Review of the Day: Started Early, Took My Dog

Started Early, Took My Dog is the fourth and latest in Kate Atkinson's series of super smart mysteries featuring Jackson Brodie. Like the other Brodie books, this one involves several disparate stories that more or less come together. Like the other Brodie books and her earlier literary fiction, Atkinson's droll commentary and crackling wit make every page a delight.

There is a theme throughout the books of the series (stemming from the murder of his own teen-aged sister when he was a child) of Jackson trying to rescue lost girls. This book narrows that idea to missing children – children kidnapped, sold, murdered, snatched by estranged parents, aborted, abandoned, or erased from the system.

The title may refer to Atkinson's process of writing this book: She started the story early, with the 1975 murder of a Leeds prostitute; and she brought along dog in the form of an abused little terrier Jackson rescues and sneaks into hotels in his rucksack.

The narrative moves back and forth between the earlier murder and Jackson's present-day efforts to locate the birth parents of his client – a woman adopted when she was a toddler. Running roughly parallel, with occasional intersections, is the story of Tracey Waterhouse, a newly retired Leeds police officer who finds herself on the lam with a four-year-old girl in a fairy costume.

The point of Atkinson's Brodie books is not to follow a linear string of clues to a logical solution to the mystery. Indeed, two of the main storylines in Started Early are left unresolved in the end, which is disconcerting, but hopefully signals a sequel in the works.

These are in no way conventional mysteries. They are – like all great novels – stories about people facing conflict, struggling with relationships, finding their place, and trying to understand life. That they have a few dead bodies thrown in make them "mysteries," but they are no less literature. Started Early, Took My Dog is a gobsmacker of a good book.

New Blog Theme

Every year about this time, I get an urge to make over my blog.  Maybe it is that Spring is in the air -- there is a spirit of rebirth all around me.  I want change.

So I have decided to follow my latest passion and am going to convert Rose City Reader to a blog about UNICORNS.

I am working now on a list of books about unicorns.  Must go get to work on that . . .

Favorite Author: Ian Rankin

It took me a long time to stumble across Ian Rankin's Inspector John Rebus series, but now I am hooked. I have also started his Malcolm Fox series. Someday I'll get to his other books as well.

I first encountered Rebus when I tried to watch the television adaptation of the Rebus books staring Scottish cutie John Hannah.  But I couldn't understand a word they said!  And no subtitles for the Scottish impaired.  Then I finally figured out that the show was based on the book series and my problems were solved.

Normally, I am fiendish about reading a series in order.  But when I found the audio version of Strip Jack at my library, I decided to test it to see if I would like the series.  I did and now I am committed.

Those I have read are in red.  Those on my TBR shelf are in blue.  This is a list only of his Rebus and Fox books.

Knots and Crosses

Hide and Seek

Tooth and Nail

A Good Hanging (short stories)

Strip Jack

The Black Book

Mortal Causes

Let it Bleed

Black and Blue

The Hanging Garden

Death is Not the End

Dead Souls

Set in Darkness

The Falls

Resurrection Men

A Question of Blood

Fleshmarket Alley

The Naming of the Dead

Exit Music

The Complaints (Malcolm Fox)

The Impossible Dead (Malcolm Fox)

Standing in Another Man's Grave (Rebus and Malcolm Fox)

Saints of the Shadow Bible (Rebus and Malcolm Fox)

OTHER RANKIN FANS

If you have Rankin-related posts that you would like listed here, please leave a comment with a link and I will add it.

NOTES

Last updated on August 24, 2014.

Teaser Tuesday: My Cousin Rachel

"The spell of the hushed garden had held me for a brief moment only, the scent of roses and the glow of the setting sun, but it was over now.

 

"'Who is Signor Rainaldi?' I asked."

-- My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier.

This is the second book I am reading for the the Daphne du Maurier Challenge hosted by Chris at book-a-rama. My challenge post is here.

I've read Rebecca (reviewed here) and still have The Flight of the Falcon left to go if I am to finish the challenge by the April 19 deadline. Better get cracking.

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event.

Mailbox Monday

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM was created by Marcia at A girl and her books (fka The Printed Page), who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring meme (details here).

I'm Booking It is hosting in March.

I got a short stack of books last week:

Potluck: Community on the Edge of Wilderness by Ana Maria Spagna (essays about "the enduring human connection to place" from OSU Press)



One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way by Robert Maurer, Ph.D. (because I heard Kathie England give a Time Management talk based on Maurer's principles)

The Art of Fiction by David Lodge (because I'm a Lodge fan and Michael5000 recommended it)



The Women's Health Big Book of Exercises (because my friend Cynthia recommended it)

 

State of the Blog: Part Three, the Challenges

Spring has sprung -- not that it feels like it today -- and it is time for me to see if I've made any progress on my lists. 

This is the third of my quarterly blog assessment posts.  This one takes a look at the challenges I'm working on in 2011. The first part addressed my lists. Part Two dealt with my author lists.

NOTE: If you are working on any of these same challenges, please leave a comment here on on my main challenge post. I would like to read your main challenge pages and any reviews.

2010 CHALLENGES

There are a few challenges that overlapped from 2010. I finished two of these in January, the two "Battle of the Prizes" challenges that I hosted in 2010.  Both started on February 1, 2010 and didn't end until January 31, 2011. 

2010 Battle of the Prizes: American Version

National Book Award winners v. Pulitzer Prize winners, rules here. There are two ways to participate -- either read one book that won the Pulitzer Prize, one that won the National Book Award, and one that won both; or read two Pulizer winners and two National winners.

I've finished three of my four books in 2010:

1. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (Pulitzer)
2. Olive Kitteridge is Elizabeth Strout (reviewed here) (Pulitzer)
3. Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann (reviewed here) (National)

I finished my fourth, and favorite book in 2011: Lord of Misrule by Jaimy Gordon (reviewed here) (National).

2010 Battle of the Prizes: British Version

Man Booker Prize v. James Tait Black Memorial Prize, rules here.  This has the same set up -- either read one winner of each prize and a double-dipper, or read two of each.

I read two of my three in 2010:

1. The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry (reviewed here) (James Tait Black)
2. The Sea, the Sea by Iris Murdoch (reviewed here) (Booker)

I read my third book, my double dipper, in 2011: G by John Berger (reviewed here).  

Daphne du Maurier Challenge

This Challenge is hosted by Chris at book-a-rama and goes through April 19, 2011.

I signing up for the "Dreaming of Manderley" category, to read three novels. Since I am still new to du Maurier, I'll am starting with the greatest hits.

Books read so far: one: Rebecca (reviewed here)

Books I plan to read, although I don't know it I can get the third one done by the deadline:

1. The Flight of the Falcon;
2. My Cousin Rachel (I am reading this now)

2011 CHALLENGES

CHALLENGES HOSTED BY ROSE CITY READER

I am hosting the two Battle of the Prizes Challenges again in 2011. The challenges run from February 1, 2011 to January 31, 2012. 


2011 Battle of the Prizes: American Version

 

Like in past years, this challenge pits National Book Award winners against Pulitzer Prize winners. There are two ways to participate -- either read one book that won the Pulitzer Prize, one that won the National Book Award, and one that won both; or read two Pulizer winners and two National winners.

I don't know yet whether I will do the 3-book or the 4-book option, or which books I'll pick, but I have the following in mind, only one of which I have read so far: Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler  (reviewed here).

Possible National Award winners:

1. The News from Paraguay by Lily Tuck
2. Them by Joyce Carol Oates
3. Morte d'Urban by J.F. Powers

Other Possible Pulitzer winners:

1. One of Ours by Willa Cather
2. Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis

2011 Battle of the Prizes: British Version

Just as in 2010, this challenge is to read books that won the Man Booker Prize and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize.  This has the same set up -- either read one winner of each prize and a double-dipper, or read two of each.

I will have to go with the 4-book option, because I've read all three of the double-dippers. So far, I've read Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (reviewed here).

Other possible Booker picks are:

1. How Late it Was, How Late by James Kelman 
2. Shindler's List by Thomas Keneally

Possible James Tait Black picks are:

1. Brazzaville Beach by William Boyd
2. White Teeth by Zadie Smith

2011 CHALLENGES I AM PARTICIPATING IN

The challenge titles link to my main challenge posts.

Foodie's Reading Challenge

Margot at Joyfully Retired is hosting a challenge for 2011 that I am very excited about: The Foodie's Reading Challenge!

I signed up at the "Bon Vivant" level to read four to six books.  My plan is to read books that are already on my TBR shelves.

So far, I've read The Food of France by Waverley Root (reviewed here).

Others in the running include (in no particular order):

• James Beard on Food Delights and Prejudices by James Beard
• On the Town in New York by Michael Batterberry
• Stuffed: Adventures of a Restaurant Family by Patricia Volk
• The Tuscan Year: Life and Food in an Italian Valley by Elizabeth Romer
• Comfort Me with Apples: More Adventures at the Table by Ruth Reichl
• Alice Waters and Chez Panisse by Thomas McNamee
• Epicurean Delight: The Life and Times of James Beard by Evan Jones
• American Terroir: Savoring the Flavors of Our Woods, Waters, and Fields by Rowan Jacobsen
• Vie De France: Sharing Food, Friendship and a Kitchen in the Lorie Valle by James Haller
• French Spirits: A House, a Village, and a Love Affair in Burgundy by Jeffrey Greene
• A Cordiall Water by M. F. K. Fisher
• The Feasting Season by Nancy Coons
• Dumas on Food: Selections from Le Grand Dictionnaire de Cuisine by Alexandre Dumas

And it might be a good idea to include this one:

French Women Don't Get Fat: The Secret of Eating For Pleasure by Mireille Guiliano

Chunkster Reading Challenge 

 

Wendy at caribousmom is hosting this fun challenge again this year.  The challenge sign-up post is here.

Since I didn't reach my chunkster goal in 2010, I am scaling down a bit in 2011 and signing up for the "Chubby Chunkster" level this year.  That means reading four books over 450 pages long.

I overlapped with the Foodie challenge because The Food of France by Waverley Root (reviewed here), is quite the Chunkster.

The only other book I am currently planning on is Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy.  That's my "big book" for 2011.  I don't know which others will strike my fancy.

The Vintage Mystery Reading Challenge

The Vintage Mystery Reading Challenge is hosted by My Reader's Block.  The goal is to read mysteries written before 1960.  I signed up at the "In a Murderous Mood" level with the goal of reading four to six books, by at least two different authors, by the end of the year.

 

So far, I have read three, but haven't reviewed any of them yet:

• A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthor Conan Doyle;
• The Sign of the Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; and
• The League of Frightened Men by Rex Stout.

Next up is Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L. Sayers.

State of the Blog: Part Two, the Authors

Spring has sprung and it is time for me to see what kind of progress I've made on my lists.  There's no point in being a compulsive "list" reader if you don't play with the lists.

This is the second of my quarterly blog assessment posts.  This one takes a look at my author lists over in the right-hand column. The first part addressed my lists. Part Three will deal with the challenges I joined this year.

NOTE: If you are systematically reading the books of any of these authors, please leave a comment here or on the post for the author's list (click on the title below or in the right-hand column) and leave a link to any related post. I will add the links on the author's list post. 

Below is the list of books by my favorite authors that I have read so far in 2011.  Not many, but it's still early days.

Kate Atkinson
Started Early, Took My Dog (I am reading this now, but will finish it today)

Dick Francis
10 Lb. Penalty
Bolt

P. D. James
A Mind to Murder

Elinor Lipman
Then She Found Me (I am about halfway through this one now)

Anne Tyler
Breathing Lessons (reviewed here; read for my 2011 Battle of the Prizes, American Version challenge)

John Updike
Beck: A Book (reviewed here)

P. G. Wodehouse
The Indiscretions of Archie

Opening Sentence of the Day: One Small Step Can Change Your Life

"Japanese corporations have long used the gentle technique of kaizen to achieve their business goals and maintain excellence."

-- One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way by Robert Maurer, Ph.D.

I bought this book after hearing Kathie England give a Time Management talk based on Maurer's principles. 

Since my first "small step" is to leave the house by 8:30 every morning, I've got to bust a move.

State of the Blog: Part One, the Lists

Spring has sprung and it is time for me to check in and see what kind of progress I've made on my lists.  There's no point in being a compulsive "list" reader if you don't play with the lists on occasion.

This is the first of my quarterly blog assessment posts.  This first part addresses the book lists. Part Two, coming soon, will take a look at the author lists.  Part Three will deal with the challenges I joined this year.

My List of Lists is over in the right-side column. These are Prize Winners, Must Reads, and other lists of books I have read or intend to read for some reason or another. Also in the right-side column is a list of my favorite authors. I add to both lists from time to time.

NOTE: If you are working on any of these lists, please leave a comment here or on the post for the list (click on the title below or in the right-hand column) and leave a link to any related post. I will add the links on the list post. 

I am simplifying the format of this post from the way I used to do it.  Now, all that is included below are the lists themselves and any books I have read this year that are on those lists. 

THE LISTS

1899 TOP 100

Books read in 2011: none so far.

ALL-TIME TOP 100

Books read in 2011: none so far.

ANTHONY BURGESS

This list is from 99 Novels: The Best in English Since 1939 by Anthony Burgess, which I finally read this year. My review is here. 

Books read in 2011:

1. George Passant, the first volume of C. P. Snow’s 11-volume Strangers and Brothers series (reviewed here); and
2. Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor.

BBC'S BIG READ

Books read in 2011: none so far.

BOOK CLUB

Books read in 2011: one, Honolulu by Alan Brennert.

COLLEGE BOARD

Books read in 2011: one, The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James.

COOKBOOK LIBRARY

Books read in 2011: one, Classic Spanish Cooking: Recipes for Mastering the Spanish Kitchen by Elisabeth Luard (reviewed here)

COSTA BOOK OF THE YEAR

Books read in 2011: none so far.

EASTON PRESS

Books read in 2011: one, The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James.

EDGAR AWARD

Books read in 2011: none so far. But I think Bad Things Happen by Harry Dolan (reviewed here) should have won.

ERICA JONG

Books read in 2011: one, Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor.

FRENCH CONNECTION

Books read in 2011: one, The Food of France by Waverley Root (reviewed here).

GUILT LIST

Books read in 2011:

1. One City's Wilderness by Marcy Cottrell Houle (reviewed here); and
2. Maps and Shadows by Krysia Jopek (reviewed here).

JAMES TAIT BLACK MEMORIAL PRIZE

Books read in 2011: one, G by John Berger (reviewed here; read for my 2010 Battle of the Prizes, British Version challenge).

LT EARLY REVIEWERS

Books read in 2011: one, Shipwrecks, Monsters, and Mysteries of the Great Lakes by Ed Butts (reviewed here).

MAN BOOKER PRIZE

Books read in 2011:

1. G by John Berger (reviewed here; read for my 2010 Battle of the Prizes, British Version challenge);
2. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (reviewed here; read for my 2011 Battle of the Prizes, British Version challenge)

MLA'S 30

Books read in 2011: none so far.

MODERN LIBRARY

Books read in 2011: zero (finished this list a couple of years ago).

NATIONAL BOOK AWARD

Books read in 2011:one, Lord of Misrule by Jaimy Gordon (reviewed here; read for my 2010 Battle of the Prizes, American Version challenge).

NBCC AWARD

Books read in 2011:one, Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (reviewed here; read for my 2011 Battle of the Prizes, British Version challenge).

NOBEL LAUREATES

Books read in 2011: none so far.

OBSERVER'S TOP 100

Books read in 2011:

1.  The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James; and
2.  Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor.

ORANGE PRIZE

Books read in 2011: none so far.

OREGON BOOKS

Books read in 2011: none so far.

PEN/FAULKNER

Books read in 2011: none so far.

PULITZER PRIZE

Books read in 2011: one, Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler (reviewed here; read for my 2011 Battle of the Prizes, American Version challenge)

RADCLIFFE'S TOP 100

Books read in 2011: one, The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James.

RCR TOP 10

Books read in 2011: none so far. Who knows if the list will change this year.

VENICE BOOKS

This is a new list that I just created in February.

Books read in 2011: Death in a Strange Country by Donna Leon.

WELL-STOCKED BOOKCASE

Books read in 2011: none so far.

My Third Blogiversary!

This calls for a celebration. I think I'll kick back this afternoon and read a couple of the umpteen books I have going right now. Kate Atkinson is calling me . . .

Opening Sentence of the Day: My Cousin Rachel

"They used to hang men at Four turnings in the old days."

-- My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier.

Well, that certainly sets a tone.

This is the second book I am reading for the the Daphne du Maurier Challenge hosted by Chris at book-a-rama. My challenge post is here.

I've read Rebecca (reviewed here) and still have The Flight of the Falcon left to go if I am to finish the challenge by the April 19 deadline. Better get cracking.

Teaser Tuesday: Started Early, Took My Dog

"The dog looked at him as if it was interested in what he was saying.  Jackson suspected that he was assigning emotions to the dog that is wasn't actually experiencing."

-- Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson. I never want this book to end, I love it so much. I want to marry it.

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event.

Mailbox Monday

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM was created by Marcia at The Printed Page, who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring meme (details here).

I'm Booking It is hosting in March.

A lot of books came into my house last week. One I won in a giveaway on Knitting and Sundries -- Thanks Julie!

Moonlight Mile by Dennis Lehane



I found several at Booktique in Lake Oswego, one of my favorite Friends of the Library book stores:

The Black Book by Ian Rankin (because I have only just now "discovered" his John Rebus series and am obsessed)



The Private Patient by P. D. James (because I have decided to tackle the whole Adam Dalgliesh series)



Snobs by Julian Fellows (because it looks like guilty pleasure)



The Hour: A Cocktail Manifesto by Bernard DeVoto (an irresistible reprint from Tin House Books)



And I picked up a few from the paperback swap shelf at the University Club when I was there for my partner meeting (small compensation for a LONG meeting).  I took books only, so will have to leave books when I am back for our next meeting.

Resurrection Men by Ian Rankin (see above re: new John Rebus obsession)



Venetian Mask by Mickey Friedman (to add to my list of Venice books)



The Bookman's Promise by John Dunning (it looks interesting and I have a weakness for immaculate pocket paperbacks)

Review: Bad Things Happen

When "the man who calls himself David Loogen" moves to Ann Arbor and takes a job editing stories for a murder mystery magazine, things start to get very complicated very quickly. Just as the magazine's publisher said of the stories they printed: "Plans go wrong; bad things happen; people die."

Bad Things Happen is Harry Dolan's neo-noir debut and a real treat for fans of literary mysteries. In this case, "literary" means more than good writing, droll dialog, and a sophisticated plot. The multiple victims and a dozen or so suspects all write for or are otherwise involved with Grey Streets magazine. Many have written mystery novels, the plots of which get dragged in as possible clues, along with guidance from Raymond Chandler, Alfred Hitchcock, and other mystery story icons.

Things get a little tangled up as Dolan explores every possible combination of who dun it. And the solution of one of the mysterious deaths remains unsettled in the end – perhaps as homage to Chandler's The Big Sleep, which suffers from the same glitch. But these minor drawbacks do not detract from this smart, stylish novel. More, please.

OTHER REVIEWS

(If you would like your review of this book listed here, please leave a comment with a link and I will add it.)

Opening Sentence of the Day: The Marvelous Album of Madame B

"Opening this album is like entering another world."

-- The Marvelous Album of Madame B: Being the Handiwork of a Victorian Lady of Considerable Talent by Elizabeth Siegel.

This is an incredible book I got when I saw the exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago a couple of years ago.  The exhibit was called Playing with Pictures: The Art of Victorian Photocollage and featured "Madame B's" scrapbook.  Super cool.

I decided to read the book to inspire my own scrapbook. I'm about 11 years behind in my scrapbooking, but I'll catch up someday.

Here is an example of one of her scrapbook pages:

Opening Sentence of the Day: Started Early, Took My Dog

"Leeds: 'Motorway City of the Seventies.'"

-- Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson. The first chapter is a flashback to 1975.

This is the fourth and latest in Atkinson's Jackson Brodie mystery series.  These are amazing books.  They are literary novels with a mystery woven in -- not the other way around. 

I can't wait to spend this rainy weekend with this book.

Here is a list of all of Kate Atkinson's books. The last four on the list are the Jackson Brodie series. 

Teaser Tuesday

Mid-March, the swales and foothills

neither brown nor green, is time

to walk an abandoned railroad bed

above the Klickitat.

Spring comes up early here, yellow bells,

desert parsley, grass widow, saxifrage.

-- from "Above the Klickitat," in Because You Might Not Remember by Don Colburn.
 

I have really been enjoying this little "chapbook" of poems by Don Colburn. This one caught my fancy today because it is mid-March and I am planning a daytrip to Lyle, Washington wineries this weekend.  The Klickitat River joins the Columbia at Lyle.  You can even see on the winery map the railroad bed mentioned in the poem.

Don Colburn and another Portland poet, Oz Hopkins Koglin, will be reading this evening (7:00 p.m.) at Broadway Books (1714 N.E. Broadway).  What a treat!

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event.

Mailbox Monday

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM was created by Marcia at The Printed Page, who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring meme (details here).

I'm Booking It is hosting in March.

The one book I got last week was one I really wanted, so I am quite excited. It is from the LibraryThing Early Reviewer program. I must be making some progress on that list.



One Was a Soldier by Julia Spencer-Fleming.  This is the latest in her series featuring Clare Fergusson and Russ Van Alstyn. It is one of my very favorite mystery series and I have read all the others, so I am looking forward to this one right away. 

Also last week I got -- but not for myself -- a Kindle.  It is for my stepdaughter's birthday present.  She's in veterinary school and will be spending the summer in Africa, teaching chicken farming or goat husbandry or something along those lines. She asked for the Kindle because she won't be able to haul enough book books there with her.



Any thoughts on this new 3G Kindle compared to the old one?Does she need to get a case for it, like with an iPod?

And any suggestions for the best free eBooks? I'd like to put a couple of books on there for her, but I blew the birthday budget with the gadget itself.

Opening Sentence of the Day: The Girl Who Kicked a Hornet's Nest

"An estimated 600 women served during the American Civil War."

-- The Girl Who Kicked a Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson.

This is the third volume of Larsson's "Millennium Trilogy," after the blockbuster Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (reviewed here) and the better Girl Who Played With Fire.

This one is entertaining enough, but has more filler than the first two.  There is a lot of pedantic explaining of Swedish bureaucracy and, in one passage that verged on parody, the paperwork involved in installing a home security alarm.  I'm 70% of the way through it and it hasn't yet gripped me like the first two.

I am late to post an opening sentence, because I just now switched from the audiobook to the book book when I found that I had messed up loading one of the cds from the library to my iPod. I don't usually post an opening sentence for audiobooks, but now that I have the book in my hands, I can copy the words.

Opening Sentence of the Day: Wise Blood

"Hazel Motes sat at a forward angle on the green plush train seat, looking one minute at the window as if he might want to jump out of it, and the next down the aisle at the other end of the car."

-- Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor.

I swung by the library the other day and found several new audiobooks, including this classic that I have never read. It shows up on several of my lists: Anthony Burgess's Best 99 Novels, Erica Jong's Top 100 20th Century Novels by Women, and The Observer's 100 Greatest Novels of All Times.

Literary Blog Hop: How Funny!

Every other Thursday, The Blue Bookcase hosts a "Literary Blog Hop" for blogs "that primarily feature reviews of literary fiction, classic literature, and general literary discussion." 

I'm a week late for the latest Hop because I missed the post last week while traveling for work. Drat! I hate it when work interferes with my hobbies!

But I am going to jump on this bandwagon even if I am a week late, because they used my question. Each week, in addition to hopping around and visiting some terrific book blogs, participants answer a bookish question. My question was:

Can literature be funny? What is your favorite humorous literary book?

Lucia answered for the BB crew and made a good case for Pride and Prejudice.  Good choice.  P&P is definitely witty, even if it isn't laugh out loud funny.

I definitely think that good literature can be funny.  Even early on, novels could be humorous. Tristram Shandy, for example, is hilarious -- just where was Uncle Toby wounded in the war?

There are plenty of good writers who leaven their literature with humor, such as Charles Dickens, who often had funny people doing and saying funny things.  David Lodge and Jim Harrison are contemporary examples.  They rely less on the verbal sight gags of Dickens, and more on characters saying and thinking funny things. 

Then there are authors who make good literature out of humor.  P. G. Wodehouse was the king of this.  His plots were minimal and repetitive.  He used the same characters over and over -- even if they had different names, they were recycled from other books.  But no one can be so clever and so nimble with words without writing well.  He was so good at what he did that he made it look easy, but it is the most difficult writing there is.

If I had to pick one favorite funny book -- and I do, since I wrote the question -- it would be Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis.  He is known for the humor in his books, but Lucky Jim is his best known and most popular.  It is the book that made me realize that literature could make you laugh.  I still get a chuckle out of his description of a hangover feeling like a large raw egg yolk rolling around inside his head.

There's my answer.  Better late than never.  Now I'll go hop around and see what other examples people came up with.  And please leave suggestions in comments.