Comfort Reads discussion
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What are you reading right now? (SEE NEW THREAD)
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Kim
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May 02, 2012 01:32AM
You're welcome, Chrissie. I probably wouldn't be reading the Stendhal novel at all if it weren't for a group read. However, I've not read any French novels from that period before, so I'm finding it quite interesting from that point of view.
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Kim, and it is nice to try different kinds of literature.I am reading two books - and they are both excellent. I ought to be happy. Right? Well, I read one and do not want to close it. I read the other and do not want to close that either. This is horrible. I want to sink into the book, both books, and not climb out. I think I must choose to finish one at a time. Only because I am reading The Colour with another person will I finish that before finishing The House on Paradise Street.
Colour has tremendous writing and characterization. All that bothers me a bit is the melancholy tone. yet it does fit the subject matter, emigration to New Zealand and the Gold Rush. The description of the Southern Alps, the difficulties of the new immigrants - this is all gripping.
But the House on Paradise Street is wonderful too. Why? Because I too emigrated to a new country at about the same age as the protagonist. Fascinating to compare my own experiences with hers! In addition the description of Greece, its customs and how an English woman relates to the Greek way of being and how it is to be foreign are fascinating. The story of the resistance in Greece during WW2 is engaging when told through this fictional family. There is a grandmother who has been gone for almost 60 years, having fled to Russia. She returns and has grown grandchildren. How the grandmother and grandchildren talks to me too. And there is archeology. There is so much I can relate to in this book.
I cannot continue hopping from book to book. I cannot do it.
Lauren wrote: "Reading The Alchemyst"
I read this when my daughter was younger, and enjoyed it. It's turned into quite a series, I believe.
I read this when my daughter was younger, and enjoyed it. It's turned into quite a series, I believe.
Simpran and Jeanette, yup, I will finish The Colour first since I am reading and discussing it with a GR friend.
Chrissie wrote: "Kim, and it is nice to try different kinds of literature.I am reading two books - and they are both excellent. I ought to be happy. Right? Well, I read one and do not want to close it. I read the..."
I always have way too many books on the go at once, sigh (and when I am busy and distracted, nothing gets read if too many books are being currently read).
Gundula, reading these two books at the same time had the effect of lessening my appreciation of both. Now I am just listening to The Colour. I love it. It is getting terribly exciting. I never had the faintest thought that the story would take such a turn. The book description gives no hint! :0)
Chrissie wrote: "Gundula, reading these two books at the same time had the effect of lessening my appreciation of both. Now I am just listening to The Colour. I love it. It is getting terribly exciting. I never had..."Part of my tendency to start multiple books at once is NLD dependent (we tend to start many things and then not finish them or get too bogged down). But I also enjoy reading multiple books at once (I think I like disorganisation sometimes, rebellion against my Germanic background).
Simran wrote: "Yeay !! Glad you're having such a good time with The Colour, Chrissie :)"I hope you have good luck with your books too. :0)
Gundula wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "Gundula, reading these two books at the same time had the effect of lessening my appreciation of both. Now I am just listening to The Colour. I love it. It is getting terribly exci..."Gundula, I have to work on being sloppy! I should be sloppier than I am. I am too organized. Oscar helps me be sloppy. Boy did his puppyhood sloppify our house. I am getting kind of use to sloppiness now..... YAY, for sloppiness.
Chrissie wrote: "Gundula wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "Gundula, reading these two books at the same time had the effect of lessening my appreciation of both. Now I am just listening to The Colour. I love it. It is getti..."You said it. I can be extremely organised, but it is actually relatively alien and fake on me (sort of like a garment I tried to put on to satisfy family and the like), but it is a garment that always always ends up with tears and when my real self spills out, ouch. When I am teaching, I have to be orgnised and I am generally good at organising one course (one time I taught three courses and it became a bit chaotic, like when I went to class with the wrong lesson plans).
Gundula, :0) So - that is not the end of the world. One day with the wrong lesson plan! The students probably loved it. It is called improvisation.
Chrissie wrote: "Gundula, :0) So - that is not the end of the world. One day with the wrong lesson plan! The students probably loved it. It is called improvisation."It was not too bad and I had understanding students (except one who was a constant pain). But too much organisation actually causes chaos for me!!
Lauren wrote: "Finally finished The Carrie Diaries not that great of a book. Next up is Moloka'i"I ADORED Moloka'i! I hope you enjoy it!
I have just finishedThe Colour. Maybe I am beginning to like fiction! This was good.Review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Chrissie wrote: "I have just finishedThe Colour. Maybe I am beginning to like fiction! This was good.Review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/..."
I just added the book to Mount TBR (your review definitely piqued my interest).
Jeanette, I am still hesitant with fiction. Good authors can make up a story that is as interesting as real life, but many authors fail. However I DID add another book by this author to my mountain.Gundula, yes it IS difficult with GR. We find too many books to read.
I understand completely. It's hard to "make up" things as interesting as the things that really happen.
Jeannette wrote: "I understand completely. It's hard to "make up" things as interesting as the things that really happen."Exactly.
I just started The Final Leap: Suicide on the Golden Gate Bridge. I don't think it's going to be a comfort read, but it's interesting so far.
Lee, have fun with The Kitchen House. Lisa, you are worse than me.....not a pleasant subject, that which you have chosen to read!
Nice you liked my review. Me, I am rarely satisfied....
I've been signed up with Netgalley for a while now, and I keep thinking of the Forrest Gumpism: you never know what you're gonna get. There have been some real stinkers, a lot of mediocre books, and some books I've been just grateful to get hold of - and the one I kind of randomly started the other day is one of that last group: The Drowning House by Elizabeth Black. It's beautiful. I'm a little afraid of how it's going to end - in that I don't want it to, and also because it seems like there have been stormclouds (literal and figurative) hanging on the horizon from the beginning, and when the storm breaks it's going to be huge. 'Course, I loved Sophie and the Rising Sun, too, and others here did not, so ... that would be part of why I don't recommend books. :)
Going to read 50shades of grey this week!!
Greece is in the news a lot nowadays. The House on Paradise Street is a book of historical fiction (well, not by the strict definition, but by mine) that helps one understand what is going on. It is a gripping story that teaches the history of Greece during the 1900s. My review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... I REALLY did like it a lot!I will start The Mapmaker's Wife: A True Tale of Love, Murder, and Survival in the Amazon. It is in fact based on fact, an exciting true tale. There are many intrepid women; this is a story about one! Look at the pretty cover!
I am listening to Travels in Siberia, which I find interesting, informative and quite funny. So far at least.
I have just started readin The House of Special Purpose by John Boyne. It is set in Russia in 1915 during the last days of the Russian Imperial Family. I have just read a few pages so far but it looks like it will be a good read.
Mary wrote: "I just finished Await Your Reply: A Novel - great, great, great !! - and am now reading Let the Great World Spin which looks very promising."I just purchased "Let the Great World Spin" it is on my "to read" shelf" and it does looking promising. I hope you post your review when you are done.
My friend gave me the book "Summer Light" by Luanne Rice. So I am just starting that.
I am listening to Travels in Siberia, which I thoroughly enjoy, and will now start The Last Light Breaking: Living Among Alaska's Inupiat. The author spent 13 years living with the Inuits in Alaska. This has got to be interesting. I just finished The Mapmaker's Wife: A True Tale of Love, Murder, and Survival in the Amazonwhich is a great book, although I found the title and book description deceptive. My review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Finished three more and closing in on a fourth. What Was She Thinking?: Notes on a Scandal
, which I liked but I liked the movie too so I expected to like this.Oddly, the other three are all set in the 1920s. It's unusual for me to group books in time like that. And I was afraid it would get confusing but actually it just kind of enriched the experience.
Murder Your Darlings
which is another in the Dorothy Parker/Algonquin Round Table series. Love the stories but about three times I was thrown off by anachronisms. He needs to watch that. Bright Young Things
-- I enjoyed her "Luxe" series and I liked this well enough to bump the sequel ahead of its place on my list. Requiem for a Mezzo
which is third in the Daisy Dalrymple mystery series. These are well-crafted with well-fleshed out characters. They aren't un-put-down-able, but they are very good.
Right now I'm reading Insurgent (the sequel to Divergent) and it's realllllly good.
Katri,Isn't Hungarian a distant relative of Finnish?
I like to read about international intrigue, thrillers, espionage... Recently I read (and recommend) Rabbit in the Moon, by Deborah M. Shlian Rabbit in the Moon is a thriller that takes place mainly in China and Los Angeles. Although it is a thriller, there is a strong romantic element in it as well (and I'm definitely NOT a fan of romances). This element does not take away from the suspense, in fact it adds to it. The book might become a crossover into mainstream because of human relations subplot, but it is a page turner. The center of the story is an element of science fiction as well. It also gives an insider's look at modern Chinese culture and politics and recent history.
Rabbit in the Moon
Mod
after having just finished the last one. Didn't realize how much i had missed the gang !!"Simran, I've ordered the first in that series to try out. Hopefully I'll like them for comfort reads!
Mod
Lee wrote: "Last night I managed to start Lisa Lutz's Trail of the Spellmans and read quite a bit even though I was exhausted from cupcake baking!"I loved that book, all in the series actually.
Right now I'm reading One Day in the Life of 179212: Notes from an American Prison. It's really excellent. It's not quite a comfort read, but I'm thoroughly enjoying it.
I'm reading Wonder Tales: Six French Stories of Enchantment and The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment. Neither are really comfort books, but the second one helps to attain a place of comfort in the mind.
Lee and Lisa,I really should try those Spellman books....I have read:
The Last Light Breaking: Living Among Alaska's Inupiat
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
and dumped (half-way through)
Incendiary
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
I definitely think you should not waste your time on the latter. What the characters do is not credible. What happens, step by step, would NEVER happen. The writing is "sensational" in tone, its only purpose being to upset you. The sex is vulgar. I will never read,listen, buy or borrow another book by Chris Cleave.
Now I am reading a delightful biography by the poet Lorna GoodisonFrom Harvey River: A Memoir Of My Mother And Her Island. She writes about her mother growing up in Kingston and Harvey River, Jamaica. It reads like a novel. You can tell the author is a poet. She has a way with words. You learn about Jamaican culture.
i'm reading
i started it last night,it a library book which sometimes make me read a bit quicker :) enjoying it so far :)
Mod
Thank you, Lee. It is so nice that it is acknowledged that a given book will work for some and not for others. I am always very aware that when I hate/love a book it doesn't mean the book itself is necessarily terrible or wonderful for others.
Chrissie, Even though I love them, I agree with Lee. I think I've told you before I don't really think of you liking them as I read these books.
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