Books on the Nightstand discussion
What are you currently reading? July 2011
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Ann wrote: "insert evil laugh here"
MOOO-HOO WHAHAHAHA MMWHA-HA-HA HAAAAAAAH!
*cough cough*
*COUGH HACK COUGH*
*CHOKE*
MOOO-HOO WHAHAHAHA MMWHA-HA-HA HAAAAAAAH!
*cough cough*
*COUGH HACK COUGH*
*CHOKE*
Callie wrote: "Finished Galore yesterday. Do you ever get so transported into a book (or audiobook, as was the case here) that you start to experience it through all of your senses? To me, listening to this book ..."I may have already crowed about this here, but I'm the US editor for GALORE and think it's one of the most wonderful books I've ever worked on. I'm so glad you enjoyed it Callie!
Katie wrote: "Callie wrote: "Finished Galore yesterday. Do you ever get so transported into a book (or audiobook, as was the case here) that you start to experience it through all of your senses? To me, listenin..."
Katie wrote: "I may have already crowed about this here, but I'm the US editor for GALORE and think it's one of the most wonderful books I've ever worked on. I'm so glad you enjoyed it Callie! ""
Ditto on Katie's sentiment: "I'm so glad you enjoyed it Callie!"
LOL, I usually don't say anything, but I get a special thrill when someone says they enjoyed the audiobook edition of a book, especially when it's an audiobook that the company I work for produced :-)
Katie wrote: "I may have already crowed about this here, but I'm the US editor for GALORE and think it's one of the most wonderful books I've ever worked on. I'm so glad you enjoyed it Callie! ""
Ditto on Katie's sentiment: "I'm so glad you enjoyed it Callie!"
LOL, I usually don't say anything, but I get a special thrill when someone says they enjoyed the audiobook edition of a book, especially when it's an audiobook that the company I work for produced :-)
I just started Grotesque by Natsuo Kirino. I am not quite sure what to make of this book yet, but will keep you posted.
Tanya wrote: "I checked the link from the podcast and it seems to work..."I think it's our flaky rural, line-of-sight Internet connection. I don't usually have trouble with iTunes, but I'll try a few more times. If it still doesn't work, I'll contact them for help.
I'm reading A Visit from the Goon Squad and I'm really liking it so far.I know it was marketed as a novel but I feel like it's more a collection of short stories with a common theme. I don't think this detracts from the book at all though - I think Egan is very clever in the way she intertwines the stories.
I am currently reading Lost in Shangri-La by Mitchell Zuckoff. So far so good! This book was compared to Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand which I loved, so I got my hands on this one
Callie wrote: "Still reading An Echo in the Bone and listening to Galore, both of which I'm enjoying. Galore especially is a beautiful book, makes me want to hop the next boat to New..."I loved the Glass Castle...couldn't put it down. I think it has one of the best opening scenes in recent memoir history. I worked with the author, Jeanette Walls, and once I read the book and learned about her background, I was even more impressed with her
accomplishments.
I just finished A Visit from the Goon Squad and it's clear why Jennifer Egan won so many awards. She's accomplished the difficult task of telling a great story in bits and pieces while jumbling the time frame and scattering new characters throughout. But she pulls it off masterfully, tying up all of the lose ends in an artfulway. Nothing felt forced or contrived.
Here's a very good reason for using an e-reader. Once or twice I had to use the search function to remind myself who a character was when his or her storyline was picked up about 200 pages after his or her introduction.
Despite a couple of memory lapses on my part, I really enjoyed A Visit from the Goon Squad.
I just started Silver Sparrow..great grabber of a first sentence.
Misty wrote: "Flora wrote: "I'm almost finished with Tiger's Curse and Kelsey is really getting on my nerves."Why is that? The book looks pretty but sounded too much like this remake of Beauty a..."
Which Beast are you refering too? There are several with that title. I liked the one by Donna Jo Napoli but this one was maybe for more of a young teen audience maybe. And the character of Kelsey really got on my nerves. She kept going back and forth between being all in love with the prince and then deciding she wasn't good enough for him and deciding that he was just using her. And usually in the middle of some action scene that was really improbable to begin with. She would be laying there dying thinking about how sexy he was. And then when she recovered she would decide she had to end the relationship before he had a chance to.
Read The Glass Castle this weekend for Book Group on Wednesday. All I can say is, if the ladies were shocked last month by Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven, this is really going to get them talking. Not my favorite of the selections so far this year, but it wasn't horrible.Still reading Echo in the Bone and listening to A Dirty Job.
Lauren wrote: "Reading The Sweetness at the bottom of the Pie, which I love so far, and The Passage, great book. I'm listening to World War Z as well in my car."I love the Flavia series! Each book gets better and better. Glad you are enjoying The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie!
I am currently reading Dreamland, a fantastic historical fiction novel set in New York in the early 1900's. Can't wait to see where the story takes me!
Callie wrote: "I'll be picking up The Glass Castle in the next couple of days for book group. I'm a bit nervous about it because I've heard it's intense... should make for good conversation! "
Really loved The Glass Castle!
Amy wrote: "Callie wrote: "I'll be picking up The Glass Castle in the next couple of days for book group. I'm a bit nervous about it because I've heard it's intense... should make for good conversation!" Really loved The Glass Castle!
I'm starting to wonder if I'm the only person that didn't love this? I guess it's another case of to each their own.
Katie wrote: "I may have already crowed about this here, but I'm the US editor for GALORE and think it's one of the most wonderful books I've ever worked on. I'm so glad you enjoyed it Callie! ""Tanya wrote: Ditto on Katie's sentiment: "I'm so glad you enjoyed it Callie!"
LOL, I usually don't say anything, but I get a special thrill when someone says they enjoyed the audiobook edition of a book, especially when it's an audiobook that the company I work for produced :-)"
Congrats to you both, because it is an amazing read. I'm still getting goosebumps thinking about it!
Flora wrote: "Which Beast are you refering too? There are several with that title. I put the link to it in the orginal post when i asked. See? "Why is that? The book looks pretty but sounded too much like this remake of Beauty and the Beast called Beast, which IMO, was a terrible book. Awful. Hated it. One of the few books I've ever wanted to burn."
In which case, we're talking about the same book, except you liked it and I didn't.
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I didn't love The Glass Castle, but chalked it up to memoir fatigue.
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LOVED this! It was a bookgroup choice, and we had a great discussion.
Just finished an ARC ofA Trick of the Light which I received from BookBrowse.com and really enjoyed. It is the 7th in a mystery series set outside Montreal. I am almost done re-readingMidnight in the Garden of Good and Evil for one of my book groups and am enjoying it as much as I did all those years ago. Also readingThe Revenge of the Radioactive Lady.
Ann wrote: "Callie wrote: "I'm starting to wonder if I'm the only person that didn't love this? I guess it's another case of to each their own. "I didn't love The Glass Castle, but chalked it up to memoir fa..."
I think I really liked The Glass Castle for the opposite reason - I had recently finished Augusten Burroughs' Running With Scissors and found it painfully void of any kind of connection to the reader or the story he was telling. The Glass Castle seemed to me to be validation that a "gee, weren't my parents crazy?" memoir could work - she brings a lot more insight and compassion to the subject than Mr. Burroughs, in my opinion.
I'm "reading" the audiobook of The Help. I'd resisted this one for a long time, being a Southerner and therefore a little skeptical of how much I would allow myself to get swept away in a world if it didn't ring true to me. But it has been as wonderful as everyone said it was! I am especially enjoying that there are different performers for each of the narrators- their accents are all authentic (or they've had an excellent coach) and every performance has enhanced rather than detracted from my enjoyment of the story. I think that the gal who does Minnie was actually the author's direct inspiration for the character, so that adds another layer of interest. I would definitely recommend going to audiobook route on this one over print. This book belongs on a "best debut" list, for sure
Misty wrote: "Flora wrote: "Which Beast are you refering too? There are several with that title. I put the link to it in the orginal post when i asked. See? "Why is that? The book looks pretty but sounded to..."
Yeah, I agree that it was alot like
but a more modern telling. I guess its just one of those differences of opinion, I did like
but I thought it was directed for a younger audience than me. But
was poorly written and unimaginative. It reminded me of some of the "B" movies I've watched in the past.
Frankie wrote: "Ann wrote: "Callie wrote: "I'm starting to wonder if I'm the only person that didn't love this? I guess it's another case of to each their own. "I didn't love The Glass Castle, but chalked it up ..."
I think you just nailed the reason for why I also enjoyed The Glass Castle so much more than Running with Scissors. Thanks for finally putting it into words for me.
Sharman wrote: "I think you just nailed the reason for why I also enjoyed The Glass Castle so much more than Running with Scissors. Thanks for finally putting it into words for me. "I think this is also why I didn't like it- I think I can say that I don't like the "gee, weren't my parents crazy?" memoir genre. I will be sure to proceed with caution next time- I think booksellers should make it a special subset of the Memoir/Biography section- makes it easier for all of us!
Flora wrote: "Just now starting One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd"LOVED it too. Listened on audioo, good narrater.
Just started:State of Wonder. So foar so good.
Robin wrote: "Flora wrote: "Just now starting One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd"LOVED it too. Listened on audioo, good narrater.
Just started:State of Wonder. So fo..."
I'm almost half way thru it and really enjoying it so far.
Ann wrote: "Callie wrote: "I'm starting to wonder if I'm the only person that didn't love this? I guess it's another case of to each their own. "I didn't love The Glass Castle, but chalked it up to memoir fa..."
Jeanette Walls has certainly got the writing chops but I didn't have a warm, fuzzy feeling when I finished The Glass Castle!
Shane wrote: "
Compelling read!"
I check for this book every time I go to Half Price Books!! Gotta show up one of these days :)
I have alot of books going at the moment. Hope I finish one soon!! 3 of them are:
I've just finshed Goon Squad and am now starting The Bee-Loud glade... I have high hopes for this one as not only is it recommended by Ann and Michael but I also have friends who have read and loved it :)
Flora wrote: "Robin wrote: "Flora wrote: "Just now starting One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd"LOVED it too. Listened on audioo, good narrater.
Just started:State of Wonde..."</i>
Have you read [book:Caleb's Crossingby
by Geraldine Brooks> Similar but in a different way.
I haven't read that one, but I shall look into it
After hearing all the raves from Ann and Josh from Bookrageous I picked up The Last Werewolf. Managed 35 pages before falling asleep and it already has it's teeth in me.
Mod
Man, you must be able to sleep through anything! ;)
Ann wrote: "Jay wrote: "After hearing all the raves from Ann and Josh from Bookrageous I picked up The Last Werewolf. Managed 35 pages before falling asleep and it already has it's teeth in me...."Ann, I don't mean to hijack the thread but,going through Glen Duncan's list of work, I had to laugh when came across the title of "I, Lucifer: Finally, the Other Side of the Story". It sounds like it could possibly be an SNL skit.Or a segment from the late Paul Harvey's radio show.
I just finished
The Beauty of Humanity Movement by Camilla Gibb. Don't let this Canadian author slip by your radar when looking for stunning, lyrical language and characters you live with for much longer than the length of this book.Tells the story of three generations of Vietnamese people, linked by the search for the perfect "pho" (Vietnamese soup), an art search/mystery, and trying to reconcile their different histories from pre-Vietnam War through the present.
Don't miss this one.
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Kirsty wrote: "I'm reading A Visit from the Goon Squad and I'm really liking it so far.I know it was marketed as a novel but I feel like it's more a collection of short stories with a common them..."
Now that I realize that its a collection of short stories rather than a novel, I am probably going to give the book another chance at some point, but I don't know.
Ann wrote: "Jay wrote: "After hearing all the raves from Ann and Josh from Bookrageous I picked up The Last Werewolf. Managed 35 pages before falling asleep and it already has it's teeth in me...."I downloaded the sample on my new Nook and am already hooked! The Last Werewolf will be my first ebook purchase!!
I just finished Eye Contact.
It was an excellent mystery with lots of twists.
I'm addicted to Red Lemonade this month...I just finished Zazen by Vanessa Veselka and I just started Kio Stark's Follow Me Down...
really enjoying Silver Sparrow and judging from the posts above, I should add Galore to my "to read" list.I started Snowman on audio ...(to satisfy my beach read need).
Having met and listedn to Katie at the retreat, I'm betting she's an editor I want to follow.
Books on the Nightstand
Books mentioned in this topic
Ghost Story (other topics)A Reliable Wife (other topics)
The Last Werewolf (other topics)
Divergent (other topics)
Good in Bed (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Meg Mitchell Moore (other topics)Donna Jo Napoli (other topics)
Laura Harrington (other topics)
Oh my, completely forgot The Lost Language of Cranes -- I *adored* that book!