I didn't get very far with that until last night, when I tried to download an eMail attachment. After two hours the flying script was still jumping without the dialogue showing the download rate or the amount remaining. It occurred to me that there were better things to do than stare at an unchanging screen, and I was half way through the book by bedtime. I left it running overnight and this morning the jumpng page was still flying. Nevertheless, the file had, unannounced, downloaded and I had a couple of dozen pages to print out.

I have read most of the books by Isabel Allende


This is to listen

In Giving I Connect with Others

"I have lived with passion and in a hurry, trying to accomplish too many things. I never had time to think about my beliefs until my 28-year-old daughter Paula fell ill. She was in a coma for a year and I took care of her at home, until she died in my arms in December of 1992." Celebrated novelist Isabel Allende shares further on NPR's "This I Believe," reflecting on giving and loss, on her own journey and on the principles that she feels hold her together.....

The ‘Man Booker Dozen’ is announced
29 July 2008
The judges for the 2008 Man Booker Prize for Fiction have announced the longlist for this year's prize.

The longlist of 13 books, often referred to as the ‘Man Booker Dozen', was chosen from 112 entries; 103 were submitted for the prize and nine were called in by the judges.

The titles are:

Aravind Adiga The White Tiger
Gaynor Arnold Girl in a Blue Dress
Sebastian Barry The Secret Scripture
John Berger From A to X
Michelle de Kretser The Lost Dog
Amitav Ghosh Sea of Poppies
Linda Grant The Clothes on Their Backs
Mohammed Hanif A Case of Exploding Mangoes
Philip Hensher The Northern Clemency
Joseph O'Neill Netherland
Salman Rushdie The Enchantress of Florence
Tom Rob Smith Child 44
Steve Toltz A Fraction of the Whole

Chair of judges, Michael Portillo, commented:

"With a notable degree of consensus, the five Man Booker judges decided on their longlist of 13 books. The judges are pleased with the geographical balance of the longlist with writers from Pakistan, India, Australia, Ireland and UK. We also are happy with the interesting mix of books, five first novels and two novels by former winners. The list covers an extraordinary variety of writing. Still two qualities emerge this year: large scale narrative and the striking use of humour."

2008 judges
The judging panel for the 2008 Man Booker Prize for Fiction is: Michael Portillo (Chair), former MP and Cabinet Minister, Alex Clark, editor of Granta; Louise Doughty, novelist; James Heneage, founder of Ottakar's bookshops and Hardeep Singh Kohli, TV and radio broadcaster.

Shortlist
The 2008 shortlist will be announced on Tuesday 9th September at a press conference at Man Group's London office. The winner will be announced on Tuesday 14th October at an awards ceremony at Guildhall, London

She found Vol. 1,"The Son of the Light", and I read a few chapters last night.

PLAYING FOR PIZZA

By John Grisham

In his new novel John Grisham again departs from his usual legal thriller mode. (His last book, “The Innocent Man,” was his first nonfiction work.) Rick Dockery is a washed-up never-has-been N.F.L. quarterback whose agent lands him a contract with the Parma Panthers. (“Did you say Carolina Panthers, Arnie?” Rick asks when he first hears his new team’s name.) In Italy “Reek,” as his fellow Panthers call him, discovers tortellini in brodo, Verdi’s “Otello,” romance and, surely you knew this was coming, himself.