Books on the Nightstand discussion
What Are You Currently Reading? - December 2011
I finished both The Christmas Chronicles: The Legend of Santa Claus and The Best Christmas Pageant Ever yesterday, both are favorites of mine. I found a good (undamaged) copy of Batman: Noel yesterday, so I will be reading that next.
Just finished Stoner and gave it 5 stars! One of the best books I have ever read and definitely the best book I read this year!!
I'm reading "Arthur & George" by Julian Barnes. In alternating episodes, we follow the two characters from childhood into adulthood in Victorian England, only gradually realizing that Arthur is Arthur Conan Doyle, and that George, the son of a country vicar, is half Indian. Because of his mixed race background, George is victimized and eventually falsely imprisoned on charges of animal mutilation. At about this point, which is where I am in the book, the two men's paths will cross, and Arthur will take up the cause of helping George obtain justice. I have several holiday story anthologies that I like to dip into every year but also have a stack of library books beckoning as well as a trilogy on my Kindle that I've been meaning to read for months, so I'm not sure what I'll turn to next.
I'm about to start the audio version of the new Flavia de Luce book, having finished two short books, a version of Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" read by Jim Dale (narrator of the Harry Potter books) and a prequel to the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman, "Once Upon a Time in the North."
Just finished
thankfully.I began to read this in September(OMG)Now looking for a new read.ASAP!ger
I just finished
. Definitely not Hunger Games or Graceling, but still a thrilling read.
I just finished
. A five day quick read. Nothing to deep or thought provoking. Pleasant enough. I guess I expected more. I am now reading
. These were my holiday choices. I hope I like this one more.
I'm currently reading
This book is very informative, Getting a glimpse of Communist China in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Just finished
Good solid mystery as the rest of S.J. Bolton's books, this time with some romance thrown in.Now reading
and
.
I received a wonderful children's book for my three year old son called PANCAKES AT MIDNIGHT: JET LAG AND THE YOUNG TRAVELLER by Jennifer Fee.
We are living in Switzerland for the year as my husband is on sabbatical as an economics professor and the book is helping him understand jet lag. This book is obviously for a pretty small market - parents who travel many time zones with small children - but it is now my son's favorite book. Very cute and well done.
Becky
I decided that has a goal for 2012 I would read at least a book a month(that's a big deal for me). Also I decided that I should read authors that I admire but have never read like Austin.So for January I am reading
Of course I am familiar with her work(as most of us are)through the many TV versions of her stories.ger
Finished Jewel which I really enjoyed. Had been on my bookshelf for years and finished thanks to the What's in a name challenge.Also recently finished Bel Canto on audio. This was a re-read, but it had been several years and I really enjoyed this on audio even more than in print. Ann Patchett is one of my favorite current authors.
Mod
In addition, I will work on diminishing the piles of books in my house.
I've just finished Amaranth & Ash which I loved.I've just started Dreamsayer and I'm also re-reading A Christmas Carol
The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan, oh by the way it's on sale in the iBookstore for $3.99 if anyone wants to check it out. :)
Gerald wrote: "I decided that has a goal for 2012 I would read at least a book a month(that's a big deal for me). Also I decided that I should read authors that I admire but have never read like Austin.So for Jan..."My favorite Agatha Christie book is And Then There Were None
Enjoy!
I finished Water for Elephants which I enjoyed quite a bit. I had no idea what to expect but found it enjoyable. I was actually surprised how compressed of a story it was. I think my favorite part was actually the times set in the present. It was a bit depressing at times but so realistically written.I also read A Christmas Carol for the first time. I loved the movie with George C. Scott but this is the first time I actually read it and am feeling better about adding some Dickens to my goals for 2012.
I am about 6 behind in my 31 graphic novels in 31 days but have not doubt I can catch up over the holiday break. I think the best parts have been discovering X-Factor Vol. 1: The Longest Night I love Peter David but never got around to reading these and now I have ripped through the first 4 trades and want to polish off a few more.
I have also picked up Divergenton my Nook since it was the Goodreads book of the year and I am getting going a bit early on my 12 books over 500 pages for 2012 because my book club is doing Cutting for Stonefor January.
Reading Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix
I have to admit, I'm not a sports fan. I never really had the patience to sit through a game. I used to watch baseball with my grandfather, though. I have fond memories of watching the 1972 World Series with him, although I remember the handlebar mustaches worn by the Oakland A's more than any outstanding play. Grandpa's enthusiasm for the game was contagious. A former ball player himself, he could communicate what was great about the game, and about the particular players in question. I suppose my liking for a good baseball story comes from nostalgia for those days, when we'd watch the Series on TV, or when he'd take me to a Pirates game, and we'd see the great Clemente play.
It's not just nostalgia, though. There's something about baseball that connects with all the themes of American literature. And all those themes are in this book. The pitiless lottery that is capitalism. The small town hick who achieves fame. Art vs. Commerce.. The heroic quest, whether it be for a white whale, or to fill one's life with meaning. The transition from boy to man. All of life is here. Or at least all of life that is particular to men. But that doesn't mean women won't enjoy it. Women who want to understand men better may find it fascinating.
"The Art of Fielding" isn't just a great baseball story, it's a literary novel, full of allusions and symbols. If it were part of the course syllabus for a survey of American lit, it would be the last book of the semester, in which the threads of Hawthorne, Melville, Whitman, Emerson, and Thoreau would all be tied together. Not to mention Homer and T. S. Eliot.
I want to tease this novel rather than to tell you specifically what's in it. Is it also, in addition to the things I've mentioned, a love story? You bet. There are three love stories. One is your standard boy meets girl. One is guy meets guy. This one may land the book on a lot of LGBT year-end lists this year. But probably the most central love story is a platonic one: that of a friendship between two young men.
Started The Pirates of Somalia: Inside Their Hidden World yesterday. Love it. Wish I had the courage and/or foolishness of Jay Bahadur - I'd love to go interview pirates!
Eric wrote: "I have to admit, I'm not a sports fan. I never really had the patience to sit through a game. I used to watch baseball with my grandfather, though. I have ..."
As usual Eric, you continue to provide excellent insights/comments on a book I've read and enjoyed. Now I need to read Hawthorne and Melville..... Maybe I'll add 12 classics to my 12 in '12 reading challenge (including Dickens of course). I'm also a life-long Pirates fan and am a bit jealous that you were able to see Clemente play. He is certainly one of the great all-time baseball players.
Just finishedKings of the Earth and really enjoyed it. Completing it meant that I had read at least one book by all the BOTNS 2011 Retreat Challenge authors (And I completed my form on the blog/website)! Next up : The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest orThe Hunger Games. While buying books for everyone else for Christmas, I bought the The Hunger Games Trilogy Boxset for myself!
I just finished
What a brilliant series! The only disappointment I found in this book was that it ended at 300 pages instead of at 3000. I adore Flavia De Luce. She is one of my favorite characters in all fiction.
A couple of quotes from this series:
“Tell them we may not be praying with them," Father told the Vicar, "but we are at least not actively praying against them.”
“Books are like oxygen to a deep-sea diver," she had once said. "Take them away and you might as well begin counting the bubbles.”
“Anyone who knew the word slattern was worth cultivating as a friend.”
“I remembered a piece of sisterly advice, which Feely once gave Daffy and me:
"If ever you're accosted by a man," she'd said, "kick him in the Casanovas and run like blue blazes!"
Although it had sounded at the time like a useful bit of intelligence, the only problem was that I didn't know where the Casanovas were located.
I'd have to think of something else.”
Start this series with The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
My highest of recommendations!
Eric wrote: "I have to admit, I'm not a sports fan. I never really had the patience to sit through a game. I used to watch baseball with my grandfather, though. I have ..."
Yes Eric, you have piqued my interest in this book if only for your nostalgic review. I also have never been a baseball fan, but one of my prized possessions is a framed section of the program from the 7th game of the 1971 World Series (the part where you keep score completed by my dad at the game) with all the Pirates autographs on it, including Clemente. My dad died when I was a kid, in 1975, and that document is very meaningful to me. And I loved Ken Burns' Baseball series and Doris Goodwin's
, so I'm thinking maybe this would fall in line nicely.
I've just started Max Lucado's "Christmas Stories;" this will be the last Christmas-themed book I read this year. I usually like his work, so I'm looking forward to some enjoyable reading of these stories.I recently finished "Secret Daughter" which was my book club's December selection. We all enjoyed the story, told from the viewpoints of a mother who gives her daughter up for adoption, the adoptive mother, and the daughter. Discussion was heated and lively at times, with the question, "What would YOU do?" giving us all food for thought.
This book was also the first I read on my iPad2; in truth, it was the first e-book I've ever read. Yeah, yeah, I know . . . I'm probaby the last person on the planet to do so, but I've been very resistant to this method. I bought the iPad to make travel easier, since I *always* carry two or three books. Then, if there's a bookstore in the airport (or anywhere near my destination) I've been known to purchase additional books, just in case I finish the books I left home with. Or, God forbid, suppose I were stranded, and had nothing to read?!?!? Yes, I've finally joined the e-book crowd, (as a convenience) but I still prefer my old-fashioned hardcover BOOK books. I love seeing them lined up floor to ceiling on my bookshelves, coffee table, nightstand, spilling out of my closet, etc. An author can't autograph an electronic device, nor can I inscribe a personal note to a friend. So you may see me in an airport with the iPad clutched to my chest, but there still might be a book tucked way down in my luggage, where I hide my socks and underwear! :)
I am still reading The Nine Lives of Christmas by Sheila Roberts it is very cute so far but slow going.
Reading
, pretty good. Entering a nonfiction phase{obsession}.
Wow! Bravo! This slim book leaps to the top of my 2011 list!
I want to get together with some people who've read it and discuss what they think actually happened. And I want to read it again, just as the movies "Memento" and "The Sixth Sense" made me want to immediately watch them again.
That's all I'm gonna say.
I just put
on hold with our library (digital). I'm 64th on the list, although they do have a dozen copies. Hopefully that won't take too long!I was reading
- nope, not for me, even though I do read other lawyer / crime stories. (I used my new 100 page rule - and quit around page 75!)So now I'm reading
, although I am not far enough into it to determine my true interest.
Eric wrote: I want to get together with some people who've read it and discuss what they think actually happened."Hey, Eric, I've been thinking about suggesting that we have a "One Retreat, One Book" for Manchester. It would be neat to have one book in common to discuss. If Ann hasn't included one in her plans, we attendees could organize it ourselves. I was thinking of something not by one of the authors so we didn't play favourites and it sounds like The Sense of an Ending would be a good choice.
What do you think? (Ann--your comments are welcome, too!)
"
Finished The Night Circus a couple days ago and haven't fully returned from the circus. So I'm reading the newspaper and doing jigsaw and crossword puzzles--really enjoying my week off! Also reading Defiant Spirits one chapter at a time.Next up? Probably Room 207, recommended to me by my older daughter, then The Secret History, or Under This Unbroken Sky for book club.
I agree with your idea, Joanne. The book is short, but long on substance and discuss-ability.
Mod
on a trip to Indy Monday. Conroy is narrating it and I think it might be better with a better enunciator. I am enjoying it but I really have to pay attention.
Speaking of enunciators, I'd kind of like to hear Ozzy Osborne narrate his own autobio. It might be more entertaining for not being able to understand a word.
Mod
LOL! Eric, I can hardly wait to meet you in Vermont.
I finished reading "The Ghost at the Table" by Suzanne Berne. This is NOT a "ghost story" in the literal sense. The ghost perhaps is the past of the two adult sisters at the center of a holiday family gathering and their tension over their very different memories of a dysfunctional childhood with a chronically ill mother and distant father. It's a good psychological drama. I've just started a nonfiction book by Patricia O'Conner and Stewart Kellman, "Origin of the Specious: Myths and Misconceptions of the English Language."The last audiobook I read was "I Am Half Sick of Shadows" by Alan Bradley, the latest in the Flavia de Luce series. Delightful as always. What I enjoy is that the portrayal of high-spirited, clever Flavia is mingled with a keen awareness of the family's problems, from their financial dilemma to the strained relationship between the father and daughters and the girls' sibling rivalry. Can't wait to see where the series goes next.
Next up is "Parrot and Olivier in America" by Peter Carey. I've read several of Carey's works and never been disappointed.
Read The Inheritance this week, and it was sweet, although rather melodramatic. This was a manuscript written by Louisa May Alcott when she was 17, that was never published until it was rediscovered in 1997. According to the introduction, the book was edited for grammatical errors (for example, Louisa was prone to forgetting "ei" versus "ie", how comforting is that!), but not for content at all. Like I said, this was very high on melodrama- Anne Shirley would have loved it- and had it been written by anyone else, I would never have read it to begin with... but it's a fun look at the author who would later give us Little Women.I'm now reading American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House, which is fantastic but moving slowly. It's my first step towards reading biographies about each of the presidents.
I've also started rereading Revolution on my nook, and I just love this book. I so wish I had a soundtrack to go along with it!
I am finishing the year with the Life of Pi. Really enjoying it so far, though I it has strengthened my resolve to NEVER sail across the open seas.
Callie wrote: "Read [book:The InherCallie, here is the link to the author's playlist from the book. Maybe plug it into spotify (free!) at home and enjoy! I really loved this book, too.
http://www.jenniferdonnelly.com/rev_s...
I am re-reading A Confederacy of Dunces for about the fourth time. Every time I discover some new way it's funny or briliantly plotted. One of my all time favorites.Also, just started to listen to Bossypants. Too soon to tell...
Was re-reading So Many Books, So Little Time: A Year of Passionate Reading, which I love, but seem to have lost it at work and could not find it when I went back. Was very sad, so ordered up a used copy that should arrive tomorrow.
What the Dog Saw and Other Adventures is what's open on the kindle and I'm dipping in periodically.
I am jealous. I read it about a month ago and it's still rattling around in my head. In a good way.Elizabeth wrote: "I am starting
"
Mod
Hey, Eric, I've been thinking about suggesting that we have a "One Retreat, One B..."
Love it! Maybe start a discussion on the Manchester thread. Do you need/want a specific time to discuss the book during the weekend, or are you envisioning it as a more casual "something in common to break the ice" type chat?
Mod
Hey, Eric, I've been thinking about suggesting that we have a "One..."
Without this entire thread, but with Eric's review, I tried to secure this book through my local library only to find they don't own it. I have requested it through interlibrary loan, but the list is long and most Ohio libraries that own it show it out. Hopefully, I will get it read by April.
I'm marathon reading to get my 2011 total up to 60. Now back to my book and my Reisling.
Nancy wrote: The last audiobook I read was "I Am Half Sick of Shadows" by Alan Bradley, the latest in the Flavia de Luce series. Is Flavia de Luce suitable for a 12 yr old who is from a VERY catholic family and homeschooled? I'd like to recommend it to my friend's daughter but can't read it as am living overseas and am limited by what is available at our local small English library. . . thanks!
Mod
Is Flavia de Luce suitable for a 12 yr old who is from a VERY cath..."
I'm Catholic. I love Flavia and have read each book as soon as it comes out. The biggest sin happening is, of course, murder. Flavia does "stretch the truth" when it suits her needs to solve a crime. I don't think there would be a problem recommending the book to your friend.
There is always the option for the parent to read the book with the child and discuss anything the parent feels is questionable. This is exactly how I read Harry Potter with my son when I wasn't sure (because of the negative slam by people who mostly hadn't read the book) what "evil" was contained in the book.
I always knew I would never ban a book, but we could read it together and use the opportunity for discussion.
I'll get off my soap box now. Yappy Hew Near!
Mod
Hooray!! So glad when people discover this novel...
Ann wrote: Maybe start a discussion on the Manchester thread."Done!
Books on the Nightstand
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Authors mentioned in this topic
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To carry around with me, I am reading The Sisters Brothers from the library. The first few chapters have me hooked--what well crafted writing, drawing the reader into the characters and their world. Makes me want to stay home from work (stopped at Tim Hortons for a coffee on the way, so I could devour a few more pages).