Books on the Nightstand discussion
What are you reading: April 2011
Thank you so much...and I just got an answer back from Mark at Enthusiasticast..Here's the "missing" link. http://carolynparkhurst.com/site/?p=5I thought you meant music to read by...and I was thinking it must not have lyrics..wrong!
This looks very interesting and I'm going to try it. Thanks for your suggestion and your help in find it.
Nancy
First song: 1. Rockstar–NickelbackThat's... a shame. I was actually enjoying the book ;)
Tammy wrote: "Just finished 
and 
. I've decided with the last Kurt Wallander novel just out I need to read the entire series and Dogs of Riga b..."I just finished Faceless Killers and I'm with you. I have Dogs of Riga on hold at the library.
Hi everyone! I just finished
The Priest's Graveyard by Ted Dekker. This was my first Dekker book, and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. I was a little skeptical at first as I thought it might be heavy on the Christian thing (think preachy) but it wasn't at all. Just a good clean thriller that was full of action.
I reviewed the book here on my blog if anyone's interested in reading it. http://wp.me/pTRJE-54
Carol wrote: "Nancy...do you mean http://enthusiasticast.com/ the one about books. I'm reading Reservoir by John Milliken Thompson. Though it is a mystery, the language is stunning and it really is so much m..."
I loved The Reservoir, as well, and can't wait to recommend it to my book club, and for John to be here in Fayetteville, AR, at our independent bookstore, Nightbird. I also cannot get it out of my thoughts...all of you out there: do read it!
This weekend I finished
and
. First of all I have to recommend to everyone who hasnt read Any Human Heart to go get a copy! It's a beautifully written story about a man, Logan Mountstuart, told through his journals. It was very hard to keep in mind that I wasnt reading a memoir, that LMS is actually a fictional character. I don't want to reveal anything about the plot - I'll just say that it's a tremendous read. You will laugh and cry, you will hate the main character at times and think he's a pretencious snob and at other times you will want to sit in a pub and have a pint with him and in the end you will just be sad to see him go.
Shona wrote: "This weekend I finished and . First of all I have to recommend to everyone who hasnt read Any Human Heart to go get a get ..."
I've had this book on my TBR pile for over a year. I need to move it up the stack!
Mod
One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd while I'm working on the next library book sale. The box says 15 hours. Do you think I'll get it done in time for the book discussion at 7 tonight?
I just started Dracula in Love and it's really good!
Just finished Three Men in a Boat, light hearted British humor (think Jeeves & Wooster); and Dead Man's Cell Phone (a suggestion from Eric I think). I really enjoyed its slight quirkiness. Listening to Moloka'i and really enjoying learning the history of the island and Hawaii. Will be starting The Year of the Flood today. I love Margaret Atwood.
Andrea wrote: "Just finished Three Men in a Boat, light hearted British humor (think Jeeves & Wooster); and Dead Man's Cell Phone (a suggestion from Eric I think). I really enjoyed its..."Year of the Flood is an excellent book. Enjoy!
I read City of Fallen Angels yestarday and I must say I was rather disappointed. I don't think I liked it nearly as well as the others. I think she should have left it a trilogy. I'm still continuing The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and also The Wise Man's Fear
I just finished Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen, and it was wonderful. Full of joy and sadness, just a great read. I have to once again thank Ann and Michael for the Retreat- if they hadn't put it together, I would never have found this amazing author (or any of the other amazing authors that were there)!Finishing up a couple graphic novels, before I start Mudbound for book group.
Just wrapped up State of Rebellion - A Pug Connor Novel - Book One. Good book for anyone who likes action thrillers. I've now added My Soul to Lose to the books I'm reading. Interesting so far.
Just finished
The Weird Sistersby Eleanor Brown, and liked it.
Finished up My Soul to Lose and The Fair Tax - An Easy to Understand Essay that Explores Both the Pros & Cons of this Issue. Now I have to search through my TBR list.
Linda wrote: "I just started listening to One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd while I'm working on the next librar..."I listened to this book on audio too. Good story, enhanced by the narrator I thought.
nancy wrote: "Just finished Something Missing by Matthew Dicks. I cannot understand how he thought up the main character or the scenario...and why I was so absolutely spellbound by it all. This was a fun, fan..."
I just started Something Missing -- I'm only 3 chapters in but it seems really quirky and different already!
Hi, I am new to this group, but thought I would just jump on in!I just finished reading Last Letter from Your Lover by Jojo Moyes, which I absolutely loved. Will definitely be reading more from her. Now reading Named of the Dragon by one of my favourite authors, Susanna Kearsley.
Eric wrote: "I just finished listening to the audiobook of "One Shot" by Lee Child, the ninth Jack Reacher book.The premise: A sniper shoots five people in a plaza in Indianapolis. A veritable mountain of for..."
Eric, my husband has enjoyed reading the Reacher series, especially after a "heavy" or more serious read. But now he has completed the series ( at least until Lee Child publishes his next book). Do you have recommendations for another thriller series/ or book? Thanks so much.
Tressa
Have him try the Repairman Jack series by F. Paul Wilson.
Am reading Firmin: Adventures of a Metropolitan Lowlife and Cutting for Stone Great weekend ahead :)
I just finished Bossy Pants
I loved it! Tina Fey writes with intelligence, insight, and wit.
Mod
Welcome, Marg! Jumping in is a-ok!
In anticipation of the BOTNS phone discussion next week I am reading Matthew Dicks' fun and quirky Something Missing
. I've just finished the first in Maguib Mahfouz' Cairo Trilogy, Palace Walk
. I was surprised to find out that he was the first Arabic writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature (1988).Reading Nobel Prize authors would make a good reading challenge for me next year. This year I am doing a global reading challenge: A book located in each continent. Palace Walk counts as my Africa book. Anyone have a good suggestion for Antarctica?
Eric wrote: "Have him try the Repairman Jack series by F. Paul Wilson."Thanks so much. We'll look for that series soon.
I just finished "A Feast for Crows" by George R. R. Martin.
I read the first book in the series (A Game of Thrones) when it first came out. This, the fourth book, came out six years ago. I'm glad I waited until now to read this, though. The situations and characters will be fresh in my mind when "A Dance With Dragons", the fifth book, comes out in July. Also, I'll have the fine HBO adaptation of the first book to tide me over until new book arrives on my Kindle.
So how was it, you ask? Has Martin sold out? Is he meandering through an increasingly endless series? Treading water, as some critics have alleged? Hell no! This is long form storytelling at its best. the architecture of the overall saga is becoming apparent, and I have a few hypotheses as to where it's all headed.
You won't find Tyrion, Daenerys, or Bran in these pages. They are promised in the next book, as their stories will be brought current with the timeline dealt with in this one. The Hound, The Mountain Who Rides, and The Onion Knight are all presumed dead. And I believe I use the word "presumed" advisedly. I'll tease a bit of what you will see:
-- Jaime Lannister, the fallen knight, continues to attempt to mend his reputation. Will The Book of the White speak well of him after he's gone?
-- Queen Cersei achieves the power she's always wanted. But does the Peter Principle apply? Has she risen to the level of her incompetence?
-- Littlefinger, as should come as no surprise, remains a few steps ahead.
-- Samwell Tarly continues to grow a pair.
-- Sansa goes undercover, immersed in a new identity.
-- Arya does the same, and learns some new skills.
-- Brienne continues her quest, but her story is left hanging.
-- Dorne, the Iron Islands, and the Church of the Seven become forces to be reckoned with
And we begin to see hints of how Ice and Fire relate, as well as the relationship between science (as represented by the Maesters of the Citadel), and sorcery (represented by the House Targaryen).
Am I a geek for this series? You bet!
I read the first book in the series (A Game of Thrones) when it first came out. This, the fourth book, came out six years ago. I'm glad I waited until now to read this, though. The situations and characters will be fresh in my mind when "A Dance With Dragons", the fifth book, comes out in July. Also, I'll have the fine HBO adaptation of the first book to tide me over until new book arrives on my Kindle.
So how was it, you ask? Has Martin sold out? Is he meandering through an increasingly endless series? Treading water, as some critics have alleged? Hell no! This is long form storytelling at its best. the architecture of the overall saga is becoming apparent, and I have a few hypotheses as to where it's all headed.
You won't find Tyrion, Daenerys, or Bran in these pages. They are promised in the next book, as their stories will be brought current with the timeline dealt with in this one. The Hound, The Mountain Who Rides, and The Onion Knight are all presumed dead. And I believe I use the word "presumed" advisedly. I'll tease a bit of what you will see:
-- Jaime Lannister, the fallen knight, continues to attempt to mend his reputation. Will The Book of the White speak well of him after he's gone?
-- Queen Cersei achieves the power she's always wanted. But does the Peter Principle apply? Has she risen to the level of her incompetence?
-- Littlefinger, as should come as no surprise, remains a few steps ahead.
-- Samwell Tarly continues to grow a pair.
-- Sansa goes undercover, immersed in a new identity.
-- Arya does the same, and learns some new skills.
-- Brienne continues her quest, but her story is left hanging.
-- Dorne, the Iron Islands, and the Church of the Seven become forces to be reckoned with
And we begin to see hints of how Ice and Fire relate, as well as the relationship between science (as represented by the Maesters of the Citadel), and sorcery (represented by the House Targaryen).
Am I a geek for this series? You bet!
Tressa wrote: "Eric wrote: "I just finished listening to the audiobook of "One Shot" by Lee Child, the ninth Jack Reacher book.The premise: A sniper shoots five people in a plaza in Indianapolis. A veritable mo..."
I'd also recommend Robert Crais' Elvis Cole novels, Harlan Coben's Myron Bolitar series, and James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux novels
Mod
Excited to start reading The Weird Sisters. Just finished The Windy City, a collection of stories I remembered fondly from years ago. It didn't hold up.
My nephew gave my teenage son Game of Thrones for Christmas. He quickly burned through the next three novels and has preordered the new book. I would like to start reading them, but I just started The Blade Itself
I tend to read four or five books at once, but I don't think I could handle two heavy fantasy series at the same time.
Sorry about that ... I'm about 1/3 of the way in to 1861: The Civil War Awakening by Adam Goodheart. I've been on a Civil War history kick for a couple of years, but haven't read anything lately. I'm finding this gook VERY good. Learning a lot I didn't know. And finding some interesting parallel to today's political scene.
I just started
it's good so far, but then I'm a big Auster fan :-)
Bad Luck and Trouble. Another enjoyable Reacher outing by Lee Child.
In this one Reacher discovers that one or more of his old unit has bitten the dust due to some down and dirty doings. The remaining members of the unit, a crack force, help Reacher track down the bad guys and scotch their plans.
As always, it's fun to spot the Brit-isms that pepper Child's dialogue, even though all the characters are American. People "laugh like drains" and call buildings "old piles".
Another writer I like is Max Allan Collins, but I've noticed he has a pet phrase that appears, with minor variations, in each of his books: "He patted the air with his hands". I've noticed that Child also has a pet phrase. He likes to have Reacher "butt papers together". You know, when you have a loose stack of papers and you use your hands to make them line up. In the past few books, there has been one, but not more than one, paper-butting incident. Well, in this book, Reacher becomes a paper-buttin' wild man, butting together stacks of paper every few pages. He even manages to butt together a stack of paper napkins. Not as easy as it looks, but when you have Jack Reacher's skill sets, it becomes child's play.
Cindy wrote: I'm about 1/3 of the way in to 1861: The Civil War Awakening by Adam Goodheart ..."Cindy, yesterday I listened to the NY Times Book Review podcast and they Sam interviewed Adam Goodheart. Take a listen...
http://www.nytimes.com/ref/books/book...
I just finished The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and thought it was really good. I think it should be required reading for any ethics class. I'm currently almost half way thru The Wise Man's Fear and just starting In The Forests of Serre
Ann mentioned that she enjoyed reading the Spenser novels written by Robert B. Parker. I also like reading the novels; however, I don't like listening to audiobook versions. I find Parker's "he said/she said" dialog tags work well in written form but become tiresome when read aloud. Is this something that just bothers me, or do others agree?
Kathy wrote: "Ann mentioned that she enjoyed reading the Spenser novels written by Robert B. Parker. I also like reading the novels; however, I don't like listening to audiobook versions. I find Parker's "he said/she said" dialog tags work well in written form but become tiresome when read aloud. Is this something that just bothers me, or do others agree? "
I absolutely agree! Part of it is the writing style and part of it is the narrator's lack of ability to force the attributions into the background. It's funny that you should mention that particular audio issue with that writer because in a audio mystery group I belong to, that is an oft-cited pet peeve regarding the same author!
I absolutely agree! Part of it is the writing style and part of it is the narrator's lack of ability to force the attributions into the background. It's funny that you should mention that particular audio issue with that writer because in a audio mystery group I belong to, that is an oft-cited pet peeve regarding the same author!
Finally sat down and finished Marvel 1602, which I very much enjoyed. Neil Gaiman did a wonderful job re-imagining many Marvel characters in a 1600's universe, and even managed to tie it into the present day universe in a way that I appreciated. I don't think I've read anything by him that I haven't thoroughly enjoyed.I'm reading Mudbound for book group, and I just picked up my first Harlen Coben, Hold Tight on audio from the library.
Just finished The Help and LOVED it. Looking for something else
Just finished The Year of the Flood and LOVED it. Wish I'd read it right after Oryx and Crake. Does anyone else have a hard time remembering previous books when it's been a few months between? Now I want to go back to Oryx and Crake and refresh my memory. Started The Book of Joe last night and so far so good. Still having my daily dose of War and Peace. Is there a place where we are discussing this as we read and I missed hearing about it? I was really intimidated before I started it but I'm really liking my W&P!
Andrea wrote: "Just finished The Year of the Flood and LOVED it. Wish I'd read it right after Oryx and Crake. Does anyone else have a hard time remembering previous books when it's been a few mon..."Yes, I have that problem if its been a while since I've read a previous book in a series. I read The Name of the Wind several years ago and I've had a hard time remembering some of the pertinent details since I've started The Wise Man's Fear. I wish I had re-read the first one before starting the second.
I recently finished Bottom of the 33rd: Hope, Redemption, and Baseball's Longest Game. It was one of my favorite reads in a long time. I also just read The Bone Thief. Liked that one a lot too. That series by Jefferson Bass keeps getting better.
Andrea wrote: "Just finished The Year of the Flood and LOVED it. Wish I'd read it right after Oryx and Crake. Does anyone else have a hard time remembering previous books when it's been a few mon..."Yes, there's the Facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/ho...
And the wiki: http://warandpeacereadalong.wikispace...
Books on the Nightstand
Books mentioned in this topic
The New Yorker Stories (other topics)The Year of the Flood (other topics)
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet (other topics)
Mudbound (other topics)
The Windup Girl (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Téa Obreht (other topics)Chris Bohjalian (other topics)
Chris Bohjalian (other topics)
R.J. Ellory (other topics)
C.S. Forester (other topics)
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The Enthusiasticast.com program you are looking for was on Feb 4, 2011. Just scroll down to the bottom of the web page and click on "Older Posts". Page down to Feb 4th and you'll see a link to Parkhurst playlist for "The Nobodies Album".
Hope this helps!
Karen