Hello everyone -just thought I would start a new book thread now that we are into the fall season.

Any suggestions for a good book to curl up with a blanket and a hot chocolate would be great.

Also if anyone has read any articles of interest or have any magazine suggestions please share those too - nothing like a warm bubble bath and a good mag to relax with!

"Sunshine" by Robin McKinley. It's an adult fantasy (she even uses the F word once) about vampires, but it's funny and tragic and very, very wry. It's actually about a woman, a baker (her descriptions of this lady's job will throw you off your diet fo' sho') who encounters vampires.

Actually, anything by Robin McKinley is great. I've read every scrap she's published, including her extensive opinions on her website, and she's my favorite author of all time.

I've been reading The Red Tent by Anita Diamant. It's the story of Jacob, Leah and Rachel (Biblical) through the eyes of the women. Very cool.

I've also been reading Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas by Tom Robiins. I love Tom Robbins (especially the book Skinney Legs and All) but I'm not enjoying this one as much. I'm only a 1/3 into it though.

Well, I highly recommend Merrick (or anything by Anne Rice, for that matter). It had me totally captivated, and she mixed in the Mayfair Witches with the vampires. And although it's not my usual type of reading, I also was surprised to enjoy Memoirs of a Geisha. I'd give that one my recommendation as well. :-D

For absolute boredom, read "Victoria's Daughters"! zzzzzzzzzzzz!
I've bee re-reading "Unless" and "Dressing for the Carnival" by Carole Sheilds who died recently.
"The Hours" was also excellent - Cunningham? - particularly if you like Virginia Wolfe.
Don't bother with "A Good House" by Bonnie Burnard. Nothing really happens in 404 pages except there is a lot of detailed description of meals and houses. Maybe I missed something but....

Thanks Ruthxxx. I will read your suggestions the next time I am suffering from insomnia!

I have recently picked 2 issues of Health magazine. Not a bad magazine for articles on health, nutrition fitness, etc. Informative light reading that is not too much of a brain drain and not too fluffy either - just right!


I also enjoy Cooking Light -good articles and I have gotten some great recipes from this magazine over the years. I especially enjoy the " How to Cook.....(insert featured country's cuisine here)" where they teach you a bit about a country's cuisine and give you some rceipes that have been adapted for a low-fat diet.

I love Cooking Light. But recently a Martha-Wanna-Be got me a subscription to Gourmet Magazine (as a house warming present). I was really suprised that a lot of the stuff is easy to prepare. Yes, some of the ingredients lists are 20 miles long but not all of them.

Have any of you read the Julie/Julia Blog? It's about a woman in NYC who decided to cook all the recipes in that French recipe book that Julia Child's wrote. It a freaking histerical blog and you will not believe what this woman ate. She said she couldn't wait for it to end so she could eat salad's again. http://blogs.salon.com/0001399/

The Fairest Among Women by Shifra Horn is quite a good read.
It is about the life of an Israeli woman growing up in the 1940's through the 1990's very absorbing and informative from a historical perpective.

Surrender the Pink by Carrie Fisher circa 1990

BUT this is chick lit at it's best, and the sarcastic wit is something all you lovely ladies can appreciate.

Miss Chris

Anything by David Sedaris. He is a honkin' hoot.

I just finished "The Woman in White," by Wilkie Collins. It's brilliant--a captivating gothic mystery.

I'm now almost done with Thomas Hardy's "Jude the Obscure," and it's wonderful, but quite maudlin.

Hey gang

Lesbia - if you liked the Wilkie Collins book you should also "The Moonstone". It's really good. I took a Horror course at university - yes - that's right at university. It was a great course and we started out with one of the first horror novels called "The Castle of Otranto" by Horace Walpole. Good read in itself and for it's historical value.

I'm reading a book by Carole Nelson Douglas called "Castle Rouge". It's the 5th or 6th in a series about Irene Adler - the only woman to have ever outwitted Sherlock Holmes (Scandal in Bohemia). I just love these books.

And finally I am also reading "L'Alliance de la Brebis" by Gabrielle Lavallee. It's in French for those of you who can read French and it's a true story about a cult that existed here in Canada in the 70s written by an escapee. Pretty gruesome in many ways, but fascinating.

Well, I guess I've blathered enough for now.
Happy reading.

I just finished So Big, by Edna Ferber. I was expecting greater things, but it WAS good.

Ellis - what in the world were you doing up at 1am???

Ummm... we'd just finished watching, "The Ten Commandments". Figured I'd check my mail.

And now that I've had a chance to think about the book some more, I think it was pretty damned good.