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Feeling Nostalgic? The archives
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Summer Reading List? Jonathan Strange: Yay or Nay?
Fire by Kristin Cashore, the prequel to GracelingLips Touch: Three Times, which I bought at Powell's Books months ago, it was just SO PRETTY. And, it's a National Book Award finalist.
Moon Over Manifest, the Newbery Award winner for the year.
The Man Who Loved Books Too Much: The True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of Literary Obsession, which my mom lent me, and keeps asking me about.
Teeth: Vampire Tales, because I love vampire stories, and this book has stories by Neil Gaiman, Garth Nix, and Melissa Marr. Woo!
I'm going to try for 6 after I finish the one's I'm currently reading.I'm currently reading A Prayer for Owen Meany, Three Day Road, and Breathless.
Summer reading:
Three Junes
Under Heaven
The Widow of the South
The Picture of Dorian Gray
In the Sanctuary of Outcasts: A Memoir
The Hunger Games
That should keep me busy and out of trouble.
I read Huck Finn last summer, Sally. It's a good summer read. I tried to read On the Road, and gave up in disgust.
Janice, Three Junes is really good. I've got the sequel a friend gave me that I really should read some day.
I don't have a set list. I'll probably finish the Woodrell back catalog. I'm tempted to re-read some Homer or Virgil. I just snagged DFW's The Pale King from the library, but I don't know how far I'll get.
Part of my upcoming list :
Plus a bunch of half finished series that I need to continue, as well as some gallies that I've requested.
Right now, I'm reading The Paris Wife thanks to my book club. And I'm also reading The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge. When I finish, I plan on actually reading The Hunger Games. I just finished Inside a Dog (Jammie's recommendation... neato book!), and plan to also read Stanley Coren's books on dogs (I have 4 on-hand). Also on the to-read list:
- The Pursuit of Happiness by Douglas Kennedy
- Medicine Woman by Lynn Andrews
- Edwin Edwards: Governor of Louisiana by Leo Honeycutt
Also, I'm v. happy with this book club selection (The Paris Wife by Paula McClain
) - it's historical fiction, from the perspective of Ernest Hemingway's first wife... starting at their early courting, and moving into their lives in Paris during the 20s...that's all I know about it so far. It's based on actual events and documentation, though.
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Barb wrote: "Janice. If you're going to read The Hunger Games, I suggest you get the rest of the series ready, because there's a good chance you won't be able to stop..."Thanks for the warning, Barb. :)
I have a few Danish books I've promised to review, apart from that I'm planning to read some of my short story collections 
and
I might read the newest Rushdie
but otherwise I have no specific plans.
I am going to try and do some serious reading this summer. My plan includes Understanding Power: The Indispensable Chomsky
Black Dog of Fate: An American Son Uncovers His Armenian Past
The Conscience of a Liberal
Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War
Utopia
Open Veins of Latin America
Kafka on the Shore
Barb wrote: "I don't really have a schedule of what I'm going to read this summer, but after finishing what I've started (The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz & Life of Pi), I'll probab..."I don't believe you. You said you were going to read Stardust and Cannery Row months ago. Slacker.
A friend told me the same thing about The Hunger Games. She holed herself up and read the whole thing in one go, so I have it on my shelf, waiting for sunny days at the park.I recently read The Sparrow and am halfway through it's sequel, Children of God. Woah, what a book. Even if you're not religious, it has some interesting points about God and human destiny.
I also have Little Bee and Bossypants on hold at the library, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell on my shelf. Good reading, ahead.
Barb wrote: "RandomAnthony wrote: "I don't believe you. You said you were going to read Stardust and Cannery Row months ago. Slacker."Don't be a fucker."
This made me laugh in a meeting and almost got me in trouble.
I'm hoping to get through a few on my TBR this summer, but we'll see if my mind doesn't change completely in the next few weeks. I'm attempting to participate in a TBR challenge in another group to get some motivation and stay on task.The Mists of Avalon
The Crimson Petal and the White
The Handmaid's Tale
The Last Unicorn
The Eyre Affair
Nightwood
Amber wrote: "I'm hoping to get through a few on my TBR this summer, but we'll see if my mind doesn't change completely in the next few weeks. I'm attempting to participate in a TBR challenge in another group to..."I read The Mists of Avalon during the summer, too, Amber. It's a great summer read. :)
Heidi wrote: "Amber wrote: "I'm hoping to get through a few on my TBR this summer, but we'll see if my mind doesn't change completely in the next few weeks. I'm attempting to participate in a TBR challenge in an..."I have started it in the past, when I was in college, and never finished it. I really liked it, so I'm not quite sure why I never picked it up again. Probably had something to do with finals.
EEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Heidi, did you really like Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know? *bounce bounce*
Amber wrote: "Heidi wrote: "Amber wrote: "I'm hoping to get through a few on my TBR this summer, but we'll see if my mind doesn't change completely in the next few weeks. I'm attempting to participate in a TBR c..."It's one of my all time favorites... I've read it several times. Over time, I've discovered I prefer reading it during the late spring/early summer months.
Bun, I promise you JS&MN gets better.
BunWat wrote: "I am trying to read Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, its not going well. I read thirty pages and then I put it down and read two other books. Then I read thirty more pages. Everybody ..."Bun, that was my experience with it, too...
Heidi wrote: "BunWat wrote: "I am trying to read Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, its not going well. I read thirty pages and then I put it down and read two other books. Then I read thirty more pag..."It took me about 100 pages to get into Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell- but I loved it! One of my favourite reads last year. It was a bit tough to get into, I admit. I particularly enjoyed the footnotes. I describe it as Harry Potter for adults with a dash of Dickens. If you don’t like either one- you probably won’t enjoy this.
Heidi wrote: "Bun, that was my experience with it, too... And mine...I'll get to it again someday, but I put it down after only a handful of pages. My issue was twofold:
1)The lack of proper breaks. I couldn't find good places to put it down, so I had to choose bad places, so I might as well choose right now.
2)The size. I have a hardback copy and it's a monster. I can't take it with me out of the house, and I get involved in other stuff and don't come back to it.
i agree with lg. what i read depends entirely on whatever my mood may be at the time. the only exception is whenever i start a new series and i'm several books behind. i'll read the entire series back to back until i'm caught up.
Helena wrote: "Heidi wrote: "BunWat wrote: "I am trying to read Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, its not going well. I read thirty pages and then I put it down and read two other books. Then I read t..."I didn't have any trouble getting into Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, but I think it was because of the Victorian stuff I had been reading before I started it. I absolutely loved it. I'm tempted to read it again, except that the list I mentioned earlier is higher priority.
I really hope you can bring yourself to get through it Bun and Sarah, I think it will pay off. The size thing was a problem for me, too, only in a different way; I read it as trade paperback, and it was really hard to get the damn thing to stay open without completely decimating the spine, since it's a doorstop-1000 pages long. My wrists are still recovering.
Amber wrote: "Helena wrote: "Heidi wrote: "BunWat wrote: "I am trying to read Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, its not going well. I read thirty pages and then I put it down and read two other books...."It wasn't that I had trouble getting into it so much as it was that it was slow going for me... and once I finally hit a groove with it, it was due back to the library after several renewals, even. I couldn't get around that due date. And I was about 2/3rds into the book.
It seems like a love/hate kind of book :-) I remember feeling like that in the beginning of the book. I read it as part of a ‘virtual book swap’. I had insisted that my friend read Shantaram, so I was kind of committed to Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell.
Should I add Cryptonomicron to my summer reading list? I've had this book for years and still haven't read it. It's so intimidatingly large. Partly the reason I still haven't cracked that copy of Jonathan Strange yet either.
I went on a bit of a used book splurge this past couple of days, and now I have no idea where to start. After I finish La symphonie pastorale, I'm thinking it's The Sisters Brothers, East of Eden, and The Sound and the Fury.I have that Jonathan Strange book. I got it because I saw it on someone's reading list (I think it was Bun), and it was $1 at the Goodwill.
Youndyc wrote: "Should I add Cryptonomicron to my summer reading list? I've had this book for years and still haven't read it. It's so intimidatingly large. Partly the reason I still haven't cracked that copy o..."Youndy! It's been awhile since I've seen you around these parts. :) How are things?
I just read the title of this thread, and I must say that I don't find Jonathan strange at all. A little NYC quirky, perhaps, but certainly not strange.
This summer I have a few group reads to get through:Pavilion of Women
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea
The Woman in the Dunes
The Lacuna
Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China
If I manage to get through those I’ll read whatever strikes my fancy.
Hi Heidi, thanks for welcoming me back! I've been around just not poking around on the website much.
I loved Kavalier & Clay, Helena!Hi Youndy!
How many groups do you belong to, Helena? There are a few of those on my wishlist.
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Janice wrote: "How many groups do you belong to, Helena? There are a few of those on my wishlist."Oh, just two that do 'group' reads (one online and one that meets in person). Four of them are actually for 'virtual book' swaps where people in the group are randomly paired and you choose books for your partner based on their past reading selections. The idea is to pick books that you think they'd like. We have all summer to complete them, so it's not too bad.
I like that idea of virtual book swaps. It sounds like fun.
Mod
We should have a book shebang in 2014 when I move back to internet land.
Sally wrote: "Lg is delightfully persnickity. She's like the anti-Heiderson. We should have a book shebang in 2014 when I move back to internet land."
I'd be in for that one. :)
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The house I'll be in has a sattelite dish. I don't even get how that works. It, like, goes to space and back.
Why does satelite not have any proper spelling options?
Satelight? Sattelight? Jeebsus.
I loved Jonathan Strange. It was a pretty hard read, though. Bun, there is one character I did love; Jonathan's wife, Arabella. I'd love to read it again but it's soooo long.As for my summer reading, I'm like LG. I don't really plan out my reading schedule but I do plan on reading a Terry Pratchett Discworld book during the week of Comic Con (3rd week of July). I feel like if I'm at a convention for genre geeks I need to be carrying a genre book.
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Terminalcoffee
Books mentioned in this topic
The Woman in the Dunes (other topics)Pavilion of Women (other topics)
Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China (other topics)
The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea (other topics)
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (other topics)
More...
Separate from this list, I plan to read this summer:
Huck Finn
The Crucible
The Raven
My Antonia
On the Road
Into the Wild
What do you plan to read this summer?