Reading Challenge -- October 2013

[Mccracken County Public Library]

If you've ever thought a book club would be fun but didn't want to be tied down to reading the same book that everyone else is, this is the book club for you. Each month we'll have a topic, and you can read whatever book you want--fiction, nonfiction, as long as it appeals to you and fits the topic.

The topic for October 2013 is "Ghost Stories."

[Melissa]

I don't particularly like being scared--any suggestions for ghost stories that are just fun?

[Kristen]

I don't like scary books either. However, Nora Roberts Boonsboro Inn series has a friendly ghost.. it's a good series.

[Sarah]

I don't usually do horror, but I absolutely LOVE gothic novels. My very favorite is probably Sarah Waters' The Little Stranger, a literary haunted house story set in postwar England. Another favorite is The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield, for intelligent, non-scary creepiness.

[Melissa]

I think I'm going to be reading Twenties Girl. I'm not sure this is my type of book, but it sounds funny!

[Lea]

Hmmm, not sure yet, but I need a good ghost story for October. here is a list for some ideas http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/66...

[Melissa]

I finished Twenties Girl this weekend. Hilarious read! It took me a bit to get into it because everything that went wrong with the main character, Lara, was way over the top--her best friend talks her into quitting her job and starting up a headhunter firm, and then goes on a vacation to India and decides not to come back. Her boyfriend dumps her and she's obsessively trying to get him back. Her sister is patronizing and rude. Her parents think she's nuts. Her uncle, on the other hand, is a multimillionaire who started his wildly popular chain of coffee shops with just "two little coins" and is making a fortune on his motivational speeches and marketing.

They all gather for Great-Aunt Sadie's funeral, an old woman that none of them ever really knew and none of them ever really visited. Suddenly, Sadie's ghost appears to Lara and screams at her to stop the funeral, find her necklace, and then do a whole host of crazy, outrageous things. Like crash a board meeting and ask one of the men there (whom she's never met)out on a date.

But I eventually got used to the silliness and think the story was very enjoyable.

[Kristen]

I like Kinsella, but I couldn't bring myself to read a book where a ghost was a character. This is the same reason I'm not reading Karen Robards new thriller series..and I love Robards writing.

[Michelle "Champ"]

I just read a Christmas carol after not reading it for over 20 years. I must say I enjoyed it all over again. Marley was a great character. I won't wait 20 years to read it again.

[Melissa]

That's a GREAT ghost story, Michelle!

[Mccracken County Public Library]

Can you believe we're already to the midpoint of October?!? Any suggestions for the November Reading Challenge theme?

[Michelle "Champ"]

Thanksgiving equals family right? What about fiction about families?

[Kristen]

Ooh, Michelle, I like that idea...I can think of several I've read that would fit! Or we could read cookbooks..

[Michelle "Champ"]

I so used to read cookbooks years ago.

[Kristen]

I still do..if the picture on the cover looks delicious.

[Michelle "Champ"]

Oh I like the way you think. Yummy.

[Mccracken County Public Library]

I like where this conversation is heading...food...mmm (obviously it's getting close to lunchtime!)

Cookbooks sound like a good idea, but I'm not sure how to make that a reading challenge. Maybe if people want to share the name of a recipe they found and tried/want to try in their cookbook?

Or there are tons of books that have to do with food. Tamar Myers, mysteries (LOVE her punny titles--The Quiche of Death--LOL), Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, Julia Child'sMy Life in France, etc

[Michelle "Champ"]

I love the friendship bread book. Have you read that? It has recipes in the back as well yummy.

[Kristen]

Never heard of that - who is it by? I love shelving Diane Mott Davidson's books..the covers always look so delicious-lol. You may want to try Diane Kauffman's Cupcake Club books..very good!

[Kristen]

Back on the topic-lol- I like the idea of reading books about food..either where the title/subject are food related, or where the main character is a chef or somehow related to the food industry.

[Michelle "Champ"]

It's by Darien Gee. It's about bread overtaking a town and the townspeople who live there. It was fun. She also wrote a sequel called The Avalon Ladies Scrapbook Society which is good as well. I hope there's a third somewhere. I got them trough the library on overdrive.

[Melissa]

So...um...inspired by this thread and other things I've read today, I made bread today. In the bread machine--I'm not THaT domestic!

[Kristen]

How was the bread???

[Melissa]

It was YUMMY!

[Michelle "Champ"]

I made the friendship bread from the book. Super yummy!