Fall 2012 - What are you reading & why?

[Chrissie]

I am dumping The Dark Side of Love. Don't waste your time on this terrible book.
Review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

I hope I will like Storming Heaven. I really loved the author's Saints and Villains. Really, do read this if it might interest you!

[[deleted user]]

I found myself in town on Saturday & foolishly wandered into a book shop. Actually looking for the latest Pratchett in paperback (which they didn't have in the right size - can;t have a different size, it won;t fit on the shelf with the rest of the series) but came out with a carrier bag full...
Anyway - as it's now approaching November, I start on November's books The Great Gatsby, Dreams of Joy and The Sugar Queen are on this month's agenda.

[Janice, Moderator]

Yes, November is right around the corner. I'm not sure what I've got on my reading agenda.

[Almeta]

is a holdover from the non-fiction Toppler. As much as I want to call it green, I don't think I'll get away with it.

Intersting book.

[Jennifer]

Finished four this week:

Viola in Reel Life -- everything I read by this author delights me. I finished Brava, Valentine last month and it had a holiday family dinner meltdown scene that was funny and riveting. Picked this one up last week and it was simply delightful.

The Wedding Quilt: An Elm Creek Quilts Novel another good outing in this series, which, for the uninitiated, tends to alternate between historicals based on the ancestors of the current characters and books about the current characters. It's an interesting approach to a series and the books are thoroughly enjoyable.

The Paris Wife I enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I would, given that I think Hemingway was a misogynistic ass.

Her Highness, the Traitor. I always enjoy Higginbotham but I liked her earlier four better than this one. (But I'm fed to the teeth with the Tudors, and in fact wouldn't have read this if H hadn't written it.)

Currently reading:

Maid in Waiting, which is book 7 in what is probably my all-time favorite series and a RARE reread for me, One Day, which I'm having a hard time caring about, and closing in on the end of Kitty Foyle, which for you old-movie buffs out there is the book on which the Ginger Rogers film was based.

[Janet]

I have so many started but had to take a time out from everything and read that came in from the library this week.

[Janice, Moderator]

I finished Mort and now I have to start The Confession if I have any hope of finishing it in time for my RL book club.

[Kat]

I'm working my way through The Passage - only 200 pages to go. I felt like I needed to re-read it before starting The Twelve. At this rate I will have spent more than a week in Justin Cronin's head!

[[deleted user]]

Janice wrote: "I finished Mort and now I have to start The Confession if I have any hope of finishing it in time for my RL book club."

We read that for our RL bookclub too. Not read any thrillers before, but that was pretty good in some ways. Managed to read it one rainy bank holiday Monday when staing in with a book was by far the better option. Although it did feel a bit like a lecture about the Death Penalty at times - no question what the author's stance on the subject is!

[Janice, Moderator]

I read the first chapter last night - so far, so good. I was drawn in right away. I hope it is a quick read.

Thanks for your comments, Helen. :)

[Nicole]

Helen wrote: "Something different next, I'll be buddy reading Mort on here, and reading Gold for my real book club."

I read Little Bee, Helen. Despised it. Wouldn't touch another Chris Cleave book with a ten foot pole.

[Kimberly]

I'm reading The Good Braider by Terry Farish

[Chrissie]

Nicole wrote: "Helen wrote: "Something different next, I'll be buddy reading Mort on here, and reading Gold for my real book club."

I read Little Bee, Helen. Despised it. Wouldn't touch another Chris Cleave bo..."

Nicole and Helen, I read Incendiary and now feel exactly as you do about Chris Cleave!

[[deleted user]]

Chrissie wrote: "Nicole wrote: "Helen wrote: "Something different next, I'll be buddy reading Mort on here, and reading Gold for my real book club."

I read Little Bee, Helen. Despised it. Wouldn't touch another ..."

It certainly didn't leave me with an urge to read any of his other books. And after those comments, I'm not feeling inclined to change my mind!

[Chrissie]

Helen wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "Nicole wrote: "Helen wrote: "Something different next, I'll be buddy reading Mort on here, and reading Gold for my real book club."

I read Little Bee, Helen. Despised it. Wouldn..."

Helen, I am totally sure I will not pick up another book by this author!

[Chrissie]

I have been busy - with books. I finished three:

Storming Heaven is a MUST read!!!!
Review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
A great love story and real historical events.

Amazing Grace: The Lives of Children and the Conscience of a Nation
Review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
A book that should be obligatory for all.

Aunt Safiyya and the Monastery: A Novel
Review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
For those who enjoy novellas.

There are all short reviews. I promise!

Now I have begun the audiobook: Comedy in a Minor Key
and the paper book: The Distant Land of My Father I soooo hope it will be a better evocation of Shanghai during WW2; Farewell Shanghai really disappointed.

[Chrissie]

Judy, Amazing Grace and Aunt Safiyya were terribly short! Keilson's book has gotten so much attention internationally, I really wanted to try it. I bought it when audible offered 25% reduction. That is when it is best to grab cheap/short audiobooks that cost lest than the price of one credit. The language style is distinctive. You feel like you are reading/listening to a play: there are two plates and three cups on the table, or he held the bag in his left hand. You get these kind of lines. The thoughts and feelings of the characters are almost too dangerous to say, so they are not expressed. In a way this makes the submerged emotions even stronger. The writing style is hard to explain.

BUT The Distant Land of My Father is totally fantastic. I have read several about Shanghai. No book has brought alive the atmosphere of the Bund so perfectly. You feel like you are walking down it.

[Chrissie]

Judy, I must see if it remains good. :0)

[Pam]

I'm just starting . It's the sequel to . I'm really looking forward to it. I posted a question on GR and got wildly divergent opinions on the first book. Some people thought the entire premise was ridiculous, but I was riveted.

[[deleted user]]

Pam wrote: "I'm just starting . It's the sequel to . I'm really looking forward to it. I posted a question on GR and got wild..."

I sometimes feel that an unrealistic book can work, as long as you're prepared to put aside a limited number of rational objections and that the rest of the book hangs together coherrently form there. The ones I struggle with are the ones that seem to keep changing the rules on me.

So I thoroughly enjoyed The Time Traveler's Wife, as I felt that IF you could accept the notion that some people could travel in time & space then, actually, the rest of the book worked. Once I'd accepted that one leap of belief, the rest of the book was reasonable.

But that might just be me... Some people can't accept that one illogical thing, so can't deal with the rest of the book, no matter how well it hangs together.

[Chrissie]

Many think Comedy in a Minor Key is special. Well, they can explain that to me! I beg to differ.
My review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

I have begun True Grit, a good old Western! I am attracted to the vitality of Mattie Ross. This is supposed to be a really good story.

Both are audiobooks.

[[deleted user]]

Just finished The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen, which was a sugary-sweet as the title might suggest.

Now moving on to How to Dunk a Doughnut: The Science of Everyday Life as I have a food themed challenge in another group. It's subtitled "the science of everyday life" which I'm looking forward to - I have a geeky side that needs feeding.

[Shannon]

Just starting The Midwife of Venice because it was close to hand when I finished The Casual Vacancy. Which means it was one on my TBR. lol

I think I won this from our local library.

[Chrissie]

Is somebody in this group reading The Distant Land of My Father. I would like to talk to somebody about it. I cannot remember if it was someone in this group or another! I am loving the parts in Shanghai. Great historical fiction.

[Chrissie]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Distant Land of My Father
My review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Will start tomorrow Lost Names: Scenes from a Korean Boyhood, another book about life under Japanese occupation, but this time in Korea. Biographical.

[Kimberly]

I'm reading and

[Shirley]

The Winter Sea



Can't resist Scotland...Time travel...Historical romance and the narration is impeccable.

[Dem]

Just finished the following on Holiday

Mudbound
My review www.goodreads.com/review/show/427155378

The Alchemist
My Review www.goodreads.com/review/show/444784561

The Account of Murder Mutiny & Mayhem
www.goodreads.com/review/show/444660646

[[deleted user]]

I'm going to crack on with The Great Gatsby, as a contrast from my recently finished challenge read. From Dirt to Diamonds (Harlequin Presents. One book I won't be reading again. To be honest I'm not sure I see the point of this type of book, it's not hot enough to make me feel anything, but not strong enough characters that I feel anything for them. My review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

[Dem]

Just finished Before I Go To Sleep
This is my review; www.goodreads.com/review/show/446333803

[Chrissie]

I finished Lost Names: Scenes from a Korean Boyhood
Review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
I would classify this as a young adult book.

I will start: The Gypsies
Why? Because it is about a Belgian boy of 12 who left his family to live with gypsies for 10 years. He must have something to say about gypsy life! And since I live here in Belgium I should read this book.

[Chrissie]

Judy, I have that on my list too but I chose Yoors book first because I read somewhere that the other book is sort of stories or about different people. I prefer one solid "story", and then I was attracted to the fact that the author was Belgian. I have read 74 pages. It is totally mind boggling to believe that at the age of 12 he disappears from his house and lives with the gypsies for almost six months and then returns home....and his parents let this happen? They accept his right to choose for himself how he wants to live!! When he comes home they are having a party and do not discuss with him where he has been! After the party they go to sleep. What?! I mean, can this be true?! I guess so, but it sure seems astounding.

So far I do like the book.

[Ann]

I am reading Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner. Just started it today. It's been on my TBR list and it was available from my library and it was next on my pile! That's my reason why!! So far I am enjoying it.

[Roz]

So during the week of Hurricane Sandy I read , , ,and .
Now I've started and

[Janice, Moderator]

At least something good came from Sandy. It gave you your own Toppler!

[Chrissie]

Judy wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "Judy, I have that on my list too but I chose Yoors book first because I read somewhere that the other book is sort of stories or about different people. I prefer one solid "story",..."
Yoors book was difficult to find. I got it at ABE books. Did you write a review of Fonseca's book?

[Chrissie]

Roz wrote: "So during the week of Hurricane Sandy I read, , ,and [bookcover:The Savage Garden|14103..."

Would you classify "The Soldier's Wife" as romance? How much do you learn about Guernsey during WW2? Thanks.

[Chrissie]

Judy, impressive. I will try and get a copy.

I have finished True Grit
My review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
I cannot think of anybody who would fail to enjoy this book. I promise you, you will laugh and keep laughing until it is over.

Now I will start I am Forbidden

[Shannon]

I just started A Bali Conspiracy Most Foul . I have never heard of it before but it caught my eye at a booksale hosted by our library on the weekend. I've been to Bali, I have friends in Bali. Winter has started to make itself known, so why not visit a beautiful and sunny land at least in my imagination. The setting is the Bali bombings but looks like it is a murder mystery.

[Roz]

Chrissie wrote: "Roz wrote: "So during the week of Hurricane Sandy I read, , ,and [bookcover:The Savage ..."

Chrissie, I think I would classify "The Soldier's Wife" more as a romance taking place within an historical context. Does that make sense? I learned some things that I didn't know about the island during WWII but wished they had gone deeper. I read "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" a while ago and remember that being more historical than this one. I don't know much about what went on during the occupation of Guernsey or the other Channel Islands but I'd like to find out about the work camps, partisan activity and such. Do you know of any other books written about this time period in Guernsey history?

[Chrissie]

I simply could not stop listening to I am Forbidden. A very good book, that will keep you thinking.
My review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

I will now start Butterfly's Shadow. If I understand correctly, it is sort of a continuation to Puccini's "Madame Butterfly". Could it be as good as The Pure Land, which I absolutely adored?! I will give you my review of that too in the hope that someone will read it. It is so very good: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

[Chrissie]

Roz, I read Guernsey too and I am looking exactly for what you are looking for! I have heard that The Book of Ebenezer le Page has a bit about WW2, but not tons. I have bought the audiobook, but haven't read it yet.

I am thinking that if The Soldier's Wife is basically a romance with a little history thrown in, it might not be what I am looking for. Romance books rarely work for me, unless they are really, really well written.

[Roz]

Chrissie, even though I liked The Soldier's Wife there were too many holes in the story, inconsistancies, convieniences.

[Kimberly]

I'm Starting and

[Chrissie]

Roz, thank you very much for your clear reply. I will move The Soldier's Wife to my maybe shelf. It is almost more important to know what books to avoid, rather than having another book piled on the mountain of those to be read. I am sure you know what I mean.

[[deleted user]]

It was my RL book club meeting tonight - so I now have to read. I know he's supposed to be good, but this doesn't look like an easy read. the reviews use words like erudite, which doesn't usually accompany fluff. Might need to get started on this one early.

[Chrissie]

Judy, I believe much of Butterfly's Shadow actually takes place in the US during WW2. Part at least, deals with how Japanese were treated in the US during the war, or at least so I have been lead to believe. PLEASE check out The Pure Land. That takes place in Japan and you will learn so much; it is a totally wonderful book.

The Pinkerton in this book is rather uncultured, but I am at the beginning. The narrator is not as good as Rosalyn Landor. I should not make comparisons with the previous audiobook but one notices differences. Still, I like how the voice of a Japanese trying to speak English is done! Switching between different audiobooks is sometimes really difficult.

[Chrissie]

Judy, another lovely book that takes place in Japan is The Housekeeper and the Professor.

[[deleted user]]

Thanks Judy - now I'm really looking forward to it... Maybe it will surprise me? I'll put my optimistic hat on.

[Chrissie]

Helen, Sebastian Faulks is not hard to read . Not at all. Sit back and enjoy it. I added it to my lists.