I'm zooming through the last 1/3 of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and boy, did it deserve all of the praise! I'm even reading all of the footnotes, which is something I haven't done for a work of fiction since Infinite Jest made them novel and then beat them into a painful pulp. Excellent, excellent book.

Oh Nancy, I'm so glad you're back. When I didn't see a post from you for a few days, all I could think of was, "Uh-oh. I WARNED her to be careful on that ladder." Lots of luck in the new house.

I reread "The Franchise Affair" by Josephine Tey. This is the book presently being discussed on the DorothyL listserv. It was even better the second time around. It's a mystery about a young woman who claims that she was kidnapped and held against her will by a mother-and-daughter team. The book has a good plot and great characters. I also liked the 1988 BBC movie version starring Patrick Malahide.

I'm reading the memoir Happens Every Day (husband leaves his wife and their two young kids for another woman). Surprisingly easy to read.

Good luck unpacking. Moving is awful.

I think the trauma of the move was fantastic -- Nancy had to spend a weekend without a computer or cell phone. Now she'll be more sympathetic when I describe my life at her age. Maybe she'll even stop calling it Little House on the Prairie.

Good luck on the unpacking! No internet?! That is tragic! OK, I'm reading The Devlin Diary by Christi Phillips! Historical fiction that I can't put down!

Right now I'm reading "Water for Gotham: A History" by Gerard Koeppel. I started writing a history of Baltimore's water supply and thought this would help with some ideas. It is pretty interesting.

I just finished The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and I agree completely. I thoroughly enjoyed it and passed it along to someone else at book club last night. Now I'm reading Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. I'm slowly working my way through most of his books and have enjoyed all of them that I have read so far.

Yea! I'm looking forward to SAG HARBOR. Thanks so much! I'm also thrilled to tell you that right now I'm reading BREATHING WATER by Timonthy Hallinan that will come out in August. If you haven't experienced Tim's work, you should definitely check it out. His attention to detail is not only amazing, but it's also well used. He doesn't use detail for padding or merely for the sake of detail. He really knows how to enhance character and plot with detail.

Dave, if you're as old as I am, you remember life before voice mail, when we had to rely on other household members - worst of all Siblings! - to relay our phone messages!

Eve, I remember life before voice mail and I'm 29. :)

After struggling for awhile to really get into "Wicked", I abandoned it for my good old friend, Jodi Picoult. I'm reading "Mercy" right now, and I'm almost finished. Like most of her books, it's very well researched, and it knows how to play at the heartstrings. I'm really looking forward to seeing how well her work is translated to film when "My Sister's Keeper" hits the big screen later this month. (I'm sure I'll be a tad disappointed since I always fall in love with a book and hate the movie!)

Eve, I even remember party lines! Bet kids today would shudder to imagine that. (Come to think of it, that was a precursor to the modern conference call.)

Jenn, I started Wicked but put it down. It was so dark and unpleasant, which I suppose means that it expressed the feeling intended. Frankly, I didn't want to be bothered with it. I didn't think it was all that interesting.

Dave, there was a woman on our party line who talked for hours on end. When I would complain that I couldn't call my friend because the line was still tied up, my mother would reply, "Walk over there! It's only 6 blocks!"