The Next Best Book Club discussion
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What are you reading?
Logan that is why I love this site, and its people, you have exposed me to a whole new breed of writers. So exciting!
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I think I am most jealous and envious of you. You have better taste in books than I ever had, and I feel like Im just finally, over the past year or so, growing into my own as a reader!
Everyone in this site has such diverse taste, its great the way we share great authors and great novels with one another!!
Aw shucks, you're going to have me blushing soon. I'm glad you are enjoying some of my recommendations. It's not that I have good taste in books, I've read mountains of pulpy trash through the years, it's just that if you always have a book at your side eventually you are bound to find some great ones.I've found so many great authors through friends on Goodreads that I may never have come across. I would say that since I joined up the quality of books I've read has increased dramatically, so thank you all of you wonderful readers!
I just finished Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Anne Tyler, and started The Good Earth by Pearl S Buck.
If it helps at all, Lori, I'm jealous of several of you. You've managed to get so many books read. I feel plagued by all of the people in my books that I have not yet met. I can almost hear my unread books taunting me when I walk by my bookshelves. I'll get to them all someday, right???
Logan,I am constantly amazed with how knowlegible you are about so many of the books mentioned,and thanks to Lori and so many others on this site I find I am reading things that I wouldn't of before.I feel that if books could be counted as beer many of you would be drinking me under the table!
What a fantastic analogy, Sherry!!Not sure if I've said this before in this forum but I thought I was a reader, that is until I joined this group. I can't believe how much people read! It's great though because they get through so many and can handpick ones they really enjoyed, and the ones they didn't, and share with us and that's how I choose most of my books now. Thanks everyone!!
I don't have much time to read, and that parcially has to do with my addiction to GR! I'm a fast reader when I am entranced, but I will never comprehend how you all read so damn fast!
Ditto from here and what the last few posts have said...I just feel like there is never enough time for me to read everything I want to read! Logan, I swear you have read every book there is...every post you have something to say because you've already read it...I bow at your feet *LOL*And today it's sooooo bloody hot that I was dripping all over the poor pages of the book I was trying to read...and well, that's just cruelty to books, so I had to stop! *L* Someone please remind me why I don't have AC???? I almost had to go sit in the car to read...because my car DOES have AC...but gas is over $4/ gallon & I commute over 100 miles a day, so I can't even afford to sit idling for the AC:( This is my sad reading story for the day *L*
Oh, Katie, I hate it when it gets really hot. I've got the other side of the coin here, I'm sitting at my computer freezing. I think I'd better get a nice hot cup of coffee into me :)
Sorry to hear that Katie.Our weather has been rainy and cool which has been nice,now if it would only last until our AC is connected!Finished McCarthy's No Country For Old Men which I enjoyed very much.Now onto one of the books my son has got me,all the way back at Christmas.Lord of The Flies by William Golding which would also fulfill one of the books off the Lost Lit challenge.
Sherri, I loved Lord of the Flies, the ending left me buffled because I wanted a bit more accountability. I hope you enjoy it and that you will share with us your journey!
I just finished "The Story of a Marriage" by Andrew Sean Greer. Definitely not what I expected, but he's a new author for me. It's a small book with lots of things packed into it - political (anti-war), race, gender issue. The whole premise is somehow unbelievable to me, but I was pretty hooked at the end. I think this was one of the books on the NPR summer reading list -another one of the things I picked up on this group. I'm at a loss as to what to read next - I think I'll take some of the members' advice and reorganize by bookshelves.
Renata, I notice you've got Year of Wonders on your to read list, I recommend you read this next, it is one of my all time favourites.
Just about halfway through my advanced reader copy of Songs for the Missing by Stewart O'Nan.Very good book about a missing chils and how friends and family and a small town deal with it.This is my first time reading him and i will be picking up some of his others soon.
Mandy, thanks for the recommendation. I look at it every time I have to start a new book. I've read her work before and really enjoyed it. I just started Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout yesterday - it's excellent so far. It's a novel in stories. Next, maybe Year of Wonders.
Alicia - please keep us posted on how you like that book. He is a local writer, so I'm always curious how they do.
Lori, I have read 300 odd pages of it...I am big time Dostoevsky's fan, I have read his notes from underground and C&P, and I am definitely loving this one as well..This book has quite a spiritual touch in it, and there are instances where it seems like lyrical prose...That said, I am not sure whether you will like it or not.However, if you like existentialism, you shouldn't miss reading Dostoevsky...Cheers!
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I am finished reading A Wrinkle In Time..I should learn to steer clear of YA novels. I didnt really like Book Thief, and wasnt impressed with my reread of this one either. Ive read AWIT waaaay back, so long ago I didnt even remember it at all.... and thought it was just ..eh. I was reading it for Sawyers Book Club, and thank goodness it was a short one!
I am currently reading Saramago, The Cave. I bought this one months ago but it got buried under all the other new purchases.. I had a craving for him and dug it out!
I'm currently 80 pages into The Thirteenth Tale and I'm liking it so far. I'm not feeling like I can't put it down, but I'm hoping it'll really grip me soon.
I just completed "The Quiet American" by Graham Greene and am going to start "Call of the Wild" today. Jack London is one of those authors that I should have read a long time ago, but never did. It sometimes amazes me that as an English Lit major there are still so many classics that I have never read! Makes me feel a little inadequate. :)
I just started my advanced reader copy of Wit's End by Karen Joy Fowler. I enjoyed The Jane Austen Book Club, and, I'm really excited to have an uncorrecte proof. I also started Comfort Food by Kate Jacobs, I'm not sure how Comfort Food will go with me. I don't have to much in common with the characters. I hope I will enjoy it, I read The Friday Night Knitting Club and enjoyed it alot. So, hopefully these two authors are still in my reading tastes and I can give good reviews when i finish. :-)
Just reading New Moon, it's pretty good.
I finished "Memorias of mis Putas Tristes" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Now I have a chioce to make about what to pick from my to-read shelf at home... Blindness (for my book club that meets by July 28)
The Fountainhead and The Shinning, (on the Lost Lit Group)
La Celestina, the Odessey (on the 1001 books you must read before you die)
Has anyone here vowed to finish a book (or series) that they can't stand?
I make it almost a contract to finish every book I start, having hope that it will become better, however there are two books I did not finish reading ... chicken soup for the soul -one of those I can't even remember, and the priviledge of youth (which technically I did read the last pages but jumped pages and chapters because I could not stand it!).
Twilight has been the first book that I have vehemently hated, but I insist on reading them, just so people don't have the excuse that I'm uneducated because I haven't read them all. Though I'm liking New Moon, but I'm only 5 chapters in......
Lorena, I'd recommend going for Blindness first. It's just so good that you shouldn't delay. The Fountainhead is dense and ended with me mad at all the characters, the author, and the author's world view. The Shining is my 2nd favorite horror book ever, but deserves to be read in cold dark weather. The Odyssey is epic and deserves to be read, but there's no rush. I've been intending to re-read both The Iliad and The Odyssey ever since watching Troy a number of years ago, but haven't gotten around to it yet.I've had books that I've put down for a while, like Finnegan's Wake, but I know that it's only a matter of time until I pick it up again. I hold it as a matter of pride that I never quit a book. That said, it was a definite struggle to finish The Blind Assassin. I can't think of any other book that I've loathed more.
I usually like Atwood's writing.Is it that bad? I find that there are some books that I will abandon if I feel I'm wasting my time which let's face it is short and passing by the minute.Why waste any of it?
But with the better quality of books I'll stick to it,I might put it down for a while(like Snow) but I'll come back to it,because the problem could be more me than the book so I hang in there and hope it improves.
Logan - really? The Blind Assassin is that bad? I've been holding off reading it because it sounds so "complicated", but intended to get to it one of these days. Maybe it goes to the bottom of that never-ending list.
Maybe it's just me, but that was the most painful book that I've read in years. I just kept finding myself wondering 'why should I care about this old lady and her reminiscences about her life?' Admittedly, I've never been a big fan of Atwood's style but I gave Blind Assassin a try because I was intrigued about the book-within-a-book scifi story that I had heard about. I never would have bothered if I would have known that the scifi aspects would be ten pages long every 80 pages or so. Trudging through it was almost physically painful.
I read The Blind Assassin last year and while I liked it, it was definitely difficult to get through. I think it ended up taking me two months. The story is complicated, but also very original. It's the first of Atwood's that I have read - so I hope they are not all like that.
I've read Alias Grace and quite enjoyed it,and I'm not one for complicated plots.Also had read a few chapters of Handmaid's Tale and again found it to be intriguing(but chose something else so haven't got back to it yet)
Thanks Logan, I was hoping to sandwich something in before I read Blindness to have it fresh for my meeting, but I guess I should go ahead and read it already. You are right there are few things better than a scary book in winter, you got my curiosity all rattled up, what's your number one?I have never read Atwood, so I can't comment on ... maybe in the future.
Hi, I am completely new to this group and this website! and I am having a dillema! I don't know what to read next...so many good books, but I am going overseas, lots of plane hours and airports, so I need a pageturner - I started reading some of the books from the 1001 books to read before you die. fantastic, loved the Moonstone, by Wilkie Collins, as well as all the classics, fav book of all time is Jane Eyre, but I also pored through Harry Potter, please somone help with some reccomendations!! thanks!
Lauren, welcome!! Be careful though, you join at your own risk, beware book consumption to overload!!I always recommend Lee Child books, they're my favourites and page turners, don't start with his newest though, Nothing to Lose, because it's not as good as the rest.
Lauren, me again - what kind of books are you in to?
I'm into pretty much anything- I think, I am always open ! I don't particularly like stories that just completely depress me... love to have a good cry now and then, hehehe i love classics, jane Eyre, Wuthering heights, that sort of stuff, but I am starting to get into i guess it would be fantasy - chronicles of Narnia, Harry potter, my bro gave me some anne rice - didn't get heaps into it too much though, I don't have a favourite author or genre, i just loooove to read, i read so much as a kid and i've slacked off, when i get a good book i finish it in like 2 days and then i'm stuck for another book! ha !i guess i don't have the friends that read all that much to say, Hey there's this great book, why I am so excited to join this group!
Hm, Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult is good, Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks is one of my favourites, Kite Runner also a favourite. James Patterson I always find easy and fast to read.
wow, thanks, I'm getting me a little list together now! I am going to check all of those out...: )
wow, thanks so much, I am getting together a little list hehehe well , i think it's going to be a big list!
Oh, Lauren, my word it will be big. Ever since I joined this club my book buying has taken over and I've never had so many books to be read. Everyone on this group always has fantastic advice and we have a pretty diverse group here, books from every genre, so there's bound to be something that you'll like. Some of the books I have enjoyed most recently are books recommended by others here and ones that I probably wouldn't have picked up otherwise but I am so glad I did!!Have fun creating your list!!
Logan... Lorena beat me to it, but I'm curious now too... whats your number 1 horror book??
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The all-time creepiest horror book that I've ever read was Mark Z. Danielewski's House of Leaves. I happened to read it while living in a very old and very creaky house that just served to heighten the experience. The writing just sucked me in and had me questioning my sanity at some points. I'm planning on rereading it this winter at some point.
Well, I finished "Call of the Wild" last night before bed. I can't remember the last time I completed a book in a day. I was so drawn in and his way of creating the scene through the eyes of the dog was a beautiful way of telling the story. Maybe I am more easily compelled to care about animals than I am about humans, but I was drawn to Buck from the first and cared about him as a character.Moving on to "Breakfast of Champions" by Kurt Vonnegut for the Summer Reading Challenge.
I go to sleep and I come back and find a million messages!!! Don't you guys sleep? I know, here I am with my cup of coffee and doing this first thing in the morning ... he he heLogan, I have heard that it is a good book and have had an eye out for it for a while, but haven't been able to buy it. Lately I have been buying all these books that sound great but are not in the top of my reading list, maybe I will keep that and the turn of the screw for winter...
Welcome Lauren!
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The Next Best Book Club
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Lorena, I'm still not sure where those new books came from- whether they removed some books or just added them as an addendum or whether different country's editions have different books listed. There were a lot more books that I had never heard of in the addendum, which is exciting for me. I love finding new writers.