August Book Thread: Week of 8/10

[beckms]

What a busy bunch of bookworms out there! Even our weekly threads are getting to be several pages long...

Well it dawned on me recently that I've got two weeks until the start of vet school! What???? What happened to my summer??? Ack! I still have so much reading to do! :eek:

I'm close to the end of John Adams by David McCullough. I'd like to read Truman next, but I know I won't finish before school starts, so maybe I'll be able to wade through it a few pages at a time as a break from studying.

After Adams, I'm going to tackle The Antibiotic Paradox: How the Misuse of Antibiotics Destroys Their Curative Powers by Stuart B. Levy, MD. I took a Microbiology class recently, and where I had expected to be bored out of my mind, I actually found myself fascinated by the world of bacteria. I'm really interested in how bacteria develop resistance to poisons, and how we're helping them along by overprescirbing antibiotics and even using antibacterial soap to clean our dishes; I honestly think that long after we've wiped ourselves out, those little critters will still be swimming happily around! Hopefully this book will sort of warm me up for the start of school.

I really want to read The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, but it's checked out at my library. I put in a request for it, but might not get to read it in time. So I took out two of Michael Chabon's other books: A Model World (and other stories) and The Mysteries of Pittsburgh. Anyone have any thoughts on these?

[emily]

Howdy, Beck. Thanks for starting this new thread; the length of the other one intimidated me ;)

Sorry, I don't have any thoughts on Chabon books, but I think the Antibotic one you're about to tackle sounds fascinating. I'll be looking for a review.

As for me, I just finished Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas by Tom Robbins. This is the second novel I've read by him and I'm a huge fan. This one tracks the weekend of a female stock broker after a market crash and her meeting of a former broker who has recently returned from Timbuktu. He has some bizarre life philosophies which he is attempting to educate her with. It was definitely an interesting quick read, if a little kooky at times.

Next on the list is The Rainbow by D.H. Lawrence.

Emily

[beckms]

Hi em! Long time no "see"!

I love Tom Robbins, but I kind of wore myself out one summer when I read about 5 of his books in a row. You start to see very similar themes in the stories. Kooky is the right word!

By far my favorite book of his is Skinny Legs and All. It's really excellent, and I've been meaning to reread it recently.

[Jeanygirl]

I remain an incurable lurker, but every once in a while I surface to proclaim something!

I love Tom Robbins! He cracks me up... I also wore myself out one summer after reading several of his books, but I think my preferred one is Still Life with Woodpecker

I'm currently devouring Reading Lolita in Tehran and I saw a great book at Barnes and Noble yesterday that I want to check out from the library: Somebody's Heart is Breaking by Tanya Shaffer, about a female world wanderer's adventures in Africa. Anybody seen it or read it or have any great thoughts on it?? Let me know..

I'm still longing for To the Nines, but I'm still like 40th in line on the hold list at the library.

[claire797]

I don't know why I waited so long to buy this book -- Good In Bed, the title maybe? Anyway. I just started it and am really enjoying it. It's an easy, fun read.

Sorry if I missed it in the other thread, but has anyone bought the new Candance Bushnell book, Trading Up?

[beckms]

Originally posted by Jeanygirl

I love Tom Robbins! He cracks me up... I also wore myself out one summer after reading several of his books, but I think my preferred one is Still Life with Woodpecker


I never got to Woodpecker because by the time I found it in the library I had already worn myself out. But it's been a few years since my Robbins-a-thon, so maybe that will be my next one!

I came back to post again about John Adams, just in case there remains a soul out there who hasn't yet heard be babble on about this book...

I never thought a biography would make me cry, but here I sat in my living room this morning with tears streaming as I read about the deaths of Abigail and then John. I mean, they were real people, and they did live hundreds of years ago, so I wasn't surprised when they died, but still...it was heartbreaking. I highly highly highly recommend this book to anyone who lives in the United States, and even beyond. Adams was singularly responsible for many of the revolutionary (at the time) changes to government that now dictate our ways of life that many of us (me included) take for granted.

OK, my patriotic soapbox is away now.

Read this book.
:cool:

[Little Bit]

I got Odd Girl Out based on recs from the book thread a few weeks back, so far so good.

I also picked up Lisa Yockelson's Efficient Epicure, but her taste in foods is so different than mine I'm not sure I'll get much from the actual recipes. Technique-wise it looks helpful, though. (It's one of those 'cook for a day, eat for a week' sorts of cookbooks.)

Novel-wise, I'm in the midst of Ruth Rendell's The Veiled One and Ngaio Marsh's Death of a Fool. Neither one is really grabbing me, so I'm enjoying the non-fiction for a bit.

[clairea]

Originally posted by claire797
I don't know why I waited so long to buy this book -- Good In Bed, the title maybe? Anyway. I just started it and am really enjoying it. It's an easy, fun read.


Anna, I just started Good in Bed too. Nice light, fast reading. I think I had the same issue you did with the title;) In fact, when DH saw me with it this morning he looked very perplexed, and then finally asked "exactly what kind of book is that":p

Rebecca, you might have more time to read than you think this year. I actually read a lot when I was in law school. After studying, I really liked escaping into a good book.

Claire

[beckms]

Originally posted by clairea
Rebecca, you might have more time to read than you think this year. I actually read a lot when I was in law school. After studying, I really liked escaping into a good book.

Claire

Thanks, Claire! People keep telling me I won't have any free time for the rest of my life until I retire once I start vet school...but I'm going to try really hard not to let that happen. Even if I can read 5 pages of pleasure-reading before I fall asleep, it's better than nothing.

I guess I'm just a little nervous...I haven't felt this way probably since my first day of kindergarten! :rolleyes:

[JJ40]

I just read The Secret Life of Bees, which has been discussed here before--it was great! I'm going to pass it on to my mom and/or friends.

Jeanygirl, how is Reading Lolita in Tehran? I've been eyeing that one at the bookstore...

Julie

[pwrmom]

Claire and Anna,
I'm glad you're liking Good In Bed because I loved it enough to follow it with In Her Shoes ! I'm patiently waiting for her third book! (and hubby rather liked seeing the Good In Bed title on our nightstand :p )

[Gilgamesh37]

Originally posted by beckms
Even if I can read 5 pages of pleasure-reading before I fall asleep, it's better than nothing.

Count me in as another person who did more pleasure reading while I was in law school than I've been able to manage any time since. For one thing, my schedule had more flex in it (often I would still be awake reading at 6 am when my ex-husband's alarm went off and he got up for work) and as Claire said, you're just so desperate for ANYTHING that doesn't start "Applicant contends...." I wound up re-reading ALL of Shakespeare during my final year in law school, because it was just so delicious to read something that was so far removed from case law and hornbooks.

As for what I'm reading, you ever go through phases where you feel completely out of sync with everyone else? I feel like the only person alive who really disliked The Lovely Bones. After hearing raves of Secret Life of Bees, I just could not get interested in it. And How to Cook a Tart , I just found ALL the characters so unpleasant and annoying that I gave up after 50 pages. Maybe I'll just stick to magazines for a while. :rolleyes:

[beckms]

Originally posted by Gilgamesh37


As for what I'm reading, you ever go through phases where you feel completely out of sync with everyone else? I feel like the only person alive who really disliked The Lovely Bones. After hearing raves of Secret Life of Bees, I just could not get interested in it. And How to Cook a Tart , I just found ALL the characters so unpleasant and annoying that I gave up after 50 pages. Maybe I'll just stick to magazines for a while. :rolleyes:

You're not the only one!

Bones: I thought it was kind of sappy. It definitely kept my interest, but I've read other books that are much more memorable. Plus I was unsatisfied with the ending. I felt the same about Peace Like a River.

Bees: I enjoyed this one, but throughout I was thinking "this is a book my mom would really like" meaning it was full of that rite-of-passage-I-am-woman-hear-me-roar-meaningful-self-realization stuff that I typically don't go for. Mom loved it. :D

Tart:Can't help you on this one! I'm the one who's been hailing this book as the best foodie book EVER...loved it loved it loved it. And yes, it's a little kooky. :p To each his own!:cool:

[Kay Henderson]

I'm with Rebecca. John Adams is a memorable book.

I keep a booklog of books I've enjoyed. (Why spend time on those I don't care for?) Here is my entry for this book:

John Adams Read Dec. 2002
David McCullough
2001

Summary: A powerful biography of one of the most important of our Founding Fathers. Much of the book is based upon Adams’ letters – to Abigail and his numerous other correspondents. The writer of the book jacket expresses it nicely – from the point of view of the amazing eighteenth century and of those who, caught up in events, had no sure way of knowing how things would turn out.

Comments: I had trouble getting into the book at first. I then became most interested. I came to understand that Adams’ understanding of the political issues involved in the revolution and founding of the United States was deeper than that of any of his superb contemporaries.

Thoughts some months later:

There were two things about this book I especially enjoyed. One was the description of the correspondence between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson in their old age. Absolutely charming -- it really made me want to read the original correspondence. Second, by pure chance, I read this book and a biography of Benjamin Franklin within a period of a few weeks. What a different perspective the two of them (and their biographers!) had on the peace talks leading to the resolution of the Revolutionary War.

[claire797]

Originally posted by pwrmom
Claire and Anna,
I'm glad you're liking Good In Bed because I loved it enough to follow it with In Her Shoes ! I'm patiently waiting for her third book! (and hubby rather liked seeing the Good In Bed title on our nightstand :p )

Yeah. The running joke in our house right now is DH saying "So, you're reading that book about me!" :)

[claire797]

I too was a little disappointed in The Secret Life of Bees. I liked it enough to finish it, but I found it kind of predictable. It was enjoyable though, so maybe my expectations were just too high.

Has anyone read Sea Glass? I usually like Anita Shreve, but I'm having a hard time getting into it. In fact, I put it down so I could move on to Good In Bed.

[Chefzhat]

I'm still slogging through the last 1/4 of East of Eden . Boy has this story run out of gas! The tempo of this book is erratic IMO, interesting, great, really boring, interesting, really boring, pretty interesting, really interesting . . . . etc. etc. etc. But, I'm sticking with it. I almost feel as if the author himself lost interest many times while writing!

I'm dying for the John Adams book, and since I can't get it at the library I might have to go purchase it. Unless someone wants to mail it to me??;)

Like Beckms, I'm at the end of the summer reading myself - 2 more weeks and I go back to school. A relief really because the weather here has been so lousy that I'm just ready to be doing something diffent. But I've enjoyed the reading time!!

Debie

[Peggy C.]

I'm about 1/2 way through Lucky Man by Michael J. Fox. So far I'm enjoying his story and his very positive outlook. I'll report back when I'm finished.

[SueK]

I finished The Wailing Wind by Tony Hillerman a few days ago. I had never read any of his books, but enjoy ones set in the southwest. It was okay; I'll probably check out a few more by him.

Currently reading The Pact by Jodi Picoult and loving it! I wasn't that crazy about Mercy, which I read last week. Next up on my list is another Picoult one which a few of you mentioned you had read: Keeping Faith.

[emily]

Ooh, I just thought of another book that I've been attempting foist off onto all my friends because I got so many laughs - literally the out loud, people look at you like you're crazy kind - from this book. Good Omens co-written by Neil Gaimen and Terry Pratchet. It's a farce about the coming of the apocalypse and how the angel from heaven and deamon from hell who have been residing on earth for the past 6000 years initiating good and evil deeds have decided that they aren't ready for the end of existance quite yet.

I love this thread, in fact I'm off to the library now :)

Emily

[RebeccaT]

Count me as one who was intimidated by last week's thread! You all read so quickly... I am a fast reader, but I usually only get to read a few pages at a time.

I just finished Three Junes on Friday. It was a lovely book - it was written in three parts, and each part involved time present and memories of time past. Each part was also written from the POV of different characters, but they all intertwined... I'm not making sense. The main character was Fenno, a Scottish ex-pat living in NYC, and the book centers around his family and his relationships with his father, mother, and twin brothers. He is a gay man, and a big chunk of the book takes place in the mid-80's when many of his friends were suffering and dying of AIDS. It was a book full of interesting perspectives, and the growth and development that the reader witnesses in all the characters is beautiful as it unfolds. I really enjoyed it.

I am currently just getting into Scarlet Feather by Maeve Binchy, a nice light bit of summer reading that I found in hardback on the clearance shelf at B&N. I am enjoying it so far - it's about a catering company, so the descriptions of the menus are my favorite thing about it at the moment. It's hard to say if I will like the characters - I will need to get farther into it to tell.

[lisas3575]

Originally posted by RebeccaT
I just finished Three Junes on Friday. It was a lovely book - it was written in three parts, and each part involved time present and memories of time past. Each part was also written from the POV of different characters, but they all intertwined... I'm not making sense. The main character was Fenno, a Scottish ex-pat living in NYC, and the book centers around his family and his relationships with his father, mother, and twin brothers. He is a gay man, and a big chunk of the book takes place in the mid-80's when many of his friends were suffering and dying of AIDS. It was a book full of interesting perspectives, and the growth and development that the reader witnesses in all the characters is beautiful as it unfolds. I really enjoyed it.

I really enjoyed it too, Rebecca. I forgot to come back and post that when I finished last weekend. I loved her writing style and voice, and there were some beautful sentences in there, the kind that made me stop reading for a minute and just enjoy that particular combination of words. :)

I'm now reading The Ginger Tree for my book club. I'm having a hard time getting in to it, I hope it picks up soon. It's a novel in diary format about a Scotch woman who travels to China in the early 1900s to marry a diplomatic attache. Apparently she has an affair and gets run out of the European community there.

[lorilei]

Still working on The Eyre Affair over here. Haven't had much time for reading lately, so it's been a slow mover. I think I'm really going to enjoy the book... I just need some time to concentrate on it!!

Am also planning to start the Harry Potter saga... one of these days. I have books 1-4 sitting on a shelf in our den!!

[KristaMB]

Originally posted by beckms
Bees: I enjoyed this one, but throughout I was thinking "this is a book my mom would really like" meaning it was full of that rite-of-passage-I-am-woman-hear-me-roar-meaningful-self-realization stuff that I typically don't go for. Mom loved it. :D [/B]
This made me laugh because I am in the same situation. My mom thought this was a wonderful book. I thought it was okay, didn't really live up to the hype IMHO. I'm glad I finished it so I can start something else! :p

[bmonczka]

Still :( reading East of Eden and not loving or hating it, just getting very bored with it! While it's a good story, I'm just not being draw in- I feel like I'm back in high school AP English and reading something that I'm being forced to read and mildly enjoying it, hoping that when I get done I'll see the big meaning! I get the whole choices theme and the other significances but it's just not doing it for me. I'm putting it down for a week to read, Reading Lolita in Tehran, which has been sitting on my nightstand for 3 weeks now calling my name. I've heard such good things about it that I can't wait to start. Oprah & Steinbeck will have to wait a week or two!

I tried to read Tom Robbins about 10 years ago and just couldn't get into it- to me it was very bizarre, kooky didn't even begin to describe it for me. Maybe I'll give it another shot in the future! Any recommendations with a good starter Tom Robbins book? I think I attempted Skinny Legs & All last time, I think I gave up when there were inantimate objects walking down the road or singing at a campfire or something? I have very vivid but strange recollections of that book?!:p

[RebeccaT]

Originally posted by lisas3575

...and there were some beautful sentences in there, the kind that made me stop reading for a minute and just enjoy that particular combination of words. :)


Don't you just love that! I still remember the very first time that I was reading a novel, and I began to relish the words and the style in which it was written, the sentences and pictures that the author formed in each paragraph as opposed to just the story. It was The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy, and I was 14. :)

[Terrytx]

Finished The Eyre Affair this week end-what a romp. I loved it and look forward to having DH read it next. I started Unfit to Practice by Perri O'Shaughnessy (another favorite of mine). It's another of those that you don't want to put down.

[lorilei]

Originally posted by Terrytx
I started Unfit to Practice by Perri O'Shaughnessy (another favorite of mine). It's another of those that you don't want to put down.

Help me out -- what sort of book is it? :)



Also -


Originally posted by beckms
Bees: I enjoyed this one, but throughout I was thinking "this is a book my mom would really like" meaning it was full of that rite-of-passage-I-am-woman-hear-me-roar-meaningful-self-realization stuff that I typically don't go for. Mom loved it.


Am interested in hearing others' impressions of this. I haven't read the book (haven't even read the flap of it), but it's being recommended to me from all directions.

How DOES this book deal with "female" issues? And did it appeal to you?

[Terrytx]

Originally posted by lorilei


Help me out -- what sort of book is it? :)


A woman laywer in the Lake Tahoe area (reoccuring lead character) who leaves her brief case (with case material for 3 important cases) in the back of her car, which gets stolen. Someone starts revealing the privlieged info in the files and gets her in really hot water.

[beckms]

Secret Life of Bees Basic Plot Summary:

A 14-year-old white girl in pre-civil-rights Georgia escapes from her abusive father and runs away with her black nanny. Along the way they meet different kinds of people who open their eyes to the way things should be. Subplot: The girl is dealing with mother/loss issues, and the people she meets along her journey contribute to the process.

Like I've said before, it's a very enjoyable story, and some of the characters are very well developed. It's the general genre that I don't typically go for. If I had known what it was about before I read it, I might have put it aside for something like The Eyre Affair or the Da Vinci Code. But I read it, and I'm glad I did. It just didn't change my life. But then again, few books do. That's what makes the life-changing ones so great!

[Kay Henderson]

I also enjoy the Perri O'Shaughnessy mysteries, and not just because the main character, Nina Reilly, lives at Lake Tahoe.

Perri O'Shaughnessy is the pen name of two sisters, one with a writing background and one a trial lawyer. Consequently, the courtroom dialogue fairly crackles.

I have enjoyed reading this series in order, as the books contain quite a bit about Nina's personal life. The first book is Motion to Suppress, published in 1995.

[lorilei]

Aha - they're mystery novels. Just what I was interested in knowing. Explains why I've never heard of them (haven't gotten too far into reading mysteries).

They sound intriguing, though... will keep them in mind!

Thanks for the input!!

[claire797]

Originally posted by beckms


Bees: I enjoyed this one, but throughout I was thinking "this is a book my mom would really like" meaning it was full of that rite-of-passage-I-am-woman-hear-me-roar-meaningful-self-realization stuff that I typically don't go for. Mom loved it. :D


EXACTLY!!!!! You nailed it.

[Terrytx]

Originally posted by Kay Henderson
I also enjoy the Perri O'Shaughnessy mysteries, and not just because the main character, Nina Reilly, lives at Lake Tahoe.

Perri O'Shaughnessy is the pen name of two sisters, one with a writing background and one a trial lawyer. Consequently, the courtroom dialogue fairly crackles.

I have enjoyed reading this series in order, as the books contain quite a bit about Nina's personal life. The first book is Motion to Suppress, published in 1995.

you described it perfectly-thanks :)

[emily]

Originally posted by bmonczka
I tried to read Tom Robbins ... to me it was very bizarre ... Any recommendations with a good starter Tom Robbins book? I think I attempted Skinny Legs & All last time, I think I gave up when there were inantimate objects walking down the road or singing at a campfire or something? I have very vivid but strange recollections of that book?!:p

Hrm, well, I've only read Skinny Legs and All and Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas. You're completely right about the inantimate objects who locomote in Skinny Legs. I loved that about it. The expanding of the idea that humans are the only intelligent species who participate in "real life". While their are no objects locomoting in Half Asleep, there is exploration into life beyond earth. My guess is that if you didn't like the bizarreness before, you might not like it still.

My adventure at the library yielded a Roald Dahl collection of short stories, two travel books (one on Vancouver and another on China), and the movie Chocolat :)

Em

[jennanne]

Originally posted by emily

My adventure at the library yielded a Roald Dahl collection of short stories,



Ooh! Which short stories...I absolutely love everything Dahl ever wrote.

[Peggy]

Originally posted by Gilgamesh37

I feel like the only person alive who really disliked [B]The Lovely Bones.

No, you are not alone here. I just finished this book and disliked it intensely. It didn't keep my interest and I hated the ending. Several times I put it down and gave up on it, but with so many pople loving it, I kept thinking, "It has got to get better...". Not!!

Peggy

[NancyR]

Originally posted by Peggy


No, you are not alone here. I just finished this book and disliked it intensely. It didn't keep my interest and I hated the ending. Several times I put it down and gave up on it, but with so many pople loving it, I kept thinking, "It has got to get better...". Not!!

Peggy

It always amazes me how some people can be so in love with a book and you can just totally hate it. If there is anything I will no longer do it is give someone a book (without their asking for it) and saying you just have to read this, it is so great. I have had such bad experiences lately with books that someone thought I would totally LOVE that I thought were train wrecks........Hornet's Nest comes to mind, a David Baldacci.....I think I have put the other titles out of my mind. Anyway, I enjoyed Lovely Bones but can certainly see how someone else might not. Now The Secret Life of Bees is different....you have to like that one ;)

[NancyR]

I am trying to get into The Emperor or Ocean Park and having a little trouble learning to like the characters. Would someone please tell me it gets better?

[Terrytx]

Originally posted by NancyR
I am trying to get into The Emperor or Ocean Park and having a little trouble learning to like the characters. Would someone please tell me it gets better?

That's one of the ones I had to give up on also. :(
I liked The Lovely Bones :)

[NewMrsG]

I am trying to get into The Emperor or Ocean Park and having a little trouble learning to like the characters. Would someone please tell me it gets better?

I'm with Terrytx on this one ... it did pick up a little in the middle, but in the end I don't think it was really worth it.

[tbb113]

Well I finally finished The Eyre Affair . Definetly not my cup of tea...just can't get that much into fantasy/sci-fi genre. But it was enjoyable. I sort of feel the same way as I did after seeing Urinetown, the Musical Friday night. Completely stupid...but entertaining. I don't think I'll read the next one in the series though.

Next up The Solace of Leaving Early by Haven Kimmel. I have a large stack from the library and I plan on doing a LOT of reading the next few days on the beach at Lake Tahoe :D

Tyra

[NewMrsG]

Next up The Solace of Leaving Early by Haven Kimmel.

I'll be curious to hear what you think of this Tyra - it's on my list and I also just started her "early-childhood-bio" - A Girl Named Zippy - this morning - I was reading it on the train and couldn't help laughing out loud in a couple of places, much to my embarrassment!

[Alaina76]

Originally posted by NewMrsG


I'll be curious to hear what you think of this Tyra - it's on my list and I also just started her "early-childhood-bio" - A Girl Named Zippy - this morning - I was reading it on the train and couldn't help laughing out loud in a couple of places, much to my embarrassment!

A Girl Named Zippy was one of my favorite books - very funny!

I just finished Tempting Faith DiNapoli by Lisa Gabriele. I liked her writing style and found myself laughing out loud.

Before that I read Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan, which I also liked. I actually got up in the middle of the night to read this when I couldn't sleep (instead of just laying there like I usually do.)

I guess I've been reading a lot lately because I also just finished Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris and was disappointed. The whole book lead up to this big mysterious event that gets revealed at the end - and I didn't think it was worth the wait.

Next up - Alice's Tulips by Sandra Dallas.

I also liked The Lovely Bones !:D

[d_ferrero]

I also enjoyed A Girl Named Zippy and picked up The Solace of Leaving Early at the used book store on Saturday so I'll be reading it soon.

I just finished Blue Shoe and other than enjoying some of the local flavor, was not really sure what the point was. It ended rather abruptly, but oddly left me no more curious about the fate of its characters than I was at the beginning. Odd.

I've read a lot of "heavy" stuff recently, so my next new book is a radical change in pace. Filthy Rich is certainly chick-lit -- 30-something heroine gets dumped on national TV when she fails to answer her pre-fiance's "lifeline" question correctly. I read the first five or so chapters on BART on the way to work this morning. Just witty enough not to be brain-numbing.

Next up (this one will go quickly) are Nerd in Shining Armor (I was enchanted by the cover and wanted another light read) and A Prayer for Owen Meany.

[NewMrsG]

Next up ... A Prayer for Owen Meany.

Oooh - one of my all-time favorites!! I hope you love it!

[Denise]

Just finished Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay . What an incredible book! If you haven't read this one please do! I was really impressed with the author's ability to get me totally involved in a subject that I had no interest in (does that make sense?). Having absolutely nothing in common with these two young men, I nevertheless found myself understanding them and caring deeply what happened to them. Every time I picked this book up I was immediately immersed and forgot where I was or what I should be doing. Jessica - thanks so much for giving me the final push I needed to finally pick this up. I will be giving it to everyone I know!

Next up Dogs of Babel .

[Peggy C.]

Originally posted by tbb113


Next up The Solace of Leaving Early by Haven Kimmel. I have a large stack from the library and I plan on doing a LOT of reading the next few days on the beach at Lake Tahoe :D

Tyra

I read this a couple of weeks ago, after finishing the Zippy book. I really enjoyed this, but did not find it LOL funny like Zippy. A slightly darker story, but with some interesting twists and relationships.

I finished Lucky Man by Michael J. Fox a couple of days ago. I really enjoyed it. I wouldn't say I was a huge fan of his before and he didn't sway me a lot. But I did find his rise to fame and subsequent diagnosis and dealing with it interesting.

I also finished The Truth About Celia by Kevin Brockmeier. I can't even begin to describe it so go to Amazon and read about it. I didn't hate it, but I didn't really like it either. I tend to prefer a neater package...read I need an ending.

Off to the library in a few minutes...hopefully I'll find something great.:D

[Little Bit]

I just finished Ruth Rendell's The Veiled One, and it was a good/creepy read. Now I'm back with Ngaio Marsh's Death of a Fool, which isn't bad so far.

I'm rather impatiently waiting on the FIVE cookbooks I ordered from Overstock.com, though. LOL! :)

[Jeanz]

Just commenting on the M Chabon books... Mysteries of Pittsburgh was ok, nothing special. Amazing Adventures was amazing, impressive, knowledgable, smart and funny! DON'T let Mysteries take away any enthusiasm for Amazing!

My book group is reading George Elliots The Mill on the Floss . It looks like I will be trudging through that for awhile!

I have to agree about John Adams. That book is amazing!

[Lucinda]

Originally posted by lisas3575


I'm now reading The Ginger Tree for my book club. I'm having a hard time getting in to it, I hope it picks up soon. It's a novel in diary format about a Scotch woman who travels to China in the early 1900s to marry a diplomatic attache. Apparently she has an affair and gets run out of the European community there.

The Ginger Tree is one of my favorite novels-- I hope it starts to pull you in. I love reading about Asia, which is probably why I took to it so quickly, but I was also fascinated about how a young woman makes her way in a totally alien society. Let me know if it gets more interesting for you.

[tbb113]

Well after a day and half of lounging on the beach at Lake Tahoe, I finished The Solace of Leaving Early. It was alright, but I missed many of the literary illusions...and I think I need to not read books by Christian seminary students. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with them, they Christina themes just don't match up to this nice Jewish girl's soul :)

I also read Adele by Emma Tennant. It is a continuation of Jane Eyre, more about Adele and her side of the story/life. It also was just okay, but since I recently read Jane Eyre and [I] The Eyre Affair [/B], it was hard to resist at the library.

Am almost done with Trans-sister Radio by Chris Bojalian. Am really enjoying this one.

Tyra

[claire797]

Originally posted by tbb113

I also read Adele by Emma Tennant. It is a continuation of Jane Eyre, more about Adele and her side of the story/life.

Wow! I've never heard of that book. Thanks for the reference. Jane Eyre is one of my favorite books of all time.

Another book for Jane Eyre fans is The Wide Sargasso Sea (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0393308804/qid=1060994821/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/102-7859225-8154519?v=glance&s=books&n=507846), which is the story leading up to Jane Eyre. That is, it is the story of Adele's mother who becomes the mad woman in the attic.

[Sami]

I just finished, Pat Conroy's My Losing Season. It's about his basketball team at the Citadel. It was a little hard to read, because he goes into the abuse his Marine father deals out to him, his mother and 6 other siblings. I'm not much of a basketball fan but you do get absorbed in the games he describes.

I am almost through John Grisham's A Painted House about a Southern farmer's family and picking the cotton crop.

Sami

[clairea]

I finished Good in Bed a couple days ago, and really enjoyed it. I am looking forward to getting her next book from the library. I started Three Junes this afternoon, but am having a little trouble getting into it. I think that had more to do with my state of mind than the book, so I am going to try again later.

Tyra and Anna, thanks for mentioning Adele and The Wide Sargasso Sea . I love Jane Eyre so will have to look for those.

Claire

[pwrmom]

Claire,
I just finished Three Junes and you're right....it was very difficult to "get into it" but I was always interested in discovering how the story developed. You'll find that the writing is worth it...stay with it!

[Alaina76]

Originally posted by Sami


I am almost through John Grisham's A Painted House about a Southern farmer's family and picking the cotton crop.



Do you like it? I just bought the book on tape at a rummage sale for $2. :)

[RebeccaT]

Originally posted by pwrmom
Claire,
I just finished Three Junes and you're right....it was very difficult to "get into it" but I was always interested in discovering how the story developed. You'll find that the writing is worth it...stay with it!

Ditto. I had the same experience. The first section, the story of the father, is harder to get into but is very important for understanding the second and third. I'd recommend trying to read the first section in larger chunks, as opposed to a few pages at a time, so that you can start to let yourself be absorbed into the story. Stick with it - it's good! :)

[granolagirl]

I'm currently reading The Foodtaster and At Home in Mitford. I wanted something light, and so far At Home in Mitford is doing the job for me. I'm trying to stay away from Chick-Lit for a while (I'm a bit burned out!) and don't want anything that will make me cry!

[clairea]

I have gotten to the second section of Three Junes and am finding it easier going. I am glad I stuck with it. I think part of my problem while reading the first section is that I was trying to read it while sittin at the car dealer for the 4th time in 3 weeks trying to get my brakes fixed, and was pretty annoyed, so was not really focusing. Anyway, I am enjoying the book now.

Granolagirl, if you like the Mitford books you might also enjoy the Cape Light series by Thomas Kinkade (the painter). Someone suggested these to me recently. I have read the first one and really liked it. It is very similar to the Mitford books, just nice, easy reading.

Claire

[NancyR]

Originally posted by Alaina76


Do you like it? I just bought the book on tape at a rummage sale for $2. :)

I know I'm not the one you asked but just for the record, I liked A Painted House very much. It's nice to see John Grisham maturing into such a good writer. I loved the fact that the subject matter was so different from his usual.