http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/13/opinion/amazons-jungle-logic.html?pagewanted=all

I was a major Atwood fan with her early novels (I am not a poetry reader) and your mention of The Blind Assassin did remind me that it was the last book of hers that I liked — she and I just went in different directions after that.

Good luck with Lonesome Dove, another book that I have no read.

As you can probably tell by the books I mention, I have a lot of catching up to do.

I read a lot of fiction up until my twenties. I’m in my mid forties now and I’ve just rediscovered my love of great fiction in the last couple of years. I’m a Chief Information Officer for a major mutual fund company so I was a leadership and business text junkie for quite a few years. My wife referred to them as soul killing books. But now I’m back and I expect to be an avid fiction reader for a long time.

I’ll make sure not to mention my Atwood ignorance in public.

This year, my choices came down to Gone With The Wind, From Here To Eternity, Lonesome Dove and The Blind Assassin.

I just chose and started this morning.

Lonesome Dove it is.

After that I hope to get to Something To Answer For by PH Newby. This is more out of curiousity than anything else.

I wish you all great enjoyment with your Christmas reads. Have a great Holiday season.

It has been some years since I read Iris Murdoch — I was on a bit of a kick many years ago, but tired since they all seemed much the same. I do have a copy of the Folio edition of The Sea, The Sea and hope to get to it soon. I’m hoping that now that I am somewhat more mature (well, more experienced at least) I’ll find her work more rewarding.

I certainly can’t see lugging War and Peace around for train reading — and I read the three volume Everyman’s Library version. Memory does say that it has enough narrative flow that you can set it aside for a while without any difficulty.

For right now, though, my table is stacked. I will let you know so that I feel accountable: I started War and Peace a few nights ago. The problem is that the book is so large (the Pevear Volokhonsky hardback) that I can read it only at home, and that time hasn’t been available lately. It’ll come, though. That’s how I got through Moby-Dick last summer. On a more contemporary (almost) note, I think Sherry has picked me out a few books for Christmas that I’m particularly anxious for, including Iris Murdoch’s The Black Prince. A few years ago I was all excited to read that one and ended up buying The Green Knight instead — a very foreseeable problem you caused, Ms. Murdoch! I guess I was so disappointed when I got home that I didn’t even read it then and haven’t since. However, The Sea, the Sea was such a wonderful book to me, still haunting me, that I am anxious to try more Murdoch (The folio edition of that book, by the way, looks beautiful — love the illustrations). I don’t think I’ve ever gotten your opinion of her, but that can wait until I post my new review so that this thread keeps up with Russo.

I think I shall schedule Russo for January or February. His cover for Empire Falls looks like it would suit my typical mood at that time of year .

I agree that this book is more introspective and internally character-driven than some of Russo’s other novels — which I think also supplies greater scope for his comic writing, sometimes to excess. I hadn’t made the comparison with Lurie’s book, but you do make a very good point. I don’t know either Lodge or Bradbury well enough to comment there.

Since Trevor mentioned in a comment on another post his search for a holiday read, I’d certainly agree with Mary that this Russo is an excellent contemporary choice, even if winter never makes an appearance. As for me, I’m leaning towards Edith Wharton (probably a reread of The Custom of the Country) for my classic pick); still at sea on what the contemporary one might be.