Lynnea's comments (member since Jul 02, 2008)

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

I've only listened to a couple but I love the format also for the freeing of the hand. It could never replace my love for holding a book, but I like sneaking them in here and there.

I've listened to The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon and also Sarah Vowell's Assassination Vacation, both of which I thoroughly enjoyed.

I just finished On Chesil Beach. Ann you were so right. Ian McEwan is phenomenal. I was absolutely enthralled. His skill for revealing, phrasing words together in beautiful strings and character development are exquisite! Thank you and I recommend anyone and everyone should pick up this book.

Thanks Robin! The Curious Incident... was such a wonderful book to me because the perspective was so unusual. I really enjoy books written like that.

Since I see others are posting books not written this year I'll get brave and put my favs out too.

Some of my favorites I took in this year include:

American Gods by Neil Gaiman
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Honeymoon in Purdah by Alison Wearing

Ann, I was catching up on the messages here and read your last suggestion for kids mini-episode. That is brilliant! Please do it.

Michael I know that age! Ha!

I just realized that I never popped into this thread and introduce myself.

I came to you guys because Ann found a post on my blog about good book reviews and thus my love affair with BOTN began. (Strictly clean of course)

I am a stay at home mom with a blog (who isn't right?), who loves to read and am currently about half way through writing my first book, after which I hope to write one or two more and then see if that could lead to publication. On my blog they call me Maggie but here I use my real name Lynnea, so I can be either depending on my mood I suppose. I love this group. Some days I'm just a lurker, but some days I get the courage up to leave a note or two. Thanks for inviting me into the circle!

As far as I know it's not related to any bookstores. I certainly don't get any feeling that B&N is being pushed there.

What I love about this mag is that it has articles about all kinds of things - not just the latest greatest books out. They will cover a genre like historical fiction and talk about current books in that genre as well as older ones giving their ideas of great examples of it. Or they might cover a particular author like a recent article on D.H.Lawrence. They interview a book club each issue and that surprisingly turned out to be a feature I really enjoy. At the end of the magazine is a giant section of book reviews - here is your current books place. They will quote several sources for their reviews and then give the magazine staff review. These are sectioned by genre and they give both good and bad reviews of each book which I like because you get a better sense of the book and its fit for your own reading personality. You should maybe check it out.

To be honest it's my first magazine on books so I don't have a lot of comparison material but I love it. The original selling point for me was that Kurt Vonnegut recommended it (not to me personally of course).

NPR is my constant feed for book lists. Every time I think I'm starting to make headway with my to read list, they throw a line-up at me that I cannot pass up. I also subscribe to Bookmarks magazine that inundates with great recommends.

I'm currently reading the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. I'm about to finish up The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. Very funny stuff.

We're going to be leaving on vacation in a couple of days and here is the list of books I've saved for the trip:

The Sister by Poppy Adams
My Uncle Oswald by Roald Dahl
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton

all seemed like good light summer reads.

I often recommend Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann because it's different, funny and engaging. And I think most anyone of any reading level or interest would enjoy it.

It seems my addictions are just beginning. I find myself unable to resist cookbooks and hand sewing/embroidery books.

But on the whole, I'm bad about buying too many books of any kind and then having them sit on my shelf staring longingly at me.

I recently downloaded my first audio book and I can see where this could easily become an addiction as well.

As a kid I was a big fan of Scout and Encyclopedia Brown. I also went through a phase of loving Scarlett O'Hara - I loved how strong willed she was. Always wished that Margaret Mitchell had written a sequel to it. The four main characters of C.S. Lewis' Narnia series: Peter, Edmond, Susan and Lucy were big on my list also.

As an adult, like most everyone here, I also find it difficult to pin down one that has stuck with me. But I would say that Morrie from Tuesdays with Morrie is one. Also Maggie from Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. And lastly, Ishmael from the book of the same name. Oddly I can't remember if I liked the actual book but the character (he was an ape) has stuck in my mind. And I suppose that counts.

Here's mine:

Boy flies peach, dreams come true.

James and the Giant Peach - Roald Dahl

There were so many books to choose from though.