Macy's comments (member since Jun 18, 2008)

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

I think those are all great points! I usually prefer to have at least one character that I care about, otherwise the whole book is just dull for me. Even if it is very well written, I tend to forget books much more quickly unless I really connected with a character.

I also love realizing that earlier events were foreshadowing later events - I like that moment of realizing that there were little hints along the way.

I've been a huge fan of King for a long time. Some of his more recent ones aren't as good, but some are great - especially Lisey's Story. I really liked Insomnia, Bag of Bones, Hearts in Atlantis and of course, my favorites, The Dark Tower series.

Julianne - I definitely agree that not all of his books are horror. I think some people avoid them because they don't like horror novels, which is too bad.

The Dance of the Dissident Daughter by Sue Monk Kidd is one of my favorite books and it just happens to be non-fiction by a novelist! I also like Junger and Krakauer (sp?), although I don't know whether they wrote novels as well.

I think more novelists should write non-fiction. There are so many wonderful stories in history and today, and yet so many non-fiction books are just DULL. I bougt a book on linguistics a few years ago that looked wonderful but was so tedious I only ever read the first 45 pages or so.

Welcome, Lisa! I just moved to MN a couple years ago from Colorado. I have some friends in Longmont.

Oh Beth, don't be embarassed! I was in public when I finished the 6th Harry Potter and I was crying like a baby! :)

I've always been a sap, I'll cry at TV shows, sappy commercials (do you guys remember the Master Card commercials with the lost Boston Terrier?), movies and espeically books.

Here are some of the ones I can think of offhand that resulted in me having to actually put the book down and go get a supply of kleenex:

Lots of Stephen King books make me cry, I just get so attached to the characters.

Harry Potter 5-7

The Book Thief

The Amber Spyglass (last of the Pullman trilogy)

The second of the Outlander series

Some books also just make me terribly sad for extended periods:

Mists of Avalon

Rosalind Miles' Guenevere series

I just finished this last night. What an amazing book. So much passion and heartache. I can't wait to read it again some day and just revel in the language and imagery.

It will be interesting to see the movie - I've been trying to think of what parts they will cut out, since there's no way to cover even most of 1000 pages in a 3 hour movie!

Who knows when they will be available, but I also look forward to his next books.

Welcome to all of you! Quite the international newbie thread! (Not to leave you out, Jamie - you can be international to the others!)

We have a few starting requirements and then vote. Every month we switch between fiction and non-fiction and the books have to be in paperback. We meet at a book store, so usually when we meet each person grabs a couple books to suggest to the group. Then before we leave we vote. It usually works quite well.

Hi Ben, and welcome!

Welcome to the group!

This is looking terribly partial to the east coast, so I'd like to throw in some new ones. :) There are a few great Latin American art museums in Denver, and the new Modern Art Museum in Denver is very cool. The entire space works with the modern theme and in many ways the building is art as well.

I've always loved history museums, walking around and trying to imagine the real people and real lives that are depicted. We went to a neat rail road museum in Two Harbors MN a couple weeks ago - there was a TON of stuff in this really small space. Lots of newspaper articles about war, dating back to WWI. Military outfits, pictures of railcars, examples of rail equipment. Very interesting, and all for only $2!

I'm also quite fond of the Guiness Brewery/Museum in Dublin - not only do you get to see the history of brewing and of Guiness but you get a free pint at the end!

I was driving to school and heard it on the radio. At first I thought it was some sort of radio show since I was just flipping through the stations. Then I realized it was much more serious than that. The professor for my first class rode his bike so he knew nothing about it. I remember sitting in class and we were all sort of unsure whether or not to say anything. In the end, we didn't mention it and class went on as usual. We probably should have brought it up as the professor was rather distraught at our next class, explaining that he wouldn't have kept us in class as though nothing were going on if he had known.

I remember the next couple days just watching the news and seeing the clips over and over again.

It's always been a hard thing for me because I don't at all agree with the response from our government or some of the foreign policies that we have that make us unpopular. But I'm also the type that gets inordinately sad about death, even of a stranger. It's one thing when you just look at a number of fatalities, it's something very different when you see those numbers as representing individuals with hopes, dreams, families, etc. And the thought of all the people that had to sit and wait and wonder, hoping.

These are the events that remind me to always focus on the positive, never go to bed angry, always tell those close to me that I love them.

And Happy Birthday - Ken and Brenda. Excellent point that just because something terrible happened on a particular day doesn't change the many other wonderful anniversaries.

A friend of mine sent me the link. I've been trying to get her into this group, but it's a tough sell since I have to be honest and tell her that it's way too easy to spend all your time here! I found the group one day when I was bored and looking for people with similar book tastes. I joined a bunch of other groups but all of them are pretty quiet, which is a nice compliment to this one!

First off - sorry I've been gone so much! With school and work I've been swamped. I haven't even been reading much.

I just finished The Best of Friends last night, which I loved. And I started Rebel Angels this morning on my way to work. Audio again, I liked it for the last one so thought I'd give it ago for the second book, too.

Welcome from a fellow blabberer and word puzzle freak!

Welcome!

I started this several weeks ago and then got caught up in a bunch of other books. Not that I didn't want to keep reading, it just somehow got put on hold. So far I've loved it. I work with a lot of people from India and it's very interesting to get a look into the "other" side of India. Sometimes the writing is almost too thought out - it seems like he's trying to write a book out of quotable passages. But they're all so good that I can't be too irritated.

I know at various times I've come across interesting things in books but... Do you ever consider leaving things in your books when you pass them along? (This of course is assuming that any of us actually ever get rid of books!) It's come to mind a couple times when I'm taking a small box to the thrift store that it would be interesting to leave a little note, like a message in a bottle, for the next reader.

Welcome to the group!