nobooksnolife is alive and kicking in 2009.

Hello, Friendly LTers! How do you all read so much, so fast?? (OK, reminder to Self that the reason I joined this group was that it's supposed to be "go at your own pace," right? and my pace is quite slow!) Today I happen to be 'between books'—I hate that feeling—although I have read a few pages in about 30 books that are potentially started. When I become involved in a good read, I may forget to feed my family, but I never forget to feed the dogs. :)

I belong to a book club that meets once a month, but most of the time I develop a theme on my own and follow it until another whim takes over.

So far in 2009 I've read the following:

The Mighty Queens of Freeville Amy Dickinson
Sorbonne Confidential by Laurel Zuckerman
Seeing Venice: Bellotto's Grand Canal by Mark Doty
Losing Kei by Susanne Kamata
Delicate Edible Birds by Lauren Groff
Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven by Susan Gilman
Fear and Trembling by Amelie Nothomb
Shadow Family by Miyuki Miyabe
The Blue Notebook by Dr. James Levine
I'm Sorry You Feel That Way by Diana Joseph
Oh! A Mystery of 'Mono no Aware' by Todd Shimoda
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
The Blood of Lambs by Kamal Saleem and Lynn Vincent
Road to Damascus by Elaine Rippey Imady
How Shall I Tell the Dog? and other Final Musingsby Miles Kington
The Book Thief by Markus Zasuk
The Broken Bridge: Fiction from Expatriates in Literary Japan Suzanne Kamata, Editor
A Supremely Bad Idea: Three mad Birders and Their Quest to See It All by Luke Dempsey
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
Black Glasses like Clark Kent: A GI's Secret From Postwar Japan by Terese Svoboda
Small Kingdoms by Anastasia Hobbet (wonky touchstones)
I'm Sorry You Feel That Way: The Astonishing but True Story of a Daughter, Sister, Slut, Wife, Mother and Friend to Man and Dog by Diana Joseph

I'd also like to list what I read to completion in 2008:

Thunderstruck by Erik Larson
Half of a Yellow Sun
Water Street
I Feel Bad About My Neck
About Alice
Time Bandit
China Road
Inside the Red Mansion
The Translator: A Tribesman's Memoir of Darfur by Hari Daoud
Dress your Family in Corduroy and Denim
Owning the Olympics
Animal’s People
Stick Out Your Tongue
The North China Lover
Apologies Forthcoming
A Thousand Years of Good Prayers
When We Were Romans
The Foreigner
Runaway
First Into Nagasaki
Iraq through a Bullet Hole
Case of Exploding Mangoes
Where Am I Wearing?
The White Tiger
Something Like an Autobiography
The Housekeeper and the Professor

Edited to add to list of books.

Oh, tell me about the Mark Doty, please. And what did you think of Stick Out Your Tongue? Pamelad has just read this also. I think I have an old arc of it around here.

>2 avaland: I thoroughly enjoyed Mark Doty's little gem on Bellotto's painting "Grand Canal." Although I've never been to the new Getty Museum where the painting is exhibited, and I'll likely never visit Venice, the elegant prose of this little book gave me a tiny vacation in my humdrum life. The format of this book is intriguing; it's the anti-coffee table book, very nice to fit in a suitcase, so I hope it's sold at the Getty Museum shop.

My review is here: http://www.librarything.com/work/288478/reviews/38830059

I look forward to commenting on Stick out Your Tongue in my next post.

Thanks very much for asking! :)

I'm a bit dense today. What is ARC? I can only think of Alien Resident Certificate....

You are not dense. Very rare for me to stoop to using acronyms, because I dislike them. (Dweibuchi!)

How refreshing (and once again, how glad I am to find this site, filled with many different types of folks!) that you have remained untouched by the frenzy over at "Early Reviewers" to obtain "Advance Reading Copies" (or Advance Review Copies) of books soon to be released.

I've experimented with the Early Reviewers program since shortly after joining LT in Nov. 2007, and I've been matched up to receive a few very interesting books. In addition, I've received a few titles through some publishers I contacted directly (via a website called "Shelf Awareness").

Generally, the ARCs I've read are close to my interests, especially if I can get hold of non-fiction works, such as Owning the Olympics and The Translator by Hari Daoud.

Ah, yes, 'alien resident certificate' rings a bell! Thank goodness it's not another one of those bureaucratic hoops to jump through!

If you are curious--you ARE a cat, after all--take a look at Early Reviewers on LT.

Today's True Confession (perhaps familiar to other LTers): I received a book order today (happy-but-guilty-dance), and the TBR piles grow and grow! I refuse to do the arithmetic necessary to calculate whether I'm likely to live long enough to read all my "wanna reads"...I'm hopeless; I must live forever!

I'm currently reading Losing Kei by LT Author Suzanne Kamata and plan to finish it before starting on the new books. mmmmmm, they smell so good!

Like most days, short on time for reading today. Unexpectedly, I tuned in to a 2-hr NHK TV special on Francisco de Goya, one of my favorite artists. The 'high-definition' picture is so compelling that I watch, despite only understanding about half of the Japanese narration. (I search the Web and read background info as the show progresses). I will spend some time this afternoon with my better half's collection of art books.

Meantime, I'm nearly finished with Lauren Groff's new Delicate Edible Birds and thoroughly enjoying it.
I'm behind in reviews for Saffron Dreams and Losing Kei, among others.

Also, working on a brief comment re Ma Jian, Stick Out Your Tongue, Red Dust and The Noodle Maker.

I'm slow, but will eventually get there...

nobooksnolife, I travelled through China last year with Ma Jian in Red Dust and was impressed enough to pick up Stick Out Your Tongue. Jian's China is a harsh, hard place. Interested to hear what you think of them and whether The Noodle Maker is worth a shot.

I'm interested in reading your reviews on Chinese literature, nobooknoslife!

jai yo!

Having read Ma Jian's Stick Out Your Tongue a few months ago, I've spent last night and today re-reading a lot of it, plus many reviews online. I believe I've reached a much better understanding of this brief (93-page) collection of five very powerful vignettes of life in Tibet observed in the mid-1980s. (Maybe Ma Jian observed; maybe he dreamed; maybe he hallucinated; maybe all three).

I'd like to avoid repeating what most of the published reviewers have said. They hit all the main points and are easy to search on the Web. There are especially interesting comments in The Guardian, for example. It's worth noting that the translation by Flora Drew (the author's wife/partner) is very smooth and trustworthy.

I've taken a personal liking to Ma Jian ever since I felt like I walked every step with him in Red Dust. Then I read The Noodle Maker, then Stick Out Your Tongue, and waiting on my shelf is Beijing Coma. I see his body of work as a man's thoughts laid bare, wrestling with the troubles of his Motherland. Ma Jian is able to make us remember the self-destructiveness of China, the lingering emptiness wrought by the Cultural Revolution, the encroachment on Tibet, the dog-eat-dog poverty which political corruption perpetuates. Yet, he can write all these things without preaching, scolding, or whining. His literary voice is a howl of pain.

Officially, today's China finds it very inconvenient to recall yesterday's pain or to acknowledge today's social and cultural ills. When Stick Out Your Tongue was first published in China in 1985, it was condemned by the government. All of Ma Jian's works remain banned in China. To avoid arrest, he eventually opted to live in London. ("The Tiananmen Massacre of 1989 convinced me that I could never make China my permanent home." p 90).

Although purportedly a fictional work, Stick Out Your Tongue seems to be autobiographical, describing the author's attempt to run as far away as possible from the authorities in China. The stories are haunting verbal snapshots, and, like photographs, they don't attempt to pass judgment on the often horrific events. In the Afterward, Ma Jian is straightforward about the background for these stories, his sojourn in Tibet. His soul-searching came to a complete void, and he wrote "In this sacred land, it seemed that the Buddha couldn't even save himself, so how could I expect him to save me? As my faith crumbled, a void opened inside me. I felt empty and helpless, as pathetic as a patient who sticks out his tongue (italics mine) and begs his doctor to diagnose what's wrong with him." p 87.

There is a key reference to 'sticking out one's tongue in greeting' in the custom of the Tibetans, in the story called "The Eight-fanged Roach"—a tale of double incest, superstition, rape, abuse, insanity. This and the rest of the stories are alive with smells, blood, wind, cold, dirt, icy water, smoke from dung fires, the blue expanse of sky, the colors black, red, turquoise, and a kind of insanity of a people who have been robbed of their spiritual core. Numerous assaults on women seem to indicate the destruction of the Motherland. Death is palpable in every story.

I'm glad I went back to re-read; the first time through I thought they were simply shocking stories, but now I believe there is a much more penetrating message.

Here is a link to an item about sticking out the tongue:http://articles.latimes.com/p/1997/nov/08/local/me-51420

What a brilliantly thoughtful review! I'm going to read this important Chinese writer immediately. His books are freely available in Taiwan, which has a free press.

Incidentally, many of the Taoist Gods that are frequently paraded through the streets of Taipei are depicted with their tongues sticking out. They look very fierce.

>12 tomcatMurr: Thanks for the kind words! I would love to read your eventual comments on Ma Jian's works. Also, if any of your local contacts read him in the original Chinese and discuss with you, their comments would be extremely interesting. Please let me know if anything transpires along those lines.
Cheers.

Hau le! Mai yo wen ti!

BTW, do you know Han Xiao Gong's Dictionary of Maqiao?

Julia, we are discussing Guan Ying on this thread. Can you help us out?

http://www.librarything.com/topic/60216

>14 tomcatMurr: TomcatMurr: I just picked up a copy of Dictionary of Maqiao the other day and can't wait to get into it. Have you read it?

I took a little time to flip through Scottish Samurai by Alexander McKay (1993) and The Pure Land by Alan Spence (2006). The first is a biography of Thomas Blake Glover and the latter is a novel on the same subject ("a swashbuckling tale" and winner of the Glenfiddich Award). I'm skeptical of the novel, especially since it plays up the 'beautiful courtesan' love story which is believed to have provided part of the background for the opera "Madame Butterfly."

Apparently the Glenfiddich Award is for just about anything that expresses the "spirit of Scotland"...

No more time to devote to them at the moment. I need to finish Outcasts United and post review for Early Reviewers soon.

yes, # 16, it's brilliant. I think it's one of the best novels to come out of China in modern times. I will be very interested to see what you think of it.

Sadly, no nice long swatches of time for reading these days. Grabbing minutes here and there, and not staying in the same book for long.

This week, I started Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven by Susan Jane Gilman. Early in, it reads like "two self-centered, privileged, Western bitches think it's entertaining to subject their ignorance upon innocent people by visiting China," but maybe it will redeem itself. I also started Factory Girls by Leslie T. Chang (her husband is Peter Hessler), a first-hand look at the desperately underprivileged lives of female Chinese factory workers. There is a jarring irony in reading these two books side-by-side.

Hau jou bu jien! :)

Your reading sounds interesting. I taught Chinese female factory workers in London. They were sweat shop workers in China town, and I thought their lives were grim. Then I went to HK which was where they came from, and saw everything in a whole new light.

I'll be interested to see how the Gilman turns out.

Oh, I am so glad I was wrong about Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven by Susan Jane Gilman. I ended up loving this book! Gilman completely redeems herself, and she's a good writer, to boot.

For a little more detail, please see my review on the book details page: http://www.librarything.com/work/book/43568310

Edited to add: The whole time I was reading Undress Me, I was remembering Chinese Lessons by John Pomfret, which is his account of being a student in China in 1981, and which I also highly recommend.

When I've been languishing in the midst of several thick books, making slow progress with lots of interruptions, I love to get my hands on a quick read that also brings some satisfaction. Last week I got my 'quick fix' with Amelie Nothomb's Fear and Trembling.

At 132 pages, translated from French, this book skillfully caricatures the byzantine absurdities of the Japanese office place and is disturbingly accurate in declaring the dark side of women's status in Japan. Nothomb's tone is youthful, genius, hysteric, shrill, somber, and dead-on. She is Belgian/Japanese (born in Japan) and attempted to work in a large Japanese company, which forms the basis for this book. This was a fun read.

For an interesting account of Japanese office life from the point of view of a western woman, without the hysterics, I recommend Accidental Office Lady by Laura Kriska, and for the view from a western man with a sense of humor, The Blue-Eyed Salaryman: From World Traveller to Lifer at Mitsubishi by Niall Murtagh.

Just finished an advance reading copy of The Blue Notebook by James Levine, courtesy of LT Early Readers and Spiegel & Grau Publishers.

My review doesn't do justice to the nuanced balance achieved in this exceptional novel, but here goes:

Despite a lifetime of reading, a book has never had the power to keep me from falling asleep, but last night, a novel kept me awake all night. I was reading an advance copy of The Blue Notebook by James Levine, M.D. and literally couldn't put the book down until I finished it around 3:00 a.m. Even at that hour I didn't dare to go to sleep until I'd read a few pages in a "quieter, gentler" novel so that I wouldn't dream about The Blue Notebook.

The reality of child prostitution in Mumbai which is the basis for this compelling, eloquent novel, is worse than any nightmare; however, the story develops with a balance of frankness and artistic imagination which makes it possible to stick with the characters in spite of a sickening feeling in the pit of one's stomach.

How can childlike innocence coexist with the spiritual and physical pollution of child prostitution? How can we accept the literary conceit that a fifteen-year-old female Indian prostitute can write and keep a hidden diary? How can her voice sustain and support the entire novel? Usually, in works of this type, there will be a major collapse somewhere in the composition which tests our patience too much. In my opinion, this did not occur in The Blue Notebook, making this the most extraordinary novel I've read in many years.

According to his publisher, author James A. Levine, a professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic, was doing research, "interviewing homeless kids on a famous street of prostitution in Mumbai known as the Street of Cages. A young woman writing in a notebook outside of her cage caught his attention, and he interviewed her at length. The powerful image of a young prostitute engaged in the act of writing haunted him," and this novel is the result.

Filled with skepticism, I began reading, but already by page three I was gripped by the story and enchanted by the voice of little "Batuk." By page six I had developed strong feelings about Batuk's best friend, Puneet (the only boy in the prostitution house) and their "keeper" (Mamaki). Throughout the book, skillful flashbacks, plot movement, and even minor characters converged to make me care very much about what would happen next and how Batuk would fare.

Descriptions of physical cruelty, perhaps because they are written by a medical professional, are not sensationalized, which builds confidence in the accuracy which informs the entire novel.
One of the most engaging aspects of the prose is Batuk's description of her world in "her own words", capturing glimpses of nature's beauty (sunrise, dusk, water), odors, animistic spirits of such things as trees. There is her own story-within-a-story ("The Grain of Rice") and her father's story to her about "the silver-eyed leopard," plus some striking poetry, which convey something of the cultural and literary surroundings of Mumbai. The possibility of beauty makes Batuk's horrible reality all the more poignant.

These literary enhancements are so well integrated that they do not slow down the story. Their timing also gives one a chance to draw a deep breath after reading tensely through the ordeals of Batuk—sold to an 'uncle' by the father whom she believes (and continues to believe) adores her, raped by another 'uncle', broken by a cruel gang in an orphanage, enslaved in the brothel…these events are just the beginning, and I won't spoil the story by adding more to the list.

Obviously, this is not a novel for the faint-of-heart or for young children, but it is an important work to be explored by thinking adults. I believe that Dr. Levine wrote the book to raise awareness and a sense of responsibility among readers who would take a serious look at the efforts of the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children (www.icmec.org) and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (www.missingkids.com). Furthermore, all of the author's U.S. royalties will be donated to these organizations. Here's one book you can buy without guilt.

The Blue Notebook illustrates the depths of human cruelty, but the spirit of its heroine offers a glimmer of hope. Mumbai is a complex, multi-cultural, multi-faceted city of extremes from which much interesting writing has emerged recently for western readers. Some recommendable books that help round out this fascinating place include Bombay Time by Thrity Umrigar, Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found by Suketu Mehta, Q and A (or Slumdog Millionaire) by Vikas Swarup, Love and Longing in Bombay by Vikram Chandra, and Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts, to name but a few.

Brilliant review of what looks like a very good book. Thanks nobooksnolife!

Murr, I appreciate your kind words. 謝謝您！

I've only just discovered your thread, nobooksnolife, and it's great! The only book you mention that I've read is the Nothomb (hard to have lived in Belgium for as long as I have without reading her). Have you read others of hers? There are a couple which I really enjoyed, slightly fictionalised accounts of her childhood in Japan, similar in style to Fear and Trembling, and, like that, fun (but not fluffy) reads - The Character of Rain and The Life of Hunger.
The Chinese books you've been reading look interesting; they're things I'd never heard of before, so thanks for providing such tantalising reviews! I'm always happy to have my reading lead off in a different direction... I look forward to seeing where you go next.

Hello, "rachbxl"--very nice of you to stop by. Yes, I enjoyed Amelie Nothomb and plan to read some of her other books. I'm drawn most to her books with Japan as part of the theme, but I'm sure the others would be interesting, too.

I looked at your amazing thread and I'm so impressed by your "reading around the world". I might do that, but it will take me a lifetime. Your reading list is a lot different from mine, so I will be especially interested in your comments and observations.

The other day I finished I'm Sorry You Feel That Way: The Astonishing but True Story of a Daughter, Sister, Slut, Wife, Mother and Friend to Man and Dog by LT author Diana Joseph.

With that title, it just seems perfect to post today--Mother's Day--as it seems to cover most of the roles of 'mother' fairly well. This is a memoir formed of a series of vignettes of the author's life. I liked it, laughed a lot, saw a part of myself in a lot of the stories, saw some of my friends in others.

I seems that some readers have likened her writing to that of David Sedaris or Amy Dickinson, but I think she has a magnificent voice and style of her own (as do Sedaris and Dickinson) and the comparison isn't necessary. Diana Joseph's stories are often raw and the humor has a little nasty bite to it. Sort of like the Space Mountain ride at Disneyland, if it could be a ride through the Alter Ego...

This little blurb isn't a review; I'm still considering what to write for a review, but there's no doubt that the book was fun.

This was an advance reading copy which I requested from Shelf Awareness.

Our last book club meeting for the academic year was today. The book we discussed was The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. We enjoyed it so much that we've put the author's forthcoming book Half-Broke Horses on our list for fall.

A few days ago I had the privilege to read an advance copy of Oh! A Mystery of 'mono no aware' by Todd Shimoda. This was a superb novel about which I'll write more later.

I read The Blood of Lambs in order to comment on it for LT's Early Reviewer program. In short, this book put me into a dilemma: the subject matter and anecdotes were compelling, but I could never escape the feeling that this book was a creation of those who want people to subscribe to the xenophobia which fuels such moronic institutions as homeland sick-urity. (Whoa, almost got on my soapbox there; it's ok, I'm taking long, deep breaths. Ok...) You can see what I mean in my comments in the book's listing on LT, if you feel so inclined.

Just catching up on your thread. I love your review of The Blue Notebook.

Thanks, dchaikin, for your kind words.

That was quite a review of The Blood of Lambs. A book with an agenda, who woulda thunk? (Sarah Palin really is everywhere!) Your review was beautifully and cautiously worded. Bravo!

I read The Reluctant Fundamentalist last year and I found it to be the most thought-provoking book I read that year.

I'm looking forward to your comments on Oh! A mystery of 'mono no aware' -- I did a study of Noh drama a number of years of ago and the the concept of 'mono no aware' is central to the effect and practice of the drama.

I too appreciated your review of The Blood of Lambs -- it's so easy just to fall into the camps of the fanatics. I've been incorporating information about Islamic history and literature into my World Lit and Humanities classes over the past few years -- it's amazing how little students know about Islam, especially beyond the media sensationalism.

I really enjoyed your review of The Blood of Lambs. You were much more well reasoned than I think I would be able to accomplish.

Yes, excellent review of what sounds like a vile and insidious project altogether. Good for you for digging out the connection between the authors of this book and World Magazine.

Actually, I thought you were too even handed: you wrote: just because the organization she works for has a stated Christian agenda doesn't necessarily mean that she can't be a balanced and objective writer which in my view is giving the devil all the cards. A stated Christian agenda is completely antithetical to balanced objectivity simply by definition, isn't it?

Looking forward to your review of the Shimoda.

Hi, Murr--I do look forward to your comments! The phrasing is my version of "sarcastic understatement." Actually it was my too-idealistic teenage daughter who said exactly those words to me as I was fuming about this book.

I believe that any bias defines who we (humans) are and therefore informs what we write, but it's more honest for publishers/authors to point these biases out and own up to them. It was just not transparent enough in the case of The Blood of Lambs. Had it been more clear from the publisher's book description, I would not have selected this title from the LT Early Reviewers list. I think it was mentioned that the pseudonymous (red flag #1) author was a converted Christian (red flag #2), but I was curious about his story...until I got the book and started wondering about the co-writer. Then I started doubting his credibility and feeling that he was a montage of several stories melded into a mouthpiece for the conservative Christian right-wing.

I can stand reading something which has a strong bias, but I want it to be fully disclosed...

and yes, vile and insidious...that is a very appropriate description because too many Americans are well-intentioned but poorly educated and they think if they "read it in a book" it must be true, and of course their vote counts as much as mine.

Remembering 20 years ago (I was rocking my 3-week-old son and watching my dream of China disintegrate on TV), I found some extraordinary information and photos in the following links. There are some historic, heartfelt comments by journalists to be found here. I hope others will take a look:

(This one is from a friend from college)
http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/04...

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/03...

Yesterday I also got a copy of Prisoner of the State: The Secret Journal of Zhao Ziyang and although have only read a few pages, I can tell it's going to be a meaningful read.

Thank you for commemorating this on your thread, Julia. The events of 20 years ago have also been very much on my mind these last two days.

When I look at the faces of my young students, it's appallling to think of how a government can open fire cold bloodedly on its youth. I hope those responsible for the decision never sleep again, but I fear, alas, that they are the unscrupulous ones who always inherit the earth.

I look forward to your thoughts on Zhao's book.

I'm falling behind in everything lately. Recently I enjoyed reading Road to Damascus by Elaine Rippey Imady.

Here are my comments:

In Road to Damascus, author Elaine Rippey Imady shares the personal memoir of her first thirteen years in Syria, beginning as a newlywed in 1960 and ending with events of the 1973 war between Syria and Israel. Her Prologue and Epilogue, written in 2007, briefly set this book in the context of current affairs; however, this is first and foremost an apolitical, straightforward account of romantic love, cross-cultural marriage, and life as foreign wife and mother in a society very different from the New York of her upbringing.

Imady's story feels very close to my own "foreign wife" experience, although my arena is East Asia rather than the Middle East. Raising a family wholeheartedly in two cultures often means not feeling completely comfortable in either, and one is often caught between longing for the other culture and the joy of discovery in the present culture. Imady describes these mixed feelings beautifully and never fails to indicate how much richer life is for her and her family as a result of crossing cultures.

Her husband, Mohammed Imady, comes from proud family with over 600 years of history in Damascus. Elaine and Mohammed met and married (secretly at first) when they were at university in New York City. This book is rich with psychological insights in to Mohammed's extended family, male/female relationships and role expectations, generational change, and religious views (Imady converts to Islam from her Protestant background). Descriptions of geography, food preparation, family outings, and a handy glossary round out this gentle first-hand account of life in Damascus.

I enjoyed this book very much for what it is—honest and straightforward—somewhat like a personal diary; however, I hope the Prologue and Epilogue indicate a possibility that the author will write about her experiences from 1973 to the Present, perhaps centered on a biography of her devoted, far-sighted husband and his extraordinary career?

Road to Damascus would most appeal to those who would like to have a sense of daily life in a country easily ignored in the west, and to gain a more nuanced understanding of the struggle for balanced Arab governance within Syria and of the Arab-Israeli disputed territories.

Many thanks to MSI Press and LibraryThing's Early Reviewers Program for this advance reading copy.

I've recently learned that a successful professional friend has chosen to retire in Turkey and another longtime (Stateside) friend has gone there on vacation. Since I know nothing about Turkey, I'm bingeing on Life with a View: A Turkish Quest (touchstone doesn't work) by Toni Sepeda and Tales from the Expat Harem: Foreign Women in Modern Turkey compiled by Anastasia M. Ashman.

Your writing about your reading is interesting as always, Julia.

Can you pop over to my thread and give your opinion on a very interesting article from Alex? I'm interested to hear your views.

Road to Damascus sounds like a fascinating read. I'm adding it to my list--thanks for the review.

Another LT Early Reviewer book--not really a 'bad' book, but unavoidably exploitive of the author's unfortunate death by cancer. I expected this book to be about a dying man bidding farewell to his loyal dog...but it's not.

Here are my comments:

Accomplished writer Miles Kington learns he's dying of pancreatic cancer. Not only does he keep working, but he constructs for himself the challenge of writing a book of humor during his final days. The book takes the form of a series of letters to his longtime friend and literary agent, describing ideas for books to write, most of which use his cancer as the central focus. This should be gallows humor at its finest, but I could never overcome feeling sad about the author's impending death, so although I laughed a little, I was mostly dragged down by the bleak reality. I also had to overcome my disappointment that this was not a book about a dying man waxing maudlin over saying goodbye to his dog. I was up for an extra box of tissues and in the mood for a good cry, but alas, there is only a brief mention of the author's pets, and although my heart went out to the author in his predicament, I couldn't work up a good cry…nor, unfortunately, a good laugh.

Still, how could I give a low rating to a book written by a guy on his deathbed? Although this book didn't strike the right chord with me, I didn't feel mean enough to give it a low rating, so I gave one star for Creativity, one for Humor, one for the Benefit of the Doubt, and one for sheer Bravery. The Creativity is there, and probably even more enjoyable if you are either a writer or an agent yourself, as there are dozens of subtle jokes about both. One of the best is when the author's oncologist wants advice on getting an agent for his book.

The Humor is dry and well contained (maybe too well contained) and …quite "British" to my American sensibilities, but I've heard that the audio book is read by one of my favorites, Michael Palin of Monty Python fame, so it might be worth a listen. The Benefit of the Doubt is because I doubt my own ability to appreciate this book simply because my reaction to cancer is fairly one-dimensional (fear/sadness) and doesn't embrace the humor that must be there if only one looks for it (really?). The element of Bravery I believe speaks for itself: here was a man courageous enough to keep doing his life-work despite knowing that his end was very near.

The author, Miles Kington, was literary editor at Punch, a writer and jazz reviewer for the London Times, and a columnist for The Independent for 22 years. He was also known for Let's Parler Franglais! series which was reportedly wildly popular in the U.K. He must have been a nice, funny guy, and I believe if I had read his other works, I would have felt a stronger affinity for How Shall I Tell the dog? And other Final Musings.

For a good cry, I will still have to look elsewhere for the quintessential "loyal dog/dying master" novel, maybe something about "Hachiko".

This is a good review. It really gives me a sense of the book, and I like the way you allow your own reactions/experience in.

Where to begin...life has really disrupted my reading patterns and interrupted my enjoyment of LT and "Club Read '09". I've had more hours of English tutoring which is a good thing. Right now I have about 14 time slots involving 23 students who range in age from 6 to 72.

Last month I was able to take a rare trip back to the US to visit my mom and deliver my daughter to her university to start her freshman year. I feel the squeeze between generations.

While at my mom's, I tried to unpack and catalog books with the intention of giving many away, but most went right back into the cartons as I ran out of time. Using mom's old computer was no treat, either.

In the next few days I hope to get back to this log and include the reading I've managed to do, but I've also packed the schedule with some local seminars, so we'll see how it all works out.

It's good to be home again, back to my Mac, a fast internet connection, and reading the brilliant comments of others on Club Read.

It's good to have you back, Julia. I was wondering where you were.

Thanks, Murr. I look forward to trying to catch up on your postings (and also those from a couple dozen other fascinating characters here!). Funny, to miss so many people I've never met! :)

At long last, I've had a little time to finish some books, but not enough time to write thoughtful comments. Today I finished The Elegance of the Hedgehog and spent much time savoring and re-reading, looking up pictures of pastries and listening to various artists' performances of Purcel's Dido's Lament.

Here's the list of recent reads:
The Book Thief by Markus Zasuk
The Broken Bridge: Fiction from Expatriates in Literary Japan Suzanne Kamata, Editor
A Supremely Bad Idea: Three mad Birders and Their Quest to See It All by Luke Dempsey
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
Black Glasses like Clark Kent: A GI's Secret From Postwar Japan by Terese Svoboda

Very briefly: I was far from impressed by The Book Thief and I think it deserves its description as young adult reading material because it was so immature. There are better works on the Jewish Holocaust. It made me want to go back and re-read Anne Frank's diary, especially the newly published unexpurgated version.

The Broken Bridge: Fiction from Expatriates in Literary Japan was pleasant in its variety of voices, styles, and subjects, and more pertinent to those who live or have lived in Japan. Notice the title is not" Literary Expatriates" which is a tip-off that some of them are not professional writers, but this book was a good forum for the stress relief of the expat mind.

A Supremely Bad Idea: Three Mad Birders and Their Quest to See It All is a funny romp through the bizarre world of the bird-watching-obsessed. The twist here is that the author is British and lets loose his biting observations not only upon himself but also on his experiences in the U.S. There are plenty of jabs which thin-skinned or overly-sensitive people won't think are too funny, probably because the barbs hit uncomfortably close to the truth (especially on overweight, out of shape people, although I am one, and I didn't take it that seriously). I find it remarkable that the author could combine the awkward mix of humor, birdwatching, and travel writing into an entertaining book. Humor is really difficult to sustain for an entire book, and perhaps this is one better to read just a few pages at a time, with long lapses between.

I never thought of myself as a birder, but I grew up in a family where it was normal to drop everything and bolt toward the window at the sound of any unusual bird call, and to take binoculars along on day trips, so I found this to be entertaining, but not a must read. A great book to keep at your cabin by the lake if you are lucky enough to have one.

I'll post comments on the last two titles on the list later.

As I write this (in Tokyo) about 1.5 hours remain in 2009. To be honest, this has been a most difficult year and I'm glad to see it go, though it's just another number on an arbitrary tool called a 'calendar', it's refreshing to start a new year with renewed energy and an optimistic outlook.

I've had great fun reading the posts in this Group Read and learned an enormous amount from all of its creative members---thank you for a great year of reading and discussions!

I'll need to come back to this thread to add some comments and wrap up some loose ends, but for now, "Goodbye, 2009, and HAPPY NEW YEAR: 2010"