Kathy ’s Comments (group member since Dec 18, 2008)

Kathy ’s comments from the Between the Lines group.

Yeah, Jessica, I had the Larson book sitting on my bookshelf forever and finally read it due to my sister-in-law reading it and urging me on.

I just finished The Devil in the White City Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson and thought it was one of the best non-fiction I've ever read. Before that I read and loved The Last Dickens A Novel by Matthew Pearl. I'm now reading Just Take My Heart A Novel by Mary Higgins Clark.

Reading Grave Goods by Ariana Franklin.

I'm reading the latest in Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire series with Sookie Stackhouse, Dead and Gone .

I'm reading The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, about halfway through and enjoying it. I'm also listening to some of Gaiman's M Is for Magic on CD in the car. I love listening to him read his stories.

I'm reading The Language of Bees by Laurie R. King, the 9th in her Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series. I've waited four years for another book in this series and am loving it.

Winesburg, Ohio is one of my favorite reads of all time, well at least of the past 30 years.

Wow, there is some great reading going on here.

Alicia and Ken, you've prompted me to want to read The Shack now. A friend of mine, who is very traditionally religious, loved it, and I hate to say that I was kind of avoiding it for that reason. I am glad to hear that it appeals to those of us less traditional in our spirituality, too.

Krista, I had been looking at Little Bee the last time I was in the bookstore and thought it looked interesting. I may have to look closer now. At least I haven't bought it yet. I do have The Secret Life of Cecee Wilkes on my shelf, so let me know how you like it.

Kathy, I'm am trying to make my way to The Graveyard Book, too. Glad to hear you enjoyed it.

Fiona, I loved the mini-series movie out years ago of Shogun. I'm still working my way to I Capture the Castle. (Emilee, let me know what you think. Fiona has declared it as exceptionally wonderful.) I finished The Fiery Cross yesterday, and so now I have Snow and Ashes left to go on the Outlander series. I wasn't going to start it right away, but I caved last night and did. Now, I'm probably going to have to read more than one book at a time (I don't like doing that with fiction). I have some reading to do for an upcoming book fest.

Lorena wrote: "In the time of the butterflies, by Julia Alvarez and A Letter to Mrs. Roosevelt by C.Coco de Young"

Lorena, how are you liking In the Time of the Butterflies? It's on my short list of ones to read in the next few months.

Lisa, how are you liking Outlander ? I just finished it and have started book 2, Dragonfly in Amber. I am loving this series.

Alice, I have Rhett Butler's People on my shelf waiting to be read. It's nice to hear you're enjoying it.

While waiting for my electricity to come back on last week (6 days), one of the books I read by flashlight was The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop by Lewis Buzbee, a nonfiction title that was a fascinating memoir of Buzbee's years of working in the bookselling business, along with all sorts of interesting information and tidbits on books, printing, and all things books.

I started Too Close to Home by Linwood Barclay last night, a thriller that grabbed my attention right away.

Donna, I have a goal of five classics for my reading this year, too. My time-line is the calendar year, though and 75 books. I read 70 this past year. I'm not sure I'll get to 75, but I'm going to try. You've got a great start to your reading.

I'm reading The Monsters of Templeton

Last year I read 70 books, so I have set a goal of 75 for 2009. If I reach that number, then I might try for 100 the next year. I have a to-read list for 2009 with 85 books on it so far, but I'm sure that I will pounce on some newly published books instead of some of the ones on my list.

I created a data base of 50 books or so that have been challenged, the reasons why, and the results of the challenges for a high school class in which I did a unit on book censorship. The students were amazed at what books have been challenged and the reasons for the challenges.

Hmm, I remember getting weepy in Cold Mountain. Of course, Anne Frank and Little Women did it to me. I'll have to think about some others. I know there have been more.

Petra, thanks for the information on Elizabeth Marshall Thomas. I've added The Tribe of Tiger to my to-read list. I will also get around to The Social Lives of Dogs, as well as The Hidden Life of Dogs. After reading your posting, I checked out books by Thomas, and I was amazed at all she has written. I want to further explore those titles.

Christina Stind wrote: "Reading The Social Lives of Dogs, so far a nice story about various dogs ..."

Christina, I have had The Social Lives of Dogs on my shelf for ages. I keep meaning to read it. How do you like it?

Yeah, Vicky, the end of The Horse Whisperer novel was a real downer, but overall I still loved it and definitely prefer it to the movie version.