The Next Best Book Club discussion
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What are you reading?
Dietmar: Are you from Germany?
thanks for all the posts about The Thursday Next, i'm excited to pick them up now. I did read The Big OverEasy for a bookclub and althought it was 'cute' for the first 100 pages, i got bored. Hoping this series will be a bit different! Also I loved The Glass Castle, so poignant, it got me on a memoir kick for a good two months. Has anyone ever read Jesus Land by Julia Scheere?
Just curious as my Great Grandmother was from Germany. close though!
I've just finished A Great and Terrible Beauty and LOVED it! Thanks Emma!Now moving onto Inkheart by Cornelia Funke.
I'm on a bit of a YA kick... I guess thats a good thing, because with Shantaram, Oscar Wao and Cider House Rules coming up, I reckon I'm gonna be glad I had some light relief!
Kirsty, you just made me decide now that A Great and Terrible Beauty will be my next read. I've been debating for days which book I will read next after Zahir and now I have officially decided haha.
hehe... hope you like it! I'm sure Emma will be pleased :)
Dietmar, I don't know how the English translations compare to the original German, but I LOVE his books!! I've only read Captain Bluebear, Rumo and another one whose name escapes me right now. I just put another of his books on hold at the library.Liz, I've read Jesus Land and thought it was very, very good. What a hard story, though.
I loved Jesus Land, I could not put it down. Heart Shaped Box was great, totally creepy. I read it on a plane coming home from Florida and when the flight attendant asked me if needed anything I jumped and spilled my soda all over myself!I'm reading Map of Ireland, it was on the new shelf at the library so I grabbed it. It's about a girl growing up in South Boston during the busing riots-it's really good so far and so quick.
I'm in the middle of "Alive in Necropolis" by Doug Dorst. It’s about a rookie cop in Colma, California. (Colma was founded as a necropolis in 1924, and has 17 cemeteries for humans and one for pets. The dead population outnumber the living by thousands to one.) This book mixes a police procedural with a ghost story, so it sounded like a fun read.
Mole, Val, & Joanie- So happy to know that I am not the only one totally creeped out by Heart Shaped Box! I can't wait until he writes another one.
Melanie-his short story collection 20th Century Ghosts was great too. The stories were really well done, creepy but not necessarily horror (well some were, but there's mix.) Definitely check it out.
Red,I didn't get to read The Ten Roof Blowdown by Burke but I did listen to the audio book. I absolutely loved it. A fellow worker recommended him to me and now I am hooked. I have gone and bought several of the books in paperback (gently used of course) but haven't gotten to read any others yet.
The story absolutely had me gripping the edge of my seat to hear what happened next. I love Dave Robicheaux's character and of course his unofficial "side kick".
Just finished What Was Lost...it was not my usually fare but I enjoyed it and was truly surprised at the ending. Now I'm reading London is the best City in America by Laura Dave.
Mod
I have that on my TR shelf and I think I should read it BEFORE the weather gets cold and wintry and therefore creepy.
Just want you all to know, after reading all the comments about Heart Shaped Box, I just joined a bookring on bookcrossing for that book.I had been watching it and watching it and you have now convinced me.
Now I really have to go.
You should see me, I am sitting in my favorite easy chair with my laptop and book in my lap.
I have to turn this off.
Really getting into "Twilight"
Goodnight!
I just completed Ethan Frome. I liked it. It was a sad story. However, I am going to read the other Wharton that I have on my shelf.I am now getting ready to start Native Son until I get my copy of Book Thief.
Well I'm just about finished Eat, Pray, Love and I must say sadly so because I'm really quite enjoying this book, maybe because Italy, India and Indonesia are all places I would love to know more about, as well as the spiritual side of things. I've actually been to Bali a couple of times and travelled to Ubud for an overnight stay so I can picture some of the places she talks about. People say that it seems to be a sorry for her book, a book all about her and her whining - well sorry people but that's why she wrote the book isn't it? I got this book not looking for my personal answers but to see through someone else's eyes and go along that journey with her.Anyway, this one will be done this evening and then it's getting a head start of Shantaram. So although I'm sad to see this book end, I'm really excited about starting the next.
I just started Cash an Autobiography Johnny Cash is my idol and i found the book at a thrift store for 50 cents score!lol its very touching ive read about 150 pages in the last 2 hours its gonna be one of them books that is finished to quick leaving me hungry
Mole, did you watch, is it, Walk the Line?
Of course many times!lol has anyone ever read Salamn Rushdie, The Satanic Verses I know when it was written it caused quite alot of trouble i got it for a quarter today also i figured what the hell
I am reading A Dangerous Mourning by Anne Perry, Twilight by Stephanie Meyer, In the Next Galaxy by Ruth Stone, Door in the Mountain by Jean Valentine, The Best of the Best American Poetry by many poets, Time and Materials by Robert Haas, Selected Poems II 1976-1986 by Margaret Atwood, Selected Poems 1963-1983 by Charles Simic.
Wow, Catamorandi, that's a lot of books to read at once!I know, Mole, I just had to ask!
Thats ok Its quite alright! And Cat thats a big stack your working on,be careful you knock it over you may be crushed!lol
I just started Obsession by Karen Robards. Only 3 pages into it.
Tim - I haven't read any Rushdie but do plan to. I am definitely interested in the concept and controversy surrounding The Satanic Verses. Just started reading America America by Ethan Canin. It was an NPR summer pick and I'm a big NPR fan since they recommended The Shadow of the Wind in 2004(?).
Mod
Welcome Dietmar. Get ready for a fast ride in the book reading lane. The book titles come at you so fast and furious. I hope you can read more than five at at time. Just kidding about the five, not the fast and furious.
Melanie:Adding my "creeped out" to the group. Guess it runs in the family since I hear he is the son of Stephen King. Anyone confirm or deny?
Finished Breaking Dawn (everything in life stopped for that, of course) and moved right on to Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, by Mary Roach. Both dealing with immortality in their own special ways. Breaking Dawn was great--comes in close 2nd to Twilight. Stiff is hilarious and interesting and strange and fascinating and cringeful (a new word coming soon to a dictionary near you). I think I'll read her book about science and the paranormal soon (not next, as others have lined up first) called Spook. Love those one-word titles!
Now, I'm reading Midnight Champagne, by A. Manette Ansay. Like her style so far. She randomly switches points of view as she tells the story of a small wedding in Wisconsin. It's kind of like you're mingling with her at the reception and reading people's minds.
Mole, I've read most of Rushdie's books. I enjoyed Satanic Verses but felt that the controversy outshined the story's merits. I preferred Midnight's Children which is a fantastic (in the sense that it's fantasy-like) look at the partition of India and Pakistan and the atrocities of Indira Gandhi's presidency. For a good YA novel, I'd recommend his Haroun & the Sea of Stories.
Man, I've got to find a way to sneak on during the weekend...haha. Two days away and I'm hopelessly behind.
Still reading BOLT. Another weekend lost, this time to my bout of Olympic fever. I really got into the games this year. I'm having a strange problem with my reading. I am enjoying BOLT to the point where I don't want to deal with Blood Meridian...lol. I'm about halfway through both books and they're so diametrically opposed in tone and spirit that it's making my brain cry.
Jesse, I'm having a hard time keeping up my reading pace with the games on too. Still, commercials are ever-present in the Olympics and I found time to finish off both The Raw Shark Texts and The Turn of the Screw yesterday.This morning I'm starting My Horizontal Life, Chelsea Handler's first book. I love her show, her stand-up and her most recent book so I'm pretty sure that I'm going to love this too.
Good for you, Logan. I think one of my problems is that I just read too slow. Sounds like you can speed through books.
Logan, what did you think about Turn of the Screw?
Logan, what did you think of The Raw Shark Texts in the end? I have had a whole weekend of reading nothing as I have been away and I am finding it really hard to get back into. I am at the bit where he first meets Mr Nobody and, disappointingly, at the moment I could quite easily move on to something else. I enjoyed it at first but it is so darn weird that I have no idea what is going on half the time. Shall I perservere?
Mod
Yeah Logan, two books in one shot, down and done! I know you thought TofS was toturous as well......huh?
Holy cow. I've been camping for the past several days and thought I would be able to get on a couple of times...not the case! However, I did get a bunch of reading done while keeping my son corraled and without a t.v. to let the Olympics distract me, I finished Haunted and got 100 pages into The Book Thief which I was able to get from a library that I hadn't been to in years.
Haunted just about turned around with the storyline, but the last few chapters lost me again. All in all, I thought the stories were good but the narrative that linked them together was not strong enough. And even though it was fiction, it still needed to be believable, which it was not in the most remote sense.
I do like The Book Thief immensely so far. I don't know why, but I am quite reminded of Extremely Loud....
I miss not participating as much!!!! I am constantly thinking of how I would put my reading into context with the group and how I wouldn't even be reading this book if not for the group.
Stacie - I'd like to know what you think about Native Son. It was one of my favorites and I wrote a couple of reports on that book and Richard Wright. He has an excellent collection of short stories that covers the same topic of black oppression and resulting violence.
Haunted just about turned around with the storyline, but the last few chapters lost me again. All in all, I thought the stories were good but the narrative that linked them together was not strong enough. And even though it was fiction, it still needed to be believable, which it was not in the most remote sense.
I do like The Book Thief immensely so far. I don't know why, but I am quite reminded of Extremely Loud....
I miss not participating as much!!!! I am constantly thinking of how I would put my reading into context with the group and how I wouldn't even be reading this book if not for the group.
Stacie - I'd like to know what you think about Native Son. It was one of my favorites and I wrote a couple of reports on that book and Richard Wright. He has an excellent collection of short stories that covers the same topic of black oppression and resulting violence.
Lori,because of that tortuous sentence you posted I was able to correctly guess a Henry James novel on GRs trivia... :)
Yay...Jeremy's back! It's funny how despite the millions of posts, we notice when one of the 'regulars' is gone.
Yes, that's so true, Tisha. I've been wondering about Jeremy and Lorena...haha.
I just finished The Secret History last night. I ended up liking it quite a bit, but am rather disturbed by it. Now I can get back into Shantaram and hopefully get to the library before they send The Book Thief and Book of Last Things back to the main library. (Our library is closed on Sundays and Mondays and they only hold things for a week which sometimes makes it difficult to get there in time.)I read Heart Shaped Box a few months ago and was quite creeped out by it! Funny that he's picked up on his dad's ability to be scary but Owen King has such a different style.
Mod
Hi Tisha. I thought of you when I was thinking of what to post. I remember last week how you wrote one post to respond to everything. :)
Macy, doesn't it become a logistical challenge to get all of these books from the library what with their hours and all?
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The Next Best Book Club
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I currently read the red/green/blue mars trilogy by kim stanley robinson and I do not regret it so far, good books. Recently I read "Verfall" by Vladimir Zarev a wonderful bulgarian author (unfortunately not available in english as far as I know).
The Thursday Next series is a fun read, I read the first two books of the series and look forward to read all the others.
Hi Val: Walter Moers books are wonderful - but I read them in german (I'm a native speaker), so I can't tell you if the english translation is OK.