Kara,

Here's a link to a list of the "100 Best" books according to Modern Library (they print the classics): http://www.randomhouse.com/modernlib...estnovels.html

Thanks!

Kara

Thanks for the great link, Cielle! My book club is looking to do a classic next--I'll be sure to share the list with them!

Missed this thread while I was gone on vacation, but I got a ton of reading done!

I read My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult, which was MUCH better than I thought it would be. There are bad and good comments on this thread about this book, but add mine to the good column. It was incredibly well-written (which is nothing less than I'd expect from Picoult) and the subject matter wasn't nearly as heart-wrenching as I thought...or at least not in the way I thought. It even had a romance in it!

I also read The Luncheon of the Boating Party by Susan Vreeland. I've loved all her novels, but this has been my favorite so far because I just LOVE Renoir and to get to 'know' him through this book was such a total joy!!! The book is about the painting by the same name, how it was created, about the lives of the people in the painting, and the life of the painter himself. Fascinating!!!

I'm now working on So You Want to Write and the seventh Harry Potter book. I'm sure you can guess which book is 'winning...' HP is fabulous, as always, and Rowling seems to have become more adept at crafting a balance between light and dark in her storytelling. Books 5 and 6 seemed unbalanced towards dark and depressing events without enough light and happy ones to balance them out. This is much better.

So...what are you reading? We're all ears...

BG I'm thinking it's the latter! How is so you want to write? Tomorow night I'm devoting to writing, making chili and the treadmill. I need to make a writing schedule and use some discipline for My creative pursuits
I'm into Round 2 (of 3) for HArry soo good!

I've been making my way through the Harry Potter series, much to the delight of my oldest granddaughter. I'm 2/3 of the way through Goblets of Fire, and although I'm enjoying most of it, it's so different from what I usually read. I'm a romance and happily ever after fan, I know, a real "wuss"!

I've been reading mostly Christian chicklit lately, and books to review. These are the last few I read:
83. Back on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber (7/8/07)--cute, I really like this series.

84. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (and I read most of OOP too, but they are rereads anyway...)
(7/19/07)

85. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling (7/21/07)

86. A Girl's Best Friend by Kristin Billerbeck (7/24/07)--this and the next book are the second and third in Billerbeck's Spa Girls series. I really liked 1 and 2 but #3 was really bad and contrived...very disappointing!

87. Calm, Cool, and Adjusted by Kristin Billerbeck (7/28/07)

88. Playing with Fire by Melody Carlson (7/29/07)--teen book to review. #3 in the Secret Life of Samantha McGregor series. If you know any Christian teens, this is a really great series about a 17-year-old who gets visions and dreams from God. She is given the dreams to help friends and keep tragedy from happening.

Right now I'm reading Briar Rose by Jane Yolen--GREAT book in the Fairy Tale Series from Tor Books. I love fairy tale retellings and this one hasn't disappointed! It is very short but I'm working on a huge freelancing project so I haven't had much time to read.

I'm also reading Let Them Eat Cake by Byrd, which is a Christian chicklitty type book, I think. I'm not very far into it.

Debbie Macomber has been one of my favourite authors for years.
I'm into James Patterson right now.
Has anyone read American Psycho?

I have a yyoung teenage daughter who loves to read...so i try to keep up with what she is reading.
Harry Potter...of course! We also have been reading alot of books by Tamora Pierce. She writes fantasy/medivial type novels that centre around strong female lead characters...perfect for young girls to read! Tricksters Choice and Tricksters Queen are the books that we are currently working on. Also, I just finished The Golden Compass (saw the preview of the movie that will be coming out soon)

Susan, why does James Patterson sound so familiar? What has he written?

Kara

Kara, James Patterson has written a ton of books--mostly thrillers, I think, I don't read him (except for Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas, his romance).

Dea, I've read The Golden Compass but I want to read it again and the sequels before the movie comes out!

Susan and Kara, I've read James Patterson, both his romance novel and one of his thrillers. The romance didn't do much for me, and the thriller was over the top gory...people in it died horrible deaths from poison and he described every last detail of how they felt and how the blood spurted from their orifices. :P Not my thing at all. But a friend of mine swears by them...she reads them before bed! She says they're so engaging that they help her focus on just them and quiet down the rest of her mind. I'd have nightmares all night! Susan, tell me why you're into him...maybe the book I read (think it was called Honeymoon) was an anomaly?

Jessie, you are SUCH a fast reader! Do you find you are able to make more time for reading (without the guilt) because part of it is your job? Even with the immense draw of reading HP, I still find I feel terribly guilty to just sit down and read when there's so much else that needs to be done around the house--plus I have all these craft projects I want to do!

How does everyone find time to read? Where do you do your reading? How do you carve a niche for yourself to have peace and quiet and alone time? Me, I have a terrible vice of reading in the bathroom (I feel like George Costanza!) but I also read when I'm waiting at appointments, when in the car on road trips, and other times when I'm traveling. I love to read just before going to sleep, but DH can't handle any light (even the itty-bitty book light), so I've had to abandon that habit.

Am I the only person who doesn't reread Harry Potter? I have so many books I want to read that I just can't find the time to go back...I hadn't reread a book since my childhood until my book club chose A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, which I read as a child.

JessieW I borrowed the sequel to The Golden Compass from the library the other day. I haven't started it yet though

Laurie, I don't really watch TV, I read instead. And often I read instead of doing housework, so that's not good! After reading for work all day, I enjoy reading something I don't have to correct at night!! I've gotten out of doing this as much--too busy!--but I often take a bath at night and read. And I usually read before bed, although lately I have been too tired, or I've read my Bible (probably better to do!).

I read HP for 8 hours straight until I was finished and didn't feel bad about it at all!!!! I reread much less than I used to, but I still wanted to read HP 5 and 6 so I would remember what was going on. Other than that I've only reread one book in the last year (those 80s numbers are keeping track of books I've read since September 06--I am trying to make it to 100!).

I read in the evenings after the kids have gone to bed while Tom is watching TV, because he's usually watching something I don't care to see.

I don't know why James Patterson sounded familiar to me. I don't do romances or thrillers! Probably saw his books on display at the store or something.

Aw, Laurie, I love A Tree Grows in Brooklyn! I'm a huge fan of young adult literature - The Giver, Gathering Blue, Bridge to Teribithia, Johnny Tremain, Where the Red Fern Grows...I could go on and on.

Kara

Patterson is very prolific! I like the Alex Cross ones best. Along Came a Spider, um ... Roses are Red ...

Honeymoon was gory!

The ladies who solve murders together are OK. 1st to Die, 2nd Chance ...

Suzanne's Diary For Nicholas was a tear jerker!