I've been reading V.S. Naipaul's A House for Mr. Biswas, which is listed on Modern Library's Top 100 Novels. It started out rather slowly, but is picking up steam now. So I'm liking it.

What are you all reading?

                                                                                                                        Rose

Listened to Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse yesterday.  I really enjoyed it.

I also read Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut earlier this month.

Please see my Bulletin Board, for a brief report on my March reading . . . .

Bonnie, how does one find your bulletin board?

Also, how does the "friend" process work?

Thanks!

                                                                   Rose

Hoping to finish So Big by Edna Ferber, a Pulitizer Prize winning novel.

Hi Obsessed,

If you click on Bonnie's name, you'll be taken to her profile.  On her profile is a tab labeled "Bulletin Board".  If you click on that tab, you'll be able to view her bulletin board.

To friend somebody, you simply click on their name to view their profile and there's a button next to their name labeled "+friend".  That will add the person as a friend and they can choose to add you back if they wish.  Friending doesn't really have too many advantages in this system, as far as I know.  It's just a way to keep track of people.

Listened to two different version of the Tao Te Ching: James Legge and Gia-Fu Fang and Jane English . The Legge version is more literal.  I felt like I got a better understanding of the text by listening to two different versions.  Good stuff.

Also listened to The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran.  Some feel good writing, especially the part about the objectification of freedom.

I just read On the Origin of Species as my 'book that changed the world'.  I loved it, but at the same time it was very surreal reading some of Darwin's conjectures about how variation came about without the benefit of knowing about genetics.  He was a freaking brilliant logician.

I have "On the Origin of Species" on my EReader.  I need to read it. 

Read two wonderful books in March, which I've reviewed so I'll just copy/paste my reviews:

For the Modern Library 100 Best Novels category:

Richard Hughes. A High Wind in Jamaica

In this strange and unforgettable story, pirates abduct a group of young children bound for England– but wait, this is no Disney adventure of cantankerous-yet-ultimately-lovable pirate captain who befriends and protects impish-but-ultimately-adorable children. Here is a story of deep complexity, layers of emotions, undercurrents of unhealthy sexuality and perversity juxtaposed with (and sometimes entering into) the children’s separate and sometimes fey world. The story begins in Jamaica, in a landscape marked by degenerate fecundity punctuated by natural catastrophes – first, an earthquake, then, a ferocious hurricane. These circumstances prompt Mr. and Mrs. Bas-Thornton to send their children to civilization and safety in England. Enroute, the children meet their pirates. It’s easy to see why A High Wind in Jamaica was chosen by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best novels of the 20^th Century. Few writers get inside children’s heads the way Hughes does.Outstanding. 4.5 stars

For the classic noir category:

Patricia Highsmith. The Cry of the Owl.

Death comes a-knockin’ in this story about Robert, an essentially good yet flawed man who leaves New York City and moves to a small town to rebuild his life after a disastrous marriage. Soon, he is accused of causing two deaths in this peaceful little town along Pennsylvania’s Delaware River, and just as upsetting, he can’t seem to cut off ties to his awful, harpy-like ex-wife.  We’ve entered a Highsmith nightmare where the falsely accused protagonist tries hard to clear his name to an indifferent or even hostile world, where even his friends begin to have their doubts.  Wicked good read. 4 stars

Janet E