The Next Best Book Club discussion
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What are you reading?
I just finished "The Summerhouse" Jude Deveraux and will start "At First Sight" Nicholas Sparks later this afternoon.
Im currently reading Cupcake by Rachel Cohn. I really liked her book with David Lavithan, Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List. I recently finished Tempted by Cecily Von Ziegesar.
People of the Book
I loved The Book Thief too...very moving and good.
Cindy wrote: "I read The Glass Castle last night and I'm starting The Thirteenth Tale today."The Thirteenth Tale is a great read...let me know how you enjoy it..lots of twists and turns.
I just finished Cross Country by Patterson and am currently reading Edgar Sawtelle.
My current reads are divided up into 'library' books...usually the 'newer' publications, to be read ASAP before I accumulate a bunch of fines and pay for some librarian's lunch!...and the 'slower' reads, 2nd hand/gifts, that I take to work or keep in the car.My 'library' ones are: [u:]Five Quarters of the Orange[/u:] by Joanne Harris and [u:]M.F.K. Fisher among the Pots and Pans[/u:] by Joan Reardon..both are excellent in their own ways.
My 'slow' reads are Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. ([i:]prequel[/i:] to [u:]Da Vinci Code[/u:]) and [u:]The Passion of Artemisia[/u:] by Vreeland (I haven't gotten too far into the book, so far, as this is my 'in between library runs'-type book!)
This is quite fun to see what others are reading and see what could be put on my TBR list...like I really need MORE!!HA!
Rats! I just tried to do the underline and italics thingies....guess all sites are different on how you do this....what is done here(Goodreads) in order to do this? brackets [:] or these ()? Slash / or no?
The easiest way to add a book or author is to use the "add book/author" link right above the comment book. You can also click on the (some html is ok) link for codes on underlying, bold, striking, etc.
Sherry wrote: "Rats! I just tried to do the underline and italics thingies....guess all sites are different on how you do this....what is done here(Goodreads) in order to do this? brackets [:] or these ()? Slas..."Actually, it's basic html. So it'll be the greater than and less than signs on your keyboard. The add book/author feature is in brackets, though. You'll get used to it. :)
Ok..got it! Thanks....sheesh, I love lazy Sunday afternoons, though my brain gets a bit lazy as well!
THE HOUR I FIRST BELIEVED by Wally Lamb. I am anxious to meet with my book club this week as it was our choice of the month, to discuss how they felt about it. I so love Wally Lamb but had a love/hate relationship with this book. That is why I am reading James Patterson now for some light fluff! I wish I had more time to read, read, read....9 days until I start working part time (3 days a week) after 37 years of teaching...and then in June full time. Oh, please, I only pray at least half the kids I have taught reading to will become lifelong lovers of books!....have a good week all!
I finished "Bone By Bone" by Carol O'Connell. Unfortunately it wasn't nearly as good as her others, at least in my opinion.I have started Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, which has been on my TBR shelf forever. So far, so good.
G-man wrote: "Jessica wrote: "Hello eveyrone! I am new here, I was just checking things out. I just finished the book Night Watch which I really loved. It's a series so I will have to get the next one. While I..."
Thanks for the idea, I will add that to my list of books to get the next time I go out. I was actually planning on buying Day Watch so.... I guess I will get that one at the same time.
Lisa wrote: "Lisa wrote: "Linda wrote: "Lisa wrote: "I just finished Geraldine Brooks"People of the Book." Linda wrote: Lisa, I took a look a March, but wasn't sure it intrigued me enough to pick it up. Might..."
Apparently Brooks did extensive research on Bronson Alcott (Louisa May's father) on whom the father in "Little Women" is based.
"Thirteenth Tale" is on my TBR pile. I'm hearing great things about it so I'm looking forward to it.
I can't really decide what to read these days, so I'm reading three books right now, and that's very unusual, being me.So I'm reading:
The Fellowship of the Ring - J.R.R. Tolkien
Christy - Catherine Marshall
New Moon - Stephenie Meyer
Just finished Sputnik Sweetheart. About to start on Kafka on the Shore. Anyone know anything about the different translations? I didn't realize until recently that the library copy I have was translated by someone different from the copy read and loved by the friend who recommended I read it. I'm wondering if anyone knows whether or not the differences are significant.
I needed something light this time around. I'm about halfway through I Love You, Beth Cooper and liking it so far. It's really a cute book - sort of a cross between Can't Hardly Wait and Superbad (the movies). Definitely not a classic, but a light, funny read.
Sometimes you do not choose the book, but the book chooses you. This is the case with me and the Gargoyle, of which I recently won a copy in a Goodreads competition. I have to admit, I entered the competition, because I thought the book's cover looked funky. When it arrived, I had another look at the synopsis and decided to read something else. Then life got busy, other books got in the way and my copy of the Gargoyle continued its long and lonely wait on the shelf...
Yesterday, however, coming off a rather exhausting excursion into Terry Pratchett's Discworld (Colour of Magic - I was told they get better as you work your way through the series...), I was in the mood for something different, and picked up the Gargoyle.
My first impressions:
So far, I am not disappointed. After about three hours of reading, I am currently on page 92. The book is more and more intriguing me.
Why? - Because it is raw, because the story resembles a puzzle (owing to its time-shift narrative), the characters are quirky and the author keeps you guessing at all times. Davidson whisks you off to a journey into the realms of the tragic, the comic and the at times outright bizarre. A quarter into the story, I still have no idea where we are going.
I finished Guersney last night and I LOVED it! It was such a great story and the ending was beautiful. Anyway, I am also reading the Ender's Saga by Orson Scott Card. I finished Ender's Game and look forward to the next installment.I received Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell in the mail Saturday so I'm looking forward to getting started on it next.
I've heard so much good praise for the Guernsey that it is starting to scare me XD I really need to get my hands on it soon. I don't know what to read. I'm in the middle of The Secret Life of Bees but I've lost the mood, even though I think it's good. I did read the first four pages of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell but didn't manage to get "into it" yet.
Don't know whether I should just start a new one or try to at least read more of one of them.
Hi Karen! i really enjoy Wally Lamb as well. My favorite book is "I know this much is True". I dont think i have ever heard of "The Hour I first Believed" Is it new? or did i somehow over look it? I know he doesnt have that many works in print, so this would be an absolute treasure.Karen wrote: "THE HOUR I FIRST BELIEVED by Wally Lamb. I am anxious to meet with my book club this week as it was our choice of the month, to discuss how they felt about it. I so love Wally Lamb but had a love/h..."
Karen wrote: "THE HOUR I FIRST BELIEVED by Wally Lamb. I am anxious to meet with my book club this week as it was our choice of the month, to discuss how they felt about it. I so love Wally Lamb but had a love/h..."
Leila - it's going to take a while to get into Jon.Strange, but in my opinion it's worth it. I don't think it ever actually grabs you by the throat, except in parts during the last 100-200 pages.
Prodigal Summer would work for both of you. I didn't want to suggest it again, because I feel like I may be beating it into the ground.Kingsolver of course is wonderful, and if you are at all an environmentalist, you will LOVE it. You won't be able to help yourself.
I just finished "Serena" by Ron Rash.What a terrific ride! And immediately I could see such a great movie from this wonderful book.
Not only a great story but a great storyteller.
I also recommend "Mudbound" by Hillary Jordan. A great debut novel.
Laura wrote: "Leila - it's going to take a while to get into Jon.Strange, but in my opinion it's worth it. I don't think it ever actually grabs you by the throat, except in parts during the last 100-200 pages."I'm pretty sure that I will like it because it sounds interesting and it involves magic but I guess it's hard to actually get in to. To make matter worse, I have mine in paperback and the size of the text is so small that I think the publisher just wanted to press the book and make it as thin as possible.
Heather wrote: "Leila - I'm having the same problem right now! I just finished [b:Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession|2928488|Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession|Anne Rice|http://ecx.images-a..."Exactly! There are so many that one could read but it's hard to choose what :( Especially if you've just finished an excellent book.
Prodigal summer is one of my favourite books! fiona knows what The Loop means for me and his other books...but this book is really near to The loop. I adored it, it is great wonderful... . You know those books schools think every child should read at school...why don't they put this one???
Christine, I'm glad you are enjoying The Gargoyle. I really enjoyed it. :) Hope you like where it takes you! ;)I am almost done The Book Thief and I LOVE it. Love it. I am sad that it is almost over, I love these characters.
I'm currently reading Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay. I'm only on page 13, I'm already into it. Something tells me I'm going to be getting into this whole historical fiction kick this month.
Fiona wrote: "Because the people who set books for school probably don't read."That's a good one Fiona! It would seem that way, huh?
Finished up The Wednesday Sisters tonight and am now onto the daunting Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell.
Ofmatt, my translation is by Philip Gabriel. Who is the translator on your library copy? I think I've loved all Murakami, but there have to be significant differences.
Just finished The Tales of Beedle the Bard :) Dunno what I'm going to read next...hmm...Fiona--I saw somewhere that you got The Tales for Christmas (correct me if I'm wrong). Have you read them yet? I'd love to see what you thought of them! :)
NyA wrote: "Anyway, I am also reading the Ender's Saga by Orson Scott Card. I finished Ender's Game and..."Oh man, I wish I was you! I would love to read Speaker For The Dead for the first time again! It is seriously one of the best books I've ever, ever read. Ender's Game was fantastic, but Speaker is AMAZING. I wish I could say the same for the 3rd one in the series, Xenocide, but hey. I hope you enjoy Speaker! SO SO GOOD!
Catherine wrote: "Ofmatt, my translation is by Philip Gabriel. Who is the translator on your library copy? I think I've loved all Murakami, but there have to be significant differences."Philip Gabriel as well.
i read Queen from Cynthia White tonight. this was my first Urban Lit story, and i thought it was ok. the story wasn't bad, but the time frame moved way to fast for me, with little to no reference to months or years except in the most general of ways. i also was a bit wide-eyed at the um, activity, of the main character, especially since the story really jumps off at her 16th birthday party. not a bad story, definetly the quick read i was hoping for.
Ofmatt, in that case, I loved the translation of Kafka on the Shore. I like Rubin's translations as well, but I think those are the only two with which I'm familiar.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. I am so loving this wonderful story. I had never heard of it before GR.
I am reading Brief Intervals of Horrible Sanity. About a teacher who is driven insane ostensibly by her class but in reality by her own damn ego (didn't we all know teachers like that?) I gave up the last book I was reading after one chapter and to have to give this one up to will make me feel defeated :-(
I am currently reading " Da Vinci's Code " I just finished reading Secrets and Mysteries of the World. I want to finish Da Vinci's Code so that I can finally go to the next book, "The Reader" which I am so eager to read.
I am starting THE HOST by Stephanie Meyer today. I really liked TWILIGHT, so I hope I like this one.
Karen wrote: "I just finished "Serena" by Ron Rash.What a terrific ride! And immediately I could see such a great movie from this wonderful book.
Not only a great story but a great storyteller.
I also recomm..."
I read One Foot in Eden: A Novel by Rash a couple years ago.
It was also a great story.
I would love to try another by him. Maybe I'll read this one.
I've just read the first chapter of Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance by Atul Gawande. That chapter was unputdownable and it was on... handwashing! Amazing. I'm going to finish Brief Intervals of Horrible Sanity though, or at least try. Crap as it is.
I am now reading All Together Dead. Number 7 in the Sookie Stackhouse series.
Allison wrote: "Christine, I'm glad you are enjoying The Gargoyle. I really enjoyed it. :) Hope you like where it takes you! ;)I am almost done The Book Thief and I LOVE it. Love it. I am sad that it is almost ..."
Allison, sounds like you have joined the bandwagon with the rest of us on The Book Thief. It continues to amaze me how many people with such varying tastes agree on certain books on this site. The Book Thief, Shadow of the Wind, Blindness, etc.
Alisha wrote: "I'm currently reading Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay. I'm only on page 13, I'm already in..."Alisha, Sarah's Key is a wonderful read. I, like you, was hooked from the beginning and it gets better. I lent it to a friend who often differs in her reading taste from me and she loved it as well. Must say something for the book.
I quickly read Don't Sweat the Small Stuff--and it's all small stuff : Simple Ways to Keep the Little Things from Taking Over Your Life and I'm still working on The Sweet Far Thing; I'm also reading a page here and there of The Princess Diaries before I go to bed every night.
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The Next Best Book Club
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I agree that Tenth Circle was not a page-turner so much that I never even finished it. I also couldn't finish Vanishing Acts or Mercy. Jodi Picoult's books (to me anyway) tend to be a bit hit and miss. There always good to read because they do make you think, but some are definitely way better than others.
I did like Second Glance, though. The first half was a bit of a struggle and she does introduce too many characters those first couple of chapters, but the second half flew by and I found the subject matter fascinating.