Leslie's comments

Leslie's comments from the The Next Best Book Club group.

Note: Leslie is no longer a member of this group.

I used to belong to several bookclubs that would send you books. After a while I ended up with a ton of books I had no interest in reading EVER! They would send things I was not interested in, in order to not pay for them it took too much time, energy, etc. to ship them back. By the time I got them the time frame for returning was less than a week and it was hard for me to go to the post office, etc. For me it was a waste of time for the most part. Most of the books after the introductory stuff was things I never heard of for the most part. Now I check almost all mine out at the local/regional library for free. I purchase very few books and I am much happier! I probably have about $100 a month more. I also frequent several used bookstores in the area before going to a major chain to buy from...I just feel a bit better alout it all.

Last October on a flight from Tulsa, OK and a layover in Newark I actually read The Other Boleyn Girl I litterally could not put it down. I was so desperate for more that at the airport bookshop (not even close to being affordable) I bought three others from that series. I read a bit every day and night while touring England. I read them on the train and waiting for connections, etc. I even read a bit at Warwick Castle in Warwick where their are portraits of both Boleyn women and Henry VIII in one of the bedrooms while having a picnic awaiting the trebuche and longbow demonstrations. Very nice atmosphere...I was probably even more into to the books because of where I was reading them! But they are well worth the time reading them! I was disappointed in the movie...I felt it was missing so much from the books!

You mean besides the obivous ones by JK Rowling??

Gee, for me my first time was with Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. She was also my first adult book to read at the young age of 14 without being assigned for by class. After those I cannot seem to think of one that truely stands out. Mainly because I read most books that way. But I am trying to remember that strong feeling of passion...the closest I felt that way was with several of the spin-offs to Jane Austen's P&P and also to The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory. But the first time is always the most remembered.

Okay Catamorandi I agree with your list for the most part with the exclusion of Jane Austen even though Northanger Abbey was not her best novel by any means. But can we please add anything by Thomas Hardy and William Faulkner... for me Hardy is like wanting to strangle everyone insight. My bookclub RAVED and GUSHED all about Tess of the D'Ubervilles and I just don't get it. I thought it was the worst piece of &#^$!! imaginable. Faulkner was a bit better but I just could not get into him at all. To me it was like having Jeff Foxworthy drunk and speaking in my ear the whole time I read Absalom, Absalom! by Faulkner. That was too weird of a time for me to handle!

I am just going to list my top five favorite romance/love writers...

1. Jane Austen
2. Stephanie Laurens
3. Julia Quinn
4. Marica Evanick
5. Rachel Gibson

I know they are all over the board on types and styles of writing! I am just too quirky for words!! ;p

These are all so different from each other but I had fun reading them all!!

If you like WWII history then these two are for you!!

1. Wine and War: The French, the Nazis, and the Battle for France's Greatest Treasure by Don Kladstrup.

2. The Freedom Line: The Brave Men and Women Who Rescued Allied Airmen from the Nazis During World War II by Peter Eisner

And of Course I love the Kenndey Conspiracy Theory books and the CIA and other spies amongst us kinds of things...

3. On the Trail of the Assassins by Jim Garrison

4. Plausible Denial: Was the CIA Involved in the JFK Assassination? by Mark Lane

5. Very Best Men by Evan Thomas

6. Ultimate Sacrifice: John and Robert Kennedy, the Plan for a Coup in Cuba, and the Murder of JFK by Lamar Waldron

now for other odd non-fiction...

7. Take It From Me : Life's a Struggle But You Can Win by Erin Brockovich

8. French Lessons: Adventures with Knife, Fork, and Corkscrew by Peter Mayle

9. Acquired Tastes by Peter Mayle

10. Entre Nous: A Woman's Guide to Finding Her Inner French Girl by Debra Ollivier

That's actually why I read it...I loved it on tv. A bit of a spoiler they definitely changed the story a bit. But Wait! (smack on forehead) that is WAAAY too typical! But it was a good read. Got it at the airport when my flight got delayed over 9 hours!!! Was the perfect way to fill my time!

Not sure how it would work but it would be funny as hell is the MaryJanice Davidson series on the Royal Family of Alaska. Or even her Undead series. Talk about making you laugh.

1. The Second Assistant: A Tale from the Bottom of the Hollywood Ladder by Clare Naylor

2.Always the Bridesmaid by Sarah Webb

3.The Thing About Jane Spring by Sharon Krum

4.The Little Lady Agency by Hester Browne

5. The Starter Wife by Gigi Levangie Grazer

Naturally these authors have other books that I love as well!!!

I have heard from what seems like EVERYONE that they are reading or have read the "Twillight" series...Is there any other series that anyone lOVES and recommends to read? If so what are they!! Please share!!!

I agree with Mole that books are supposed to influence you one way or another. Its hard for me to pinpoint to just a single book. Eventhough the Jane Austen Book Club got horrible reviews it actually motivated me to search out for a bookclub with people that like similar things. It really helped me get more out of my shell. Loads of people think that I am an extrovert, but in truth I am an introvert to the extreme. I now make a more consciencious effort to get out of my comfort zone. I am becomming a much happier person as a result. Another one about Discovering your Inner French Girl...that one really made me be more confident about myself and grow. But for me reading is my own form of entertainment and escape from reality that I so love!

You know until this site I had not really heard of the Twillight series. I am so out of touch evidently. I am going to have to break down and start to read at least the first one! Right now for pure pleasure I am working my way through some spin-offs from Jane Austen's novels. Other than that this month for my book clubs I am reading Anne Bronte's The Tennant of Wildfell Hall, The Knitting Circle by Ann Hood and also The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James. Yep 3 reading groups!! 2 of my groups sometimes read books I have already finished...or my library does not have a copy I can check out on the third group...so I do more than one to keep me busy!

Now this is what I love about GoodReads....I love to read but after a while I never get out of my "comfort zone" with nre authors. I am ALWAYS excited about hearing of different authors that people like to read. Now that inspires me!!

Mary Street

Felix Salten (he wrote Bambi)

5 Point Items
- Read a book you borrow from the library
that's easy I get most of my books there!!

- Read for 30 minutes under a tree
outside on the bench under the pear tree (was reading Just Jane)

- Listen to a book on tape, cd, mp3, or playaway
Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare (I followed along with the book)

- Read a cookbook or view a cooking website***
Well I love cooking, I checked out the Dole Website and made their rice, chicken stir fry dish for my parents.

- Read a romance novel
I have read way too many of these...but the Lost Duke of Wyndham just came out

- Attend a program at your local library
I actually performed with a group at their Asian Arts Festival 2 Saturdays ago with my tai chi group

- View a movie made from a book
the new Narnia movie (but I plan on reading the book now)
(40 points)


10 Point Items

- Read a horror or suspense novel
I have been reading the Stephanie Barron suspense series based on Jane Austen
(10 points)

15 Point Items
- Read a novel by an author you have never read
Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
(15 points)

WHooo! 65 points!!

Hey I'm Leslie. For the most part I am ADDICTED to books and Goodreads. I am one of those weird speed readers. Sorry can't help it. I probably read about 4 or more books a week. I read alot of quick trashy reads sometimes just to relax, but I also read classics or historical (mainly English) books. Right now I just finished Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare, and several different spin-offs from Jane Austen's books. That is my actual summer project, which I am discovering may last a year or two. I have read about 20 so far and I have a stack just fresh from the library in my bedroom ready to go. I already belong to several bookclubs, mainly on the classics.

Other than reading I dabble and bit into poetry when the feeling hits. I love travelling, cooking, gardening, tai chi, yoga and walking. I also just took back up riding my bicycle. Whomever said its like riding a bike you never forget...well, I have absolutely the worst balance and shifting gear issues right now. So its funny to watch me ride mine through the neighborhood.

My Top Bathtub Reads
(yep for pure fun & sometimes trashy books and absolutely no thinking allowed!!!) This is in no particular order really so here it goes...

The Little Lady Agency by Hester Browne

A Year in the Merde by Stephen Clarke (he has three in the series now)

The Second Assistant: A Tale from the Bottom of the Hollywood Ladder by Clare Naylor (the 1st assistant follows that up)

Blow Me Down by Katie MacAlister

Men in Kilts by Katie MacAlister

any book by Julia Quinn in her Bridgerton series but read in order(historical romance)

any book by Stephanie Laurens in her Cynster series but read in order(historical romance)

Everything's Coming Up Rosie by Kasey Michaels

Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife: Pride and Prejudice Continues by Linda Berdoll

Summer in the City by Robyn Sisman

Wednesday Night Witches by Lee Nichols

Always the Bridesmaid by Sarah Webb

Single White Vampire by Lynsay Sands (she has a series no thinking needed, but they are fun to read!!)