pages)

Connected short stories which take place inside a convent. Each story chapter involved some of the known characters so the story felt as complete as a novel. I love stories about nuns and this one was very enjoyable. I featured this book in what I call my Copycat Covers post here and the publisher left me a comment explaining a little about the difficulties of finding books covers. It is a beautiful cover and they were right in saying that this is the perfect cover for this book. I don't think they were pleased with the negative connotation of the term "copycat" though. I may have to come up with a new name. I thought the least I could do to make up was read the book and I'm glad that I did. They are a small press with a very good reputation and I will definitely look at their catalogue for more good reading. I highly recommend The Practice of Perfection.

18.The Piano Teacher***** by Janice Y. K. Lee Hong Kong (328 pages)

Recommended to me by Kaye from Pudgy Penguin Perusals. Although we generally read different books she has a good sense of what I might like and this is not the first time that her recommendation has been spot on. A fascinating story set in Hong Kong, it happens both in the fifties and goes back to the war and the Japanese prison camps that all the non Chinese were confined to during that period. People make compromises to survive, those with long memories sometimes hold grudges, and others want to just forget the whole experience. There's a mix of very interesting of well developed characters that keep you reading. I loved it. Highly recommended.

19.Orlando**** by Virginia Woolf UK 1928 (232 pages)

This was part of the Woolf in Winter reading group. I reviewed Mrs. Dalloway (sort of) but I pooped out on To the Lighthouse. But Orlando was very enjoyable for me. Very easy to read and a remarkably original story of a female character who eventually becomes male and their living through three centuries. It isn't as odd as it sounds. The restrictions on females in clothing, social limitations, and activites are slowly peeled away. The new male person enjoys his boots, and not being trussed up in tight clothing, sitting how he wants, socializing with whoever wants etc. It's a very original way of showing the freedoms that men enjoy that woman do not. It's very interesting how Woolf does this and entirely believable. The history of the times (1700's to 1928) is very interesting too. I recommend it as an easy way to get into Woolf's fiction.

20.Dead Man's Share***** by Yasmina Khadra 2004 (341 pages)

Detective crime novels just don't get any better than this for me. Set in Algeria and featuring an externally crusty but actually quite a softy, Detective Brahim Llob, who goes to very dangerous lengths to save his partner from prison. He's sure he's innocent and knows that he is being tortured in prison. Khadra puts so much of Algeria's history into his story, it's integral to the plot, that I was fascinated as well as entertained. He's such a good writer, he managed to make the story heart breaking for me. I have read The Attack and The Swallows of Kabul, an all-time favourite, and I can't get enough of this man's work. The female name comes from the fact that he was a high ranking officer in the Algerian army and had to use a pseudonym to avoid exposure. He tells the truth about his country's history, corruption, mistreatment of women etc. in all of his books. He fled to France in 2000 and continues to write.

Currently Reading:

The Land of Green Plums by Herta Müller
The Danish Girl by David Ebershoff

The I feel like an idiot stack: (had to be returned before they got read)

Bethlehem Murders by Matt Rees (an Omar Yussef mystery set in Palestine)
Gourmet Rhapsody by Muriel Barbery-The Elegance of the Hedgehog****

The it don't rain but it pours stack:

The Sand Fish: a novel from Dubai by Maha Gargash
Sunflowers by Sheramy D. Bundrick (Van Gogh)
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
The Rug Merchant by Meg Mullins
The Return by Victoria Hislop-The Island**** (leprosy history)
Lark and Termite by Jayne Anne Phillips (Korean War)
The Love We Share Without Knowing by Christopher Barzak
The Comedians by Graham Greene- (Haiti),The End of the Affair*****,The Human Factor*****
In The Wet by Nevil Shute-A Town Like Alice****
Last Orders by Graham Swift-The Sweetshop Owner****
Every Man Dies Alone by Hans Fallada
Field Guide by Gwendoly Gross

The don't hold your breath stack: (books I have requested my library to purchase in 2010)

The Land of Green Plums by Herta Müller-The Appointment****
A Fable by William Faulkner-won both Pulitzer and National Book Award in 1955
Right to Die by Hazel McHaffie
Howards End is On the Landing by Susan Hill-wrote sequel to Rebecca
The True Deceiver by Tove Jansson
Five for Sorrow, Ten for Joy by Rumer Godden-wrote In This House of Brede
The Lessons by Naomi Alderman-won Orange Prize for first fiction Disobedience*****
Morituri by Yasmina Khadra-mystery set in Algeria, wrote The Swallows of Kabul*****, The Attack****+ et. al.

The happy stack: (they bought my sob stories, and the book)

Right to Die by Hazel McHaffie
The Land of Green Plums by Herta Müller-I wanted to read this as the IMPAC Dublin Award Winner 1998. The library didn't have it and saw no need to. After she was awarded the Nobel Prize in November 2009 they purchased it. Go figure.

Which have you read and what did you think? Leave me links if you've reviewed them. Which would you like to read?

Mailbox Monday

Hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page.

I broke down and ordered some new books for only the second time in two years. So you can tell that that I've lusted after them for some time.

In my mailbox this week:

Purchased:
Hiroshima, Mon Amour by Marguerite Duras France 1960 (112 pages)

A play in fact, that was produced as a film in 1959 and won acclaim around the world. I tried for two years to get it through Bookmooch and thought I'd succeeded but it went astray in the mail and never arrived. It's about a French woman who falls in love with a Japanese man-in 1957 after visiting Hiroshima. The book contains dozens of photographs from the film and it's hard not to look at them toward the end before I read it. I have never seen the movie, foreign films have never played where I live. At only 112 pages, including photos, I am saving it for a day when all the men are out of the house and I have some quiet.

Strange Comfort: Essays on the Work of Malcolm Lowry by Sherrill Grace Canada 2009 (223 pages)

Malcolm Lowry is the one writer that I wish everyone would read. I own and have read all of his books. Under the Volcano is the only one well know to many but his others are so beautifully written that I can't get enough of him. Hear Us O Lord from Heaven Thy Dwelling Place is as powerful a group of stories as you'll find. Dark as the Grave Wherein My Friend Is Laid, October Ferry to Gabriola, Lunar Caustic, and Ultramarine, are his other novels. If you've got something on your shelves by him that you haven't read, please do try him. He feeds something in me. I look forward to a long rainy day to enough these essays on his work.

American Jewish Fiction Guide by Josh Lambert US 2009 (200 pages)

An easy to read reference to hundreds of titles and authors, with several handy indices. Many of my favourites are discussed, though briefly. Cynthia Ozick, Chaim Potok, Tillie Olsen, Paul Auster, Leslie Fiedler; they're all there and many I have yet to read- Dara Horn, Francine Prose, et.al. I'm so excited about this one.



La Piece de Resistance:

On Sledge and Horseback to Outcast Siberian Lepers by Kate Marsden UK 1892 (243 pages)

I've had a personal interest in leprosy since I was a child and loved what few books (especially novels) that I could find on the subject. I found this on e-bay some years ago at an exorbitant price. One of the online book sellers had one left and while I dithered about the price someone else purchased it. There ensued a long period when none were available. I knew I was waiting for another press run as soon as it appeared on a university curriculum in women's studies. I mean what a virago. This is her personal account of a daunting voyage and her work with the suffering in Russia, only one of the places she served the sick and dying. A nice new copy is now in my hands and once I start it, nothing will distract me.

Arc:
The Apple by Penelope J. Holt US 2009 (180 pages)

The author asked me to review this one, probably because of my interest in Jewish Holocaust history and literature. I'm not accepting arcs but how could I resist hearing the facts after that shamozzle about Herman Rosenblat's memoir being canceled? And that is a cover that I would buy a book for, a rare thing for me.

"Based on real events, The Apple tells Herman Rosenblat's story of survival, his Holocaust tale of love, and also the story behind the story. What was the real love and which the dream of love that kept the boy, Herman, alive in the ghettoes and Nazi concentration and slave-labor camps of Poland and Germany? Why did Herman construct his singular account as he did? And is it ever permissible for a survivor to intersperse fact with fiction in order to tolerate personal history?"

Personally, I would have read Herman Rosenblat's memoir and not cared a fig to find out that parts of it were fiction. For one thing, a good story is a good story (assuming that it was). Secondly, I've read a ton of fiction by Holocaust survivors in which they used their personal experience as part of it. It's a privilege to hear what those who can bear to even write about it have to say-either way. I look forward to what The Apple has to tell us.

Won:
A Perfectly Good Family by Lionel Shriver US 1996 (293 pages)

From The Olive Reader, the Harper Perennial blog. I was very impressed with We Need to Talk About Kevin. I'm definitely going to read more of her books, including her new one, So Much for That (Hardcover), to be released by Harper on March 9, 2010. Thank you Harper Perenniel. A Perfectly Good Family will keep me busy until then- while I look for more ways of winning, swapping etc. for her other books. I'm so excited I don't where to start.

Do any of these interest you? Leave a link to any you've reviewed. I'd love to read them.

The Complete Booker Challenge 2010

"The Complete Booker Challenge is not so much a reading challenge as a long-term project in which the participants aim to read all 40+ books that have won the Man Booker Prize for Fiction. There is no time limit."

The Booker Challenge for 2010: Hosted by Laura at Musings.

Winners Circle: read at least 6 winners
Contender: read at least 6 shortlisted nominees
Longshot: read at least 6 longlisted nominees
Booker Devotee: choose a year, and read all 6 shortlisted works from that year
Booker Fanatic: choose a year, and read all 13 long and shortlisted works from that year.
 
Completed in 2011:


1981 - Shortlist -The Comfort of Strangers***+ by Ian McEwan
1980 - Shortlist - A Month in the Country***** by J. L. Carr     
1979 - Shortlist - A Bend in the River****+ by V. S. Naipaul

The 2011 longlist (The Booker Dozen) was announced in July here.

Julian Barnes  The Sense of an Ending
Sebastian Barry  On Canaan's Side
Carol Birch  Jamrach's Menagerie
Patrick deWitt  The Sisters Brothers
Esi Edugyan  Half Blood Blues
Yvvette Edwards  A Cupboard Full of Coats
Alan Hollinghurst  The Stranger's Child
Stephen Kelman  Pigeon English
Patrick McGuinness  The Last Hundred Days
A.D. Miller  Snowdrops
Alison Pick  Far to Go
Jane Rogers  The Testament of Jessie Lamb
D.J. Taylor  Derby Day
The 2011 shortlist and winner to be announced on Tuesday 18 October 2011.



Completed in 2010:

2010-Winner-The Finkler Question**** by Howard Jacobson
2010-Longlist-February****+ by Lisa Moore
2010-Longlist-Trespass****+ by Rose Tremain
2010-Longlist-The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet****+ by David Mitchell
2010-Shortlist-Room****+ by Emma Donoghue
2010-Shortlist-C*** by Tom McCarthy 
2010-Longlist-In a Strange Room by Damon Galgut****
2006-Longlist-Black Swan Green**** by David Mitchell 
1974-Winner -Holiday**** by Stanley Middleton


1978-The Sea, The Sea**** by Iris Murdoch
1979-Offshore***** by Penelope Fitzgerald
1984-Hotel Du Lac**** by Anita Brookner
1985-The Bone People***** by Keri Hulme
1998-Amsterdam**** by Ian McEwan
1989-The Remains of the Day**** by Kazuo Ishiguro
1990-Possession***** by A.S. Byatt
1997-The God of Small Things***** by Arundhati Roy
2002-Life of Pi**** by Yann Martel
2005-The Sea**** by John Banville
2007-The Gathering***+ by Anne Enright
2008-The White Tiger***** by Aravind Adiga 
2009-Shortlist-The Little Stranger***** by Sarah Waters
2009-Longlist-The Wilderness***+ by Samantha Harvey
2008-Shortlist-The Secret Scripture***** by Sebastian Barry
2008-Shortlist-The Clothes on Their Backs**** by Linda Grant
2008-Shortlist-The Northern Clemency***+ by Philip Hensher
2008-Longlist-The Lost Dog**** by Michelle de Kretser
2008-Longlist-From A to X**** by John Berger
2008-Longlist-A Case of Exploding Mangoes***** by Mohammed Hanif
2008-Longlist-Netherland***+ by Joseph O'Neill
2007-Shortlist-On Chesil Beach**** by Ian McEwan
2007-Longlist-Self Help***** by Edward Docx
2007-Longlist-The Welsh Girl**** by Peter Ho Davies
2007-Longlist-What Was Lost***** by Catherine O'Flynn
2006-Shortlist-The Secret River***** by Kaye Grenville
2006-Shortlist-Carry Me Down**** by M.J.Hyland
2006-Longlist-Theft:A Love Story**** by Peter Carey
2006-Longlist-Black Swan Green**** by David Mitchell
2006-Longlist-So Many Ways to Begin**** by Jon McGregor
2006-Longlist-Be Near Me***** by Andrew O'Hagan
2005-Shortlist-Never Let Me Go**** by Kazuo Ishiguro
2005-Longlist-Saturday***** by Ian McEwan
2005-Longlist-The People's Act of Love****+ by James Meek
2002-Shortlist-Unless**** by Carol Shields
2002-Shortlist-Dirt Music***** by Tim Winton
2002-Longlist-If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things***** by Jon McGregor
2001-Shortlist-Atonement**** by Ian McEwan
2001-Shortlist-Hotel World**** by Ali Smith
2001-Longlist-The Stone Carvers****+ by Jane Urquhart
2000-Shortlist-When We Were Orphans***** by Kazuo Ishiguro
1995-Shortlist-The Riders***** by Tim Winton
1992-Shortlist-Black Dogs****by Ian McEwan
1989-Shortlist-The Book of Evidence**** by John Banville
1983-Shortlist-Flying to Nowhere**** by John Humphreys
1978-Shortlist-The Bookshop**** by Penelope Fitzgerald
1973-Shortlist-The Black Prince**** by Iris Murdoch
1972-Shortlist-The Bird of Night**** by Susan Hill
1972-Shortlist-The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith***** by Thomas Keneally

Booker winners in my library TBR:

1974-The Conservationist by Nadine Gordimer
1980-Rites of Passage by William Golding
1982-Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally
1987-Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively
1992-The English Patent by Michael Ondaatje

Booker shortlist nominees in my library TBR

Orchard on Fire by Shena MacKay
Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
Oxygen by Andrew Miller
Remembering Babylon by David Malouf
The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields
Illywhacker by Peter Carey
The Nice and the Good by Iris Murdoch
1987 - The Book and the Brotherhood by Iris Murdoch

Which have you read and what did you think of them? Which can you recommend that I have not read? If you've posted a list of your Booker reads, or reviewed any of them, please leave a link. I'd love to read them.

Colourful Reading Challenge 2010

Hosted by Rebecca at Lost in Books.

Jan.1-Dec.31, 2010.

"Read 9 books with 9 different colors in the title.

Completed books are highlighted or linked to reviews:

1.Black Swan Green**** by David Mitchell
2.The Blue Flower***** by Penelope Fitzgerald
3.Blacklands***** by Belinda Bauer
4.The Golden Mean****+ by Annabel Lyon  


On my shelves tbr:

Plum Wine by Angela Davis-Gardner
The Red Queen by Margaret Drabble
Yellowknife by Steve Zipp
White Teeth by Zadie Smith
Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris
The Golden Bowl by Henry James
My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk
The Green Library by Janice Kulyk Keefer
The Green Knight by Iris Murdoch
Girl in Hyacinth blue by Susan Vreeland
The Blue Mountain by Meir Shalev
Black and Blue by Anna Quindlen
The White Earth by Angrew Mcgahan
The White Mary by Kira Salak
White Oleander by Janet Fitch
White Teeth by Zadie Smith
Blackberry Wine by Joanne Harris
Grey is the Color of Hope by Irina Ratushinskaya
The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing
The Red and the Green by Iris Murdoch
Blood Orange by Drusilla Campbell

Books with 'colourful' titles previously read:

The Blue Door***+ by Andre Brink
Midwife of the Blue Ridge**** by Christine Blevins
The White Tiger****+ by Aravind Adiga
The Color Purple***** By Alice Walker
The Bluest Eye***** by Toni Morrison
The Yellow Wallpaper****+ by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
The Scarlet Letter**** by Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop***** by Lewis Buzbee
The Picture of Dorian Gray***** by Oscar Wilde
The Golden Bowl**** by Henry James
The Temple of the Golden Pavilion**** by Yukio Mishima
Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates**** by Mary Mapes Dodge
The Silver Swan**** by Benjamin Black (john Banville)
Red Dog Red Dog**** by Patrick Lane
The Red and the Black**** by August Stendhal

Books completed in 2009 Colourful Reading Challenge:

The Blue Fox***** by Sjon

The White Garden***** by Stephanie Barron

Through Black Spruce***** by Joseph Boyden
Silver Birches***+ by Adrian Plass

There really are a lot of titles that have colours in them when you start to look around your shelves. And Rebecca has a long list of titles here.

I hope you'll join us for the Colourful Reading Challenge 2010.

Library Loot

Hosted alternately by Eva at A Stripped Armchair and this week by Marge at Reading Adventures.

Forgive me, it's been a month since my last confess...er, LL post.

Completed:

6. The Unit**** by Ninni Holmqvist Sweden 2009

I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I might. My personal experience of organ transplantation added a great deal to the interest for me. A very enjoyable story. Highly recommended.

9.Random Passage***** by Bernice Morgan 1992 Canada 269 pgs.

A very good historical fiction about a family in Ireland who are forced into exile to Newfoundland's most isolated outpost two hundred years ago. A truly great read. I cannot wait to read its sequel Waiting for Time. Both books are bestsellers here in Canada and I can see why.





10.What the Birds See***** by Sonya Hartnett (Of a Boy***** in Australia)

Will break your heart. The original title in Australia is OF A BOY. A shy but obedient little boy who feels unwanted tries to interpret the world around him and finds it a daunting task. Don't miss this one if you can get your hands on it.







11.Nikolski**** by Nicolas Dickner Canada 2005 (290 pages)

A French Canadian story about three Montrealers that David Mitchell (author of Cloud Atlas and Black Swan Green) called “Stylish, offbeat, poignant and perceptive.” An enjoyable read.

12.The Housekeeper and the Professor***** by Yoko Ogawa Japan (204 pages)

A wonderful story of a mathematician with brain damage, and how the maid deals with the fact that he does not recognize her every morning when she arrives at his home. A truly original and touching story. HIghly recommended.






13.Blacklands***** by Belinda Bauer UK 2009 (225 pages)

A psychological suspense that was so tense I had to finish it to get relief. A boy writes anonymously to a child killer in prison hoping the man will help him find the body of one of the local boys he's murdered. He's a very serious little boy and has deeply personal reasons for wanting to locate this murdered child. Eventually the killer figures out that he's communicating by letter with a twelve year old boy...talk about cat and mouse. Don't miss this one.



14.The Outcast****+ by Sadie Jones (347 pages)

A young man, 19, gets out of prison and returns home to his English village and a demanding and unforgiving father. He tries to cope with all the negative attitudes and expectations around him but it's a difficult road. Well written and highly recommended.





15.Good To a Fault**** by Marina Endicott

A woman take in a homeless family after hitting their car and putting the mother in the hospital. This creates a great upheaval in her life as these people are typically undisciplined, demanding and not always to be trusted. A very interesting story about motives for giving, guilt, and the limits of generosity. Well worth reading and highly recommended.

16. The Swan Thieves***** US 2010 (564 pages)

I love stories with psychiatrists and their patients in them. Lot's of artists' work and literary references here as the doctor's patient is a painter. A marvelous story as the doctor goes to unusual lengths to work out why his patient attacked a painting in the National Gallery of Art in New York. Great writing, smooth dialogue, Kostova is so easy to read. This is a must read.

Gave up on:

Before I Awake by Robert Wiersema 2006 Canada

Young daughter is in an irreversable coma after an accident. I'm 90 pages in and not sure I like where this story is going. People are starting to think the girl can heal people-while comatose you understand. Someone please tell me this story will be a satisfying one without getting weird.

Harry Revised by Mark Sarvas US 2009

It just wasn't grabbing me but I will try again when I'm in the right mood.

Currently Reading:

The Practice of Perfection by Mary Frances Coady Canada 2009

Connected short stories set in a convent. I've always loved stories about nuns. I'm enjoying it immensely.

Rain and Other South Seas Stories by W. Somerset Maugham UK 1921

I loved this man's short stories when I discovered them as a girl, and the fact that he was a doctor intrigued me as well. The title story is one that I've always liked but had not read in 40 years. I was shocked by the ending back then. It was filmed at least twice with Joan Crawford and Rita Hayworth in the starring role. Both films were excellent. I highly recommend this and any of Maugham's short stories.

The I feel like an idiot stack: (had to be returned before they got read and I know they are really good)

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese US
Still Alice by Lisa Genova US
Fugitive Pieces by Ann Michaels Canada
The Jade Peony by Wayson Choy Canada

To be read (the it don't rain but it pours stack, when they finally arrive they all come at once):

The Return by Victoria Hislop
The Piano Teacher by Janice Y. K. Lee
The Danish Girl by David Ebershoff
Gourmet Rhapsody by Muriel Barbery
Lark and Termite by Jayne Anne Phillips
The Love We Share Without Knowing by Christopher Barzak
The Comedians by Graham Greene
The Land of Green Plums by Herta Müller
In The Wet by Nevil Shute

In my defense I did read two books from my own shelves as well.

Which of these have you read? What did you think? Leave me links if you've reviewed them. Which would you like to read?

It's Monday! What are you reading?

Hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.

Books completed last week:

13.BLACKLANDS***** by Linda Bauer is a psychological suspense that was so tense I had to finish it to get relief. A boy writes anonymously to a child killer in prison hoping the man will help him find the body of one of the local boys he's murdered. He's a very serious little boy and has deeply personal reasons for wanting to locate this murdered child. Eventually the killer figures out that he's communicating by letter with a twelve year old boy...talk about cat and mouse. Don't miss this one.

14.THE OUTCAST****+ by Sadie Jones is an excellent read. A young man, 19, gets out of prison and returns home to his English village and a demanding and unforgiving father. He tries to cope with all the negative attitudes and expectations around him but it's a difficult road. Very well written and highly recommended.

15.GOOD TO A FAULT**** by Marina Endicott is an award nominated novel that has a woman take in a homeless family after hitting their car and putting the mother in the hospital. Another wild ride ensues as these people are typically unpredictable, demanding and not always to be trusted. A very interesting story about motives for giving, guilt, and the limits of generosity. Well worth reading and highly recommended.

16.RAIN***** by W. Somerset Maugham is a short story (34 pages) that I always loved and had not read in 40 years. I was shocked by the ending back then. It was filmed at least twice with Joan Crawford and Rita Hayworth in the starring role. Both films were excellent. I highly recommend this and any of Maugham's short stories.

Books I gave up on:

BEFORE I WAKE by Robert Wiersma by page 90 was going in a direction I did not like. A couple's daughter was believed to be healing people, while completely and irreversibly comatose no less. Somebody tell me this book is worth finishing and does not get stupid.

Book in hand...

THE SWAN THIEVES by Elizabeth Kostova is great so far, I love stories with psychiatrists and their patients in them. Lot's of art and book reference as the doctor's patient is a painter. Tried an hour of the audio and got a headache. It's seventeen hours long on audio, my nerves can't take that many hours of someone yakking at me. I gave it a try, audio is not for me-until I'm blind or something.

Up Next:

THE COMEDIANS by Graham Greene
THE PRACTICE OF PERFECTION by Mary Frances Coady
GOURMET RHAPSODY by Muriel Barbery
THE LOVE WE SHARE WITHOUT KNOWING by Christopher Barzak
THE APPLE by Penelope J. Holt

Books I Still Need to Write Reviews On:

Which books mentioned on my blog would you like me to review? Just ask.

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What are you reading?

Waiting on Wednesday: Special Edition 2

Hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

"Waiting On Wednesday" is a weekly event that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Some of my pre publication can't-wait-to-read selections:





The Suicide Run by by William Styron
January 21, 2010











The Long Song by Andrea Levy
February 4, 2010











Even the Dogs By Jon McGregor
February 2010











The Infinities by John Banville
February 23, 2010











A Week in December by Sebastian
Faulks (Paperback) March 9, 2010










The Surrendered by Chang-rae Lee
March 9, 2010











Chef by Jaspreet Singh
March 15, 2010










The Line by Olga Grushin
(The Concert Ticket) March 25, 2010











The Lost Summer of Louisa May
Alcott by Kelly O'Connor McNees
April 1, 2010









Shadows in the Street
(Simon Serrailler 5) by Susan Hill
April 1, 2010






Check out my previous Waiting on Wednesday:Special Edition post for 14 other upcoming new titles.

Happy reading in 2010.