June 2009 Book Challenge - Page 2

[Fiestabeth]

Just picked up a bunch of holds at the library! : Going to try to get through:

Inkheart
Water for Elephants
The Undomestic Goddess

in the next three weeks!

[kangamitroo]

hmm...fiestabeth, i forgot about water for elephants...once upon a time i thought i'd read that one.

greeny, i felt as you did about this one:

Originally Posted by greeny

#9 The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai

I barely finished this in time to make the May list! I know this book won all kinds of awards, but I found it really hard to get through. Not very compelling. I didn't find myself caring about the characters much. The history/cultural aspects of it were interesting, but the story itself and the characters left, for me at least, a lot to be desired.

i finished Instructions to the Cook by Bernie Glassman, a zen teacher and social activist. he used the story of his community's work and the zen metaphor of using the ingredients available, what you have right now (not in the past or future) to "cook" your best possible life. it was good, but not highly exciting. i enjoyed John Daido Loori's Zen and the Art of Creativity much more.

[kangamitroo]

my last book of May was audio of Me talk pretty one day by David Sedaris. (Not my first listen.) I think he is very, very funny. I had a 7 hour drive to go to a funeral, and still I was able to escape into giggles.

for that hypothetical "what 5 famous people would you invite to a dinner party", he might make my list.

speaking of dinner parties, I want to read I like you: Hospitality under the influence by his sister Amy Sedaris.

[listipton]

This is the first time I've ever posted to the book club I'm kind of excited b/c this is the first week in a long time that I've been able to finish more than one book in a week in quite a while
1. On Borrowed Wings by Chandra Prasad
2. Time of My Life by Allison Winn Scotch
3. Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris

currently reading Bad Mother by Ayelet Waldmen & Atlas Shrugged (b/c I promised another MDC member that I would )
Happy Reading Everyone!
:

[listipton]

Originally Posted by kangamitroo

speaking of dinner parties, I want to read I like you: Hospitality under the influence by his sister Amy Sedaris.

This book is hilarious.

[fremontmama]

Originally Posted by listipton

This book is hilarious.

Totally. She is one of my favorite celebrities.

[kbond]

#32 The Spy Who Haunted Me by Simon R. Green

Book #3 in the Drood saga, and this one was much better than the second. Still not as enjoyable as the first. Good beach reading.

[cathe]

Inkspell by Conella Funke

Sequel to Inkheart -- this one takes place inside the book -- good but in some places I had trouble keeping track of all of the characters. Ended in the middle of a scene which I don't like. Didn't really get into this one as much as the first one -- kind of felt slow to get through. Dd is reading the last one but isn't that into it . . . don't know if I'll bother.

[cathe]

Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson

Historical fiction about a young teen girl in Philadelphia during the yellow fever epidemic. Fast read and well written. Think this would be for upper elementary/middle school age. I'm going to pass it to my 4th grade dd.

[cathe]

Oh -- and Fremontmama -- I totally noticed and was thrown by the new format too.

[mammastar2]

#29 - Innocent Blood by PD James

Very well-written. Not exactly a mystery, but not straying too far from her usual genre ever. About a young woman who applies to find out her adoptive parents when she is 18 and discovers her father raped a child, and that her mother then murdered the child. Her mother is getting out of prison, and the mother and daughter begin to live together. At the same time, the father of the murdered child is tracking them with murder in mind. Good read!

[Daffodil]

#7 - Something to Be Desired by Thomas McGuane

Lucien leaves his wife and son to go back to Montana and help an old girlfriend who has been arrested for killing her husband. Before long, he finds himself the owner of a ranch, living alone and trying to figure out what to do next. Can he start a business? Can he get his family back? What about his feelings for the old girlfriend?

Nothing anyone does or says in this book is realistic, and I couldn't identify with any of the characters, but I thought it was all right. I've never read anything by McGuane before, and I don't feel any great need to read more. He reminds me of Jim Harrison, but for some reason I like Harrison's books a lot more.

[Daffodil]

Originally Posted by cathe

Inkspell by Conella Funke

Sequel to Inkheart -- this one takes place inside the book -- good but in some places I had trouble keeping track of all of the characters. Ended in the middle of a scene which I don't like. Didn't really get into this one as much as the first one -- kind of felt slow to get through. Dd is reading the last one but isn't that into it . . . don't know if I'll bother.

Wow, you don't feel compelled to go on to Inkdeath after that cliffhanger ending? I liked Inkdeath best of the three books, but I also liked Inkspell better than Inkheart.

[Jenifer76]

My Year Inside Radical Islam: A Memoir by Daveed Garenstein-Ross

Gartenstein-Ross benefits from hindsight in his memoir about living inside radical Islam for a year. He seems quick to criticize and judge those who experienced the year. Yet he was just as much enamored by the experience at the time. I don't think he really offered much insight into the radical Islamic culture - at least nothing you can't learn from other sources. Even in the end, he comes across as a person still trying to find himself.Quote-right

[Bufomander]

I think I'm on #58...
A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg
good stuff.

[cathe]

Originally Posted by Daffodil

Wow, you don't feel compelled to go on to Inkdeath after that cliffhanger ending? I liked Inkdeath best of the three books, but I also liked Inkspell better than Inkheart.

Hm -- interesting -- maybe I'll give it a try then.

[kbond]

#33 Death Masks (Dresden Files #5) by Jim Butcher

#34 Holly's Inbox by Holly Denham
Ever wanted to read the contents of someone's inbox, then this book is for you. Very fluffy, chick-lit, beach read material. It was enjoyable, but not overly involved. Kinda predictable but fast read.


#35 Always Looking Up by Michael J. Fox
I'll admit that I have always had a secret crush on Michael J. Fox even though he is literally my Dad's age. I was a Back to the Future fanatic. This is the first of Fox's books that I've read though, and while I will probably go back and read his other memoir Lucky Man, I wasn't blown away by the writing. There were several insights about life and optimism though that I'll be mulling over for a while.

[greeny]

2. The Oxford Murders by Guillermo Martinez

This was interesting, but a little predictable. And like many mysteries, the focus was on the mystery, not on the characters. I like a little more character development.

What I found fascinating was that the main characters were mathematicians, and there was a lot of math/logic discussion throughout the book. Some of it went over my head, but a lot of it was really fascinating.

It was a pretty quick read.

[cathe]

Something Borrowed by Emily Griffin

I won this on Goodreads to review -- pretty much a chicklit book about a 30-year-old woman who is in love with her best friend's fiance. I found the main character extremely selfish and self-centered as she complains through the whole book about how her best friend is so selfish and self-centered. The ruined what could have been an enjoyable book for me.

[Jenifer76]

Originally Posted by kbond

I'll admit that I have always had a secret crush on Michael J. Fox even though he is literally my Dad's age.

ACK! I feel old now.