What are you reading or what books have you read or heard about? (Part TWELVE) Ongoing general thread. Showing 2,101-2,150 of 2,793

[Nina]

Today's paper had a full page on Anne Tyler and her newest book, "Clock Dance," and it was mostly full of praise for her overall work; this newest book is her twenty second one. She rarely gives or gave interviews but as she said she is getting older so what.. She is now seventy six and says she doesn't know how she became a writer as she thought she wanted to be an artist and now is glad she didn't pursue that course of action. She thinks sometimes she wonders still to this day, "What am I going to be. She ends her interview with these words; "There's something addictive about leading another life at the same time as living your own." She paused and added, "If you think about it's a strange way to make a living." All of her novels are set in Baltimore, MD and she was raised by parents who were Quakers.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Nina, thanks for posting about Anne Tyler and her new book, Clock Dance.

I recently tried reading Tyler's book, A Spool of Blue Thread (published in 2015). I read 21% of it but didn't find it interesting. So I didn't even attempt to write a Goodreads review.

I wonder if her new book, _Clock Dance_ will be a success. Sounds interesting.

[Nina]

I tend to agree as I really liked some of her books and others left me not thinking they were all that great.

[Nina]

Just finished reading a good, but huge almost five hundred page book, "The Winter Sea," that is set in Scotland; part of it is contemporary and otherwise set back in time but not difficult to follow.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Nina wrote: "Just finished reading a good, but huge almost five hundred page book, "The Winter SeaThe Winter Sea," that is set in Scotland; part of it is contemporary and otherwise set back in time but not difficult to follow."

Is this it? The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley

OR The Winter Sea by Di Morrissey

[Nina]

The author is Susanna Kearsley. I really enjoyed this book. Great characters.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Thanks, NIna.

[Nina]

Now reading the second book; just as good and not quite a sequel but some of the same characters; however, it is a time sequence so you might not like it. The writing is terrific and I am engrossed.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Nina, I have Kearsley's The Winter Sea on hold at the library's OverDrive.

[Nina]

I am glad. Hope you like it. As a writer I think you can identify with the main character.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Hope so! :)

[Linda]

Nina, Joy
Book does sound interesting. Glad you are finding good books to read. I'll add this to my ever-growing list of books to read. Now I just have to find time.

[Nina]

Not all books good that I just recently read and wished I hadn't. Here is the title of a book I was given as a birthday present and I tried to say nice things about it to the person who gave it to me but they came out negative in any case. "Sun Going Down," by Jack Todd.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Nina wrote: "Not all books good that I just recently read and wished I hadn't. Here is the title of a book I was given as a birthday present and I tried to say nice things about it to the person who gave it to me but they came out negative in any case. "Sun Going Down," by Jack Todd."

RE: Sun Going Down: A Novel BY Jack Todd
GOODREADS DESCRIPTION:
"Part history, part romance, and part action-adventure novel follows the fortunes of Ebenezer Paint and his descendants - rough and tough individuals caught up in Civil War river battles, epic cattle drives through drought and blizzards, the horrors of Wounded Knee, the desperation of the dust bowl, and the prosperity of the roaring 1920s."

Nina, you're right. It doesn't sound like my kind of genre. Too disturbing.

[Nina]

I imagine you all have heard of the duck boat disaster in MO but did you know nine persons in the same family died? So terrible a loss.

[Jim]

I try not to pay much attention to all the disasters in the news. They find sad things all around the world. Makes people think our lives are worse than they really are.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Jim wrote: "I try not to pay much attention to all the disasters in the news. They find sad things all around the world. Makes people think our lives are worse than they really are."

Very true. It isn't good to dwell on these sad things.

[Nina]

Well, because it is our area we are more interested in this tragedy. And yet, I do agree, there is so much, too much sad news that it's best not to dwell on it. I have had terrible sadness in my own life so I try to be as positive as I'm able. Watching a small red haired little girl at Trader Joe's this morning trying to smell all the flowers was an example of the joy of living. Especially, because I had three red haired children of my own.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Seems that most of the books they write are about sad things. It's hard to find an uplifting story. The best yet was The Red Notebook by Antoine Laurain, as I recently said. I loved it!

[Linda]

Joy H. wrote: "Jim wrote: "I try not to pay much attention to all the disasters in the news. They find sad things all around the world. Makes people think our lives are worse than they really are."

Very true. It..."

I actually changed the channel on CCN the other day when they started to tell the story. Headlines were enough. Didn't need to hear every detail of the sadness. Sometimes I change the channel, say a prayer and move on.

[Linda]

I checked my Want to Read List, and its listed. Sounds like fun - emptying out a bag and putting the pieces together ... intriguing.

[Linda]

Nina wrote: "Well, because it is our area we are more interested in this tragedy. And yet, I do agree, there is so much, too much sad news that it's best not to dwell on it. I have had terrible sadness in my ow..."

I'm a strawberry blonde myself. Although at my age, use a rinse to achieve the color. Started to loose the red around age 45.

[Nina]

My husband was a red head up until the age of seventy so we had four redheads in our family of eight. People used to ask rather than what the sex was of our new borns, "Does it have red hair?"

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Reminds me of Prince Harry! :)

[Nina]

We have a grandson that could be Prince Harry's double.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Handsome!

[Linda]

Nina wrote: "My husband was a red head up until the age of seventy so we had four redheads in our family of eight. People used to ask rather than what the sex was of our new borns, "Does it have red hair?""

70 as a red head - lucky him! Mine will be strawberry blonde with the help of a rinse (meaning after each wash color gets lighter and lighter - last about 28 days).

[Nina]

Strawberry blonde is beautiful so keep up the good look.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

White here!

[Nina]

Me too, but once a blonde.

[Mary JL]

Still reading--half done. Of 611 pages in John Lescroart's "The Mercy Rule" I am on page 356. I enjoy his books---they are excellent but very detailed.

Slowing down a bit. You see, now that the crime scene has been done. our trusty defense lawyer, Dismas Hardy, is now searching for evidence to help his client. You have to pay close attention to the details as some of them will definitely pop-up in the courtroom scenes!

I have read four or five previous books in the Dismas Hardy mystery series and they are great. They are long and detailed but excellent writing and I am really enjoying this and eager to finish.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

It's the details that are too much for me in many mysteries.

[Jim]

Mary JL wrote: "Still reading--half done. Of 611 pages in John Lescroart's "The Mercy Rule" I am on page 356. I enjoy his books---they are excellent but very detailed...."

I just finished my first Dismas Hardy book not long ago. It was Poison which is 17th in the series. I was shocked at how good it was even starting in so late. Very self-contained. I only gave it 3 stars because the way the ending was underplayed, but I really enjoyed it & will try to find another. My review is here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Mary JL]

Just read your review, Jim. Glad you liked it. In a long series of books, they do vary in quality. I have rated most of the series three star and a couple of four stars.

[Nina]

Another book set in France during the occupation. It's good enough to keep my interest even though I have read so many with this premise. "Charlotte Gray," by Sebastian Faulks, author of the well known "Birdsong," that was made into a movie.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Nina wrote: "Another book set in France during the occupation. It's good enough to keep my interest even though I have read so many with this premise. "Charlotte Gray," by Sebastian Faulks, author of the well k..."

RE: Charlotte Gray by Sebastian Faulks

Thanks for posting, Nina.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

RE: China Dolls BY Lisa See

This book turned out to be much too sad. No fun to read or listen to.
One star!
See my review at: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Nina]

I was disappointed in Charlotte Gray because I didn't want the two little Jewish boys that had been successfully hidden and also got attached to them as you do with certain characters, the author then at almost the end of the book had them in a concentration camp and headed to be exterminated. I don't even want to loan any of my friends this book. i take back any recommendation of it.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Nina, I understand your feelings about this.
Some things are too sad to read.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

PS-Nina, see the following words I wrote about the book Charlotte Gray by Sebastian Faulksat:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show....

[Nina]

I read your reply. I guess I should have put a spoiler but didn't think of it as the little boys were not the main characters in this book; just an aside as the main premise was that of French occupation and the resistance characters and of course, a romance of a former RAF pilot etc. Could have been a good story.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Nina, I think you did the right thing.

[Nina]

I, too, read "China Dolls," and thought it could have been a good book but why dwell on such sadness?

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Nina, I'm beginning to realize that the majority of books focus on sad or violent themes. The ONE story I can recommend which is NOT a sad story is: The Red Notebook BY Antoine Laurain (which I've previously mentioned.)
See my review at: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I'm reminded of another wonderful story which isn't sad.
It's: My French Whore BY Gene Wilder. It sounds "racy" but it's not.
See my review at:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Nina]

I read the Red Notebook and loved it. I also really liked, "Paris Key," so try it.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

RE: The Paris Key BY Juliet Blackwell

Thanks, Nina. I'll check it out.

[Nina]

I couldn't get your review of The Paris Whore. But, stranger things have happened as I put the recipe for Belini's on my Desktop and forwarded it to a friend and she wrote back and said instead of the recipe she got a photo of raccoons and a fern.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Nina wrote: "I couldn't get your review of The Paris Whore. But, stranger things have happened ..."

Nina, I have gone back and corrected my link to The Paris Whore.
Here it is again: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Thanks for letting me know.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

I finished The Orphan's Tale by Pam Jenoff.
See my review at: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Nina]

I got it that time and put it on my list. Sounds like it would have made a really good movie starring Gene Wilder.