The Next Best Book Club discussion
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What are you reading?



Have you read any of his other, earlier books? I loved
Pole to Pole, Himalaya and Full Circle...but maybe it was only because I had a mad, Python-crush on him??

Let me know what you think of A Certain Slant of Light! I read it last..."
I will! So far, so good.

Christy: I didn't know what to expect as far as liking/not liking The Book of Lost Things. I thought it was truly captivating and so imaginative.


Christy: I didn't know what to expect as far as liking/not liking T..."
I didn't know what to think either, but it was really good. Lots of layers. I'm still thinking about it, days later.

I've got a crush on him, too, which may be why I disliked Sahara. His sense of humor didn't come out well. I've got both Pole to Pole & Himalaya on order, and as they're better rated than Sahara, I'm sure I'll enjoy them.

I've read them in order - Around the World in 80 Days, Pole to Pole, Full Circle, etc. and I have loved them all - except Sahara. I guess it seemed like it was just dialed in - for me.




I loved See's Peony in Love!! I thought it was pretty cool that a lot of it was based on the real-life "The Peony Pavilion" opera.
If you love her books I hifghly recommend her family-biographical On Gold Mountain: The One-Hundred-Year Odyssey of My Chinese-American Family.

What's great about the Palin books is they work REALLY well for the Around the World challenge! He spends time in all sorts of obscure countries. After reading Sahara, I could choose to count it for Morocco or Niger or Mali or Algeria or ...

Becky, I hope you enjoy it. I loved every page and am seriously considering buying myself a copy for future readings.

Her Fearful Symmetry - second book by her and I loved the first. Quite liked this one as well different story but with a great feel, characterization etc.
Under the Dome - Not the equivalent of The Stand despite the hype. Just an average run of the mill SK reminding me most of The Dream Catcher.
Heart-Shaped Box - This is SK's son and he writes with a very different style which I like better but the story is very well put together, engaging and highly readable. Reminds me a little of Orson Scott Card's urban fantasies.
Gone With the Wind - I had read this once before in my late teens and recall liking it but this time round I loved it. Had internal discussions with myself over character motivations and integrity, political strategies, slavery, agriculture you name it. Loved loved loved it.
Twilight Series - had read this previously but was looking for something mindless and easy and had just watched the Twilight movie on tv so picked it up again.
My Sister's Keeper - Second Jodi Piccoult I have tried. I really really wanted to like it and there was one moment where I actually did (the moment when you realize that the picture isn't just of a candlestick but also of two faces). However, she somehow still can't pull it off. Great concept but disappointing execution (particularly the ending).
In order to keep this from being too long I will continue in another post.

1st to Die - This one ended up on my reader as a loan from a friend of mine together with a bunch of other ones. I had finished the rest and hadn't gotten to this one. Cons - I really don't like anything about James Patterson, not his storylines, his characters or his writing style. Pros - really short.
The Amber Room: A Novel - Another one from the same friend, not as bad as James Patterson but smacks of Dan Brown etc. again not my cup of tea.
Bill Bryson's African Diary - I normally love him but this one was disappointing. Not as funny as usual (although some good bits about the plane) and extremely short. Guess this is a disadvantage to buying electronic books because you don't pay attention to size. At least proceeds from sale went to charity I gather.
The Book Thief - Very good book. The characters were excellent and I particularly loved Max's books within the book.
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - Adored this book. Started it a few weeks back and couldn't get inspired but once I got into it I was hooked. Story of a Dominican family, shades of 100 Years of Solitude with a ghetto urban spanglish voice. Not surprised it won the Pullitzer.
Just about to start A Certain Chemistry: A Novel. Have liked Mil Millington's other works and could use something a little more lighthearted so this was a serendipitous list coincidence.

As for fluff, I like Marion Keys and Sophia Kinsilla and the SHOPAHOLLIC series.

I just downloaded a full sample of
Saving Ceecee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman to my Kindle.


LOVED Persepolis! Check out the movie too, if you can. Many things left out (as one might expect), but still worth a watch, me thinks.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Hope you do, too, Lori Ann.
I just finished reading Broken, which I gave 5*. The writing builds the suspense of the story and Skunk's segment is told in such a candid, lovely way that the Reader is just drawn through this neighbourhood horror story.
I've got Fool by the bedside but can't seem to get into it right now. I'm at the part where Lear has disinherited Cordelia. Maybe it'll pick up here. This is one of my favorite Shakespeare plays so I really want to like this book.
And, I've just started The Bronze Horseman. I got an ereader for my birthday and, as I'm going away this weekend to visit family, thought this was a good time to purchase a new ebook and try the reader out.

Got all psyched for a minute cause I thought you were reading Pushkin's Bronze Horseman. Anna Karenina has shown me that I need to read me some Pushkin.

Did u win that? Iwanna read that soooooo bad!

Anna Karenina inspiring?? Really??!! The thought makes my head spin......
I'm interested in Pushkin's book and will look into it. I read some of Pushkin's short stories last year and quite liked his writing style.


Bronze Horseman is a long poem, widely considered among Pushkin's best. I'm hoping to get to the bookstore later today to compare some translations of Pushkin, but so far it looks like Collected Narrative and Lyrical Poetry might be a good place to find it. 471 pages! Dude wrote a lot of stuff.



The Thirteenth Tale is one of my favorites. Hope you like it!

No, no it's quite different!
She-Rain: A Story of Hope


The Help and Olive Kitteridge"
The Help was an AWESOMe book I hope you like it.

The Help
Wench
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Girl Who Played with Fire
Moloka'i
So now I'm reading Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal. I'm ready for some bawdy humor.

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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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Authors mentioned in this topic
William Shakespeare (other topics)Kevin Wilson (other topics)
Andrea Levy (other topics)
Lauren Carr (other topics)
Lauren Carr (other topics)
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Let me know what you think of A Certain Slant of Light! I read it last year and thought it was a really nice story! :)