I haven't! Discovering a good author can be intimidating when they have a largeish back catalog, but it's also nice to know that I can and will pick up Lions when I'm in a book slump down the road.

You're right—the series probably would have been better served by spending one book dealing with Matthew's son (I did not find this storyline compelling in the slightest) and a fourth book dealing with the congregation/covenant/book of life.

This seems like a good place to thank whoever recommended Guy Gavriel Kay's China-but-not-China books last month. I picked up River of Stars and really enjoyed it. I don't like to read the same author twice in a row, so I'm going to give it a couple of months before Under Heaven. River of Stars did an amazing job…

I was enormously disappointed by the whole thing. I felt like Diana sort of got marginalized in her own book series, given the book's shift in focus to Matthew and his children.

Never read a China-based fantasy novel. I'll definitely check those out.

I've been planning to pick up a Guy Gavriel Kay book for my August vacation. Never read him, so which book should I pick?

Seconded. Helene Wecker's next book is an automatic purchase for me now.

I read two great nonfiction books last month: Thank You for Your Service and Going to Extremes, which is about the author's year in Alaska in the 70s during the pipeline boom. I didn't know anything about the author of the latter, Joe McGinniss, until after I finished the book. It turns out that he's written some…

I just finished the new book, and I think she really squandered a potentially great character in William. He could have been the sole sympathetic character who really dislikes Jamie and Claire (and with good reason). Instead, he spends the whole book in the throes of one-note moping. (It's Gabaldon's "wherever whores…

I read On Such a Full Sea last weekend, and I really enjoyed it. While I thought the "Greek chorus" aspect was ingenious, I did find myself skimming those parts as the book went on. And Lee just had to stick that rape-as-plot-device sequence in there, which was endlessly frustrating. I think that section of the book…

That was me! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

I'm 200ish pages into The Wise Man's Fear, and I still hate Denna. And I hate even more that Kvothe and his friends had a 2-3 page discussion in The Name of the Wind about why other women hate Denna. I don't hate her because I'm a woman, damn it. I hate her because she sucks, and she's Kvothe's precious little…

I read The Good Lord Bird last fall and absolutely loved it. It was the story of John Brown told from the perspective of a former slave boy who dresses up like a girl and runs with John Brown's gang. It was hilarious and moving and also was the first time I'd ever seen an author use the word "incognegro." I'm…

Fairly similar, though the book is longer, which allows for more bad things to happen to the protagonists.

The Voyage of the Mary Celeste. After reading the AVC's review, I picked it up from the library. It's been enjoyable, particularly the shifting perspectives. I'm not sure that any one of the narrators is compelling enough to carry the book on his/her own.

The Pillars of the Earth is one of my go-to recommendations (that, and Lonesome Dove). I just sent a copy to my brother to read while he's recovering from surgery. As long as the would-be reader isn't super snobby, they enjoy the setting and fast-paced plot. I always tell people not to read another Follett book right…

When I read The Goldfinch, I remember thinking that the nightmarish Las Vegas interlude lasted approx a million pages. But I think that's more to do with how horrible everything was.

I'm currently reading McCullough as well: Truman.
Having just finished reading about Truman's first summer in
office—Potsdam and the bomb—I'm totally engrossed.

I am reading I, Claudius at the moment. I think it would be easier on me if I waited until I have a whole weekend afternoon free and just plow through the whole thing. When I put the book down for a day or two, I can't remember how everyone is related to everyone else, and that just kills the story.

Thanks to Tasha, I read and really, really loved The Golem and the Jinni. Bill Bryson's new book was also fantastic. The Goldfinch and My Bright Abyss: Meditation of a Modern Believer (poems and essays by a terminally ill poet about his faith) were both beautifully written.