It's 2009; What Are You Reading?

kristintcs · 08-26-2009, 07:09 PM

A friend of mine and I trade off buying books, we both buy a book at the same time and read it then switch, then start again. It's fun, always gives us something to talk about.

We just finished Time Traveler's Wife and Twenties Girl. We LOVED both of them, great books. She's reading Best Friends Forever now so I'll get that from her soon. Looking forward to it!

cottagebythesea · 08-26-2009, 07:38 PM

A friend just gave me the first three books of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, and I'm looking forward to starting the first one of the series tonight. I haven't had much time this summer to read!

MissKoo · 08-30-2009, 10:42 PM

I usually don't like "self-help" type book - too many are full of new-agey woo woo advice or, on the other hand, there are the "you got yourself into this mess!!" type of books. Not helpful.

So, Martha Beck's "Steering by Starlight" is a great book for goal-setting, feeling better about your present and future without miring yourself in your past. She is very well-educated and super smart but she writes with a sense of humor and directness that's refreshing.

Worth the time to read!

beachgal · 08-31-2009, 05:10 PM

Miss Koo, I love Martha's columns in O magazine. Sounds like a great book!

Kristin! Sounds like a fantastic way to save money and enjoy books with a good friend!

So glad you liked 20s Girl as much as I did!

I'm on my way out the door, so won't say much about my latest reads, but I was disappointed in Best Friends Forever (good, but not Jennifer Weiner-good, you know?) and also finished a fantastic, fast read...it was 6th in a mystery series featuring an Irish-American immigrant in turn-of-the-century NYC and called The Gilded Cage. I'm now reading a new one by the author of the Ya-Ya books: The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder

Cottage, I love the Sisterhood books!!! They are fabulous and I didn't want them to ever end.

Look forward to hearing more!

beachgal · 09-09-2009, 04:42 PM

Well, I finished The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder and really, really loved it. What a well-crafted book! Wells showed that the Ya-Ya books were not a fluke: she truly is a gifted writer. This book was far more positive than the Ya-ya books were, IMHO. I've read a couple of more private things here and there, and am about to start Red, White and Blue by Susan Isaacs.

I finished There's a (Slight) Chance... on audio CD and really, really enjoyed it. Definitely had a surprise ending and though part of it was fairly incredible, I still liked it.

I've moved on to Jennifer Weiner's Goodnight Nobody on audio CD and am liking it so far. It's a murder mystery set in a bucolic Connecticut town. Her description of the Stepford mommies is hilarious!

What are you reading?

Island Girl · 09-10-2009, 03:10 PM

I recently read The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton and have to say it was one of my most lifetime enjoyable reads. I immediately got her other book The House at Riverton, which is also excellent. Just couldn't stop reading.

beachgal · 09-11-2009, 03:28 PM

Island, I have The Forgotten Garden on my list of possibilities for our book club to read this year. I loved The Secret Garden and other books like it, so this one definitely appealed to me. Can you share what The House at Riverton is about? Tell us also, if you would, why you liked The Forgotten Garden so much.

Sheba's Mom · 09-18-2009, 06:12 PM

Our book club just finished The Time Traveler's Wife. It was different and not something I probably would have read but I did enjoy it. We went to the movie after reading it and then discussed the movie and the book. Kind of a tossup on which I liked better, the book or the movie, as they were both good.

I also just finished reading Inkheart. It was an impulse pick up at the library. Kind of a slow read for me but once again not my typical reading material. I did like it enough that I have put the other two books in the trilogy on my to read list at the library.

Another one I just finished (yes I have several books that I read at one time) was Clockwork Teddy by John J Lamb. The main guy is a retired cop from California and he and his wife have moved back to the south where she is from. They have become teddy bear artisans and travel to teddy bear conventions all over and end up solving some kind of mystery there. I really like these books and have really enjoyed learning about the teddy bear history and other information on how they make them. Only thing I could do without would be the cop speak he uses all of the time other than that they are pretty good mysteries.

Right now I am reading another mystery (my favorite kind of book to read) that I had picked up in large print from the library for my mom. It is called Retirement Homes Are Murder. I'm about 1/2 way through it and it has kept me laughing most of the way. I know sounds strange for a mystery but I have to say I am really enjoying it.

beachgal · 09-30-2009, 10:47 AM

This thread was on the top of the third page!!!

Whew! Where is everybody?

Sheba, that last one sounds like a riot! I love funny mysteries. Have you ever read Dorothy Cannell's books? They are funny mysteries and feature a detective that is generously sized and loves to eat.

I love it when I can relate to a character... I keep trying to get up motivation to read The Time Traveler's Wife, but every time I read the summary, it just doesn't appeal. Hmmm...

I read Water in a Broken Glass on my trip this weekend and really enjoyed it, though there were terms used that I didn't understand--like "red-boned" to describe someone. Before that, I read another Susan Isaacs: Red, White, and Blue, which was similar to the first in that it involved spy work, but it took place in the present day (though it was written in the 90s, so it takes place during that time period). What I found especially fascinating was that half of the book detailed the ancestors of the two main characters, going back four generations to the people who came to America, and winding through their lives up to the present day. That was fascinating!

I'm almost done with Goodnight Nobody on CD and am still very intrigued. I'm totally confused about the whodunit part of the story--I have no idea what she'll reveal, which I really like. Mysteries that keep you guessing are great! I'm also wondering how she'll resolve the personal issues for the main character. She has some delimmas to deal with that are really tough.

I'm currently reading Mary Roach's Spook. I read her book Bonk, and loved it. I really would be willing to read about any topic, as long as she was the author--her ability to make any subject fascinating is incredible! This one is for my book club, and we're meeting in a couple weeks, so I'm glad to be about halfway through.

I think I'm joining another book club: when I told some friends about the one I just joined, they expressed interest in joining too, but that one isn't looking for new members. So we're forming another! Should be interesting. I've never been in on the formation of a brand new club, so it could be really hard or really fun. We'll see! Has anyone else started a book club before? Any tips?

obnurseonsb · 10-09-2009, 08:43 PM

Right now I am reading "Peace LIke a River". Very good book. Before that I got done reading "Quickie"by James Patterson. I read constantly. So I am always looking for good books. We have a thrift store here in town that sells books a dollar for a plastic shopping bag full. Can't beat that!

beachgal · 10-12-2009, 02:17 PM

Obnurse, that's a great deal! Wish we had that...I get some good deals at garage sales, and I LOVE Paperbackswap.com. I think I've gotten over 40 books through that, so thank you to whomever told me about it!

I finished Spook, which was good, but not as good as Bonk. Still, it had a lot of the trademark Mary Roach style, which was fun. Best of all, she's calling in to our book club meeting tonight!!!

I'm SOOO excited!

I'm currently reading SBD: Supercharged to refresh my memory.

Goodnight Nobody had a fantastic ending to the mystery that I didn't even expect. The actual ending left the main character's plans up in the air, which was a little frustrating, but perhaps the best choice for the author.

I'm currently listening to Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella on CD and am on the last disk. Sadly, it was abridged, but it was a lot of fun, so I'm glad I borrowed it from the library. The main character is a bit different from some of the others I've seen in Kinsella's work and the "need to slow down" message that underlies most of the book is really refreshing. It's worth picking up, I think. Here's the synopsis:

Quote:

Samantha Sweeting, the 29-year-old heroine of Kinsella's latest confection (after Shopaholic Sister), is on the verge of partnership at the prestigious London law firm Carter Spink—the Holy Grail of her entire workaholic life. But when she finds she has made a terrible, costly mistake just before the partnership decision, she's terrified of being fired. In a fog, she stumbles out of the building and onto the nearest train, which drops her in the countryside, where she wanders to a stately home. The nouveau riche lady of the house mistakes her for the new housekeeper—and Samantha is too astonished to correct her. Numb and unable to face returning to London, Samantha tries to master the finer points of laundry, cooking and cleaning. She discovers that the slow life, her pompous but good-hearted employers and the attentions of the handsome gardener, Nathaniel, suit her just fine. But her past is hard to escape, and when she discovers a terrible secret about her firm—and when the media learns that the former legal star is scrubbing toilets for a living—her life becomes more complicated than ever.

So, what are you reading?

sophie · 10-13-2009, 08:12 PM

I just finished "David Copperfield" (vintage version). It took me three months to finish and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I really enjoyed the Masterpiece Theatre Dickens series so when Mother's Day and my birthday came around my kids gave me about five Dickens books. I have to read something else in between so will check my pile.
take care
Sophie

Sheba's Mom · 10-14-2009, 02:40 PM

Beachgal I haven't read any Dorothy Cannell. Any particular one you would recommend to read first?

beachgal · 10-16-2009, 02:25 PM

Sheba, Dorothy Cannell is delightful! I'd recommend that you start with the first of her Ellie Haskell mysteries: The Thin Woman. It's wonderful; here's a synopsis:

Quote:

Overweight and unmarried, Ellie Simons balks at the prospect of attending her family reunion. But with a hired escort in tow--posing as husband--she summons the courage to go, little realizing that the weekend will lead to unexpected romance, a treasure hunt--and murder. "A likable debut".

It's like a fairy tale, only with a lot of down-to-earth humor and a heroine you cannot help rooting for! Enjoy...

Sophie, I so admire you for reading Dickens! I love what I've read, but haven't tried anything new in a long, long time. A friend of mine told me that A Tale of Two Cities is her favorite book, and others have told me that it's wonderful, but I've hesitated to pick it up because I hate books about war. Have you read it yet? I'd love to hear what you think.

weezle · 10-16-2009, 06:12 PM

Working on WWZ (World War Z) by Max Brooks. Very good so far!