Leah's comments (member since Jun 24, 2008)

Leah's comments from the Books on the Nightstand group.

Wow~~ very cool. The masses have spoken, I guess. Great news!

What if in the off week we heard about books recommended by the people you encounter in your week (like the book store people's fave books or maybe you ask one customer their fave book) as well as books brought to your attention by the voicemail line? Plus, you could let us listen to a few of your fave voicemails from the past 2 weeks.

I never kept track of my books until Goodreads. This website was like a dream-come-true for me. When I hear about a book, I jot it on a scrap page, or receipt, or wherever and then eventually my notes land on goodreads. When I go to the Library, I use the online terminal to access my goodreads account and list the books I want to look for. Then I hop on the card catalog and off I go.

I have never been organized enough to handle a journal or home library or PDA or anything like that. Plus, with Goodreads, I don't even have to remember to take anything with me. It's at the Library when I get there.

Josh mentioned coffee table books. I LOVE those as gifts. There is one called Georgia O'Keefe and Ansel Adams: Natural Affinities that looks amazing. I also browsed through a photo book by photographer Andrew Zuckerman called Creature that I went ape over in the store. I could spend hours with those visual wonders!

Hey Goodreaders!

I am a lifelong bookworm and I happen to be lucky enough to know Michael and his lovely wife personally so I got an email beckoning me to GOODREADS.

I am so glad I did. I am a teacher and I often like to fill my summer with as many books as possible. I take my daughter to the library about once a week and always try to take out at least one book for myself. I am proud to say that thanks to the suggestions, reviews, and blogs, I read TWELVE novels this summer and didn't find nearly as many disappointments as I have in the past as I wander aimlessly through the shelves and the card catalog. I am so happy to be on goodreads!

I look forward to everyone's book lists and reviews. Happy reading!

I tend to avoid movies based on books as they usually disapoint me. This all started when I watched "Firestarter" after reading the S.King book of same name. (I do take note that very few of the movies made of his books are very good). I have avoided fictional movies like Harry Potter, The Hobbit, etc. as my imagined images of characters, places, and objects is often much more spectacular than any Hollywood budget can produce and I am frequently disappointed.
On occasion I will see a movie based on a novel or bio, but only AFTER I have read the book. Sometimes I like where the movie takes the story, and sometimes I don't, but at least it can't ruin my opinion of the original source (the book).
As for covers, I guess I tend to opt for the original cover. Makes me feel the text is more authentic.

My "Whybrary" consists of text/factual books - mostly history and art subject matter, but there are a few math and english books in the mix.

I think "nightbrary" is quite clever, Ann. I mean, the library is closed at night, so where else would you turn?

Well, I recently read GODS BEHAVING BADLY and very much enjoyed it.
I am in the midst of reading NAKED and have found myself reading it aloud to my boyfriend every night because I want to share the fabulous, witty, marvelous descriptions with him. We end up having to stop reading because we are laughing so hard I can't see the words on the page! I can't believe I didn't find this one sooner.
I have quite the list of 'to read' for the summer, so I will keep you posted if any others rock my reading socks off.

I was always fond of Celie from Color Purple... She retained her sweetness and gentleness despite her life circumstances.

As a kid, I was addicted to Ramona (Beverly Cleary). She was such a twit!!! I was also a huge fan of Claudia from the Babysitter's Club. Neither is perhaps a literary hero, but they were characters who sung to me as a young reader. Their existence kept me plowing through book after book after book.

Perhaps the character that has stuck the longest- I discovered him as a child and still LOVE to read about him to my daughter- is not a person at all. I love FERDINAND the bull. He marches to the beat of his own drummer. Accepted by his mother, and misunderstood by his peers. He does what feels right.

Well, I feel pretty far behind. I have only read 13 of the above noted. Even worse, I think almost every one was required reading in some course or another (not that I didn't enjoy them). I do tend to be a fan of Orwell, though.

There are a few on here that I have passed over because I didn't have guidance, for example, I found Shakespeare to be a difficult read at first, but reading it with the guidance of peers and a professor aided the 'translation'. This makes me tentative towards reading other Shakespeare works. I have the same anxiety about Dickens.

Do others feel this way? Is this why book clubs are so great?

Anyway, my favorite of my short list is probably the Odyssey. I have re-read this a few times.
My "next" might be Death Comes for the Archbishop, as I have read Cather in the past (Yellow Wallpaper) and enjoyed it.