Summertime and the livin' is easy......

So what is everyone reading while lounging on the deck, tanning on the beach or lazing in their backyard hammock?

I've just started The Onion Field, by Joseph Wambaugh.
And I've also just started Cider House Rules, by John Irving.

I loved the movie Cider House Rules, I'm sure the book is even better. I am reading "Wolfskin" but Julier Marillier and am about to start on the sequel.

I finished The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde on the plane to Europe. It's his third book in a series that is so very funny. It's definatley a series for biliophiles. It makes incredible references to all the classics, has characters such as Miss Havisham. It's a real delight to read and very non-deep Good beach reading material

Anna Karenina is what I'm currently working on. I wanted a book that I couldn't finish in a weekend. It's an easy read and I like it so far.

Oh, Anna Karenina is a good book, Jessica! Yes, it's nice easy read.

Ooooh! Nice topic! I’ve been lurking here at Alternachicks for a while – and this is a nice opportunity for me to delurk and say hi!

I’m a student and read mostly non-fiction throughout the year – except for in the summer when I read for pleasure. This summer I’m rereading three of my favourite sci-fi dystopias: Huxley’s Brave New World, Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-four, and Atwood’s The Handmaid's Tale.

I love those sci-fi dystopia books. Orwell is super. Something similar is Alas Babylon by Pat Frank. Right now, I'm reading Hawaii by Michener. The first chapter is borrrrrrrrrrring. The second one is okay, and now I'm struggling with the third. Sadly, I have an English Lit degree, so this should be cake (why do I always use food metaphors?), but I think Dickens was more interesting than this. Anyway, also read Bergdorf Blondes by Plum Sykes recently. Very bubble gum (not challenging). Ecstatic to see there are women who love to read on this site.

**** is other people.
SW186/CW170/GW145

Hi, Mette! Welcome!

Amber, have you read The Source, by Michener? It's my favourite. (apart from the much dated, romantic story-line going on throughout the book )
Dickens should have been drowned at birth.

Ellis, why don't you tell us what you really think about Dickens?

I LOVE the Handmaid's Tale, and think that Brave New World is much better than 1984, but reading the two concurrently gives you such great ideas and insights.

I'm currently reading The Secret Life of Bees, which started slow and annoying, but now is amazing and incredibly engaging! I'm also listening to The Virgin Blue by Tracy Chevalier on CD. Reviews of it at Amazon.com say that it was a book she couldn't publish until the success of Girl with a Pearl Earring, and that it wasn't very good. I disagree...it's amazing, especially on CD, where all the French comes across correctly and so eloquently. Very worth a read, especially if you like historical fiction!

I read Michener's Hawaii on my way to Hawaii for the first time, and I loved it. His books about places always start very sloooooooowwwwwwllllllyyyyyy to me, but by the middle, I can't put them down. I love the story about the Pacific Islanders who first made it to Hawaii...so sad and so well described. Keep reading, AmberSparks...I think you'll enjoy it! I've never read the Source, though I've always meant to. My dad was so inspired by it that he made a huge series of colored pencil drawings in response. They have hung on the wall since before I was born and I have always found them fascinating. I'll have to put it on my list of things to read soon.

I just finished "July, July" by Tim O'Brien. I LOVED it. Also I am almost done with "The Things They Carried" also by O'Brien. I like it but it is a little too heavy right now.

Welcome Mette!

Right now, I'm reading "Carolina Moon" by Nora Roberts. I like her novels because there is always mystery combined with romance. I think the next book I'll take on is going to be "Catcher in the Rye"...surprisingly, I have never read it and now that I am on this reading frenzy, I thought I'd get around to it.

Catcher in the Rye will totally not be what you think (probably). It's a VERY fast read, too, so that's good. Ellis, I wrote down The Source so I remember to get it if I see it at the used book store. Okay, since this is now my second post and people were so kind in responding (thanks, Beachgal, I won't give up on Hawaii...and Secret Life of Bees is pretty good), I'll tell you all about my sickness (BESIDES yo-yo dieting). I'm a compulsive book buyer. I've even got a method so I can afford my habit. I buy nice books at garage sales for 25 cents, then trade them in at the used bookstore, so I end up getting books I want to read for about 50 cents each (two trade-ins equal one trade-out). When my husband and I bought a house, it had to have an extra room for my "library."

Whew. Glad I got that off my chest.

By the way, Bel Canto is VERY good, though the ending is a little abrupt. Other recommendations: The Red Tent, Queenmaker (VERY like The Red Tent, about biblical David's queen). Books that will make you mad: The Nanny Diaries, The Devil Wears Prada. Grow a spine!

**** is other people.
186/170/145

By the way, I thought you Canadian women were English at first. My husband is English and you use a lot of the same expressions. I'm in Montana, which might as well be Canada (everyone in the US seems to think it's a different country anyway).

Welcome mette and AmberSparks!

Yes, we Canadians still enjoy our ties to Great Britain and our way of speaking is more along the lines of the British, we are also big fans of tea and scones

I am currently reading The Dark Side of the Sun by Terry Pratchett- hilarious and I just started Witch - A Magickal Journey by Fiona Horne, billed as " A hip guide to modern Witchcraft".

I am also reading a book on Buddhism that I bought off a guy on the corner for a $2.00 donation - I am such a sucker for books on religion and philosophy

I am going to borrow Davinci's Code from a friend when I am finished with the books I am currently reading.

Ellis - I found this awesome book store in L'Esplenade Laurier - it's a discount blow out place full of brand new books starting at $3.99....I saw some hard covers there for $7.99! You should check it out!

Amber, Mauvais and I are both of British decent.
I'm a big book buyer, too! I've got thousands of books all through the house! I love the idea of a library.
I've got most of my classics and "good" books in the living and dining rooms. My "trashier" books (mysteries, childrens books, etc) are up in the attic where our bedrooms are. I don't want everyone to see my "other side".