Talk about any book you like!

[Jenny, honorary mod - inactive]

I've made this folder so you can discuss any book you wish!

[Kipahni]

okay well I am reading gone with the wind right now and wondering if anyone else who has read the book see the similarities between Ashely and Melanie representing the old "honor and hospitality" south and Rhett and Scarlet representing the new way of the south?

[Jay]

Has anyone read 'A Quiet Belief In Angels' by R.J Ellory? Read this last year and loved it. I would deffo recommend that people read this book.

[BurgendyA]

Kipahni wrote: "okay well I am reading gone with the wind right now and wondering if anyone else who has read the book see the similarities between Ashely and Melanie representing the old "honor and hospitality" s..."

I never read "Gone with the Wind" yet. Just not sure when. It is in my reading list. I loved the movie so much. How did you feel about the book? =)~

[Kipahni]

Burgendya wrote: "Kipahni wrote: "okay well I am reading gone with the wind right now and wondering if anyone else who has read the book see the similarities between Ashely and Melanie representing the old "honor an..."

I love each in there own seperate ways. Fabulous book though! Really, it is the characters that make it

[Anna]

I had the good fortune of being passed a copy of "Kicked Out" by Richard W Hardwick recently, and was told it was "better than Trainspotting".
The first person narrative is a joy to read, genuine, funny, opinionated with enough local dialect to make it interesting and different but not so much that it becomes difficult.
16 year old Danny will live with me for as long as I live. The general public regards teenage boys as among the most repulsive and unlikeabe creatures on earth, and yet Hardwick makes him so real - sullen, sarcastic, prone to thievery and mayhem - and yet captures his thoughts and feelings so well his humanity shines through in what at times is a heartbreaking situation. The reader is completely on his side, even when he's up to no good.
This book made me want to cry - both tears of sadness and of laughter - on numerous occasions. And you can't get much better than that can you?
Better than trainspotting? Definitely. This is as good as Roddy Doyle at his best, as good as The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime, better than Vernon God Little and Stuart - A Life Backwards, better than both Richard Milward books.
If there's any justice this book will be huge.
PS - I don't know why it says there are two hundred and something pages on Amazon, there's 427 of them !

[Maggie]

Jay wrote: "Has anyone read 'A Quiet Belief In Angels' by R.J Ellory? Read this last year and loved it. I would deffo recommend that people read this book."

I read this about a year ago - I don't know why cos it's not my usual sort of read - but I thought it was fantastic. I thought he was an American author but apparently he'd not been to the US before he wrote the book. I was so impressed by the book I emailed him and he replied straight away! Candlemoth is also very good.

[Donna]

Jenny wrote: "I've made this folder so you can discuss any book you wish!"

I was in Borders this morning and saw a book called The Invention of Everything Else by Samantha Hunt. It was recommended if you liked Time Traveller's Wife or Donna Tartt. I loved TTW and liked DT's Secret History but couldn't get into The Little Friend. I didn't buy it but now I'm thinking I should have. Anyone read it?

[Allison]

Videos are promoting new novels now!
What do you think?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJiZvz...

[Ally]

I've just finished reading 'The Great Lover' by Jill Dawson about the early life of poet Rupert Brooke. He wrote the war sonnet 'The Soldier'...

IF I should die, think only this of me;
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of England's breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.

And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.

Rupert Brooke died in 1915 at the age of 27 on his way to Galipoli - of septicaemia from a mosquito bite rather than anything more heroic and patriotic (...a bit of an anti-climax?).

He was a peripheral member of the Bloomsbury set, knew Virginia Woolf (nee Stephen), had relationships with many of the prominent figures from the time, both men and women, was perpetually innocent, or rather a product of the idealism of his age. He descended briefly into madness, possibly due to the abrupt end of his relationship with Ka Cox, a women he had thought would always be there for him, and was treated by the same doctors as Virginia Woolf.

Jill Dawson is an absolutely amazing writer - her prose is poetic and her characters engaging. Her imagined relationship between Brooke and Nell Golightly, the kitchen maid, counterpoints the whole narrative and makes the backdrop of early socialism, the Fabian Society and the Suffragist movement all the more real. She is a dream of a character and my favourite part of the whole novel. The symbolism embodied in her role as a bee-keeper was inspired. The erotic charge that runs throughout the whole novel fizzes off the page because of those bees. It makes the heavy sexual content of the novel sensual rather than gratuitous and really illustrates the turmoil of the main character of Brooke.

I was a bit disappointed by the Tahitian element - Brooke may have fathered an illegitimate child to a Tahitian woman named Taatamata shortly before he died. I had hoped for a real climax to the story, an interlude in his life that was full of passion and I really wanted for him to have 'found' himself and some meaning to his life. This would have made his early death at least a little more bearable!

Has anyone else read this novel? What did you think? (..if you haven't read it yet I'd highly recommend it!).

Ally

[Jay]

Maggie wrote - I read this about a year ago - I don't know why cos it's not my usual sort of read - but I thought it was fantastic. I thought he was an American author but apparently he'd not been to the US before he wrote the book. I was so impressed by the book I emailed him and he replied straight away! Candlemoth is also very good.

I agree Maggie I have read all of his books apart from Quiet Vendetta and Candlemoth. His latest anniversary man is really good. I think A Quiet Belief is his best I have read. Looking forward to reading the other two.

[Donna]

I'm reading a very sweet book at the moment. The Dog by Kerstin Ekman. A little puppy gets lost in the woods of Norway and has to survive on his own.

[Jenny, honorary mod - inactive]

That sounds very cute Donna!!

[Donna]

Jenny wrote: "That sounds very cute Donna!!"

It was a very quick read, no dialogue at all, but the narrative was good enough to carry you through. Worth a read.

[Shannon]

I have been reading The God of Small Things and it has taken me much longer to read than I anticipated. I am almost finished and don't know if I like it or not or if I love it or just like it....

Some of the language I really like but sometimes it seems just random.

Have others read this and if so what are your thoughts? I will post more once I actually have finished it.

[Shelli]

Shannon wrote: "I have been reading The God of Small Things and it has taken me much longer to read than I anticipated. I am almost finished and don't know if I like it or not or if I love it or just l..."

I read this in July and found the language a hinderance rather than enjoyable....I felt like it was just too much at times in an already complicated story.

[Shannon]

I forgot to update. I ended up liking the book (not loving it) as I think the language reflected some of the message i.e. random small things accumulate until they are BIG things. It was a difficult read and I think could have been accomplished more easily. It is not a happy story and is intended, I think, to leave the story "unfinished". So, I am glad that I read it but glad that I don't have to read it again.

[NBB]

Hi! My favorite book, from the moment I picked it up, is Sum: forty tales of the afterlives by David Eagleman. It is so imaginative and thought provoking. I've always been critical of the bible because of my own personal views on organized religion, but for some odd reason, "Sum" makes me think of the bible.
I feel so lucky to be able to meander through someone's imagination...I'm glad David Eagleman actually published this book.

[Tina]

right now im re-reading one of my favorites "the color purple" no matter how many new books or new authors i get into i love re-reading my favs

[Andrea]

My favorite books are the series by Lillian Beckwith. I don't believe that they are considered deep or masterful or exceptional in any way. They are simply my Comfort books of choice. I keep them on my shelf and read them every couple of years. Funny thing though, usually I enjoy them, but one time, I felt the author was being condescending rather telling warm and colorful tales of the people she was describing. I decided later that I must have been in a grumpy place in my life. Because the next time, I went back to having a heartwarming feeling about the books. Has anyone else experienced that? Your mood affects how you perceive a favorite story - it seems one way one time, and another way the next?

[Valerie]

Oh my goodness!!! I'm SO excited!!! LOL I just found out from one of the blogs that there is going to be a new Jane Austen annotated edition coming out! Wooo Hooooo!!!

Persuasion: an annotated edition


This edition is edited by Robert Morrison, done in the same format as the P & P annotated edition, published by Harvard University Press. Won't be out until November. I LOVED the P & P edition, and have been hoping that they would do more! So.... only SEVEN months to wait! LOL As soon as they make it available for pre-order, I am ON IT!!! LOL :)

***Update: In addition, according to the same blog, Harvard Univ. Press is planning to do ALL 6 of the Austen novels in this annotated format, with Sense & Sensibility being worked on by the editor of the P & P edition. Very cool!!

[Neelashi]

Hi my favorite book is Along for the ride and Speak and Memory Keeper's daughter! :) they all are quite nice and met my expectations! Along for the ride is all teenage book and Memory Keeper's daughter was really emotional and deals with Down's syndrome and Speak is emotional too and deals with some sad situation happened with this girl. I am looking forward to read Lolita or The sky is everywhere. So if anyone has read these then please share it! :)

[Betsy]

Allison wrote: "Videos are promoting new novels now!
What do you think?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJiZvz..."

Hi.
My middle school resource classroom needs psyched into reading a book. The videos do exactly that.
I've also used movie clips to summarize and review books as a quick motivator before preceeding with more reading.Many times before the teacher's guides come out you are left reading and writing your own materials. A more motivating idea is a short clip or video.
As far as I'm concerned ANYTHING that inspires my kids to struggle with the written word is a good thing.
Oh yeah, I can tell by this clip, even without reading the book, that there's no way I'd be allowed to teach this novel. :D As an alternate example check out Harlan Coban's Shelter.It's middle school appro and still interesting I think.

[[deleted user]]

Just wondering if there are any Discworld fans in & about? If not, I'll start suggesting him at every opportunity >:-)

[Cheryl]

I fell in love with him by discovering Going Postal. I've become less enamored as I've been going along trying to catch up, but I do plan to get to that point before giving up altogether.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

I am but in a fleeting in and out way. Always need any excuse to read more though. I have read a few Deaths, a few Rincewinds and Small Gods. And as mentioned in another thread, love Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (Pratchett and Gaiman! How could you go wrong!). So looking forward to suggestions or buddy reads.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Oh! And did you manage to see any of the adaptations? Going Postal and Hogfather are fantastic. There is a The Color of Magic one too but not as good.

[[deleted user]]

Rusalka wrote: "Oh! And did you manage to see any of the adaptations? Going Postal and Hogfather are fantastic. There is a The Color of Magic one too but not as good."

No, I'm afraid I refused to watch any of them once I saw who they'd cast. Nothing worse than watching someone else's adaptation and spending the entire time thinking that they've got the casting spectacularly wrong. I'd rather have my image of the characters than have them ruined by someone else.

The series has changed dramatically as it's gone along. I was bought Mort as a 16th birthday present, and have bought them all as they've come out in paperback - so have seen it evolve. If you start with the later ones I would wonder that
1) you miss a number of the jokes that have their roots in references to previous books and
2) the early books will seem a bit 1 dimensional. they're certainly a lot more busy and tightly plotted as the series progresses.

Having said that, they are complete gems and well worth a read.

[[deleted user]]

Has anyone read any Joanne Harris books? She's been suggested for my RL book club & I'm wondering which would be a good read.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

I love Chocolat and have read Coastliners which was a bit meh, and Jigs & Reels: Stories which was pretty good for a short story collection, and I usually don't like short stories. I own most of her stuff though.

A friend of mine has read Gentlemen and Players and loves it. As a teacher in a prestigious boys grammar school I think it hits home a lot.

[Betty T]

I started reading The Help today. This mainly because I wanted to see why the book was so popular. Yes I know it's not so new now but I'm reading all of the books I wanted to read when i was in grad school....so here I go! Please share your views if you'd like :)

[Ava Catherine]

I loved the book and the movie The Help, too.
The book addresses important social issues of the segregated South in a way that anyone can understand. The book tugs at our heart-strings, and we are left to shake our heads and wonder why would people think this was acceptable behavior.

I look forward to your thoughts on the book, Bette.

[Shannon]

I am working my way through Cold Mountain and have not seen the movie. I am thinking that this is a man's book. I am not loving it nor am I hating it but I am finding it slow going. What did other people think/feel?

Bette, I was in the minority (except for my bookclub) but most of us thought The Help was OK but not brilliant. It read like a white woman who now feels guilty and so it writing a book to assuage her own guilt. It was not very hard hitting and some of the language didn't read well. There were definitely a few characters that I enjoyed and thought were well written (its been a while so I can't remember but the woman who married above her station and had no real friends). I just wish the black part of the book was written better.

[Leslie]

My recent favorite is Aquarian. Maybe because I need some inspiration nowadays. I think it introduces a new perspective to life and water.

[Irene]

I have Cold Mountain to read and these comments are not making me feel particularly excited about it. 
I did not enjoy The Help and this was exacerbated by the suggestion that the author had 'stolen' her own maid's brother life (????? I think this was the accusation) .
I would like to recommend Karroo Plainsong by Barbara Mutch (later released in a shortened version called The Housemaid's Daughter). This story is set in South Africa, the country of my heart, and in my opinion this book describes life in South Africa during this period more accurately than many other books which I have read. It also made me consider the experiences of the different race groups during this time and again in my opinion is more than a five star book.

[Dem]

Helen wrote: "Has anyone read any Joanne Harris books? She's been suggested for my RL book club & I'm wondering which would be a good read."

I really enjoyed Five Quarters of the Orange and would make a great discussion read. I just ordered Chocolat which I am looking forward to.

[Anne (Booklady)]

Is Under the Dome good?

[Mariab]

Have You heard about this book?

The Summer of the Ubume

[Mariab]

I stumbled again over a book that I enjoyed some time ago. For all those who like mystery with a twist:

Felidae

[Janice, Moderator]

Mariab wrote: "Have You heard about this book?

The Summer of the Ubume"

Ooooo.... This sounds interesting!