Rebel, isn't it funny how that happens sometimes? I think it's totally possible to just get in a mood where things don't hit you the way they normally would. I have found, though, that where some authors are concerned, I need to hear them read their books to get the humor. David Sedaris is like that. Dave Barry, on the other hand, is not.
Jessie, sounds like you're having fun! Are you still working in book reading/reviewing? Is the chicklit for work?
I'm hoping to lug the laptop upstairs and put all my unread books on the bookshelf into my TBR list. They've been there for years (at least some of them) and I really think it's time to give them a dust off and read 'em!
I finished Book by Book by Michael Dirda. There's a lot of great info in it (I have a million post-it flags stuck to various pages), but I didn't think, overall, that it was as good as Ex-Libris. Some of it seemed random, and I didn't really agree with him on some topics. But it was defnitely worth reading and I got a ton of great reading suggestions from it. As if my TBR list needs to get bigger!
I'm on to Can You Keep a Secret? by Sophie Kinsella. It's really cute so far. We'll see how long it takes for me to get annoyed by her main character. I have trouble with them--they make so many mistakes that I can see coming a mile away. It makes me feel like they're kind of stupid! But I know I've made mistakes like those, so maybe they're just too human?
Finally saw Slumdog Millionaire, what a disappointment. The only thing it has in common with the book is that there is a quiz show involved. Even the original title of the book was called Q and A. If you haven't read or seen the movie, do yourself a favour and read the book first and then you will wonder how the movie was able to win the academy award.
I finished reading Pillars of the Earth and although its a long read I just loved the book and am waiting for DH to read the second book, World without End? don't know if that's the correct title right now.
Also read Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult, I enjoyed learning more about the Amish way of life having travelled to the Lancaster area many times. I wonder about the ending but don't want to give it away.
Sophie
I read Before The Dawn by Carolyne Aarsen last night. Here's my goodreads review:
"Before The Dawn was a wonderfully quick read. The characters, though not especially well-developed, are very real and believable. The plot is simple and believable as well, and the emotions of the characters bring a needed complexity. Every character was easy to relate to and sympathize with and I really enjoyed that about this book. The epilogue left me anxious for the sequel."
I'm going to start reading the sequel, Sweet September by Tricia Goyer this weekend. It's a Guideposts series and I'm really enjoying it so far.
Wow, Sophie, you're the first person I've met who didn't like the movie. Was it because it was so different from the book? What was the book about? I didn't realize they'd made it so different. I get disappointed when the stray from the original in things, too, but I think it was a really moving and amazing movie in its own right. Glad you liked Plain Truth! If you enjoy learning about the Amish way of life (and don't mind a little bit of Christian "preachiness"), you should check out the books by Beverly Lewis. She writes about various communities, including Lancaster, and most books are romances. Wonderful, engaging reads with great characters and such a wonderful peek into that world.
Sounds like a good one, Kim!
Can You Keep a Secret? went really fast for me, and it turned out to be my favorite book of Kinsella's so far! I really enjoyed Emma, the main character, and she never got on my nerves for being too stupid. It was sweet and funny with a good pace. As long as you are willing to suspend a bit of disbelief near the end, you'll really enjoy the plot twists and turns. It's definitely worth reading, preferably in between a couple of heavier/more serious books.
After that, I literally devoured The Help by Kathryn Stockett. Chickies, this book is beyond fabulous--you must read it! I can't say enough good things about the writing, the character, the suspense, and how it makes you think about your blessings. I wrote a review on Facebook--I'll have to copy it here later, but I wanted to share this with you now. You can follow the link above to the author's website where there's also an excerpt of the book.
I'm now on to Lost in Austen:Create Your Own Jane Austen Adventure by Emma Campbell Webster. It's mediocre, so far, but I just got to the first "choose a path" option, so we'll see how it goes. The author has introduced a points system to help you see whether you've done well, but the way it's gone up to this point is that you are just assigned them--so everyone has the same amount of points at the end of the first chapter. I'm hoping it gets better. I'm a huge Austen fan, of course, and I also loved the "Pick-a-Path" books when I was a kid.
I finished reading Sweet September by Tricia Goyer. It was a really sweet book, like the first in the series. I really enjoyed reading it and I loved that it was a quick, light read. It almost seems like a Little House on the Prairie series set in the modern age. I'm going to continue getting the series from Guidepost Books and see how things turn out. I don't know when the next one will be sent, but I hope it will be soon.
I'm not sure if I'm going to commit to reading much more this week. I don't know what book to start with and I need to get caught up with life. Hopefully I'll have that figured out by the weekend and can start reading again then.
Laurie - this is the first movie that I have ever seen that has so little in common with the book. One example, in the book he is made an orphan with no living relatives and is taken in by a catholic priest who teaches him to read and write in English. (Perhaps for political reasons they had to change this). Thus he is able to become a honest tour guide at the Taj Mahal. Each question is a chapter and it explains why he knows the answer. I got a better feel of life in the slums in the book. I really feel that the movie is just a quick fix.
I will make a note of the books you suggested Laurie.
Not reading anything at the moment - just busy doing some spring cleaning and then the garden clean up will start.
Sophie
I saved us from going to page 2, hooray!
Since I was here last, I re-read Outlander in preparation for reading Dragonfly in Amber, which I also read. Both are fabulous. I gave up waiting for the next one in the series to come up on PBS, and went ahead and ordered it new.
Then I read The Reader, which I hated, but I finished it because it was mercifully short. Two very disagreeable main characters.
Then re-read New Moon, because it was the only Twilight book I hadn't read twice yet. Still my least favorite of the series, but I liked it better than the first time I read it.
I'm now reading Honeymoon by Robert Patterson. Not even sure how I ended up with this one, I must have seen a recommendation somewhere, but it is stoopid stoopid stooooopid. Short choppy sentences and female characters only a man could create. They are all gorgeous green-eyed blonds that want to sleep with the main male character. I saw the author's pic on the jacket, he is dreaming. Anyway, thought it was pretty predictable. I got 3/4 way through and I think I am done. So now what?
I've got a pile upstairs but can't think what is on it. Guess I'll start something new tonight. And I guess I'd better add The Help to my to-read list!
I read The Air Between Us by Deborah Johnson. It was great, though not as good as The Help. It takes place in the same general time time period, in Mississippi in a small town "teetering on the brink of integration".
Last night I started Edgar Sawtelle. I started it at about my bedtime, and got sucked in enough to read the first 170 pages at which time I forced myself to turn out the lights and attempt sleep. I already looked back through the posts here and see that you hated the ending, Beachgal. I'm going to try to put out of my mind the comment you made about it paralleling Hamlet, to just forget you said that
(It's going to be a long day at work. I can't believe I stayed up till 1:30! I'm so tired.)
I see that I haven' updated my ticker for more than 80 days. It's identical to what it was then, but I can't remember my password.
Last edited by beachgal; 04-22-2009 at 12:36 PM.
Reason: If you want to add something to a post you've already written, just hit the "Edit" button. :)
Sophie, thanks for the explanation! Sounds like an excellent book--though I liked the movie's storyline, too. Isn't it odd when they take an idea from a book and then leave the rest out? I don't get that.
Schmoodle, is The Reader the book on which the recent movie was based? Sounds like the movie shouldn't be in my queue... I pray I wasn't the reason you picked up Honeymoon--I had to read it for my book club and really, really disliked it. Talk about disagreeable characters! The overly descriptive violence in it was wayyyyy over the top for me. I tried to read a couple of Patterson's "lovey dovey" books and found them insipid and annoying. I don't think I like him as an author at all, but I have friends who think he hung the moon. Takes all kinds...
Rebel, forgive me if I did any "spoiler" action. The comparison to Hamlet is all over--from the back of the book to the summaries on Amazon. You'll have to decide how much of it relates to "Hamlet." I look forward to talking with you about it. Good for you on getting so into it at the beginning. I found the beginning part really slow going, but the middle definitely picked up. I loved the parts about the dog training. Isn't Almondine fantastic?
I finished Lost in Austen:Create Your Own Jane Austen Adventure. DH got interested in it once he found out there were points you could win and lose. He's such a boy! Anyways, he was sure that he could kick my with it, but he managed to get killed off three times before he gave up. Boys! I did pretty well, though about 3/4 of the way through, I failed twice--once by falling for a trick and another time by causing the death of someone. I finally completed my mission (to marry prudently and for love) by marrying someone other than Mr. Darcy. That didn't satisfy me, so I went back and tried again, dying once along the way, until I made it to Darcy. It was a sweet and satisfying end, though the author included one other ending that was also really interesting! I'm not sure the points thing was useful...it could be annoying and I avoided it when I redid to get to Darcy, but you do need them at times to help you pick your path. The author is an Austen scholar who studied at Oxford, and her little asides about the stories are hilarious and interesting. She included sections of many Austen books in this one, though you play Elizabeth Bennet throughout. If you like Austen at all, you'll enjoy this, especially if you had fun with "choose your path" books as a child.
I'm currently reading through several non fiction books and workbooks on self-esteem, depression, and cognitive behavioral therapy. Interesting, but not as fun as Austen. I have my bookclub tonight to talk about the Kinsella novel. We're meeting at a local wine/martini bar that serves appetizers. It's trendy with low-lighting, cushy couches, and wonderful ambience. Should be fun!
Hey Laurie, I don't know where I heard about Honeymooon, so I won't hold you responsible. As for The Reader, yes it is the book on which the movie is based. I don't know anything about the movie, except I usually like Kate Winslett, so maybe it is better than the book. It's an interesting premise, I just really disliked the characters, so maybe they went a more sympathetic direction with the movie.
Oh I am in heaven, my Amazon order just came, and with it all the rest of the Outlander series books. It's all I can do not to grab Voyager and head for my bed right now.
Schmoodle, the Outlander series was probably the most enjoyable books I've ever read! I hope you're ready for some fantastic reading!
I'm reading Heart and Soul right now, by my favorite author, Maeve Binchy. Her books are so good that I never want them to end, but they're so hard to put down!
I know cottage, I've read Outlander and Dragonfly in Amber so far and I can't believe how emotionally involved in them I am. I've never met a romance novel I liked and technically these are classified as romance novels, but really they are so much more.
Laurie, I knew everything says parallels Hamlet. I had in my head that someone on this list hated the book, so I looked back to see who (given that I'd been sucked in) and then saw you say you hated the ENDING, not that you hated the whole thing it wasn't a spoiler.
I had a lot more trouble getting reading the next section. we'll see.
Whew...glad I didn't spoil it, Rebel! I'd hate to do that. As one of my friends pointed out, I wouldn't have been so disappointed in the ending if I hadn't gotten so engaged in the book in the first place.
I finished Edgar Sawtelle. I really think it's a good book. I AM glad about 4 people told me they hated the ending, because I was thoroughly prepared to be let down.
Then I read The First Person by Ali Smith.
I guess I'm just not a short story fan, though some were good.
Next was The Spare Room by Helen Garner.
very good. About a writer in Melbourne who temporarily cares for a terminally ill friend who has come to Melbourne for alternative therapies for her cancer.
I think it's totally possible to just get in a mood where things don't hit you the way they normally would. I have found, though, that where some authors are concerned, I need to hear them read their books to get the humor. David Sedaris is like that. Dave Barry, on the other hand, is not. 
The overly descriptive violence in it was wayyyyy over the top for me. I tried to read a couple of Patterson's "lovey dovey" books and found them insipid and annoying. I don't think I like him as an author at all, but I have friends who think he hung the moon. 
with it, but he managed to get killed off three times before he gave up. Boys! I did pretty well, though about 3/4 of the way through, I failed twice--once by falling for a trick and another time by causing the death of someone. I finally completed my mission (to marry prudently and for love) by marrying someone other than Mr. Darcy. That didn't satisfy me, so I went back and tried again, dying once along the way, until I made it to Darcy. It was a sweet and satisfying end, though the author included one other ending that was also really interesting! I'm not sure the points thing was useful...it could be annoying and I avoided it when I redid to get to Darcy, but you do need them at times to help you pick your path. The author is an Austen scholar who studied at Oxford, and her little asides about the stories are hilarious and interesting. She included sections of many Austen books in this one, though you play Elizabeth Bennet throughout. If you like Austen at all, you'll enjoy this, especially if you had fun with "choose your path" books as a child. 
As for The Reader, yes it is the book on which the movie is based. I don't know anything about the movie, except I usually like Kate Winslett, so maybe it is better than the book. It's an interesting premise, I just really disliked the characters, so maybe they went a more sympathetic direction with the movie. 
it wasn't a spoiler.