The Next Best Book Club discussion
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What are you reading?
Boof, I'm right there with you. I thought The Secret History was sublime.
All this talk about Bloody Mary is making me sad that it is a work day. :(
Logan - about halfway through Haunted and your non-spoiler, two sentence analysis was spot on. I could not agree with you more. I am betting this will be my least favorite Palahniuk. It is refreshing that most of the stories are not quite appalling as the first one though. Of course, I was telling my wife about one and just my retelling horrified her.
Logan - about halfway through Haunted and your non-spoiler, two sentence analysis was spot on. I could not agree with you more. I am betting this will be my least favorite Palahniuk. It is refreshing that most of the stories are not quite appalling as the first one though. Of course, I was telling my wife about one and just my retelling horrified her.
Oh god, what a day! I swear everyone thinks cos I have a couple of weeks off before I start my new job that it's OK to drop round unanounced. Well it's not! First came my Mum and Dad with my 18 month old niece (OK, she's cute and I didn't mind that) but then no sooner where they gone and I had settled down with my book, my cousin and her two devil children arrived and stayed for hours. They chased and terrorised my cats, went rumaging in my bedroom and were hideous brats but my cousin doesn't seem to notice. So now, my whole day has nearly wasted and I have only read one chapter!
Alone again at last so I now intend to curl up with The Book of Lost Things, my cats and a cup of coffee and chill out. Ahhhhhh.......
Hi all! I got almost no reading done this weekend. We painted both of our daughter's rooms, which left little time for anything else. I'm still reading Blood Meridian. But I did pop by the library and pick up Book of Lost Things. So I'll dive into that one this week hopefully. I didn't check in with you guys all weekend, so I have lots of catching up to do. And I have a physical in a couple of hours- yikes!
I finished Huck Finn and it was even more amazing as an adult since I "got" all the jokes. I was laughing my ass off almost the entire time. Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer are greater than Abbot and Costello, I tell you. Huck trying to ask Tom why they can't do it the easier way and Tom getting so exasperated with Huck and not wanting to explain anything to him. So funny.When Huck is telling his version of Henry VIII's life, I almost wet myself from laughing so hard!
I just started Of Mice and Men for a change of pace. It is one of my husband's favorite books of all time, so I thought I should finally pick it up. Besides, it is short, and I need something to read before I pick up my books from the library.
Going from Twain to Steinbeck is a little jolting.
I love Huck Finn too. I've been wanting to re-read it and then read Jon Clinch's book Finn, which is about Huck's dad.
Boof - I so know what you mean. It usually happens to me when I need to get physical projects done and I actually have a whole weekend free...or so I thought.
Good luck with your physical, Jesse!
Good luck with your physical, Jesse!
I love the lines:Huck: What's a fess?
Tom: A fess -- a fess is -- you don't need to know what a fess is.
Huck is moving up on my to-read list.
No doubt. I have read zero Twain in my adult life and that is downright shameful.
You may want to start with Adventures of Tom Sawyer as a refresher if you don't remember much.
Hmmm...fight....whitewashing fence....run away....cave....string...yeah, I might want to read it again.
Jeremy, I haven't read any Twain either... don't feel ashamed :) It's only since joining this group that I've really started reading more 'worthwhile' stuff... although I still like to read trash sometimes ;o)
Thanks Kirsty!
I love classics but I like just about everything and even though I haven't mentioned his name since I've joined, John Grisham sneaks at least one book per year into my reading list. You just have to have some light reads once in awhile (or even more frequently)!
I love classics but I like just about everything and even though I haven't mentioned his name since I've joined, John Grisham sneaks at least one book per year into my reading list. You just have to have some light reads once in awhile (or even more frequently)!
Well, that was enlightening. hehe
Charity, I hope you enjoy Of Mice & Men but I really can't help but recommend Cannery Row too much. Like you with Finn I found myself laughing out loud at certain parts. I was very surprised just how amusing the story was, it definitely shook my image of Steinbeck as a morose dramatist.
I was able to start my new book journal yesterday with Huck Finn. Yay! I love it.
I don't usually read more than one book at a time, but THE SHACK has been a little... how do I say this, soul wrentching for me. I lost my Mom to cancer 2 years ago after a 4 month battle. My relationship with "The Big Guy" has been a little strained, I guess you can say, and this book has hit me square in the forehead! But in a ok way...Anyway....I have picked up 2 other books and am reading at the same time.
James Patterson's THE DANGEROUS DAYS OF DANIEL X (which I am reading with my 13 year old...!!!)
and..
A MILLION NIGHTINGALES by Susan Straight
Charity, I LOVE Of Mice and Men. I first read it over 20 years ago and I can still remember what an impact it had on me.Kirsty, why do you always put yourself down for not reading "worthwhile" books? There is so much snobbery around literature and it really pees me off. Reading is supposed to be a pleasure, not a chore and it does annoy me sometimes that because of this snobbery you feel that the books you read are not "worthwhile". They are! Books are meant to be about escapism and pleasure, not slogging through a books because it's a "classic" or more highbrow. You've read some GREAT books. Stand tall and be proud! :o)
I just need to point out that in no way am I referring to anyone on TNNBC - this is the only place that I have ever found that encourages and celebrates peoples choices and individual favourites and that's what I love about this. The thing we all have in common is that we love books. Period.
Ken, I was just talking to my husband about the movie adaptation yesterday (neither of us has seen it). When I told him that John Malkovich plays Lennie, he said he had a hard time picturing that. He always thought of Lennie more like Bill Fagerbakke's character of Dauber on "Coach".After I finish the book, I'll have to pick up the movie.
Ann I just finished The Shack and thought it was awesome.Some people are going to be mad but I thought it was wonderful because i believe in God but don't like churches are organized religion.It was a great read for me.
Lori I def will let you know how it goes.Sera
I will let you know about Bloody Mary.I really liked the first one so I'm sure i will enjoy this one as well.
I can totally picture Gary Sinise as George. But, maybe that is because of how he talks to Lennie in the opening chapters...very much like he spoke to Forrest in Forrest Gump.
B.F. Skinner said "We shouldn't teach great books; we should teach a love of reading." That's the underlining philosphy I use in my classroom. I don't really care what my students read as long as they do read. So Boof I completely agree with you. I hate it when people get snobbish about what to read. In fact, I left one group on GR because they felt the opposite. Wtih people like them, it's no wonder so many teens hate reading! Reading Snobs should be condemned to the Circles of Hell!
Oh, great. Now I'm jonesing to read Of Mice and Men again! So that's about 45 books I want to read RIGHT NOW. Ha! I have one week left before the insanity of the next school year begins so I guess I won't be sleeping much.I concur with everyone about the Sinise/Malkovich version of this book. It really is fabulous.
Maybe she meant Boof but is confused by the Avi changes.
Heather, at least Of Mice & Men is short...you can read it in an afternoon.
Yay! Thanks for that Heather. That's a great quote too.
Ignore me... I mean Boof... it's cuz ur name was mentioned in her post... urgh, my brain is mushed
Charity, I have about 6 of those short books by Steinbeck on my shelves. I fear reading them all and not having anything left to read of his. For the first time anyway. I still need to read Of Mice & Men. Maybe I should squeeze it in before my TNBBC August reads.
By the way, I can't find the thread where everyone seems to be agreeing to read Cider House Rules but naturally I am thrilled. I will have to debate whether I will re-read or not....I'm just not ready for that debate with myself.
By the way, I can't find the thread where everyone seems to be agreeing to read Cider House Rules but naturally I am thrilled. I will have to debate whether I will re-read or not....I'm just not ready for that debate with myself.
It is on the 'Your Latest Splurge' thread...prompted by Katie's awesome haul (70 books), of which Cider House was included.
Yeah, I just found the thread RIGHT after! Thanks, though. I'm not sure how you carry that many books...
So after an Olympic-class sprint through Bruce Sterling's stellar Schismatrix Plus I found myself with two books in my hands and no idea which to read first. Was it to be Cider House Rules or The Raw Shark Texts? Solidly reliable Irving or a young upstart? Then I found out that Steven Hall is a Goodreads author and surfed on over to his page where I got to see Tilda Swinton do a reading from The Raw Shark Texts. Some things are easy to decide after all.
Hmmmm.he's an Autobot!
I got something in my inbox from a Portland, ME author. I might give him a shot just because he is local.
I got something in my inbox from a Portland, ME author. I might give him a shot just because he is local.
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I am about 200 pages from finally finishing Bros Karamazov.. I will push myself through it tonite... I will. I will.
Logan, are we still on to read Turn Of The Screw together, or should I read something else while you tackle Raw Shark??
Lori, we're definitely still on. I'm only on the first few pages of Raw Shark Texts so can still put it down. Henry James, you better not let me down!I can't wait to hear how you like the end of Brothers K. Are you still enjoying it?
By the way, which version of Turn of the Screw do you have? I have a copy that includes several other short novels by James, another Signet Classics edition.
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I just cant wait to see what happens at the end, thats why I am sure I can finish it tonite.
NICE! Didn't you just love the dream? I love it when people converse with the devil, it never fails to interest me. Plus it tied together Ivan's plot-line rather nicely by going back to the same theme as his earlier parable.
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Okay, that's good. I don't know that I'm into reading six different novellas at this time. So many books, so little time.
Of Mice & Men is going well...I should have it wrapped up this evening.Is it just me or did anyone else keep thinking about the cartoon parodies from MGM? Which way did he go, George? Which way did he go?...I'm gonna love him and squeeze him and call him 'George'.
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The Next Best Book Club
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I'm currently reading Age of Innocence and Flight of the Romanovs. I generally don't read more than one book at a time, but I'm going to try to read one fiction and one non-fiction book to see how it goes.
BTW, I LOVED The Secret History, The Jungle and Marley & Me.