Readers and Reading discussion
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Book Miscellany
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What are you reading now? Finished recently? 4/5 through 11/6/2009
Mod
I loved this little gem too, Sherry. It also led me to learn so much about Guernsey. If you want to learn a little before your book club, there are some great videos that were filmed there. I have to think about the titles, but I got them from my library.
JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "I finished Heroic Measures and was sorry to have it end.I loved the writing style of this little gem of a book, and was so impressed that the author was able to convey so much with so few words. ..."
I can't believe you wrote about this book. Just yesterday I was trying to remember the title of a book about an elderly couple showing their apartment and with an ill pet! Like minds........
Mod
I finished Always Dakota by Debbie Macomber. A delightful book about a community in North Dakota.Looking over my shelves of books I have picked Stones From The River by Ursula Hegi next.
I finally finished In The Shade by Doris Lessing, a good book that got me thinking again about what it is to be a woman. I've always been pretty middle of the road about feminists because I'm happily married, I like men and nail polish and makeup and feminity in general (all of which eliminated me from the great feminist circles of the 60's. They looked at my nail polish and wouldn't let me in). Still, I'm strong, independent, totally competent and able to fend for myself if need be. The book did make me think again about a lot of issues that have come up in my life and not been resolved in women's favor. Maybe it's time to take some action again.Then I raced through Too Late to Say Goodby by Ann Rule. I'm sure you all know what kind of book this is :) Really good reading if Forensic Files doesn't happen to be on TV. Not great writing but not obviously bad either. She makes a few judgment jumps that aren't in the evidence - repeats conversations that nobody heard (a no-no, I know) but pretty engrossing nevertheless.
What next? I have lots of choices on my TBR shelf as I made a trip to Borders last weekend.
Let the Great World Spin A NovelI absolutely loved this book. It is heartbreaking in so many ways yet so beautifully written. NYC set in 1974 during the World Trade Center Tight Rope Walker. 5 separate stories coming together as one.
This is not for those of you who do not like wordy writing. But for those that love to savor an author's words and thoughts....
I just finished Conroy's South of Broad. I liked it but still was disappointed if that makes sense! It seemed pretty far fetched to me and my favorite books are ones with quirky characters (think Shipping News.) Anyhow the book sems to have mixed reviews so guess I fit right into that. Last night I started Mudbound by Jordan, one recommended since I really liked The Help. I'm halfway finished so can say I am enjoying it. Next is Alice Hoffman's Story Sisters; I like her style so am sure I'll enjoy that book too.
Jo wrote: "I am reading The Time Traveler's Wife and White Oleander"I liked both of those books and White Oleander was also made into a movie (kind of weird but entertaining IMO.) You know WO was an Oprah pick and for some reason LOL, many readers don't like her picks. I have enjoyed almost everyone starting with Stones From the River.
Having just come back from a less than relaxing vacation on Cape Cod with my in-laws who are in various stages of decline and denial I found it was just luck that I came upon the following book at my local library:It is called Welcome To The Departure Lounge...Mothering Mother. It is the sad but terribly funny account of the author,Meg Federico's Mother's and step-father's serious decline into dementia and other ailments. I have to say that most of our experiences in the boomer generation of dealing with ailing parents has been a thunderstorm compared to Federico's experience which was a hurricane!
As I write this we just wait for the "precipitating event" that will force my in-laws to get much needed help, it was a fall on the sidewalk in Florida that started it all for Federico and her siblings and half siblings. All I can say is what a story!
linreadsalot wrote: "I finished Always Dakota by Debbie Macomber. A delightful book about a community in North Dakota.Looking over my shelves of books I have picked Stones From The River by Ursula Hegi next."
Have you read the whole series. I think there are 4 or 5 in that series. Those books are what got me started on Debbie Macomber
Bunny wrote: "I finally finished In The Shade by Doris Lessing, a good book that got me thinking again about what it is to be a woman. I've always been pretty middle of the road about feminists because I'm happ..."Too Late to Say Good Bye, I think is the one set in Georgia. I read it, because it took place less that 10 miles from my house and I was able to relate to her and the kids. That husband was nuts. It makes you wonder about the other women in his life, and what became of them. It was quite a book.
Richiesheff wrote: "Bunny wrote: "I finally finished In The Shade by Doris Lessing, a good book that got me thinking again about what it is to be a woman. I've always been pretty middle of the road about feminists be..."Yes, it's the one in Georgia. I think two other women who were involved with the husband died or disappeared mysteriously. Four women dead that he had relationships with, and he looked so normal! Why do we love this junk so much?
Mod
I recently finished Pat Conroy's new book, South of Broad. To me it was typical of his other books I have read. You know the kind with the dysfunctional family, suicide, drugs, etc.
Mod
oh, yes, but the language and the way he tells a story......I never get tired of this.
I am reading South of Broad and liking it. I love his style and the book moves right along haven't been bogged down yet.I just finished That Old Cape Magic by Russo and did quite a bit of laughing. True a couple of times the joke got old but I still gave it 4 stars.
Just finished Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella and liked it a lot. Laughed out loud and cried a little.
I just finished Red's Hot Honkey Tonk Bar, by Pamela Morsi. It was a fun read, but not one I would send to my mother. I have now started Facing Forward by Robyn Sheridan. I am reading it because she is my Chiropractor, and have known her family fpr almost 20 years and didnt know she was an author. It has so far really kept my attention. It is available as an E-book or thru Amazon. I had a problem with the order, so Robyn suggested I should have ordered it thry the publisher. I think that was Wings Press. Will let you know when I finish it.
I've begun a book called East of the Sun by Julia Gregson. Love it so far. Three young women and an insane boy sail to India together in 1928. (528 pages for those readers to whom this is the most important aspect of a book :)) Told from the individual points of view of the women, it's a fascinating look at the end of the British Empire in India.
Stayed up until 2 AM and finished Facing Forward and loved the book. I am not saying this because Iknow Robyn, it was a very good book. I just wish she could find some way to get it mass produced to be in the big box stores. I dont remember the last time I stayed up reading a book that late. Good Book Robyn. Shhe did talk about joining Good Reads.
Mod
Amazon says it is 608 pages, then GOOGLE BOOKS says 484 and 458 pages. And several reviewers call it a romance. Other than that, it sounds interesting.
I have decided to read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society. I am loving it. I know a lot of you people have read it already. What I am wondering is why it took me so long to read it. It is really an interesting book. We are getting a lot of rain and thunder today, so a good day to curl up and read a good book.
Richiesheff wrote: "I have decided to read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society. I am loving it. I know a lot of you people have read it already. What I am wondering is why it took me so long to read it. ..."Perfect weather for that book ~
JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "Bunny wrote: "I've begun a book called East of the Sun by Julia Gregson. Love it so far. Three young women and an insane boy sail to India together in 1928. (528 pages for those readers to whom ..."Although there is some romance, the book is actually exmination of the women who went to India to marry, why they did it (passed over in London, usually) and the society that existed in those turbulent times. It's really good so far.
Mod
Oh, I do not know why! But at least you are reading it. Better late than never. I loved this book!
Mod
OKAY,....I reserved this at the library. We'll see.....
Bunny, did you ever read THE GINGER TREE by Oswald Wynd? I don't know why, but your initial description of your book somehow made me think of the Ginger Tree....
Started Girl With A Tattoo last night and whipped through the story to page 200 in no time. Great read with interesting characters. I will be up late tonight reading on...
Jo wrote: "Its my first Stephen King book. So far i am liking it but it starts a bit slow. The action is starting to happen now though.The start of Time Travelers Wife was confusing with all the switching..."
BTW, how did you like Salem's Lot? I believe that was the first one that I ever read. I also liked the few of his that weren't mega hits - like Insomnia.
Peg
Sharon wrote: "Started Girl With A Tattoo last night and whipped through the story to page 200 in no time. Great read with interesting characters. I will be up late tonight reading on..."yes, and you will be glad to have the second one out so you can get back with those characters.
Peg
JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "re EAST OF THE SUN Bunny wrote: Although there is some romance, the book is actually exmination of the women who went to India to marry, why they did it (passed over in London, usually) and the soc..."No, but I'll add it to my list. I like books like this one.
Peg wrote: "Jo wrote: "Its my first Stephen King book. So far i am liking it but it starts a bit slow. The action is starting to happen now though.The start of Time Travelers Wife was confusing with all the ..."
I really loved Bag of Bones of more recent King books.
Bunny wrote: "I've begun a book called East of the Sun by Julia Gregson. Love it so far. Three young women and an insane boy sail to India together in 1928. (528 pages for those readers to whom this is the mo..."I had not read these posts on this book,East Of The Sun before. Today It was on a table of new books at B&N so into the basket it went. I loved The Jewel In the Crown so thought I would take chance on this. In addition I bought Little Woman for my book club, The Samueri's Garden and Saving Fish From Drowning. The last two were on a cheaper table. So now I think I have bought 8 books in one month. Help,somebody stop me!
I had not read these posts on this book,East Of The Sun before. Today It was on a table of new books at B&N so into the basket it went. I loved The Jewel In the Crown so thought I would take chance on this. In addition I bought Little Woman for my book club, The Samueri's Garden and Saving Fish From Drowning. The last two were on a cheaper table. I think you'll like it. I finished it last night and enjoyed every page of it. Jewel in the Crown is one of my all time favorites - I've probably read it three times. I read Saving Fish from Drowning which I had some problems with (didn't think characters were particularly individual) but I read it all and learned a lot about Burma. Terrible situation there.
I loved Jewel in the Crown too after watching it on PBS. Then I got the books and read them. Believe it or not, I then felt compelled to get the DVDs from the library and watch them. I did this about five years ago and think I'm ready to read the books again.Just finished Vanished by Joseph Finder. It was a good quick read, plot driven....a good escape book.
Lois
Kriverbend wrote: "I loved Jewel in the Crown too after watching it on PBS. Then I got the books and read them. Believe it or not, I then felt compelled to get the DVDs from the library and watch them. I did this abo..."I should get those DVDs. I'd love to watch it again. I keep a set of Jewel in the Crown and A Dance to the Music of Time on hand always for rereading. One can just get lost in another world for about a month. Fabulous.
Belated August Reads.Labor Day - Joyce Maynard. On the last summer weekend of 1987, a troubled woman and her adolescent son are held "hostage" by a man who escaped from a prison hospital. The relationship that develops between the three of them makes for some excellent storytelling. I really enjoyed this book. A
Zero at the Bone - John Heidenry. I've always been fascinated by the 1953 kidnapping and murder of Bobby Greenlease and this book tells that story, so I should have been fascinated by this book, but I wasn't. It's very thorough in the telling but I found the details to be somewhat tedious. Every street address, every intersection, every minute detail........thorough, but mind-numbing. The most interesting part of the book for me was the fact that the crime was committed in September, and the perpetrators, Hall and Heady were tried, convicted and executed by December. C
Audition - Barbara Walters. The first part of this book was fascinating. Walters talks frankly about her early life, her troubled family, and the difficulties she had starting a career in television at a time when women weren't accepted in that field. The book ran a little long for me, and the later parts which mostly tell about all the famous people she's met and interviewed, got kind of boring. By the end when she got to the story about The View, I think I was skimming just to get it over with. B
This is Where I Leave You - Jonathan Tropper. The reviews on this one were great, and it was a good book.......but. It's quite funny and I frequently find it tiring to read books wherein the author tries to be funny all the time. It's the story of the Foxman family who gather after the death of the family patriarch, to observe the traditional seven-day Jewish mourning period called shiva. Every last family member is dysfunctional in his or her own way and hilarity ensues as they're all forced to live under the same roof for a week. I did laugh out loud at parts, and other parts were painfully sad and touching, but I also got to the point where I couldn't wait for shiva to be over and for everyone to pack up and go back home. B
Kriverbend wrote: " Bunny, I don't know anything about that title, but I have seen the painting! I will check it out.
Lois"
Here's a review from Amazon that seems accurate to me -
Once in a while you get the foolish idea to embark on a vast reading experience (Remembrance of Thing Past sits on my shelf unread and unreadable--by me, anyway). Well, recently I ordered the four-volume, twelve novel elegant U. of Chicago edition of this Powell classic and have spent the past five weeks luxuriating in the music wafting from its nearly 3,000 pages of polished prose, intricate and elaborate plotting and acute psychological appreciation of the human character. And what a cast of characters. Powell must rival Dickens in his capacity to invent delightfully eccentric and scene-stealing minor characters---Uncle Giles, Trewalney, Umfraville, Erridge and his besotted butler among so many others. My own favorites are Mrs. Erdleigh ("hearing secret harmonies" in both this life and the next), Teddy Jeavons, and the heartbreaking Gwatkin. And looming over all the megomaniacal Widmerpool (ably assisted by his horror of a wife in the latter novels), as morbidly fascinating as a car wreck, who gives the magnum opus its unity. And don't believe any nonsense about the epic losing its power in the post-WWII novels. Powell may have the conservative's disdain for the radicalism of the sixties, but Scorpio is delineated with fairness and vigor, and the Quiggen twins are a hoot. I did not think I would ever ever again encounter a serial reading experience as delightful as Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin novels but "Dance"-- for sheer enjoyment, delight, and intelligence---has been the reading pleasure of a lifetime. "The Vision of visions heals the blindness of sight." Yes.
Karla (KLouise61) wrote: "I finished Michael Connelly's The Scarecrow last night. He's really been churning them out, but the quality doesn't seen to have suffered. This was a good one.Also read The Tricking of Freya...."
I also read The Tricking of Freya in August and thought it was quite remarkable. As a poet myself, I loved the discussion of kennings as well as the myths,tales and history.
Shomeret
Finished Janet Evanvich's Fearless Fourteen - amusing, as usual. I quite agree that it's time Stephanie married Joe - trying to think of a title that goes with Sixteen - Satin for Sixteen? I've begun Haruki Murakama's What I Talk about When I Talk about Running, which begins very promisingly. It's really an essay on running and writing and the discipline involved (with bits of autobiography) - marvelous writer.
Mod
The Samurai's Garden is a little gem. Very quiet book that unfolds for you. It's one of those books that I can't stop thinking about.
JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "Bunny, I tried "East of the Sun" last night and today...I think I read over 50 pages and while those 50 pages were interesting, I don't think I can sustain my interest for 582 pages. I just do not ..."Well, I can understand that, JoAnn :)
I am currently reading The Help by kathryn Stockett and so far I am enjoying this new author. Came upon this book by the NYtimes bestsellers list of 2009. Has anyone read this yet?
I read a book called "East" by Edith Pattou. It is a good book. :-)~April
Beleeby wrote: "I am currently reading The Help by kathryn Stockett and so far I am enjoying this new author. Came upon this book by the NYtimes bestsellers list of 2009. Has anyone read this yet?"I think several here have read it, Beleeby. I found it a fun, light read but, being of a certain age, some of the anachronisms grated on me.
Jan O'Cat
JanOMalleycat wrote: "Beleeby wrote: "I am currently reading The Help by kathryn Stockett and so far I am enjoying this new author. Came upon this book by the NYtimes bestsellers list of 2009. Has anyone read this yet?"..."Yes, now that I am getting more familar with this club, I see that many have read this book. I am way behind.
Now I wished that the dialect was better written for that time period. (it was confusing trying to figure out whether she meant LAW for LAW or LAW for Lord which should be Lawd for Lord:)
This weekend i read Auntie Mame An Irreverent Escapade by Patrick Dennis. Way back in my high school days i competed in forensic tournaments, in duet acting with a scene from the book (& play) as our piece. It was fun but i'd never read the book. (Of course i'd seen the movie, so those voices & people were the ones i envisioned as i read.)At one point Mame, low on funds, wrote a Greek drama and took it to agent Annie Laurie Williams. I recognized the name from our reading of Mockingbird, about Harper Lee, last month. Imagine, i'd never heard of her previously & now it's twice in a month's time!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_...
While the book is based on his aunt, Dennis wasn't raised by her, even though the book is written as a memoir about the way his aunt raised little Patrick Dennis. The author was really raised by his parents.
I had a neat time reading it due to the literary references. Each was almost a castoff, not needing explanation about who the author was or what a book was about. It was understood the reader knew. Loved that!
deborah
I forgot to note that one of the most interesting things about the Patrick Dennis bio on wiki is that later in life he served as butler to Ray Kroc!Oh, i see i posted this on the wrong board, to boot. This group didn't read the Harper Lee bio together.
Never mind.
deborah
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I loved the writing style of this little gem of a book, and was so impressed that the author was able to convey so much with so few words. Some really wordy writers could certainly learn from her! Her character development was deft and convincing despite the spare prose and I really cared about these interesting people. I was engaged from the first page...a rarity for me.
Ruth and Alex, a childless, elderly couple who have lived in the East Village for 50 years, need to sell their apartment --- the stairs to their fifth-floor walkup have become just too much for them to handle. The story takes place over just one weekend, starting with them rushing their elderly dachshund to the emergency vet on Friday night, then enduring an open house on Saturday morning along with a possible terrorist on the loose in the city. Most of the narration is by Ruth, but some is done by their dog, Dorothy - in a very non-cutesy way.
I really liked the respect with which the author treated these two older people and their habits and foibles. I never felt that she was impatient with them, but presented them as they were, and their situation as a realistic little slice of life.
Very well done and thought provoking. A pleasure to read. Highly recommended.