You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion
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What are you currently reading and why? (CLOSED)
Janice, I didn't get that impression at all. I felt that even through to the end he would do what fit his goals first. I felt that he was exceedingly proud of his friendship with the Dali Lama. Did you see the movie also? Could that have influenced your thoughts? I have not seen the film. I don't even remember being told that his wife was pregnant..... I wonder if the versions are different! I agree that this guy believed in his own abilities, but I don't feel this attitude changed.
I am currently listening to Prague Winter: A Personal Story of Remembrance and War, 1937-1948 and reading Written in the Ashes. I have completed: This House of Sky: Landscapes of a Western Mind
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... and
The Elephant's Journey
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
These were both audio books.
It makes sense, Judy, and it doesn't sound snobby at all. I feel, though, that sometimes I'd like to see the 'end,' if you know what I mean. It's like watching a bad movie-- you hope you know how it's going to end, but you can't help wanting to see how the end actually HAPPENS, and you stick to it. --
I'm reading The Sun Also Rises, and Farewell to Arms, with Moby Dick as soon as FreeBooks gets fixed.
Maria wrote: "It makes sense, Judy, and it doesn't sound snobby at all. I feel, though, that sometimes I'd like to see the 'end,' if you know what I mean. It's like watching a bad movie-- you hope you know how i..."Maria, I cannot read Hemingway. I did listen to an audiobook of A Farewell to Arms a while ago, but disliked it immensely. Tried very hard to get into The Sun Also Rises recently after reading The Paris Wife, but it bored me stiff. I do not understand why people say he does great dialog, because I think it is awful.
I do like to read about his life, however.
Right now I am reading a fascinating book called
Gellhorn: A Twentieth-Century Life by Caroline Moorehead, a biography of Martha Gellhorn, a novelist, journalist, and travel writer who was Hemingway's third wife. Her life was so interesting, and I'm only up to her 28th year. The book is excellent, and very well written. I first found her interesting when reading The Hemingway Women by Bernice Kert several years ago, and try as I might, I could not find anything written by her nor could I find any of the books written about her. Recently I found one of her travel books, Travels With Myself and Another, which I read and enjoyed very much. Then the Gellhorn biography just came out, I guess because of interest in the "Hemingway Women" caused by the success of The Paris Wife. Martha did so much and I had never heard of her!
Note to Chrissie: I really think that you would enjoy this biography of a really interesting woman (and it is definitely a biography).
P.S. I need a synonym for "interesting."
I read The Old Man and the Sea for the last Toppler, and it was okay.I do agree, though, that it's a really weird style. I like it sometimes, at other times... the book would look fantastic if it was in paperback and I could throw it across the room. I want to read THE PARIS WIFE!
All of them look so fascinating!
Interesting... absorbing, engrossing, fascinating, riveting, gripping, compelling, compulsive, captivating, engaging, enthralling; appealing, attractive; amusing, entertaining, stimulating, thought-provoking, diverting, intriguing.
Thanks, Maria. The book I'm reading is very attractive.
I finished Written in the Ashes - about Hypatia. I think many will like this book, but I gave it three stars. I am very aware that my tastes are not the most common. Review:http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
I have begun The Greenlanders, which Maudie suggested to me. Gaeta, liked it too! So I am quite happy to be starting it. Nordic languages and customs are in so many ways similar. This is what hits me right off the bat. We all must drink sour milk at breakfast.
I finished Fifty Shades Freed. I have to say, that all the characters annoyed the living daylights out of me by the third book. And the sex got BOOOOORING. (Notice I still finished reading the series though). I've moved on to reading Blessings for my face to face book club. It's decidedly less racey and better plotted....
I'm reading The First Days - it's zombies (of course), but the protagonists are female, which is very unusual for a zombie book. And the author is female too - another rarity!
Eileen wrote: "I finished Fifty Shades Freed. I have to say, that all the characters annoyed the living daylights out of me by the third book. And the sex got BOOOOORING. (Notice I still finished reading the seri..."I never realized that female zombies were an endangered species.
I just got back from the library with
and
. Wanted to find out what the fuss is about with Hunger Games and the Sookie Stackhouse series intrigued me for some reason.
I don't thin kThe Hunger Games lived up to the hype really Roz. Though I really loved the first Sookie Stackhouse book they seem to have gone down hill from there and the TV series is much better.But I hope you enjoy them :)
Finished five since my last post. Not all of them were on my original list of 35 although two were and one was on my "next up."Finished Colorado Dawn
for a "runaway brides" challenge. Liked it. But if the Cheyenne language in it is actually Cheyenne, that must be one tough language to learn! This one was on my "35" list. Finished What Happens in London
. Not on my 35 but I needed an audio book to listen to and it was around. Liked it, will be checking out more Julia Quinn. Finished two Lee Childs. One on my "35" and one not-- Without Fail
and Nothing to Lose 
. Apparently these have put me back in the mood for Reacher because I'm now reading a third. And these have helped me knock two or three more states off my state challenge. Finished Beautiful Days
which is book two of the "Bright Young Things" series. This was my "read ahead into my next-up" book because after I read the first I wanted to see what came next. Then I realizes the third book isn't out yet-- DRAT!Now reading Worth Dying For
(the third Lee Child) and The Ghost and the Dead Deb 
which is the second book in this series by the authors of the "coffeehouse" mysteries. Interesting twist happened in the part I read last night- curious to see where it's taken. About to start 11/22/63 
.
Finally started Moby Dick, finished Siddhartha, (loved it), and waiting for June to start so I can start writing my novel!
Maria wrote: "Finally started Moby Dick, finished Siddhartha, (loved it), and waiting for June to start so I can start writing my novel!"What will your novel be about?
I finished my re-read of Outlander by Diana Gabaldon and I loved it even more than the first time I read it I think. I really love Jaime and Claire. Right after I finished it I started the next book in the series Dragonfly in Amber and now I'm already 15% into the book and it's pretty long at 945 pages.
Kimberly wrote: "I finished my re-read of Outlander by Diana Gabaldon and I loved it even more than the first time I read it I think. I really love Jaime and Claire. Right after I finished it I started the next boo..."Oh I wish I had time to read Outlander again - I tried reading it again earlier this year but got distracted by other books. How much of the series have you read before?
I've only read the first one (twice now) but I own the whole series...The hardcovers are pretty intimidating later on in the series.
I listened to the whole Outlander series as it became available on audiobooks from my library. I don't think I have the stamina or enought years left in my life to reread the whole series.
Kimberly wrote: "I've only read the first one (twice now) but I own the whole series...The hardcovers are pretty intimidating later on in the series."I have the whole series too, but I've only read up until the first half of the fourth book. Now I've left it too long I'd probably have to go back and read them all again. One day maybe, one day....
Susan wrote: "I listened to the whole Outlander series as it became available on audiobooks from my library. I don't think I have the stamina or enought years left in my life to reread the whole series."I don't want to even THINK about how many hours that was in total! Long audiobooks put me off, I don't listen for long enough chunks to really enjoy them. Although I can imagine this series listens quite well.
It listens beautifully. It is long print books that sometimes put me off.
Susan wrote: "I listened to the whole Outlander series as it became available on audiobooks from my library. I don't think I have the stamina or enought years left in my life to reread the whole series."Our library has the audios restricted to print disabled patrons. I love that they're such long books.
That doesn't seem fair. Are there really that many print disabled people?
Susan wrote: "That doesn't seem fair. Are there really that many print disabled people?"Our city library is for 5 million people so it's worth it in my opinion. We have a lot of copies in print though (44 for the first book) and only 5 audios for the disabled.
Susan: The short version of it is that "A rich young woman suddenly becomes destitute, is taken in by a poor family, and learns how to stand on her own two feet."The long version of it is here: http://campnanowrimo.org/campers/amino/novels/perfume.
The funny thing is that when I first thought of it it wasn't AT ALL like this. It's always fascinating to look back at how the story 'was' when I first conceived it and what it's like just before I start writing.
I'm reading A Thousand White Woman by Fergus . It was $2 at the Goodwill. I'm short on cash,and I'd heard of the book. It is good too, though.
Betsy wrote: "I'm reading A Thousand White Woman by Fergus . It was $2 at the Goodwill. I'm short on cash,adnd I'd heard of the book. It is good too though."I read this with my offline book club, and we all really enjoyed it.
Maria wrote: "Susan: The short version of it is that "A rich young woman suddenly becomes destitute, is taken in by a poor family, and learns how to stand on her own two feet."The long version of it is here: h..."
It sounds great, Maria. I'll put it on my TBR list. I wish you the best of luck with it. I'm sure you'll be a fantastic author.
I finished both Still Alice and The Lifeboat. I will be listening to 11/22/63 forever. When I get home from work tonight I'll start a new book. At this point, I'm not sure which.
Betsy wrote: "I'm reading A Thousand White Woman by Fergus . It was $2 at the Goodwill. I'm short on cash,and I'd heard of the book. It is good too, though."I listened to it at work and it was a good thing I was sitting in the back so no one could see me crying at parts :)
Thanks, Susan! I'll send you a link when I finish it.
Janice, what did you think of The Lifeboat?
Chrissie wrote: "Janice, what did you think of The Lifeboat?"I gave it 3 stars and didn't review it. I wasn't sure what to say about it. It was a ficticious ocean liner disaster, but emulated the Titanic so much, that I couldn't help think that it was the inspiration for the story. I didn't find Grace to be all that endearing.
It was a good first novel. I was pulled into the story right from the beginning.
I have started reading The Bone People for the 2nd last book on my year long challenge. It's also on my Around the World challenge. It's a little daunting in the size (450 pages). We all know that I'm a slow reader.
Janice, there has been so much talk about it, but I am pretty skeptical.
Susan wrote: "Janice wrote: "I finished both Still Alice and The Lifeboat. I will be listening to 11/22/63 forever. When I get home from work tonight I'll start a new book. At this point, I'm not sure which."..."See message 3872 above. Chrissie asked me the same question. :)
Chrissie wrote: "Janice, there has been so much talk about The Lifeboat, but I am pretty skeptical."The ratings seem to be all over the place. I see Kat gave it 5 stars.
I finished The GreenlandersMy review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Will now start Earth and Ashes. I want to read about the Russian takeover of Afghanistan, on a personal level.
Chrissie wrote: "Janice, i remain skeptical."Tell us more. What is it about the book that causes you to be skeptical?
I just finished Earth and Ashes. Don't read it. It is very short, but still a complete waste of time. My review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... It is not historical fiction. You will learn nothing, neither on an emotional nor a factual level.
Janice, it seems to be a novel about personal choices when placed in a dramatic situation. It sounds kind of "overdone". I think we are suppose to get all upset in an imaginary event. I do know it has been compared to the Titanic.
Until I'm stranded in a lifeboat for 10 days, I can't say what is, or is not plausible. I can imagine that the dynamics would be much more intense than what the author portrayed. Everyone has an opinion, and in a situation like that, many arguments would likely ensue.For me, the thing I wondered about the most was the charge of murder and being on trial. If they are going to be charged for murder, which victim are they going to pick? The passengers in the water they refused to pick up? The people they talked into jumping off the boat? Also, the incident happened in international waters. Who has jurisdiction?
I think the author did well in her first attempt, and will likely improve her skills as she continues to write.
I finished Charlinder's Walk by Alyson Miers while I was in the ER yesterday it was a good read. 4 stars.Now I'm back to reading Dragonfly in Amber which I'm hoping to finish this weekend or maybe tonight.
Finished up Blessings, which I liked. Interesting exploration of relationship/interrelationship and what makes a family. I'm on now to Red, White, and Blood, which I am reading purely for fun. This is the third installment of Farnsworth's Zach and Cade team up, and I like the interaction between the young handler and the well seasoned vampire protector of presidents, Cade, all mixed in with a paranormal policitical thriller plots. Just fun.
Then I'm definitely not reading it, Judy, until I finish A Farewell to Arms. It's on the high school reading list (unlike a single Jane Austen... or Brontë), so I'll plow through it.Finished Moby Dick, and I kind of liked it, which I wasn't exactly expecting. Now finishing A Portratit of the Artist as a Young Man, and then either Charles Dickens or the above Ernest Hemingway.
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You'll love this one...!! A book club & more
Books mentioned in this topic
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The Orchardist (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Leo Tolstoy (other topics)Alan Ryker (other topics)
Brenda Sorrels (other topics)
Anna Funder (other topics)
Patrick Carman (other topics)
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My review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/..."
The thing that made this book so interesting for me was the change in Heinrick's attitude. He was pretty arrogant when he left his pregnant wife to climb mountains. His time in Tibet really changed him for the better.