It's April - what are you reading?

[Rowan]

I'm reading Open House by Elizabeth Berg. I'm really liking it - the first 50 pages really sucked me in.

[Spudd]

I'm in the middle of Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. So far, it's fairly amusing.

I just finished Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier on audiobook, and am about to start on Great Expectations. I hope it's good.

[Sílvia]

Spudd, I *just* bought Great Expectations! Just came back from the store. I still have to finish my current book (Jodi Picoult's The Pact), but let's compare notes! How did you like Rebecca? I love it!

[Spudd]

I loved Rebecca too! At the beginning I thought it was a little overdramatic and artsy (you know, when she's describing how Manderley is all overgrown and stuff?) but then it got good. I was in such suspense at the end. And the twist really surprised me! I had no idea. So yup, I enjoyed it.

[Sílvia]

I read it when I was 16, then again about 5 years ago. The first time I think I was up almost all night to finish it. My mom did the same when she was younger, lol. Btw, you know there's a movie? It's really old, and they changed the ending, but it's good, too. Isn't it fascinating how she never mentions the protagonist's name?

[Beverly]

I think Great Expectations is an excellent read!

Right now I'm working on Män som hatar kvinnor (Men Who Hate Women) by Stieg Larsson. It's a suspense/detective novel, and very good so far. The English translation is called The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo -- everybody I know who's read it can't put it down.

[Sílvia]

I almost bought that yesterday, Beverly!

[Beverly]

Oh, wow ... you should totally get it, Sílvia! It's a huge sensation over here ... it was just made into a movie (Swedish language, though), and there's been so much hype. The author was from the next town over from mine, so he's a bit of a hometown hero in these parts. He actually died four or five years ago, before any of the books--there are three-were published, which is kind of sad.

[Spudd]

Bev, Kenneth read that book recently, I think. I know I've seen it around the house, anyways. The other Swedish books he's been really into lately are by Jan Guillou I think... Vagen till Jerusalem?

Silvia, yeah, it is really interesting how she never mentions her name. I listened to the audiobook so it took me ages to finish it, because I only listened on my way to and from work. It got to the point where I was looking forward to my commute so I could find out what would happen!

[mellenhead]

I just finished Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles by Margaret George. It was fantastic.

I think I might start reading In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan. I also have a bunch of Charlaine Harris books I should start.

[Rowan]

I'm reading The Help by Kathryn Stockard and it is so good. Its created quite a buzz on librarything. Its set in pre Civil Rights era Mississippi and is about black maids working in white homes.

I can't wait to finish it but at the same time I don't want to finish it.

[Blush]

I've been in a book lull. I just read Ralph's Party by Lisa Jewell as I had no new books from the library and hadn't had time to go in and browse. I usually order new ones and pick them up when they come in. Anyway, this had been on my bookshelf and I'd never read it so I did. It was ok. British chicklit, about 10 years old now.

I also read Let's talk about love: A Journey to the end of taste by Carl Wilson. Description from Amazon:

This book is a riveting investigation of what it means to love music and what it means to hate music, both of good and bad taste.Non-fans regard Celine Dion as ersatz and plastic, yet to those who love her, no one could be more real, with her impoverished childhood, her manager-husband's struggle with cancer, her knack for howling out raw emotion. There's nothing cool about Celine Dion, and nothing clever. That's part of her appeal as an object of love or hatred - with most critics and committed music fans taking pleasure (or at least geeky solace) in their lofty contempt. This book documents Carl Wilson's brave and unprecedented year-long quest to find his inner Celine Dion fan, and explores how we define ourselves in the light of what we call good and bad, what we love and what we hate.

About the Author
Carl Wilson is a writer and editor in Toronto at the Globe and Mail. He has written a weekly music column there for more than four years. One of his columns was reprinted in Da Capo's Best Music Writing 2002 volume, edited by Jonathan Lethem.

It was really good, and a really quick read.

[Spudd]

I'm listening to Great Expectations. So far, so good.

Reading-wise, I just finished off a sci-fi historical novel (odd, I know, but there ya go) called Steppe. It was pretty good. Now I'm back to the Dark Tower series - book 5 (Wolves of the Calla). I'm only a few pages in right now.

[Sílvia]

I could not get into Great Expectations at all. Sad. I'm not usually much of a classics reader, but I have read and enjoyed a few. This one felt like homework every time I tried to read it. I made it to page 89. Part of it, I'll admit it, was the language. But I refuse to read a translation, I have a freaking certificate of proficiency in English .

Anyway... then I went on to Songs of the HUmpback Whale by Jodi Picoult. It's her first novel and it's totally different from her courtroom dramas. It would have worked much better if one of the narrators (there were 5) didn't tell the story backwards. You know exactly how it ends 50 pages into it or so. I usually hate spoilers with a passion, so that didn't work for me. I almost gave it up after 100 pages or so, but then it got a little better.

Now I started A Widow for One Year by John Irving. I'm finding it totally gripping so far, but I'm only on page 20 or so. I tried his A Prayer for Owen Meany years ago and couldn't get into it at all. I was just reading readers' opinions on him on Chicklit and so many people say he's "creepy", "unwholesome", "weird". I don't mind those things. What I can't stand in a book is boredom.

[Beverly]

Sílvia, I sort of go hot and cold (usually within the same book!) on John Irving. He's sort of weirdly sex-obsessed, but overall I really like his stuff. I read A Prayer for Owen Meany last year, and I LOVED it. It's one of my all-time favorites. A Widow for One Year is very good, too. In fact, the only one of his books I've read and haven't loved is The Fourth Hand; it wasn't bad, but it was sort of meh.

I finally finished up The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which I heartily recommend. I'm looking forward to reading the second one in the series, but I have to wait until I meet up with Olof's aunt so I can borrow it. Now I'm working on The History of Love, which I bought solely because Crystal loved it and you didn't -- so far I'm on Crystal's side.

[Sílvia]

Beverly, I kind of think I should give Owen Meany another chance. But then I remember how much it annoyed me the first time I tried it and give up But I think part of the problem with this one was the opposite of what happened with Great Expectations: I was trying to read a translation and it felt AWFUL. I *cannot* read contemporary American/English fiction translated. It's like watching a dubbed movie.

As for The History of Love, I was enjoying it until the end, when something annoyed me. I don't remember exactly what it was , so I think I should read it again.

My mom is just starting her second Stieg Larsson book! I don't know which one it is because it's translated. She LOVED the first one. It was right up her alley. I might give them a try sometime.

[Crystal Meth]

Now I'm working on The History of Love, which I bought solely because Crystal loved it and you didn't -- so far I'm on Crystal's side.

VINDICATION!

I liked Prayer for Owen Meany. "Simon Birch" was a travesty of a movie adaptation.

I'm reading a giant Walt Disney bio, as well as The Flying Troutmans. I lurve Miriam Toews.