[Booktalk] July and August Where is your main Character

[Feodora]

I am reading a book about a cat ghost. Nice and funny
MacTiger - Ein Highlander auf Samtpfoten

[Feodora]

Now I am reading its ok but nothing compared to London, Sarum or Dublin. Maybe it should have started earlier as London did and not just when the first white settlers came... but still some pages to come

[Paula]

I am still in Dodge City, Kansas. I'm reading

[Dorothy]

I've just started Secret Daughter so I'm half in India and half in California.

[Dorothy]

Feodora wrote: "Now I am reading its ok but nothing compared to London, Sarum or Dublin. Maybe it should have started earlier as London did and not just when the first white settlers ca..."

I think I agree that New York is perhaps not his best book but I did learn a lot of American history from it.

[Cheryl]

I just finished an old novel set in rural Arizona. It was neat reading about the area where my sister-in-law lives, roughly between Globe and Payson, as of 80 years ago. I recommend this if you like romantic literature like Jane Eyre (but it's a library book so I won't be able to register and share it, sorry). Foxfire

[Nancy]

Per usual, I am reading several books. The first is "The Reading Group" which takes place in Great Britain.

Secondly, I am reading "The Book of Lost Things" and I am lost in a strange forest where stories come to life.

Also reading "The Book Thief" which takes place in Germany during World War II.

And "The War of Gifts" (an Ender story) which takes place in Greensboro and at Battle School (above earth)...so I am spending time in lots of different places.

[Judy]

Nancy wrote: "Per usual, I am reading several books. The first is "The Reading Group" which takes place in Great Britain.
Secondly, I am reading "The Book of Lost Things" and I am lost in a strange forest wher..."

I just read "The Book of Lost Things" last month, and "The Book Thief" a few months before that :)

My main character is wandering around an unnamed city full of blind people ("Blindness" by Jose Saramago),

In "A Visit From the Goon Squad" I'm in New York City, LA, and a bunch of other places with lots of shifting POV and characters.

[Paula]

Blindness was a good read Judy, I thought. It makes you think, so much truth to it. I haven't read any others by Saramago yet but intend to. Hope you enjoy.

[Dorothy]

Judy wrote: "Nancy wrote: "Per usual, I am reading several books. The first is "The Reading Group" which takes place in Great Britain.
Secondly, I am reading "The Book of Lost Things" and I am lost in a str..."

How are you liking Blindness ? i know it is generally held to be a great book but I only got about half way through. I'm afraid I found it too upsetting!

[Nancy]

Judy wrote: "Nancy wrote: "Per usual, I am reading several books. The first is "The Reading Group" which takes place in Great Britain.
Secondly, I am reading "The Book of Lost Things" and I am lost in a str..."

What did you think about the two of them? So far, I have found them very similar in some sense, and yet in other ways, they are totally different. Both are set during World War II...I always am amazed at the connections I find between reads and most times the manner in which I read them is totally random, but maybe that is the point. For example, I just read Shadow of the Hegemon and much of it takes place in Thailand (and much of the history of Siam is discussed)...then just saw the play, The King and I, I noticed that there were some overlapping historical names like Chulalongkorm (sp) that helped "connect" the two stories. For what it is worth, I had never seen the movie, except for the Shall We Dance scene, or the play before so The King and I was new to me.

[Judy]

Dot wrote: "Judy wrote: "Nancy wrote: "Per usual, I am reading several books. The first is "The Reading Group" which takes place in Great Britain.
Secondly, I am reading "The Book of Lost Things" and I am l..."

I really enjoyed "Blindness". It was certainly not a happy story, and I couldn't imagine how it would resolve itself. Clearly if something like that were to happen, we would perish. But I really think it is a parable about how we treat each other, about the need to care for each other even if we don't know each other. There's a lot to think about in that book!

[Judy]

Speaking of unhappy stories, I'm currently reading Incendiary by Chris Cleave, who also wrote Little Bee, which I read a few months earlier. Incendiary is very well done; it's told in the first person, by a working class lady in London who has suffered great loss after Al Qaeda bombed a soccer stadium. It is written as a long letter to Osama bin Laden. Fascinating so far.

[Dorothy]

Judy wrote: "Dot wrote: "Judy wrote: "Nancy wrote: "Per usual, I am reading several books. The first is "The Reading Group" which takes place in Great Britain.
Secondly, I am reading "The Book of Lost Thing..."

I've now got The Reading Group on my bedside table waiting for me to start it.
I've recently finished State Of Wonder
which takes place largely in the Amazon jungle and I can't stop thinking about it.

[Cheryl]

How well researched is State of Wonder? How much do you feel like you're learning about the region? I have to read a book about someplace in Latin America and I'm having trouble finding one. Non-fiction is preferred, but fiction meant to educate might be ok....

[Dorothy]

Cheryl in CC NV wrote: "How well researched is State of Wonder? How much do you feel like you're learning about the region? I have to read a book about someplace in Latin America and I'm having trouble finding one. Non..."

I think it is very well researched. I heard an interview on CBC radio with the author and she did go there while writing the book. The descriptions of the jungle are quite amazing...I could really imagine the heat, the rivers, the insect life, the snakes and the indigenous people living still as they had done for centuries. I felt I learned a lot about the region so definitely worth a try for you.

[Cheryl]

Thank you! I will. :)