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ffortsa

Age 75
Joined Monday, July 4, 2005
Recent Book Activity
Statistics
4 weeks all time
books registered 0 348
released in the wild 0 187
controlled releases 0 38
releases caught 0 83
controlled releases caught 0 13
books found 0 11
tell-a-friend referrals 0 1
new member referrals 0 6
forum posts 0 825
Extended Profile
Former English major (but it's like being Jewish, you never recover), for many years now a systems analyst, a sometime actor, a once-was musician. I read both fiction and non-fiction, some science and the kind of travel book that 'Blue Highways' represents, and my bookshelves are groaning with books I read years ago, books I mean to read, books I mean to reread. I LOVE talking about them. My profession doesn't generally put me in touch with a lot of readers - systems analysts and programmers are a very mixed bunch, but more and more of the group are very young, with business degrees, unlike us oldies who had to make a living after Liberal Arts. I spend a lot of time and money at the theater (why else live in NYC?), not much on travel (although my sig. other makes a valiant effort to get me out of the state). And I love language and grammar - probably too much.

I have LOTS of books at home, most of which are not registered. Feel free to ask for any available book. If I see a book on your available list I'd like, I might check your wishlist and offer something not yet registered that I'm willing to trade. I've had great fun sending RABCKs (14 hardcover mysteries this past summer went to happy homes) and releasing into the wild. It's just a question of catching up.

(I just realized that I'd registered a lot of romances after Katrina, because I sent them down as part of a BX request. However, as you can see from the list below, they are not part of my personal range of preference.)

The Olympic Challenge got me to look at all the TBR books lurking among the PC on my bookshelves - some of them have been there a LONG time.

Books read since 11/1/05:
1. Bleak House - Dickens (along with the readalong)
2. To the Nines - Evanovich
3. Slaughterhouse 5 - Vonnegut (for my book group)
4. Gone Boy - Gibson
5. The Convivial Codfish - MacLeod
6. The Good Soldier - Ford Maddox Ford
7. Tight as a Tick - Kelner
8. Fulton County Blues - Birmingham
9. 10 Big Ones - Evanovich
10. Guys and Dolls - Runyan
11. A Bend in the River - Naipaul (Trinidad)
12. Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe (Nigeria)
13. Maigret and the Man on the Bench - Simenon
14. Maigret and the Killer - Simenon (reread)
(I find Maigret books very therapeutic when life gets a little out of control.)
15. Vanity Fair - Thackeray (in process)
16. R is for Ricochet - Grafton
17. Out - Kirino in English, for Olympic Challenge, Japan, and my meetup group)
18. Fugitive Colors - Margaret Maron
19. How Proust Can Change Your Life - de Botton (in progress -very therapeutic)
20. Foe - Coetzee, for Olympic Challenge and my Mt. TBR.
(my mystery kick kicked in again with these)
21. Eleven on Top - Evanovich
22. A is for Alibi - Grafton
23. B is for Burglar - Grafton
24. Pursued by Shadows - Sale
25. Deep South - Barr
26. Headlong - Michael Frayn (in progress)
27. Housekeeping - Robinson
28. The Country Ahead of Us, The Country Behind - David Guterson
29. Hunting Badger - Tony Hillerman
30. Coyote - Linda Barnes
31. A Trouble of Fools - Linda Barnes
32. The Snake Tattoo - Linda Barnes
33. Persuasion - Austen
34. Voices From a Time - Bonucci
35. Family Practice - Charlene Weir
36. Hard Truth - Barr
37. Coyote - Linda Barnes
38. Steel Guitar - Linda Barnes

Uh oh - I may be back in my mystery groove again. Robinson's Housekeeping broke my heart, so I needed some clean puzzle solving to heal me again.

39. Auto Da Fe - Canetti - in progress for my book club (halted - too upsetting)
40. In Patagonia - Chatwin - in progress
41. Wny Girls Can't Throw - Symons
42. The Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd
43. Silence in October - Jens Christian Grohndal (my first bookring)
44. Crossing to Safety - Wallace Stegner
45. Rough Trade - Dominique Manotti
46. The Sign of the Book - John Dunning
47. Choke - Chuck Paluhniak
48. Field of Blood - Denise Mina
49. The History of Danish Dreams - Peter Hoeg
50. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle - Murakami
51. Hardware - Linda Barnes
52. Readers' Guide to The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
53. Dead Cat Bounce - Sarah Graves
54. The News from Paraguay
55. Tears of the Giraffe - McCall Smith
56. Hunting Season - Nevada Barr
57. The Undercover Economist (in progress)
58. The Shadow of the Wind -
59. The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana - Eco
60. No Murder Before Its Time - Russ Hall
61. The Odyssey - Fagles translation - in progress for AAUW read-out-loud
62. Leave a Message for Willie - Muller
63. The Shape of Dread - Muller
64. Eye of the Storm - Muller
65. Morality for Beautiful Girls - McCall Smith
66. The Kalahari Typing School for Men - McCall Smith
67. The Full Cupboard of Life - McCall Smith
68. Blue Shoes and Happiness - McCall Smith
69. The Odyssey - translation by Robert Fagles(in progress)
70. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
71. The Return of the Water Spirit
72. The Last Will and Testament of Senhor da Silva Araujo - Germano Almeida

I just noticed that I have not read 100 books this year. Hm. have to pick up the pace.

2007 I'm marking the books that qualify for the TBR challenge with an *
73. A Cold Day for Murder - Dana Stabenow (reread)
74. A Fatal Thaw - Dana Stabenow (reread)
75. The History of Love - Krauss
76. The Cat Who Dropped a Bombshell - Braun *
77. Dead in the Water - Stabenow (reread)
78. The Land Without Shadows - Waberi (for the Olympic Challenge)*
79. Liar's Poker - Lewis
80. A Cold-Blooded Business - Stabenow
81. Blood Will Tell - Stabenow*
82. Montana 1948 - Larry Watson
83. Moo - Jane Smiley*
84. Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death - M. C. Beaton
85. From Dawn to Decadence - Jecques Barzun (in progress, probably forever)
86. Homo Faber - Max Frisch*
87. The Moonstone - Wilkie Collins*
88. A Conspiracy of Paper - Liss
89. Some Buried Caesar - Rex Stout*
90. Siddhartha - Hermann Hesse*
91. Everything You Know - Zoe Heller
92. Nothing To Declare - Mary Morris
93. Sweet Dreams, Irene - Jan Burke
94. Tough Cookie - Diane Mott Davidson
95. Good Books Lately - Ellen Moore and Kira Stevens
96. The Old Wine Shades - Martha Grimes
97. To The Lighthouse - Virginia Woolf
98. My Name Is Red - Orhan Pamuk
99. Reading Like a Writer - Francine Prose
100. Dressed for Death - Donna Leon
101. Acqua Alta - Donna Leon
102. Drop City - T C Boyle
103. The Calligrapher - Edward Docx
104. A Share of Death - Deborah Crombie
105. The Passion - Jeanette Winterson
106. Triple Witch - Sarah Graves
107. Wicked Fix - Sarah Graves
108. Repair to Her Grave - Sarah Graves
109. Wreck the Halls - Sarah Graves
110. Unhinged - Sarah Graves
111. Mallets Aforethought - Sarah Graves
112. Tool & Die - Sarah Graves
113. Nail Biter - Sarah Graves
114. Trap Door - Sarah Graves
115. Shakespeare's Champion - Charlaine Harris
116. Shakespeare's Christmas - Charlaine Harris
117. Shakespeare's Trollop - Charlaine Harris
118. Shakespeare's Counselor - Charlaine Harris
Aha - another mystery tear. Well, they're a comfort when life gets tough.
119. Full Dark House - Crhistopher Fowler
120. Funny Boy - Shyam Selvadurai
121. Plum Wine - Angela David-Gardner
122. A Personal Matter - K. Oe
I think this is where 2008 began.
123. Maigret and the Apparition - Simenon (reread)
124. The Dwarf - Par Lagerkvist
125. Innocent in Death - J. D. Robb
126. Twelve Sharp - Evanovich
127. Maigret and the Gansters - Simenon
128. What Was Lost - Catharine O'Flynn (prepublication)
129. The Road to Wigan Pier - George Orwell
130. The Heart of the Matter - Graham Greene
131. Head of a Traveler - Nicholas Blake
132. In the Still of the Night - Jill Churchill
133. Tumbleweed - van de Wetering
oops - I haven't been recording my reads for a while. Let's see
134. Suite Francaise - Irene Nemirovsky
135. Naked in Death - J. D. Robb
136. Purity in Death - J. D. Robb
137. Freakonomics - Dubner and Levitt
138. Beautiful Lies - Lisa Unger
139. Mexico Set - Len Deighton
140. Delerium - Laura Restrepo
141. London Match - Len Deighton (and now I find out there are 6 MORE!!!)
142. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - Joyce (reread - I'll be journalling.
143. People of Darkness - Hillerman
144. Sliver of Truth - Lisa Unger
145. Glory in Death - J. D. Robb
146. Maigret in Retirement - Simenon
147. Maigret in Society - Simenon
148. Love in the Time of Cholera - Garcia Marquez
149. Immortal in Death - J. D. Robb
150. End of the Earth - Matthiessen
151. Foundation - Asimov
152. The Book of Vice - Peter Sagal
153. Rapture in Death - J. D. Robb
154. Ferocious Alphabets (in progress) - Donoghe
155. The Magician's Nephew (in progress) - Lewis
156. Ceremony in Death - J. D. Robb
157. Vengeance in Death - J. D. Robb
sigh - I'm on a J. D. Robb kick. it's like potato chips - I can't read just one.
158. The Penelopiad - Atwood
159. The Handmaid's Tale - Atwood
160. A Cat Named Brat - Adamson
161. The Cat Who Saw Red - Lillian Jackson Braun
162. Aunt Dimity's Christmas - Atherton
163. The Financier - Dreiser
164. Maigret and the Enigmatic Lett - Simenon
165. Maigret in Exile - Simenon
166. Maigret in Holland - Simenon
167. A is for Alibi - Grafton (reread)
168. A Drinking Life - Pete Hamill
169. The First Eagle - Tony Hillerman
170. Holiday In Death - J. D. Robb
171. Interlude in Death - J. D. Robb
172. Loyalty in Death - J. D. Robb
173. Amerika - Franz Kafka
174. A Confederacy of Dunces - Toole
175. Witness in Death - J. D. Robb
176. Judgement in Death - J. D. Robb
177. Betrayal in Death - J. D. Robb
178. Seduction in Death - J. D. Robb
179. Reunion in Death - J. D. Robb
180. Purity in Death - J. D. Robb
181. Portrait in Death - J. D. Robb
182. Imitation in Death - J. D. Robb
183. Divided in Death - J. D. Robb
184. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
185. Survivor in Death - J. D. Robb
do you detect a pattern? An addiction?
186. The Old Wine Shades - Martha Grimes
187. Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman - Elizabeth Buchan
188. The Man with a Load of Mischief - Martha Grimes
189. Origin in Death - J. D. Robb
190. Memory in Death - J. D. Robb
191. Born in Death - J. D. Robb
2009
192. Under the Glacier - Haldor Laxness
193. Innocent in Death - J. D. Robb
194. Haroun and the Sea of Stories - Rushdie
195. Creation in Death - J. D. Robb
196. Dust - Martha Grimes
197. Strangers in Death - J. D. Robb
198. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
199. New Orleans Mourning - Julie Smith
200. Jazz Funeral - Julie Smith
201. How Proust Can Change Your Life - Alain de Botton - in progress
202. The Ghost Map - Steven Johnson
203. New Orleans Beat - Julie Smith
204. House of Blues - Julie Smith
205. Body of Lies - Iris Johansen
206. B is for Burglar - Grafton (reread)
207. C is for Corpse - Grafton (reread)
208. D is for Deadbeat - Grafton (reread)
209. E is for Evidence - Grafton (reread)
210. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
211. The Old Fox Deceive'd - Grimes
212. The Anodyne Necklace - Grimes
213. The Brothers Karamazov - Doestoyevsky
214. The Embers - Hyatt Bass
215. Wives Behaving Badly - Elizabeth Buchan - in progress
216. The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy - in progress
217. A Fine Balance - Mistry - abandoned
218. My Stroke of Insight - Jill Bolt Taylor
219. Jerusalem Inn - Grimes
220. Don't Look Back - Fossum
221. Darkness and Light - Harvey
222. The Elegance of the Hedgehog
223. Salvation in Death - J. D. Robb
224. I Am the Only Running Footman - Grimes
225. Rabbit, Run - Updike
226. The Old Silent - Grimes
227. Middlesex (reread) - Eugenides
228. Inner Tube - Hob Broun
229. Death in a Strange Country - Donna Leon (reread)
230. The Private Patient - James
231. A History of the Jews - Johnson (in progress)
232. Spring Snow - Mishima
233. The Old Contemptibles - Grimes
234. Not Where I Started From - Wheeler (in progress)
235. Go Down, Moses - Faulker
236. The Horse You Rode In On - Grimes
237. Rainbow's End - Grimes
238. The Red and the Black - Stendhal
239. The Hedgehog, the Fox, and the Magister's Pox - Stephen Jay Gould (in progress)
240. Uniform Justice - Donna Leon
241. Wild Horses - Dick Francis

I think I forgot to record past this point. So on to 2010:
242. The Dream of Scipio by Pears
243. F is for Fugitive by Grafton
244. H is for Homicide by Grafton
245. I is for Innocent by Grafton
246. J is for Judgement by Grafton
247. The Book Thief by Marcus Zuzak
248. The Case Has Altered by Grimes
249. The Lamorna Wink by Grimes
250. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
251. Dirty Snow by Georges Simenon
252. a Maigret mystery I can't recall the title to
253. K is for Killer by Grafton
254. L is for Lawless by Grafton
255. M is for Malice by Grafton
256. The Blue Last by Grimes
257. The Grave Maurice by Grimes
258. Palace Walk by Nagib Mafouz
259. N is for Noose by Grafton
260. O is for Outlaw by Grafton
261. Pale Fire by Nabokov


Very provisional wish list drawn from reviews I've recently seen (although I'll probably wait for them in paperback):


The Tender Bar - J. R. Moehringer
The Lighthouse - P.D. James
Bess of Hartwisk - Mary Lovell
How Everything Works - Bloomfield
The Places In Between - Rory Stewart
Middle Passages - James Campbell
The Good Fight - Beinarat
Sheetrock and Shellac - David Owen
Home Rules - Nate Berkus
Room for Improvement - Barbara Kavovit
Express Lane Meals - Rachel Ray
The Emperor's Children - Claire Messud
The Yacoubian Building - Alaa Al Aswany
Proust and the Squid::The Story and Science of Reading by Maryanne Wolf

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