The Next Best Book Club discussion
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What are you reading?
Just started "The Last Lecture" last night. I don't know that I love the writing style, but I think I'll love the overall concept and message.
I foresee tears.
I foresee tears.
Deanna wrote: "I just finished reading The Bridges of Madison County... It has been sitting on my shelf FOREVER just begging to be read! I really enjoyed the movie but the book is even more appealing! Tonight Deanna, I LOVED "Bridges of Madison County" but "Country Roads" fell flat for me. Let me know what you think.
Dan wrote: "Started V. by Thomas Pynchon this morning. Reading Pynchon makes me a little crazy but it's like watching a gruesome scene that you can't look away from...and that you k..."I'd love to hear what you think of V. Dan. I started Gravity's Rainbow about a year ago, and only got about 50 pages into it before I had to set it down. It was pretty much the wrong time for me to read that one. I'm hoping to try and tackle it again soon, though.
Michelle♥ wrote: "Paula, did you enjoy Shutter Island?Not done with it yet Michelle, I've been working and it's cutting into my reading time, Darn it!! LOL I'm almost 200 pages in and really enjoying it now.
I finished The Hope of Refuge A Novel a wonderful story set in Amish country Pennsylvania by Cindy Woodsmall.I am currently reading Talk Before Sleep A Novel by Elizabeth Berg. I have read two other of Berg's books. One I liked a lot the other not as much. Talk Before Sleep A Novel has started out well, I anticipate a few tears as is about a woman and her best friend who is dying of breast cancer.
Austenland is one of my favorite books ever! I have read City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. I thought it was pretty good. I have read the other two in the series too.
I just started Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer today. I also started Look Again by Lisa Scottoline on audio. My library just started offering audio books for download and I am super excited about it! AND I am going to start reading City of Ember to my kids tonight, LOL!
Dan wrote: "Asa and Darcia,I'd like to hear what you think of Naked Lunch when you finish it. I thought the first 40 pages or so weren't too bad but after that it went downhill fast."
I actually stopped reading at page 45 or so and started over from the beginning, this time not trying to make sense of it. And that seems to have worked.
I have to say I really enjoyed it. In a strange way. A lot of it was completely disgusting, and most of the time extremely confusing. But there were also parts I found hilarious, and almost poetic in the writing.
I can't really explain it right now. Maybe I'll be able to when I've had some more time to think it over.
Michelle♥ wrote: "Has anyone else read City of Bones by Cassandra Clare?"Yeah, I read City of Bones and really enjoyed it. I haven't read the other two yet. What do you think about it???
I'm about 250 pages into City of Bones, and it's just now starting to pick up for me. I'm glad I stuck with it but at the same time I feel myself constantly comparing it to Harry Potter and Twilight. I know that's bad, but the only reason I picked it up was because Stephenie Meyer really liked it and so I thought it was going to be spectacular.I think it's a little too teen-booper-ish for me, so that's why I'm not as enticed as I thought I was going to be. Besides, the last YA book that I was read was Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer.
I'm going to keep reading it though because I want to see where it leads. I feel like I've already guessed the ending. I bought the next one in the series City of Ashes because it was buy one, get the second one half off. We'll see how it goes...
I gave up on Catch-22 for the time being and have just started Olive Kitteridge. I'm not far in, but I can already tell I like the style in which it's written.
I just read the latest Mitchard novel No Time to Wave Goodbye, and have almost finished Two Years, No Rain. Next up is the new Tracy Kidder.
I just finished Blue Poppies by Jonathan Falla and am about to begin my re-read of Pride and Prejudice.
I finished Eclipse (Meyer) last night. I liked it, but not as much as the first two. Now I've got to start the second Sookie Stackhouse novel, Living Dead in Dallas, so that I can return it to the library in a couple of weeks. Apparently, I'm all about the vampires lately.
Amanda wrote: "Just started "The Last Lecture" last night... I foresee tears."Hi Amanda.
OMGoodness...I just read this book last night - in one sitting (I didn't want to interrupt the flow of the lecture. LOL!). I agree with you that the writing itself wasn't so hot but the intent more than makes up for it. I had just a few little tears.
I saw Randy Pausch interviewed by Diane Sawyer last year, after he had given the lecture and it had gone viral on the Internet, and so had his mannerisms and voice in my head as I was reading. I think that made a difference. Overall I found the energy, strength and hope he embodied, while being realistic about his terminal pancreatic cancer diagnosis, just incredible. I hope that his family continues to be proud of the legacy of he has left. I think Randy Pausch inspired many, many people with both his lecture and his book.
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It was just really ok for me. It fell flat in a few places. Just kinda plodded along uneventfully.
NOW... onto HFS, in the hopes of landing this Q&A for next week!
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Elspeth died while Robert was standing in front of a vending machine watching tea shoot into a small paper cup.
Oh yes. I will like this book. I can feel it!
Jessica wrote: "I'd love to hear what you think of V. Dan. I started Gravity's Rainbow about a year ago, and only got about 50 pages into it before I had to set it down. It was pretty much the wrong time for me to read that one. I'm hoping to try and tackle it again soon, though."Jessica,
It took me 4 or 5 starts before I got through Gravity's Rainbow. V. seems a little better so far. I'll let you know how it goes.
just finished a fraction of the whole by steve toltz and a little history of the world by e. h. gombrich. two very fun, very different books.now onto guns germs and steel
Lori wrote: "I open Her Fearful Symmetry and here is the opening line:Elspeth died while Robert was standing in front of a vending machine watching tea shoot into a small paper cup.
Oh yes. I will like t..."
So jealous...I want to read this...I hope you enjoy it!!!
Lori wrote: "I open Her Fearful Symmetry and here is the opening line:Elspeth died while Robert was standing in front of a vending machine watching tea shoot into a small paper cup.
Oh yes. I will like t..."
I'm jealous too, but glad someone else is reading it first. You can tell the rest of us if it's good. I'm hoping you love it, though.
For all you Watership Downs fans, do you know there is a sequel: Tales from Watership DownI have started Oprah's recommendation, short stories, Say You're One of Them
Decided to get Karin Slaughter's Genesis on audio in the nxt week or so. I am now gonna read Gravity - Tess Gerritsen
Has anyone read Rememberance Of Things Past. I tried one translation and was wondering if there is an easier one to read. I would very much like to see why it is suppose to be the greatest novel ever written
I am currently reading My Remarkable Story, a bio by Larry King. I must confess that I expected a little more from this book, but it's OK...I am also reading The Sign of the Book, which is a 2 or 3 star-mystery by John Dunning and I have just started Donna Leon's Blood from a Stone; ( more to say later on about this one...)
Besides this, I continue to read Margarite Duras'Écrire and the volumes of diaries by my beloved Virginia Woolf and Josué Montello , of course...
I have just started reading A Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammed Hanif. I'm only about 10 pages in and I am loving it already!
I just finished City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. It was just ok. I don't want to pick up the next book in the series because I feel like it's TOO predictable for me.Now I'm having the hardest time deciding which book I should choose! Help! Look at my recently bought shelf and tell me which one to read!
I need opinions! Help me decide! PLEASE!
Michelle♥ wrote: "I just finished City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. It was just ok. I don't want to pick up the next book in the series because I feel like it's TOO predictable for me...."
I looked at your recently read and I think you might enjoy Yoko Ogawa's The Housekeeper and the Professor
Michelle♥ wrote: "I just finished City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. It was just ok. I don't want to pick up the next book in the series because I feel like it's TOO predictable for me...."
Michelle, you should continue the Mortal Instruments series. I didn't like City of Bones either, but the books definitely get better. I finished the third book, City of Glass, recently, and I loved it. Don't give up on the series! :)
Lori wrote: "I open Her Fearful Symmetry and here is the opening line:Elspeth died while Robert was standing in front of a vending machine watching tea shoot into a small paper cup.
Oh yes. I will like t..."
Wow, the book sounds great! And oooh, here's the first of sentence of the book I'm reading:
"I write this sitting in the kitchen sink."
from I Capture the Castle.
carol (akittykat) wrote: "Has anyone read Rememberance Of Things Past. I tried one translation and was wondering if there is an easier one to read. I would very much like to see why it is suppose to be the greatest novel ev..."I tried. It's beautifully written but it really doesn't move along quickly. It's sloooooowwwwwww.
Waiting for Gertrude A Graveyard Gothic has a chapter told by the cat who is the reincarnation of Proust and that chapter is very funny if you've ever read (or tried to read) Proust. It's also very slooooowwww.
Waiting For Gertrude is a marvel, for that reason. Each chapter is told by another cat, all of whom are reincarnations of someone famous buried in that graveyard, and is told in the manner of that person's personality and character.
Petra wrote: "carol (akittykat) wrote: "Has anyone read Rememberance Of Things Past. I tried one translation and was wondering if there is an easier one to read. I would very much like to see why it is suppose t..."Thanks. I thought I might try it again. Waiting For Gertrude sounds funny.
Michelle♥ wrote: "I just finished City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. It was just ok. I don't want to pick up the next book in the series because I feel like it's TOO predictable for me...."
You should read Darkly Dreaming Dexter for sure!!
Fiona wrote: "Mounica wrote: "Lori wrote: "I open Her Fearful Symmetry and here is the opening line:Elspeth died while Robert was standing in front of a vending machine watching tea shoot into a small paper cu..."
I saw the title...ICTC & knew it was just a matter of time when Fiona was going to post. Also agreed I ICTC is amazing!
Michelle♥ wrote: "I just finished City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. It was just ok. I don't want to pick up the next book in the series because I feel like it's TOO predictable for me...."
Evermore
Teresa in Ohio wrote: "Michelle♥ wrote: "I just finished City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. It was just ok. I don't want to pick up the next book in the series because I feel like it's TOO pr..."I just finished
The Art of Racing in the Rain this morning and absolutely loved it (caution: have a box of tissues at the ready) and since you so highly recommended it, I will start Shutter Island later today. I looked at your recently bought list and it seems that you and I have recently bought a lot of the same books! Of the ones I have already read from your list, I would recommend The Handmaid's Tale and The Kite Runner.
I just finished The Guernsey and Potato Peel Pie Society and I am now reading The Reader (Now that fall semester has begun, most of my "fun reading" is pushed to the side, but I am doing my best to get in a few pages before bed:))
I am flying through The Lie by Chad Kultgen and it's one of those books that you love to hate and you really can't explain why you are enjoying so much and maybe even a little guilty for enjoying it...?
Jessica wrote: "Oooh, I loved I Am Legend Fiona! I finished Watership Down and am now moving onto The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami."I am reading the Wind-Up bird. Well, that is a lie, I have started reading it and been distracted. Lovely book, though.
I am currently reading- On Writing Well, Scarlett Feather, Little Children and Dog Run. I love On Writing well. Scarlett Feather is well written but never ending. I like the prose and characters but I am not sure the point. Little Children-saw the movie and the book so far is good. Dogrun is an MTV pocket book and these are usually thought provoking. I have not started but it is in queue. I loved Perks of Being a Wallflower from this publisher!
Hello everyone. I am new here but I saw this topic and wanted to chime in. I am currently reading a book by a new author called "The Ooze" I picked it up at the authors website: http://charliesworld.org/ (book is much better than the website).Pretty interesting book with a few twists. Almost finished it!
I've started An Echo in the Bone. It starts off with William and John Grey! I am a happy person right now.
Edith, I enjoyed it. It wasn't my faveorit but it was good. The ending was just astounding!
Oh good, now I have something to look forward to! Thanks
Just finished last night Freedom Just Around the Corner A New American History 1585-1828, which I gave four stars (though I do wonder if Thomas Jefferson killed McDougall's dog or something), and started Throes of Democracy The American Civil War Era, 1829-1877, which is starting good.
I enjoyed Loving Frank too! I'm not sure I "liked" the characters but the book was very compelling.
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The Next Best Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
Little Bee (other topics)Canada (other topics)
Her Fearful Symmetry (other topics)
I Have America Surrounded: A Biography of Timothy Leary (other topics)
Inferno (other topics)
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William Shakespeare (other topics)Kevin Wilson (other topics)
Andrea Levy (other topics)
Lauren Carr (other topics)
Lauren Carr (other topics)
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Linda, I'm so glad that other people are referring this book out there! I feel like I'm plaguing this website now with this book. I keep talking about it, and telling everyone I know to pick it up. Sorry that I've been obsessing everyone, but I'm so glad that others really enjoyed it. And yes, I never saw the ending coming and I think that's why I loved it so much. Also the characters are just so intriguing I wanted to know more about them! I didn't want the book to end!