The Next Best Book Club discussion

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Revive a Dead Thread > What are you reading?

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message 20051: by Hannah (new)

Hannah (hmatkins) Christy, I hope you find something that will catch you soon. I know how frustrating that can be. I have Odd Thomas on my to-read book, as it looked interesting. Have you read it? (I just noticed that Odd Hours was in your list, and I think they are from the same series.) Do you have any favorite authors with books you haven't read yet? That's what I normally do when I'm stuck in a rut. Maybe that will help. Good luck!

Sydvicious, I am interested to hear how you enjoyed A Reliable Wife. I've read the description several times, but I just can't talk myself into reading it.

I added the Henrietta Lacks book to my to-read list as well. Call me a crowd follower, but it sounds good.


message 20052: by Paula (new)

Paula | 1098 comments Lori Ann wrote: "Right now I'm reading Sarah's Key and Tender Is the Night.

Isn't "Sarah's Key" just a gut wrenching read? I really liked it though.



message 20053: by Flora (new)

Flora Smith (bookwormflo) Hannah wrote: "Christy, I hope you find something that will catch you soon. I know how frustrating that can be. I have Odd Thomas on my to-read book, as it looked interesting. Have you read it? (..."

I read Odd Thomas not long ago and loved it. I look forward to reading the rest in that series.


message 20054: by Sydney (last edited May 25, 2010 11:48AM) (new)

Sydney | 45 comments Hannah wrote: "Christy, I hope you find something that will catch you soon. I know how frustrating that can be. I have Odd Thomas on my to-read book, as it looked interesting. Have you read it? (..."

Hannah-- I will let you know- call me a crowd follower too... I saw that several people were reading A Reliable Wife so I thought I would give it a try. I will keep you posted! :)


message 20055: by FromAna (new)

FromAna (fromanam) Tess of the d'Urbervilles


message 20056: by El (new)

El Ana, I like Thomas Hardy, so I hope you enjoy Tess. I know he's not for everyone though. Hardy, I mean. Tess is decidedly female.


message 20057: by Kelly (new)

Kelly (kellyng) Now, I'm reading Once Was Lost by Sara Zarr


message 20058: by Marguerite (new)

Marguerite (randomreetie) Right now I'm reading Grave Secret by Charlaine Harris. It's the 4th in the Harper Connelly series. I just love this series!


message 20059: by Kellyflower (last edited May 25, 2010 04:22PM) (new)

Kellyflower | 5 comments Tram wrote: "Now, I'm reading Once Was Lost by Sara Zarr"

I didn't really care for that book. It wasn't badly written, just a very "soft" quiet book. Thats how I thought of it as I put it down. I curious to know how you feel about it once your done with it.

El, I too like Thomas Hardy, and your right he's definitely not for everyone. My favorite by him was
Jude the Obscure


message 20060: by Lori, Super Mod (new)

Lori (tnbbc) | 10631 comments Mod
I'll weigh in on Odd Thomas too. I loved the series. The first in the series is the best of the bunch!


message 20061: by Susanna (new)

Susanna (jb_slasher) Going to start One Hundred Years of Solitude in a bit.


message 20062: by Ashley (new)

Ashley (angelashly) | 160 comments Just started Heart of the Matter last night. Pretty good so far. Emily Giffin is a favorite of mine.


message 20063: by Donna (new)

Donna (dfiggz) | 1626 comments I am finishing up on City of Bones then I gotta get to work on my next YA Life As We Knew It


message 20064: by Paula (new)

Paula | 1098 comments I've just finished "Uglies" Scott Westerfeld.

I'm going to start "The Sunday Wife" Cassandra King later today. The Sunday Wife A Novel by Cassandra King


message 20065: by Ann from S.C. (new)

Ann from S.C. | 1395 comments I'm reading Robin Cooks CRISIS. It was a little slow in the beginning, but now is picking up.


message 20066: by Lori Ann (new)

Lori Ann | 105 comments Paula- yes Sarah's Key was very sad but I liked it too. Wish there had been a little more from Sarah's point of view.


message 20067: by Jodi (new)

Jodi (purehrt555) | 17 comments I just finished Water for Elephants and I think that I am going to start reading The Weight of Silence.

I am still slowly reading A Wonderful Little Girl: The True Story of Sarah Jacob, the Welsh Fasting Girlfor some reason this short book is taking me forever to read.


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads (susannag) | 1736 comments Finished The Black Tower by Louis Bayard, and it was very good.


message 20069: by Sasha (new)

Sasha Finished The Name of the Rose and read Frankenstein yesterday on the back porch while "working from home." Frankenstein is staggeringly good. Name of the Rose...eh. Okay.

Just started Seven Ages of Paris by Alistair Horne. How awesome is the name Alistair?


message 20070: by Donna (new)

Donna (dfiggz) | 1626 comments Lori Ann wrote: "Paula- yes Sarah's Key was very sad but I liked it too. Wish there had been a little more from Sarah's point of view."

THANK YOU! Jeez I have been saying that forever LOL


message 20071: by El (new)

El Alex wrote: "Just started Seven Ages of Paris by Alistair Horne. How awesome is the name Alistair?"

Wasn't Alistair the name of one of the kids on You Can't Do That on Television? Did anyone else watch that?

Every time I see you post about that book, my interest grows a little more. How far are you?


message 20072: by Paula (new)

Paula | 1098 comments Lori Ann wrote: "Paula- yes Sarah's Key was very sad but I liked it too. Wish there had been a little more from Sarah's point of view.

Yes, I agree Lori Ann. I liked her part of the story more than Julia's but both were good.



message 20073: by Sasha (new)

Sasha I just finished the preface. So it's a bit early to judge.


message 20074: by Lisa (new)

Lisa | 437 comments I just started The Riddle-Master of Hed by Patricia A. McKillip. I'm reading her because Literature Map said she is close to Guy Gavriel Kay. Only 20 pages in, but I have high hopes.


message 20075: by Ruby (new)

Ruby Hollyberry | 60 comments Judith- I love Brown Girl in a Ring!

Lisa- all McKillip is good, and that trilogy may be the best she wrote


message 20076: by Juniper (new)

Juniper (jooniperd) Currently, I am reading Adam Bede by George Eliot.


message 20077: by KHoopMan (new)

KHoopMan  (eliza_morgan) | 151 comments El- you are totally right about Alistair : ) Great show. Gross, yet awesome.


message 20078: by Jayme (new)

Jayme (jayme-reads) El wrote: "Alex wrote: "Just started Seven Ages of Paris by Alistair Horne. How awesome is the name Alistair?"

Wasn't Alistair the name of one of the kids on You Can't Do That on Television? Did anyone el..."


I DON'T KNOW! (At least I think that's what they said right before they'd get slimed). Best show ever! Yay for random 80's tv references, El.


message 20079: by Linda (new)

Linda | 887 comments Just finished Anna Quindlen's Every Last One and would give it a 3.5. I wanted to "really" like this book, but it took the downhill car on the roller coaster ride about midway and seemed to recover later, but not with the same enthusiasm as some of her other books.


message 20080: by Liz (new)

Liz I recently finished Catching Fire and a re-read of Dracula. I'm now working on Brick Lane.


message 20081: by Donna (new)

Donna (dfiggz) | 1626 comments Gonna start Life As We Knew It


message 20082: by Lianne (new)

Lianne (eclecticreading) I've started reading Terry Pratchett's Going Postal and Timothy Wave's The Orthodox Church: New Edition =)


message 20083: by Sydney (last edited May 27, 2010 09:53AM) (new)

Sydney | 45 comments Just finished A Reliable Wife- it was an okay read. And just started The Well of Lost Plots- I am also struggling through One Hundred Years of Solitude there are so many Jose's I feel like I need to create a chart to keep them all straight!


message 20084: by Christy (new)

Christy | 181 comments Hannah wrote: "Christy, I hope you find something that will catch you soon. I know how frustrating that can be. I have Odd Thomas on my to-read book, as it looked interesting. Have you read it? (..."

Hannah, I really liked Odd Thomas but haven't been as thrilled with the subsequent books in the series. He's a very endearing character though.


message 20085: by Karina (new)

Karina reading A Passage to India by E.M. Forster. Struggling a little bit with it, hopefully it gets more interesting!


message 20086: by Maria (new)

Maria (minks05) | 481 comments i'm a little more than halfway through Alice I Have Been. i'm liking it, but it is a bit of a different book. i'd like to hear others thoughts about it, particularly the (fictional?) relationship between Carroll and the family. did anyone else find that all a bit uncomfortable? i think i find it that way because it's obvious as a reader what *could* have been happening. however, the way it was handled in Victorian England, and the way they viewed things during that period of time, could have seriously colored peoples perceptions of what may have been happening. just wanting to get someone else's thoughts on it.


message 20087: by Beth (new)

Beth Knight (zazaknittycat) | 501 comments I'm just starting Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer


message 20088: by F1Wild (new)

F1Wild Finished My Splendid Concubine late (as usual) last night and had to decide between Honolulu by Alan Brennert or The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson.

Well, started reading the first few pages of Honolulu and it had me hooked. I hope this is as gripping as Moloka'i was.


message 20089: by Jacqueline (last edited May 27, 2010 05:28PM) (new)

Jacqueline Quackenbush During the semester I only managed to read one book with my huge course load, which was Of Human Bondage.

Now that I'm officially on summer break I've picked up Science Under Siege, a non-fiction compilation of essays that were featured in the magazine The Skeptical Inquirer. Loving it so far!


message 20090: by Bhumi (new)

Bhumi | 524 comments I just started The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. Reminds of The Catcher in the Rye.


message 20091: by Susanna (new)

Susanna (jb_slasher) Jo wrote: "I'm reading Ash Wednesday"

Hey Jo, what do you think of it so far? I should really re-read both of his books. I can hardly remember what happened in either.


message 20092: by Sasha (new)

Sasha Maria - I haven't read Alice Have I Been, but I've heard quite a bit about the hypothetical relationship between Carroll and Alice. And you're right, they dealt with such things very differently back then, huh?

There's zero hard evidence that Carroll had romantic feelings toward Alice, much less that he did anything about them, but the most scandalous rumor is that he proposed marriage to her when she was 11. The gossip arises mainly from two facts:

1) Carroll's close friendship with her family abruptly ends with no public explanation given;
2) The pages in Carroll's diary from exactly the time of the split have been torn out and lost.

And one somewhat cloudy idea:
3) Carroll liked to draw pictures of naked kids and had no real romantic attachments to adult women. This is controversial partly because it may (or may not) have been the fashion at the time to draw naked kids as a "symbol of innocence" (good Lord), and Carroll may (or may not) have had several scandalous affairs with perfectly grown-up women.

Alternate theories for the sudden split include an improper relationship between Carroll and the Liddell family's governess, or one between Carroll and Alice's older sister Lorina, or between Carroll and Alice's mother (also Lorina).

This has always felt to me like one of those controversies where we'll never get anywhere, so we might as well forget about it. Like whether Shakespeare was really Shakespeare.


message 20093: by Jayme (new)

Jayme (jayme-reads) I've read that naked kid art was abundant in Victorian times too...but wouldn't that just make it easier for the perverts to look legitimate? I don't think it proves innocence.

But yeah, unless someone finds the long lost diaries of Lewis Carrol, I don't think this mystery is worth debating either.

That book looks like it might be interesting. I'll have to check it out.


message 20094: by Sasha (new)

Sasha Jayme wrote: "I've read that naked kid art was abundant in Victorian times too...but wouldn't that just make it easier for the perverts to look legitimate? I don't think it proves innocence."

Well, wouldn't it also make it easier for the innocent to look perverted? I agree, it doesn't prove innocence; I don't think it proves anything at all.


message 20095: by Jayme (new)

Jayme (jayme-reads) Agreed!


message 20096: by Ashley (new)

Ashley (angelashly) | 160 comments Finished Heart of the Matter- Emily Giffin last night. It was pretty good.

Will start Change of Heart-Jodi Picoult today at lunch.


message 20097: by Sasha (new)

Sasha How's Consilience treating you, Jayme?


message 20098: by Flora (new)

Flora Smith (bookwormflo) Finished Memoirs of a Geishawhich I really enjoyed. And I've just begun The Alchemist


message 20099: by Kelly (last edited May 28, 2010 06:26PM) (new)

Kelly (kellyng) Kellyflower wrote: "Tram wrote: "Now, I'm reading Once Was Lost by Sara Zarr"

I didn't really care for that book. It wasn't badly written, just a very "soft" quiet book. Thats how I thought of it as I put it d..."



Yeah, you are right. After finishing it, I feel the plot is a little too light and not too many things impress me.

And I am reading Storm Glass by Maria V. Snyder


message 20100: by Jayme (last edited May 28, 2010 06:49PM) (new)

Jayme (jayme-reads) Consilience is good so far, but I'm only on Chapter 3 of 12. It's been a busy work week and when I'm tired, non-fiction, no matter how interesting, never fails to put me to sleep.


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