Claire’s Comments (group member since Jun 10, 2008)

Claire’s comments from the The Complete Idiots Guide to the Ultimate Reading List group.

Sorry, I realized that I didn't add to the comments above that the Hogfather movie is based on the discworld series books, which is why I mentioned it. It isn't just a movie based on a book by the same author, the movie is based on a part of the entire Discworld series. Which book specifically, I don't know, but if you read any of those books you should immediately rent the movie!!

Hi - I've never actually read anything by Terry Prachett BUT, I recently rented the movie "Hogfather"and it was amazing. I was searching for something to watch with my two kids on Netflix - something different and I stumbled onto Hogfather. I had never heard of it, but it got a good score and tons of great reviews. So I rented it. The movie is very long - 4 hours or something,but there is an intermission to split the movie over two nights. That is what we planned to do, but we watched it on a Saturday morning and when we reached the intermission, we all had to know what was going to happen and watched the rest. I guess it was originally a miniseries / movie in England. It is NOT a chilren's movie though! My 8 year old was all right with it (it isn't super bad but very dark and adult - sort of like the original Batman movie). We watched the entire movie again on Sunday when my husband came home from his trip because I knew he'd love it. He doesn't like SciFi and didn't want to watch it, but I forced him to and he admitted later that he loved the movie. I highly recommend it to everyone. Terry Prachett was an advisor to the movie and he seemed very happy with the job they did with his work, which is always a bonus. Now I am definitely going to go and pick up one of his books!

Hi - I love this whole series and thought I'd pass along this tibit. HBO is about to start a new series called True Blood that is based on this series. If you have comcast indemand, they have about 10 little shows called Blood Copy (2 min each) that are a kind of youtube news show and are like a reality news that vampires are real and what happened with they came out to the general public, etc. And there is one longer (15 min.) that is a Dateline style show that is a behind the story of when vampires were revealed. So they are all like "real" shows. But they are very general and don't show any of the main characters except Sam from Merlotte's. I don't think that the show is going to start real soon, they are just beginning their campaign early and aggressively. So I'm excited and nervous to see what they do to Sookie - I really like this series and it could be great if done well. But that is a big IF!

Lisa - I so agree with you. I actually had never heard of the books before I picked up the first one (YEARS ago now) and I actually made the decision to buy it because the main character's name was Claire, and it was even spelled the same. The name is unusual and I thought, yeah, I'll try it. And I was in love ever since. There aren't enough good things to say about this series. From the very realistic characters, to the honest portrayal of men and women - no one is perfect, the flaws are believable, and the men are real - not stereotypical or "macho" versions of men. I dread the end of the series. I could read new books of these people and their families forever. Especially because it never gets old. Diana Gabaldon does an amazing job of keeping the characters true to themselves but still fresh. I also wish she would back off of the Lord John Grey thing. I do like his character and it isn't that the books aren't good in their own right, but I want to get back to the world of Jamie, Claire, Brianna, Roger, etc. Even the other families around them on the ridge!! The world is so rich and real that I feel anxious for the news and stories of "old friends"!! That may sound silly, but only if you haven't read these books - if you have, you are nodding your head in agreement!!!!

I read this book quite a while ago now and don't remember the finer details, but i do remember that I loved the book. The feel (southern charm, quirky characters, funny and dramatic) is very similar to another author that I love - Billy Letts. She wrote Where the Heart Is (all right movie but nothing compared to the book, as usual) and Honk and Holler Opening Soon. I highly recommend both of those books as well, especially if you did enjoy Fried Green Tomatoes. As a matter of fact, I often confuse the two authors and which book was written by which author because of the very similar feel to their books, which is actually a very good comment on both authors!

Hey - I was surprised to see this book on the list! I LOVED this book too. It was so informative and interesting - I learned so much but it was also really funny. The author has a lot of humor to her writing (but not inappropriate - I never felt like she was disrespectful of the topic) and I loved that she asked the questions that everyone wants to know but won't ask. (Well at least I want to know but wouldn't ask!) Definitely give this book a chance.

I just posted about this book in the first thread of this section (under the one that lists the romance books) and I don't want to repeat myself over and over in each thread, but I had to comment again on how much I love these books. I could write a thesis on every little detail and how great it is. Plot, characters, details, pacing all perfect. I have read all of them many times and can't wait for the new one to come out. As a matter of fact, this is the ONLY set of books that I have purposefully bought the hardcover so that it can withstand multiple readings. I never buy the hardcover, except for this series.

I have read a TON on this list, especially the paranormal section as it is a personal favorite genre of mine. BUT I always recommend Outlander. To everyone. EVERYONE. It is probably my favorite series of all time (which is saying a lot given how much I read) I think it is a cheat to the book and series to label it a romance. I think it would be better to label it historical fiction. But it has a lot of romance. And suspense. Well, I could go on for hours about how great these books are. But here is the key fact - she is just a great author. Seriously. I think she could write a book about physics and manage to make it fascinating. In fact, I have talked about this book to tons of people (family, friends, book store employees, strangers, etc) and I have never met anyone that read the books that didn't LOVE them. Not just like them but love them. Not one person disliked them. So run to the library or book store and pick it up NOW!

I really liked this book and at the same time really disliked the book - I know, how does that work right? Well, what I loved I really loved and what I hated was just terrible. i wrote a review of the book and since it is really long I'll just post the link here:

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14...

I would love to hear comments on what you disagree with, details I missed, etc. I actually think this may be one of the only books I will like the movie better. I have a feeling they will eliminate many of the details I didn't like. We'll have to wait and see...

I also really liked the book - I loved the details and story lines. It really drew you in and captivated you. So many fascinating things to learn from general information about Japan, specifics about what Geishas really did, how the Geishas were treated and what they really did (ie they were NOT prostitutes), and the complexity of relationships, etc. At the same time it was very universal and human - I never felt while reading it like, what the hell are these people thinking or doing?? I really felt like I could relate in some ways or empathize in others. And actually, I enjoyed the movie too. It wasn't as good as the book, but are they ever?? Although it HAD been while since I read the book when I saw the movie, so I may not have noticed as many of the details that were different.

Hey just wanted to say, first - thanks for the invite to the group! I am excited because I LOVE finding new authors and great books. Second - thanks for doing all this work!! Basically putting the whole book on here and breaking it down for everyone to read and post comments, etc - that is great!! So thanks for doing the work that the rest of us can enjoy!

I hated this book. Actually, at first I liked the book - not love but thought it was all right. Than I began to think about it more and read another review of it and realized just how terrible it was. I wrote a review of the book that really explains what I thought was wrong and why and since I don't want to completely highjack this thread with a LONG review, I'll just add the link to my review here:

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53...

I hope that you like it and would welcome comments about things you disagreed with me, details that I missed or whatever. Thanks!