Vanessa's comments (member since May 27, 2009)

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

I also have problems with my holds coming due and discovering they are 2 week holds. I usually give those right back. I rarely am able to dovetail my reads that neatly.

LMJ wrote: Started Dominic Dunne's first novel. I got it from the library when he died. It's now over do and haven't read anything trashy in years, so…

I feel so stupid. Dominick Dunne died? I totally missed that. I read "An Inconvenient Woman" years ago and thought it was brilliant. I guess the subject matter was trashy but it was handled with great pathos and depth.

I recently finished a Michael can't wait to read "Big Machine" which is... a strange book. I loved the main character but I just can't get into magical realism even with a cynical urban vibe wringed around it.

Right now I'm reading "The Bluest Eye" for my book group and "Beowulf on the Beach" as it makes me feel smarter. Tell the author his appearances on your blog netted him a sale : )

Tanya wrote: I really liked the first eponymous title in the Twilight series, the second title less so, and the third was pretty bad.

I generally trust your reviews Tanya so now look what you have done. Doomed me to read Twilight : )

(I admit I've been a little curious.)

I really like the Sookie Stackhouse books but they probably aren't for everyone. Maybe I'm partly biased because of how they get the little things about Southern small town life right and the accents are so perfectly rendered. I actually like the books better than the HBO series.

I don't have much interest in Twilight but I do love Charlaine Harris.

If you are looking for a scary vampire book Danelle, the top pick for me would be Salem's Lot by Stephen King.

Jeweleye wrote: I wouldn't call Beloved a horror story so much as a ghost story. Big difference, in my view.

Agreed. It's not a horror story although since it's about former slaves there are horrible things in the story. That is still the only Toni Morrison I have ever read. I liked the book but for some reason it never made me want to seek out more.

Wow! Good news that you won and that we don't lie : )

Helter Skelter. When I was a kid in Kentucky, I remember a classmate hearing that Charles Manson was from Kentucky (altho he hadn't lived there in years.) Altho he'll certainly never get out of jail, we both managed to terrify ourselves that he would get out and move back home. For years I was terrified of anything Manson-related.

Finally in my 20's I watched the movie and it's fascinating. I tried to read the book afterwards but it scared me too much. I still don't think I could read it. I did watch the recent program about him on History tho that featured the new interview with Linda Kasabian.

Vampires were cool but now they are kind of way overdone (having said that, I still read more than my share of paranormal junk.) I think it's just where the money is now. The NYT was saying the other day that to get your book on the fiction bestseller list, it had better be part of a series.

Tanya wrote: "Well, I totally bailed out on VAMPIRE$ (by John Steakley.) It was getting more stupid by the page :-( "

Well, thanks for taking the literary bullet. I had heard the book was way different from the movie (I really liked the movie.) I probably will skip this read then. I've also heard the book CHILDREN OF MEN was far inferior to the movie.

Kathy wrote: "Am thinking about GIRL W/DRAGON TATTOO as so many people are raving about it."

Kathy, I so loved that book. The beginning opens with story about some financial flim flammery which traditionally does not interest me. Stick with it though as it changes into a murder mystery. I have Russo on my to read list. Maybe EMPIRE FALLS. I have wanted to read him ever since I read Jennifer Finney Boylan's memoir SHE'S NOT THERE where she talks about Russo being her colleague at the school they teach at.

I just finished THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO. It is crazy how good that book is. It loved it so much that it makes me sad the writer who envisioned these characters is no longer around.

Tanya wrote: " I finished THE ENGLISH PATIENT (by Michael Ondaatje) last night "

You must have liked it then if you are now reading the prequel and more by Ondaatje is on your to do list. Did you happen to like the movie?

Conny, I loved INTO THIN AIR. I'll have to look that book up. The Russian climber (Anatoli Bookreev-I probably butchered his name) wrote a book called THE CLIMB about that same experience as well.

Tanya wrote: I completed the BOTB Challenge! I read four books: JANE EYRE (by Charlotte Bronte), MADAME BOVARY (by Gustave Flaubert), PERE GORIOT (by Honore de Balzac) and, GREAT EXPECTATIONS (by Charles Dickens.)

Holy cow! That is impressive.

Ooooh, I have Vampire$ on my To Read list too Tanya. Let us know how it was.

I heard an author on NPR passionately recommending the book that was a prequel to The English Patient. I just hated the movie so much I haven't been able to stir up any interest in the books.

I'm probably the last person in the group to read The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and I'm loving it. The beginning was a little slow going as I didn't care about the details of the financial conspiracy that opened the book (my intellectual curiosity does not extend to the subject of economics) and feared that's what the whole thing would be about. But once the story proper got going, I was hooked.

Does she want what most Americans read tho or quintessential American literature? I know that if I were in a new country with a suitcase of Danielle Steel and John Grisham I'd.....be looking for a new hobby to replace reading : )

I would suggest a book or two about baseball just because-for me-it conjures such quintessential Americana and it might not be a topic too popular in NZ.

I sympathize with this post because I was an Arabic major in college and spent time in Syria a few years ago where I longed for things American in a way I can't communicate. To the point that on one day when I felt particurly homesick I stole my napping roommate's mp3 player and sat and bawled while listening to Whitney Houston's rendition of the National Anthem on repeat(this isn't a knock on Syria, btw. Great country and extremely friendly residents.) You don't realize how much you'll miss American-ness until you don't have it enveloping you.

The only audiobook I've ever listened to was "The DaVinci Code" and I couldn't finish it because the narrator was a man with an American accent doing a French woman's voice. It was, to my ears, silly and distracting. I did like the book tho despite its factual errors, fwiw.

I read this title in between the Charlaine Harris Sookie Stackhouse novels. They are quick, easy light reads, for fans of vampires.


I love the Sookie books Scott. Particularly because Sookie is so believable and things often don't work out for her. Harris also wrote a series about a cleaning woman who somewhat unwillingly solves murder mysteries named Lily Bard (who herself had a cameo in a Sookie book.) No supernatural stuff but that is one of my favorite characters I've ever read. Surprisingly and enjoyably deep given the genre.

You guys have convinced me to pick up Stieg Larsson. I am taking Michael's advice and reading in order (realy tho I'm OCD about doing that anyways.) I just picked up The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo from the library and as soon as I finish my Charlaine Harris mystery, I'll be starting it.

BTW, I really liked Fragment but I thought the villain was unnecessary, unbelievable and too villainous. But I loved the concept and the science. Warren Lehy wrote an article on the Powells website describing the basis in nature for his Hender's Island creatures. Fascinating.

Thanks Ann and Libby. I think having a long book to finish is the issue. Podcasts work perfectly for me because I listen when I'm walking my dog, driving, cleaning the house. Those are 20-30 minute intervals usually. I think it would make me nuts to try to finish something book length that way. I guess you listen much faster than you read tho?