The Next Best Book Club discussion
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What are you reading?
I'm currently reading TailSpin by CoulterVipi
I'm just back from a knitting retreat up in the Smokey Mountains (had a great time!). I finished One Skein Wonders up there, very good book (if you knit!).I also picked up Impressionist Paintings in Needlepoint, which looks very interesting.
And I was already reading both Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, which I am really liking a great deal, and Copperheads (about the "Peace" Democrats in the North during the Civil War), which is interesting.
I just found this group and have already spent the better part of my Sunday afternoon on it! I am currently reading "Escape" by Carolyn Jessop. It is pretty good, but I am not loving it, just enjoying it.
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I did read Insomnia, its a HUGE novel but I did really like it. It gets sooo much better as you go.. you should give it another go.
Odd Thomas is the best book of the bunch IMO. You dont have to start with that one, Koontz does a great job pulling you in and catching you up in the others, but the first one is great. I would recommend you start with that one!
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I just finished The Road. I really liked it. :) After hearing how so many of you on here enjoyed it, I had to give it a read. I'm glad I did. And definitely not something I would have picked up on my own. I'm going to read I Am Legend next. My hubby just read it and loved it.
Linda~ So glad you enjoyed Guernsey!!! I hope to get to that one soon.
Connie, I'm with Lori on Odd Thomas. The first one is the best. You don't necessarily have to start with that one, but a lot of stuff happens in it that would be spoiled by reading the others first. He refers back to some incidents in the first one a lot.
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from one great book to another. Hvae you seen I Am Legend yet? The movie was awesome but did not follow the book at all... I read the book first and loved it!!
Hi all! I'm Liz, I'm new to the group :) Anyways, right now I'm reading Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith, which is the 2nd novel in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. I've also been working on a book called Give Your Heart to the Hawks, but I've found it to be quite slow. We'll see!
I am currently reading the mysteries of udolfo by ann radclif. my spelling is off but you get the general idea.
Lori, :)I have seen the movie, and I really liked it. I'm excited to see how the book compares (or how different it is!!). I have to confess... I have been consulting your "far better than most" books on your book shelf as I've been choosing what to read. I like your taste in books! :) Next on my list after I Am Legend is The Cave by Saramago. :)
Welcome to the group, Liz! :) It's awesome here!
I just started Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell which is quite fantastic already. I was a bit intimidated by the size of it (and I don't scare easily) but her prose is so quick that I'm not worried. Also, this is my first post, as I just joined the club. I'm so excited about the October books!
Gail,Have you read Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen? The heroine in that book reads The Mysteries of Udolpho
Almost done with New Moon finally.Had alot of reading and studying time at the library today.I think i may start a quick cozy mystery before doing another creepy read.I should have checked here before i went though so i could have picked up Dracula.Oh well will just have to go get next Sunday when i plan to go back.
Thanks to everyone who posted regarding Insomnia and Odd Thomas. I think I will wait on Odd Thomas til I get that first one in my hands. My mom says nothing much happens,but I am one of those people who has to start at the beginning. Kinda like with Lost the TV show (my other passion), even though nothing much "happens" in the first season, a lot still kind of does. You're missing out bigtime, especially the character development, if you don't start at the very beginning.
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THat is a a great compliment, thank you so much! The books on that shelf are by far my most favorite, and I dotn place them there lightly!
I tend to think I have good taste in books too :) hee hee
Connie, I agree with Lori. Odd Thomas was the best of the books for me as well. I recommend starting with that one, but you can start any where and still know what's going on.For me, I'm a bit anal about starting at the beginning, so that's where I started.
Well, I finished The Bone Garden and am glad I stuck with it. Not my favorite read, but glad to be done. I also finished Island of Lost Girls which I threw to the side a couple of months ago because I was bored with it. Also glad to have finished it as well.
Now, I'm reading Heart Shaped Box. I LOVE IT!!!! Can't seem to put it down. The only reason I'm not reading it now is I'm at work and it would be too obvious.
Linda, I, also, loved The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. It's one of those books that I want all of my friends to read, to experience how wonderful it is. Drowning Ruth is an excellent book. It was one that I gave to my book buddies for Christmas last year. Enjoy it.
I am new to this group, but I've already posted several messages. I love all the discussion. I just wanted to chime in with a few of the books I've read recently that I thought were excellent. I've already mentioned The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society. Some others are To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis (also highly recommend her novel Doomsday Book), The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penny, The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry, The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent, and Obedience by Will Lavender. Then, I started reading Tess Gerritsen and have read The Bone Garden, The Surgeon, The Apprentice, and The Sinner. These are reads from August and September. I am currently reading another in the Gerritsen series starring Jane Rizzoli entitled Vanish, actually leaving out Body Double because it hasn't arrived from Amazon yet. I plan on reading The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson after finishing off the Gerritsen series. I am somewhat complusive about going through a series.
Just started Galileo's Daughter. So far it's very good.
JT that is actually where I got the idea to read it from. I forgot I had it for a while now I am in a race against time to get it back to the library.
I finished The Places in Between earlier this morning. It was a travelogue of a former British diplomat who set off to walk across Afghanistan only a few weeks after the fall of the Taliban in 2002. While dry in some points, the overall story was very interesting and helps put a human face to the people the US has been alternately arming or bombing for the past thirty years. It's easy to think in stereotypes if you don't have any other reference point. Stewart does a great job of making the Afghan people simple humans trying to get by rather than the boogeymen of so many nightmares. Good, not great, travel writing.I have no idea what I'm going to read next. So much on the shelf, so little time to read them all!
Logan, I'm guessing you have figured it out within the past 1/2 hour!
I finished Wuthering Heights over the lunch break. While it was just ok for me I can see how it could appeal more to others. I was glad to have found out that I read the original version with corrections only on typos. Apparently sister Charlotte decided to do some contextual editing 3 years after the original printing.
Now I am on to The Hotel New Hampshire which is my 9th Irving.
I finished Wuthering Heights over the lunch break. While it was just ok for me I can see how it could appeal more to others. I was glad to have found out that I read the original version with corrections only on typos. Apparently sister Charlotte decided to do some contextual editing 3 years after the original printing.
Now I am on to The Hotel New Hampshire which is my 9th Irving.
Kathy - Please let me know what you think about The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson. I keep seeing it at the store and just don't have the guts to pick it up. Not sure if it's my type of read...I'd love to hear another's feedback.I just finished The Bone Garden and recently audioed The Mephisto Club by Tess Gerritsen. While The Bone Garden didn't really do it for me (which could because I stopped reading half way through and then waited a year to pick it back up), I really enjoy The Mephisto Club. Be sure to add it to your Gerritsen TBD list. I also found Vanished at Goodwill this weekend so I picked it up.
After finishing The Poisonwood Bible last night (great book!), I picked up Choke by Chuck Palahniuk to read before the movie comes out. I'm also reading If Chins Could Kill by Bruce Campbell which I'm finding pretty interesting.
Kathy, guess we are both going to spreading the word on this one. Have you gone online to the website for the Guernsey book? Makes me want to visit.Nothing like the style of The Guernsey Literary and PPPS book, but have you read Resistance by Owen Sheers. Same type of theme, but with a different twist. Highly recommend it.
Thanks for the encouragement on Drowning Ruth. I am only 50 pages into it, but seems really different.
Kathy, looks like we are on some of the same wavelengths. I have also read The Time Traveler's Wife (loved it), The Lace Reader (what a unique concept), have been eyeing the Heretic's Daughter, but with so many recent purchases, have to curb my enthusiasm.
That's awesome Heather! I plan on reading Choke before the end of October and catching the movie hopefully still in the theater...if I can convince my wife to go.
I am currently reading The Ballad of Frankie Silver by Sharyn McCrumb. I had never heard of this author before. I just happened across this book at a thrift store & thought it sounded pretty good. So far it has been.
I've set aside Eclipse -- I'm just having some problems with the Twilight series, currently. Instead, I grabbed something lighthearted and fun -- Baby Laughs by Jenny McCarthy.
Recynd, I just wanted to encourage you to read The Girls by Lori Lansens. It is one of my favorites. Also, I thought Water For Elephants was a great read.
Ikiwiki, I will be glad to let you know how I like The Gargoyle. It's gotten excellent reviews. Of course, I know that doesn't always guarantee a great read. I actually really enjoyed The Bone Garden, probably because I enjoy stores that connect the past and present like it does. With your positive nod, I will look forward to The Mephisto Club. I forgot that I am going to fit Dracula in starting the end of this week or the first of next.
Linda, I haven't gone to the Web site, but I will. I already want to visit Guernsey and probably will even more after my visit to the site. I will definitely check out Resistance. Yes, Drowning Ruth is different.
I read The Heretic's Daughter right after reading The Lace Reader. The Lace Reader left me wanting to read more about Salem and witches, so I decided to read something dealing with the witch trials of old Salem. If you enjoyed The Lace Reader, I think you would like The Heretic's Daughter, too.
Just finished THE TOWN THAT FORGOT TO BREATH. It freaked me out! Now I am really into FALLEN by goodreads author David Maine. I am liking it, but its a little confusing going back and forth, past and present.
I just finished Until I Find You by John Irving. I really liked it, and added Cider House Rules to my to read list. Now I am taking my third attempt at American Sphinx by Joseph Ellis, a book about the character of the historical Thomas Jefferson. I've gotten through the first third twice and I'm determined to finish it this time. Not sure why this one is so tough for me.
*** Sigh *** I am 2 Chapters away from finishing Standard of Honor By Jack Whyte, And there in lies the rub. I don't know where to go next. Bridge of Sighs is kinda boring I am beginning to struggle. I have, Fallen as well as Interpretation of Murder , I just don't know what to do drama, drama, drama.
I finished I Am Legend tonight. It was excellent. I only just started it this afternoon, and I couldn't put it down. Lori, you were so right about how little the movie followed the book~ very interesting! Anyways, it was a great read! :) I think I will start The Cave by Saramago next.
I just started Economic Facts & Fallacies by Thomas Sowell, and The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova.
I just started The Day of Reckoning by Jack Higgins after finishining his Edge of Danger. Its a book in the Sean Dillon(the protagonist) series and i am really liking it. Am also reading World war Z by Max Brooks in parallel. It is also a good book but not the kindof which u can read before going to sleep. :)
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Allison, Glad you liked I am Legend. For me, this is one of the few books I cant decide which I like better, the book or the movie, since they were nothing alike......
JG hope you like MP Fanny Price is a great girl. Hope you will like the rest of Jane as well.
Actually, I'm not reading anything right now because I am too addicted to goodreads!
I know it's taking me forever to get through Sense and Sensibility mostly because I can't stop typing here.
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The Next Best Book Club
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~"To Kill A Mockingbird" by Harper Lee (for school)
~"A Long Way Down" by Nick Hornby (listening to audio book)
~"The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde (my boyfriend and I are reading this together - sometimes independently, sometimes out loud)
~"The Five Love Languages" by Gary Chapman (my boyfriend and I are also reading this book and discussing what we think are our own personal love languages)
Sometimes I find it hard to keep up with all I am reading, but find that lately it has become much easier. I think this is because I am reading the books with someone else, and we try to stay together, so that keeps me on a schedule.