The Next Best Book Club discussion
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What are you reading?
About half way through Life is Short But Wide by J California Cooper. My first read by this author. I have to say that the description I saw (and the back of the book) seemed to deal more with the author's writing style and philosophical viewpoint than with the plot of the book. I am really enjoying it though.
dun dun dun...Starting War and Peace tonight. Im a bit intimidated, but I loved Anna Karenina, so we'll see.
After spending a bunch of days at the beach in August, I feel like I need to redeem myself from all of my trashy reading with some heavy lifting.
Wish me luck!
Jeane wrote: "Flora wrote: "I'm over half way thru Inkheart and I really like it so far. I think I will certainly continue the series. I have also just started The Island of Dr. Moreau ..."I have not seen the movie Inheart, altho after finishing the book I plan on doing so. I absolutely loved the book and plan on continuing with the series.
Nice, Bridgit! I haven't read War & Peace yet.
Bridgit wrote: "dun dun dun...Starting War and Peace tonight. Im a bit intimidated, but I loved Anna Karenina, so we'll see.
After spending a bunch of days at the beach in August, I feel like I ..."
I liked W&P quite a bit and I was surprised it wasn't nearly as daunting as I had understood it to be. I hope you enjoy it. And if nothing else you'll feel such a sense of accomplishment when you finish. :)
Since I have a wee it of extra time on my hand I decided to do the unthinkable - read 2 at once (gasp!!). I started The Fourth Watcher: A Novel of Bangkok by our fabulously talented Timothy Hallinan and also Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook by Anthony Bourdain last night. Tony's description of sharing the experience of a several course dinner with a dozen of the 'toppest' chefs, including the decadent and illegal to 'sell' Ortolan was worth a few times over read.
Just finished Mockingjay! loved it :) And Now I am rereading The Time Traveler's wife. Summer is almost over so I'm gonna try and fit in as much reading as I can before school starts again.
For me the TLC addictions are What Not To Wear and the wedding gown shows.And the good news here is that we finally got The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest from the library! (The "bad" news is that I'm being a very good daughter and letting my mother read it first.)
Susanna - you are being a good daughter ... I am not sure I would make that same sacrifice. I am back to reading Maisie Dobbs. I have moved onto Messenger of Truth.
Haha, I could never be a good daughter in that way. I'm a good daughter in that if I read something my mom would like, I let her borrow my copy. Granted, sometimes I have to take these copies back four years later after she has forgotten about them and therefore not read them.Debating just working on Citizens of London slowly and starting some other, light read that I could finish in a few days. I just don't know WHAT.
I dug Bourdain's Nasty Bits more than Kitchen Confidential. Have you read any of his other stuff, F1?I started and finished the very brief Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture this afternoon, thanks to the boss closing the office early because it's too nice out to work. Fun little book.
Alex wrote: "Nice, Bridgit! I haven't read War & Peace yet."What!!!!!! fie on you.
I know, shameful. It gets worse: I hadn't read any Tolstoy or Dostoevsky before this year when I finally got to Anna Karenina. I promise I will read at least one of the behemoths every year until I'm caught up. Brothers Karamazov is next.
Alex wrote: "Brothers Karamazov is next."Ok fie on me I haven't read that one. LOL
i started An American Wife today, and made a large dent in it (250 pages).i'm enjoying it, but since i know it's loosely based on laura bush, i have a hard time imagining her in some of the situations i'm reading. i'm just going to assume that is the "fiction" aspect of the story, and enjoy it. ;) i like the writing style, and the main character, Alice, is very engaging. i've read some reviews that said the final section of the book is nowhere near as good as the first three sections, so we'll see what happens. i was just about to start the third section when i stopped reading earlier. hopefully i can get some reading in over the weekend, but with yard and housework, not to mention a 10 mile run, i may not get to it again until monday. boo!
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Starting War and Peace tonight. Im a bit intimidated, but I loved Anna Karenina, so we'll see.
After spending a bunch of days at the beach in August, I feel like I ..."
Wow! Tackling the bricks! Good luck!!!!
Rayna wrote: "I'm still reading too many books considering I leave for school Friday morning, but I'm determined to finish as many as possible before I go!I finished The Boy in the Striped Pajamas..."
Glad to hear that someone else really enjoyed The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. I still think about that book once in awhile and it has been at least 6 months since I read it.
Along with The Kitchen House, I am reading
.
Alex wrote: "I dug Bourdain's Nasty Bits more than Kitchen Confidential. Have you read any of his other stuff, F1?"Just KC- but loved it, especially his start in P-Town...hmmm, maybe we crossed paths there?
Coulda; I've done my time in P-town. Best drag queen karaoke ever.
OK, now I'm missing the Front Street restaurant's tea-smoked duck...and the bear parade.;-))
I am currently reading The Chocolate War and so far, I am really enjoying this book! I am reading it because I heard that it was banned many times and I wanted to see why it was banned. I'm almost to the ending, so I'll have to see how the book ends!
Jamaie wrote: "Along with The Kitchen House, I am reading ."What do you think of The Kitchen House so far. Debating on ordering it on my Kindle.
Ha, Chocolate War. One of my favorite books when I was a kid. I also dug the sequel, Beyond the Chocolate War.
Jamaie wrote: "Along with The Kitchen House, I am reading ."Ooooo, a new Thomas H. Cook! He's uneven but I'm always willing to keep trying.
Currently reading I'd Know You Anywhere.
I'm enjoying
very much! Good story so far & it has really pulled me in.
I am back to reading Maisie Dobbs again Messenger of Truth
Alex wrote: "Ha, Chocolate War. One of my favorite books when I was a kid. I also dug the sequel, Beyond the Chocolate War."I wanted to read the sequel too!!! I can't wait to see what happens after the chocolate war!
Reading The Passage - not typically my type of book but so far it's quite a page turner. Then will start on The Remains of the Day for the club discussion. This has been on my TBR list for ages.
I've been traveling this week and managed to finish Smoke and Shadows by Tanya Huff.. It was just an okay read for me. I started reading The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong yesterday on the plane back home. Only about 50 pages in, but it was good so far.
Rachel wrote: "Reading The Passage - not typically my type of book but so far it's quite a page turner. Then will start on The Remains of the Day for the club discussion. This has be..."But is The Passage great or even good literature? Does it have the potential to become a classic? Or, is it that maybe, due to its length, people feel such a sense of accomplishment that they make more out of it than what it is? Is it kind of a victim of its own hype- that it's a decent/good book but because you expect greatness you're disappointed? I'm not making judgments, I haven't read it yet. My copy is on its way to the library and I want to know how to adjust my expectations of it.
Heh - Shay, those are some interesting questions. I don't usually read modern fiction, but I took a random break for The Passage. I'd say that it's not 'good literature,' but it's effective. Fun to read; not important.
Hi all! I haven't been posting much lately (lots of gardening and overtime). I like the gardening...not so much the overtime.Lately, I've finished:
Pride and Prejudice, which I was a bit disappointed in. I usually enjoy a Victorian novel but this one seemed like true Victorian fluff.
Sad Cypress (one can't go too wrong with an Agatha Christie). I'm just starting to read the Hercule Poiroit books and find him an interesting character.
Between, Georgia. I found this one to be a fun, humerous look at the South. A good summer read.
Mudbound. Another Southern story but darker than Between, Georgia. I enjoyed it and would recommend it for a quick read.
Currently, I'm reading Major Pettigrew's Last Stand. A good story but very detailed and drawn out, I find.
Brigit, enjoy War & Peace. I want to restart that book one day. Years ago, I got lost in the party scene at the very beginning of the book. I couldn't figure out who was who and whether there were a handful or a roomful of people at the party. So many names.......
Hi Shay,I'm only about 10% done with the book but I would already tend to agree with Alex. I don't think it would ever be considered a "classic" or "great literature".
Hey Petra! Ain't seen you in ages. Hope the garden's in good shape.
Linda wrote: "Jamaie wrote: "Along with The Kitchen House, I am reading ."What do you think of The Kitchen House so far. Debating on ordering it on my Kindle."
I also loved The Kitchen House, but man was it a tearjerker! I'm currently reading Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison and I'm surprisingly loving it. Urban fantasies tend to be a bit of a hit or miss with me, but this one is really fun. Plus, it was free book on the Kindle and that just makes it sweeter.
I did too. I remember it being recommended to me in college by of all people, a psychology professor.He was astute enough to recognize my choice of pre-med was little more than an advanced case of sibling rivalry.I took the hint, switched to English and eventually became a writer. My older brother completed med school and becanme a psychiatrist. Best
Joseph Cavano
josephcavano.com
Alex wrote: "Hey Petra! Ain't seen you in ages. Hope the garden's in good shape."It's looking pretty bare now that the weeds are out and yet it looks better. Blister on my palm says that I won't be gardening today so I'm going to be spending some time catching up around here.
Petra, it is so funny that you mentioned Between, Georgia. My family was joking just this week that we were moving to the real Between, because it's halfway between Athens (UGA football) and Atlanta (Braves baseball)- perfect for season tickets!I just finished The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and The Kitchen Boy: A Novel of the Last Tsar. Both were good, but especially The Kitchen Boy. I totally did not see the end coming.
Suzanne wrote: "Petra, it is so funny that you mentioned Between, Georgia. My family was joking just this week that we were moving to the real Between, because it's halfway between Athens (UGA footb..."That's funny! In the book, Between has a population of really tiny (less than 100, I think). Although I like a small town, I can't imagine living in a place *that* small. Athens and Atlanta have their place in this story as well.
Alex wrote: "I dug Bourdain's Nasty Bits more than Kitchen Confidential. Have you read any of his other stuff, F1?I started and finished the very brief [book:Brunelleschi's Dome: ..."
WOw! You have some nice boss, I wish mine would do that every once and awhile. Unfortunately, she practically lives here...
I finished The Island of Dr. Moreau and loved it. I'm having a hard time deciding what will be next.
How was mockingjay? I'm picking it up from the library tomorrow and am really excited about it.
Finished Player Piano. Probably my favorite of Vonnegut's so far, as I'm partial to dytopians. Started The Remains of the Day for next month's discussions.
Jayme wrote: "How was mockingjay? I'm picking it up from the library tomorrow and am really excited about it."Mockingjay for me was excellent. I did think the author did a good job presenting the issues and still making the story move quick. I will re-read this series again.
Jayme wrote: "What a bummer about your book, Lark, it had such an amusing title, you'd think if it was bad it would at least be the entertaining kind of bad."I love it. I love all Sherman Alexie's short story collections with a passion. His novels, not so much. It depends on whether you are interested in the Native American viewpoint or not. If you are genuinely not interested in it, I can see the stories being puzzling and tiresome. I find them wonderful.
The Secret History is on my list of worst books I ever finished reading for some reason.
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The Next Best Book Club
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See ya next time I come up for air...