What are you reading?

Finally (after months and months and months...) Madame Bovary. 

It was odd, all of a sudden it was "The End"  huh?

I want to know with whom Flaubert chatted in order to get references for the arsenic scene. Eep. 

Anyway, one down, hundreds to go.

Atonement.  I struggled to like it in the beginning, but it's growing on me a little.

The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency-Alexander McCall Smith.  Early days with this one.  I don't know if I will like it.

Rereading Lord of the Rings for the bazillionth time.

The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency-Alexander McCall Smith.  Early days with this one.  I don't know if I will like it.

I absolutely loved that one!

I absolutely loved that one!

Same. And I totally didn't think I would first few pages in. It just grows on you. Last book I finished was The Good Husband of Zebra Drive, I think that's the latest in the series.

I love Alexander McCall Smith. I read his Sunday Philosopher Club series, as well as the 44 Scotland St one.

I've just started The End of Mr Y by Scarlett Thomas.


Edit: That was my 1000th post! How funny that both my 500th and 1000th are in this thread.

I absolutely loved that one!

Oh, dear. That's probably my least favourite book ever written. 

Well, I wouldn't expect our tastes to be exactly the same! 

I love McCall Smith for his light but engrossing style. His books are quick, easy and engaging which hits the spot when life is a bit heavy.

Well, I wouldn't expect our tastes to be exactly the same! 

Why on earth not?!?!! 

I've just started The End of Mr Y by Scarlett Thomas.

And I've finished The End of Mr Y by Scarlett Thomas! Couldn't put it down and blew through it in one day. What a mind trip.

Now I'm reading One Thousand Splendid Suns for the UKY bookclub.

Finally (after months and months and months...) Madame Bovary. 

It was odd, all of a sudden it was "The End"  huh?

I want to know with whom Flaubert chatted in order to get references for the arsenic scene. Eep. 

Anyway, one down, hundreds to go.

Just shows what an idiot Emma was.  Being married to a doctor AND being such a sentimentalist, you'd think she'd have picked up enough to know that stuffing a handful of arsenic into her mouth wasn't going to be pleasant or poetic. 

Just shows what an idiot Emma was.  Being married to a doctor AND being such a sentimentalist, you'd think she'd have picked up enough to know that stuffing a handful of arsenic into her mouth wasn't going to be pleasant or poetic. 

Emma Bovary always reminds me of Anna Karenina. Though I find neither of these characters particularly sympathetic.

I do and don't sympathize with her for various reasons. The extravagance was obnoxious - always wanting for more. Avaricious little thing.  But she was never smart enough to temper her 'passions' and harness her powers. Quite frankly, had she been clever enough, she could have used her charms and had that little town nestled in the palm of her hand.

Dangerous Liasons style.  Granted, the Countess got hers in the end too.

At least I didn't end the book wanting to drop kick it across the room.  Not too many books that have gained that sort of response.  Great Gatsby, Invisible Man, and bits of most things by animation theorist Paul Wells have left me a bit flummoxed though.

I do and don't sympathize with her for various reasons. The extravagance was obnoxious - always wanting for more. Avaricious little thing.  But she was never smart enough to temper her 'passions' and harness her powers. Quite frankly, had she been clever enough, she could have used her charms and had that little town nestled in the palm of her hand.

Dangerous Liasons style.  Granted, the Countess got hers in the end too.

At least I didn't end the book wanting to drop kick it across the room.  Not too many books that have gained that sort of response.  Great Gatsby, Invisible Man, and bits of most things by animation theorist Paul Wells have left me a bit flummoxed though.

I've always enjoyed the irony that the point Flaubert seemed to be making was the dangers of reading (especially its influences on a weak mind).  Agreed, though, Emma was a twit, and dumber than a fence post to boot.

Ow, I'm going to lower the IQ of this thread by thirty points since I just finished "Someday My Prince Will Come" - a chick-lit style autobiography of this girl who moved to London. To marry Peter Phillips (the royal). I thought it would be kind of nice since she seemed to have a trajectory (grad school, job, permanent residency) that I want to be on... but oh my god the whole book had the worst kind of snobbery and stereotyping! This girl was obsessed with postcard London (not England), BBC british accents and posh Oxbridge types.

Ew. Must finish a book about upper class Regency culture to cleanse the palate now.