The Next Best Book Club discussion
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What are you reading?
Finished reading I Am the Messenger.. loved loved loved it.. and now i'm currently reading Smoke and Mirrors by Tanya Huff.. looks like it's better than the first one.. didn't particularly like the first one..
Leslie T. wrote: "Ulysses is killing me, so I've decided to take a break and now I'm reading The Picture of Dorian Gray."One definitely needs to take breaks while reading Ulysses. I tried to set a minimum of pages to read each day. I could (and often did) read more but I tried not to read less.
As I read Ulysses (and started to get the hang of the story), I wondered why Joyce made the story so difficult for the reader to read. It's really a good and positive story but it's hidden under so many literary experimentation (?? is this what Joyce was doing??) and lots & lots of convoluted wordings.
i finished Haunt Me Sill today. it was different. the end let me down a bit, i will say that. she leaves it open for a third book with these characters, and i'm hoping that if she does write one, it's with a better ending. there was so much build up and crazy action, that the way things ended was a drag. i didn't read the first one, Interred With Their Bones and i do plan on going back to it, i just hope it isn't as unsatisfying at the end.the next book i'll be picking up is Grave Goods. i love this particular series, so i'm excited to start it.
just started
this series had a slow start but each book is better than the one before
I am reading I'd Know You Anywhere. So far interesting although I must admit I don't understand some of the main character's actions. It does make me think though.
Alex wrote: "Have you read Alice before, Patricia? One of my favorites."Nope, my experience with Alice has been limited to the Disney version. I'm enjoying it so far. A quick, silly read.
I finished The Girls last night. I found it to be a touching, loving, sad, humerous and "real" story. It touched on a lot of emotions. It's written as a memoir about cojoined twins with each girl writing different chapers. The author did a marvelous job of giving each girl a voice and character and writing style. One gets to know each girl as a seperate personality and individual. This is a story that will stay with me for awhile.
I've now started Still Alice.
I am finding Maiden Voyage fascinating, and far better than I thought - I love sailing with a passion, and have read plenty of offshore voyagers, before this one. The combination of Tania's extreme youth (age 18) and her 26 foot sloop and her cat on an around the world voyage has given this one a fresh flavor. Her effort took place two decades ago, before the current rash of news coverage on the young women sailors who were lately in the spotlight.
Wait, she brought a cat with her? Ha!
I'm reading Once Bitten by Trina M. Lee.At the moment I have an almost pathological need to read but I don't have a lot of time so I am 'hoovering' through all the short books.
Ruby wrote: "YES! It is sort of mind-blowing to be able to relate so much to a ..."That's exactly how I felt! Astonished that she could be so relevant. She was obviously such a force of personality. I have a feeling living around her in a temple would have been like living in a whirlwind!
Now I'm reading Anne of Windy Poplars, I've been slowly making my way through the series. Abrupt difference between these two! Intense and Savage to sweet and delicate (comparitively).
Petra wrote: "I finished The Girls last night. I found it to be a touching, loving, sad, humerous and "real" story. It touched on a lot of emotions. It's written as a memoir about cojoined twins wit..."Enjoy Still Alice, it's a wonderful book.
Petra wrote: "I finished The Girls last night. I found it to be a touching, loving, sad, humerous and "real" story. It touched on a lot of emotions. It's written as a memoir about cojoined twins wit..."i loved The Girls, i read it last summer. it did have a good amount of believability to it, which isn't always the case in fiction. glad you liked it!
Alex wrote: "Wait, she brought a cat with her? Ha!"Poor cat! Lord... I would not want to be trapped on the ocean in a small boat with a cat. ><
Since I am reading from a kindle now I find myself reading more than one book at a time. It is so easy to move from one to another that it seems natural. Has anyone else found this to be true for them too? I am reading Voyager, Sworn To Silence, and The Woman in White. Woman in White is slow for me. It took three pages (on my kindle) just to describe Laura! I hope it starts moving faster soon. I gave up on The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. After 125 pages I didn't care about anyone enough to finish. I don't get the hype at all.
Linda wrote: "Since I am reading from a kindle now I find myself reading more than one book at a time. It is so easy to move from one to another that it seems natural. Has anyone else found this to be true for t..."I read more than one book since owning a Kindle too. I also have dozens of samples downloaded to try out, love this feature. I liked Sworn to Silence (and the sequel), but I also liked All of Larsson's books (3rd one being weakest and my least favorite).
Linda, I have that temptation on the Kindle too! I fight it as hard as I can, because I feel like if I gave in it would ruin me.Other Linda, I also download sample chapters compulsively. That part is great. Sometimes I'm not sure what to read next, so I just read all the samples I've got until one grabs me and won't let go. Great marketing tool!
I've just finished Don Quixote, which I thought was a heartbreaking work of staggering genius (what up Dave Eggers); now I'm starting Huck Finn, for the first time since puberty. Looking forward to it.
Madeline wrote: "Ruby wrote: "YES! It is sort of mind-blowing to be able to relate so much to a ..."That's exactly how I felt! Astonished that she could be so relevant. She was obviously such a force of perso..."
I am also a big L. M. Montgomery fan - been rereading them all for a long time. The last four in the Anne series - the two about her marriage, the one from the point of view of the children/neighbor children, and the one about the Great War that ends the series, are some of my absolute favorites. I also love the Pat books, the Story Girl books,
A Tangled Web, and above all my top fave, The Blue Castle.
I'm dying to read her collected journals that have now been published, and a biography or two, none of which I've gotten my paws on yet. :)
I finished Tania Aebi's Maiden Voyage - it was delightful.And actually, cats do extremely well on sailboats, if they are brought up as kittens. I can easily see why she took her cat, having sailed offshore for quite a few passages in small sailboats - the companionship would be invaluable on a long, hard voyage alone.
Petra wrote: "Claire wrote: "Oh good, The Blind Assassin is on my tbr......the only one I've read of hers is The Handmaid's Tale and I loved that...."Claire, the world of Margaret Atwood's books is a great p..."
Thanks for the recommendation of Oryx and Crake, Petra. I almost bought it a few weeks ago when I was in Barnes & Noble but opted for another book. I'll have to get it ----- I'm excited to delve into more of M. Atwood's books.
I just finished Little Black Book of Stories, which was a pretty good short story collection by A.S. Byatt. I am currently reading The Good Daughters: A Novel and The Haunting of Hill House. Next on the list is Their Eyes Were Watching God, in honor of banned book week, and The Art of Devotion, which I just ordered from paperbackswap.
I just finished Winter's Bone and I thought it was great. It was bleak and depressing, but pretty much amazing. I'm still reading In Cold Blood and am going to start A City of Ghosts: Stories which was a First Reads win.
Madeline wrote: "Alex wrote: "Wait, she brought a cat with her? Ha!"Poor cat! Lord... I would not want to be trapped on the ocean in a small boat with a cat. ><"
My aunt & uncle are remodeling a sailboat to live on & they will be taking their cat onboard. Their 15 lb., 8-yr-old cat, who has never been on a boat in his life, who is used to roaming the neighborhood whenever he pleases. That just doesn't seem fair to me- taking a cat out of his habitat & sticking him on a boat.
I just finished The Kite Runner and am now half-way through The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. Both are really good!
I really liked Still Alice. I've learned a lot from many books over the years, but this is one of the few that I can say added to my understanding of a subject or situation. I also appreciated that it wasn't overly sentimental.Finished Blindness and The Age of Innocence. On to a review book by David Grossman, To the End of the Land, and a light mystery, the second in a series by Louise Penny.
Claire, give me a holler when you get around to Oryx and Crake. It's very high on my read list too, so if I can I'll come along with you.
Alex wrote: "Claire, give me a holler when you get around to Oryx and Crake. It's very high on my read list too, so if I can I'll come along with you."Sounds good, Alex. I may try to read a scary book for halloween but will put Oryx & Crake high on my list and will let ya know.
Currently reading The House of the Seven Gables by Hawthorne. Better than I expected. I'm enjoying it more than The Scarlet Letter (although, to be fair, I've only ever read Scarlet Letter when it was assigned to me in high school so I might appreciate it more now).After this I'm planning to read Blindness by Jose Saramago.
I am reading
and
. and I just finished
last night. and started Art of Racing last night and im already almost done with it, only about 40-50 more pages to go, i'll finish it before bed I wanted some quality computer time first haha.Im really enjoying it so far and I can't wait to get to the end to see how it ends.. even though i'm sure I can already guess.. Then I need to put my mind to finishing Society of S, It's a good book but a little more detailed than I thought it was going to be and I guess my mind just wasn't in the mood for that kind of writing at the time.
I just finished The Haunting of Hill House. It was really surreal and just strange. I'm going to need some time to think about it before I give a more coherent review than that. I'm currently reading Cassandra Rising, an anthology of Science Fiction short stories written by women. The first one was really good, so I have high hopes for the rest.
I just finished Still Alice. What a wonderful book! Touching in so many ways. She was a brave lady and I loved the ending. In many ways, Alice's struggle with Alzheimer's reminded me a lot of my Mom and her struggle with Cancer. Not the same disease, for sure, but many of the struggles to maintain one's life patterns and one's "self" were the same. I wanted to hug both my Mom and Alice many times throughout the book.
Currently reading the Gemma Doyle series :)
Stephanie wrote: "Currently reading the Gemma Doyle series :)"Hi Stephanie, how is the Gemma Doyle stories.. i have my eye on the books at the bookstore yesterday, but wasn't sure if it's worth to buy..
This evening after dinner I curled up with a Christmas CD (yes, in September!), a cup of mint hot chocolate, and Tim Slover's The Christmas Chronicles: The Legend of Santa Claus. I found myself immediately drawn into Slover's lyrical prose, even reading sections of it aloud. What an amazing and wonderful story! This is definitely one book I will read again.
I started The brave by Nicholas Evans this morning and loooooooove it. So glad to be reading it!!!!!!
I just finished Joe Hill's Horns and have epic love for said book. So, no pressure there for the next book to be awesome, much. :DI think next I'll start Vikas Swarup's Six Suspects since it's due back in the library in about a week. After that, probably back to re-reading the HP series.
Rosabelle wrote: "Stephanie wrote: "Currently reading the Gemma Doyle series :)"Hi Stephanie, how is the Gemma Doyle stories.. i have my eye on the books at the bookstore yesterday, but wasn't sure if it's worth..."
I really enjoyed the first book. It was an easy read so I sailed right through it. I've just started the second book now. I don't regret buying them. I read some reviews complaining the characters were one dimensional but I didn't think so at all. I really liked Gemma and I thought the characters were accurate depictions of sixteen year old girls. If you're into YA fiction I say go for it.
Kristin, so glad you were enjoying "The Art of Racing in the Rain". I loved that book!
Erika, glad to see you're enjoying "Garden Spells". I've enjoyed all three of her books, they are light and fun reads I think.
I started Rudyard Kipling's Kim last night. I'm not terribly far into it yet so it's hard to say how I'll feel about it, but I'll give it a fair chance.
El wrote: "I started Rudyard Kipling's Kim last night. I'm not terribly far into it yet so it's hard to say how I'll feel about it, but I'll give it a fair chance."I read this book one or two years ago and wasn't really sure of it at the beginning but ended up really enjoying it.
Susanna wrote: "I just finished Joe Hill's Horns and have epic love for said book. So, no pressure there for the next book to be awesome, much. :DAwesome, I just requested Horns from the GR book swap. Now I'm even more excited!
I finished The Slap last night (finally). It wasn't the worst book I've ever read, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
Today I'm starting Persuasion. I have high hopes. Still reading and enjoying a few stories per day from The Mammoth Book of Modern Ghost Stories: Great Supernatural Tales of the Twentieth Century.
Ruby wrote: "Madeline wrote: "Ruby wrote: "YES! It is sort of mind-blowing to be able to relate so much to a ..."That's exactly how I felt! Astonished that she could be so relevant. She was obviously such a..."
Oh I so love Rilla of Ingleside, it is my favourite of the Anne of Green Gables books.
I finished Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. I thought it was pretty silly. Now I am reading Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro.
I finished The Art of Racing in the Rain today. I loved it... I did cry at the end even though I knew what was going to happen. I would defiantly recommend this book to anyone who hasn't read it yet. I cant believe I found this at the book sale for only a dollar, perfect condition looks like it came straight out of the bookstore!
And aside from the ending being sad.. I also loved it.. it was very well done.
Alex wrote: "Claire, give me a holler when you get around to Oryx and Crake. It's very high on my read list too, so if I can I'll come along with you."I'm going to be re-reading that soon if you guys want a little more company.
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The Next Best Book Club
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As I recall I used to whine at my father to take me to the library (my mom was the reader in the family) because I could use him as a pack animal! Have fun with Good Omens! It was one that everyone passed around in high school in our crowd, and I still love it.