Book Challenge - Page 9

[G-Dawg]

I just finished Life of Pi. I LOVED it! I think I am going to have to go read it again. I am confused...

I am making a new list of must-reads!

Thanks!

G

[cathe]

Soccermom - I got to interview Susan for the story and she is SO nice. I spent 2 hours talking to her. I stopped by her house again yesterday to return the review copy of her new book and it was her husbands birthday and they were getting ready for his party. They were both in the kitchen together making figs stuffed with goat cheese.

That's interesting what you wrote about the book the Covenant. I bought it at a library sale a while back and keep trying to start it but couldn't get into it. Based on your review - I guess I won't bother again.

I'm still on the wait list for David Sedaris's new book - sure wish it would come . . .

[Indigo73]

I haven't posted much cuz I am currently making my way through huge box of older harlequin and silhouette novels from the early eighties. It's been fun brainless reading but nothing to write home about. I just got Little Children and Spin Cycle from the library on Friday. Both of those books have been mentioned here. I have a couple of others too, if they pan out I wll share about them.

[Viola]

So are we posting books that we've read? I think the last time I posted, I was reading Prodigal Summer. I read The Poisonwood Bible and I actually really enjoyed it. I want some more like that. I just finished a book called Dies the Fire by S.M. Stirling. It's a science fiction thing where certain technology just stops working and people have to band together and adapt to survive. I finally read The Continuum Concept too.

[MamaBug]

Amy I bought the Poisonwood Bible at a library sale and it is def on my list.

Cathe which review do you mean? The one that I post below the book title is from Amazon. I did like the Covenant, but then again I have liked every Beverly Lewis book I have read. If you like her books or those kinds of books it is worth the read.

I would LOVE to be a guest at a Susan Branch party! How does her house look? Super cute I bet!

[sunmoonstars]

Hello all - I've just read the past 9 pages and have been taking notes!

I go on reading binges! I was in school for so long, and only read textbooks. Now that school has started for dd(11) I took ds(3) to the library for storytime and got a few books for myself as well. I had requested some holds earlier this summer but I guess I had an old address! Oh well, I'll make some new requests now that is all changed!


Reading Now: The Mother Trip - by Ariel Gore, the Hip Mama. I hadn't read any of the previous ones and wonder if I start with her first, but I am enjoying it. I will definately get Breeder next!

Read this summer: Sushi for Beginners - light, romance -Bridget Jones Diary type. Single women in the magazine buisness in Dublin Ireland. I really liked it!

I usually read Jonathan Kellerman and just started reading his wife - Faye Kellerman. I like them both. Faye has an Orthodox Jewish Family and it's interesting to learn about the culture. Jonathan Kellerman is a psychologist who consults on murder cases with his best friend, a gay detective in LA.

Talking about old books that we have enjoyed: My favorites (at least as a late teenager, maybe if I read them over I'd think different!)
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - read this 3 times between ages 16-21. I love it!
Go Ask Alice - must have read 3-5 times in my life! Diary of a girl in the 60's who gets into drugs etc.
She's Come Undone - Wally Lamb I really could relate to the character at the point of my life that I read it!

Well - I'm not as big of a reader as some of you, but I do enjoy it while I'm on a "binge" I read alot online and magazines -I just like to intake information! I have been wanting to cut my TV watching down - but DH and I have some shows that we record on Ulitimate TV (like Tivo) and at least we watch then in 45 minutes instead of an hour - fast forward through commercials! My goal now that the school year has started is to limit TV and Internet time!

Glad to be here - thanks for the recommendations

[Thursday Girl]

just putting my name in so i can be updated, and when i finfish a book i am so in this thread. just what i've been looking for.

[cathe]

Originally Posted by SoccerMom

Cathe which review do you mean? The one that I post below the book title is from Amazon. I did like the Covenant, but then again I have liked every Beverly Lewis book I have read. If you like her books or those kinds of books it is worth the read.

I would LOVE to be a guest at a Susan Branch party! How does her house look? Super cute I bet!

I did mean the review from posted - didn't know it was from amazon. Well - maybe I'll give the book one more try.

I would love to be a guest at Susan's party too. I'm looking forward to her talk and slide show next month.

As for my recent reading - just read "The Well Trained Mind". We are starting to homeschool this year and I think this book will be very helpful. It outlines basic subjects that should be covered for each age as well as listing helpful materials. It gives some good ideas for organization and scheduling too.

[Alkenny]

I don't know how many books I've read this year, but I manage around a book every 5 days or so. Just finished The Heart is a Loneley Hunter and am reading Shoot the Moon by Billie Letts right now (so far, really good!)

[MamaBug]

Sorry about that Cathe I should have been more clear. For me I never take a reviewers thoughts too much to heart as everyone enjoys different things, kwim? Usually for me if a reviewer hates a chick flick I love it! :LOL

Lish I am so jealous that you can read that many books, I just never seem to get enough time for it. Although these past few weeks the boys have been doing more reading and craft projects themselves so it also frees me up to read. I have been trying to read every spare second that I get. I just went to the library today and got out 10 more books. I am almost done with the book Blue Italian and will post probably tomorrow about that. I love this thread but it makes my books to read list that much longer! :LOL But keep them coming ladies!

[Alkenny]

Originally Posted by SoccerMom

Lish I am so jealous that you can read that many books

But aren't you on close to 60 books this year? You've read about double what I have, you just don't realize it. :LOL

[leighj]

Great book

Dear Fellow Readers,

This is a great idea! I just finished reading "Bones of the Master" by George Crane (see Amazon Link below). It is the story of a Chinese Buddhist monk who returns to China with his poet/friend (the author) from exile to find bury the bones of his master--thus the title. It is a compelling, mythical plot about a hero's journey, hard core Buddhism, faith, magic, compassion, suffering, and joy. This is one of the best nonfiction books I've read in the past 5 years.

Jen

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...79201?v=glance

[MamaBug]

I just finished Blue Italian and it was a very sad and dreary book. It was a good read but it was sad

#68
Blue Italian
by Rita Ciresi

When Rosa Salvatore, a Roman Catholic Italian, and Gary Fisher, the only child of prosperous Jewish parents in Long Island, decide to marry, it isn't just their vastly different family backgrounds that lead to their demise. Gary, at age 31, is dying of prostate cancer. Rosa, to put it mildly, has a chip on her shoulder--something she inherited from her mother, who, for Gary, is worse than the stereotypical mother-in-law. As Gary's condition worsens, Rosa's bitterness and shrewishness increases, despite her love for him. And though she seeks professional help, her inability to face the truth about herself ultimately destroys both her marriage and herself.

Smooth prose, a snappy pace and clever, if nasty, repartee give a veneer of fun to Ciresi's bittersweet debut novel (after the Flannery O'Connor Award-winning short-story collection Mother Rocket). But under the shiny surface of this funny, earthy work there's a tremendous amount of pain as, after three years of marriage, Rosa Salvatore and her 31-year-old husband, Gary Fisher, face the fact of his terminal cancer. Bookended by Gary's diagnosis and his rapid decline, the narrative traces their courtship and marriage. Insecure, self-deprecating Rosa, from a working-class, Italian Catholic New Haven neighborhood known as Pizza Beach, is determined to earn a college degree and escape her past. As a hospital social worker, she meets Gary, a wealthy Jewish law student at Yale, when they work together on the case of a black client named Ivory White. Both Rosa and Gary had terrible childhoods, thanks to outrageously neurotic parents. Rosa's are lower-class loudmouths; Gary's mother is a snooker champion who constantly bickers with his father. Both sets of parents are glad to see their children marry, however, and all grieve after Rosa has a miscarriage. Gary's death brings none of the survivors closer, with Rosa suffering many regrets. Ciresi's depiction of New Haven's blue-collar ethnic neighborhoods is complete with local color. Her facile comic energy makes for entertaining reading, though constant wisecracking robs the characterization of some depth. Yet there is real substance in this tragicomic story of two people with smart mouths and starved hearts groping their way towards a love they don't get much chance to enjoy.

[griffin2004]

Oh m'gosh, has my library reserve list just quadrupled or what?!?!

Just finished Posterity: Letters of Great Americans to Their Children by Dorie McCullough Lawson. From the dustjacket: "Posterity is a fascinating glimpse into the thoughts, wisdom, and family lives of those whose public accomplishments have touched us all. Here are renowned Americans in their own words and in their own times, seen as they were seen by their children. Here are our great Americans as mothers and fathers." A great, great read. It led me to a biography of N.C. Wyeth which I'll dive into next (I'm ashamed of what an art dork I am).

Recently finished Mexifornia by Victor Davis Hanson. A provocative look at illegal immigration from Mexico into California. Hanson's perspective is twofold: 1) he's a classics professor at Cal State Fresno and, 2) he also farms in California's Central Valley. VERY worthwhile read.

Has anyone read A Million Little Pieces by James Frey? It's so intense I can only read a bit of it every few days. I had 2 nights of nightmares after reading about his 2 root canals sans anesthesia. Yikes! But you gotta love a protagonist whose self-talk consists of ""I am an Alcoholic and I am a drug Addict and I am a Criminal."

--Trish

[TigerTail]

hey, i have a quick sec to dive back in this thread. just finished the new sedaris, lol funny (of course.)

about to start the new j kellerman, 'therapy', 'the princes of ireland' (ed. rutherford, try 'london' if you haven't, it's v good), right now am doing 'hollywood interrupted' (dee-lish.)

just finished some interesting tess gerritson medical thrillers & 'with charity towards none', more brutally funny snarkiness from flo. king.

love getting ideas here. cathe, re: bev. lewis- there may be some validity to some of the reviewer's points, but the series picks up and i have gotten very attached to the characters. it's well worth your time.

suse

[Fiddlemom]

you guys are amazing and incredible readers!!!! I'll join ya though I'm not sure what my goal will be.....but just today a friend and I were talking about starting a book club as a means of getting our brains out of hock. so nice to find this thread tonight.

[lauren]

I'll jump in too. Just finished Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler, and found I have discovered a new author I like quite a lot, so I got two more of her books out of the library. Liked Breathing Lessons a lot for its compelling examination of a married life and the joys and feelings of failure that come from parenting.

[MamaBug]

I am going to get RWS the next trip to the library. I just finsihed another very short very sad book. I cried reading this one, thankfully it was a super short read, I think I read it in like an hour or two. I didn't post the review as I don't want to give away the ending but I did post the link to amazon so you can read it if you want.

Christmas, Present
by Jacquelyn Mitchard

Review of Christmas Present

[sunmoonstars]

Read "The Mother Trip" - and it was pretty good. Mostly essays, and her personal experiences. I really liked two things out of it:

1) A section on losing your dreams - literally. Sleep deprived women during early childhood tend to not go into the sleep cycle fully and don't complete their dreams. There was a quote from a woman that described what I had recently been going through precisely! It was about feeling your dream world interrupted and it melds with your waking world making you feel disoriented. It sounds really weird, but when I read it I couldn't believe someone else had this! I would love a book devoted more to this subject - any suggestions?

2) Page 94 has a list of questions to ask ourselves. I'm going to copy them down and use them as journaling launch points. I will keep the questions in a Word file, and then answers in a seperate file so that I can go back and answer them again at a different part of my life without seeing previous answers.


I'm going to read HOLES next! Been meaning too -and haven't seen the movie yet. DD just finished it for her 3rd time so I'm going to steal it next.


Hey - any thoughts on a children's book thread? I just pick up random books at the library - sometimes actually LOOK for a Suess, Carle or the "miss spider" books - but I usually just grab!

Have a great reading weekend.

[konamama]

have lurked here for awhile, need to go back and review what has been written...but I love reading, read about a book a week and look forward to seeing what everyone has/is reading and share what I am/have read...reading keeps our minds alive and well!