I just finished Suite Francaise by Nemirovsky. It is a recently translated novel by a woman who was a novelist in France in the 1930's and early '40's. The manuscript was carried around by a daughter after her parents were taken away to concentration camps. After 64 years the novel was published.

The story covers the time period of early 1940's as the Nazis over take France and Paris. The book's characters are from all walks of life- wealthy to farmers- from city dwellers to village people, and how they survived the Nazis. The story brings out all the emotions of such a time period, love, hate, greed and c'est la vie. It is a wonderful story. When it ended I wanted more. A wothwhile read.

Just read "Blindness" by Jose Saramago. Very intriguing book, fabulist in nature. Describes the breakdown of a society after a mysterious blindness takes the sight of all but one lone woman who bears witness to the mayhem all around her.

You really start to feel like you're in the story after a while and it's not always a very nice feeling. It's really interesting reading and I would recommend it to others. I'm now moving on to Saramago's "The Cave."

I am just reading The Shadow of the Wind which i picked up from QPB a while ago. It's a great literary thriller set in one of my favorite cities- Barcelona. It has mystery, love, intrigue and so much more..

I just finished a couple of novels that inadvertently made a provocative pair: "Dance Dance Dance" by Haruki Murakami, and "Hidden Camera" by Zoran Zivkovic. This pairing begs for discussion, and I'm wondering if there's anyone out there who's read one or both of these. They are surreal, kafkaesque adventures of a solitary narrator who goes through all sorts of clearly symbolic events and situations. The only thing I can say with certainty is that they're both about human mortality and what it means to us, but...there's a whole lot more depth to it than just that! What do you think? If you haven't read either one, start with the Murakami. Weird!

I'm currently reading The Ha-Ha by Dave King who happened to be my professor in college. It's a very good book and I can really relate to the main character, Howie, with his disability as I'm dyslexic and often find it difficult to express myself through writing.

I've been reading Jonathan Kellerman. I am almost through reading all the books, have about 4 to go. A great police procedural.

I am currently reading Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. What a great book. I now want to go to Savannah and see the places that were in the book.

I just finished Anderson Coopers Dispatches from the edge. It was a very 'real' book, I enjoyed it.

I recommend reading "Kafka on the shore", a Japanese novel that disconnects you from the frenzied world of the Occident.

another nice book for the summer is " The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint Exupery,it is 60 years old but
as young as its main character.

I am just about to read the penulimate chapter of "The Year of Magical Thinking" by Joan Dudion.
I'm writing this post so I get the opportunity to use "penultimate" in a sentance for the first time. But I digress.

It's written almost like a diary of her struggle to move on after the death of her husband John Dunne followed closedly by the near death experince of her only child Quntana.
I've never read any of her stuff before this book. (I only read it becuase I'm too lazy to send it back).

Joan is a gifted writer and has the ability to express her feelings in a way that sucks you into them. Sometimes I had to force myself to stop reading it because her pain was starting to color my normally effervescent personality.

The parts of it that set me off was the brand naming of all the restaraunts and detailed discriptions of all the exclusive real estate holdings. She comes across materialistic.
She would have make Eva Parone proud when she seems to gloat that her daughter was going to get one of 11 convalescing beds at UCLA hospital. She seemed to gloat about it as she talks to the wife of a pitiant that can't afford it.

Over all a good read if you can get past the cockiness of it all.