Ho Hum, I'm with RNMom reading for school. A rabble rousing page turner called Mastering Project Management. School interrupted a wonderful series I just started called The Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. My gfren was kind enough to box up her 7 books and send them to me when she heard that I GASP never heard of it... I can't wait to get back to it!

YAY for all you great readers that started up a new thread! You ROCK!!!

I can't believe we're onto a second page and I haven't posted in this thread... Shows how long I've been gone on vacation!

So, Annarenee...how you doing on that list? Actually, I had to copy this post from the old reading thread because I think your choice of books to read after Cell is great! Everyone knows how much I loved Good in Bed, and He's Just Not that Into You is not only good for all of us (married or single) to better understand current (and past!) relationships, but also for our other relationships, especially friendships! Reading it helped me stand up for myself in a relationship with a dear friend and things are MUCH better now! Enjoy!

Ooh, I've done so much reading lately! Here are some of the books:

Heaven Knows, by Jillian Hart, an inspirational romance about a woman on the run from her abusive fiance who finds solace and love with a widowed man and his daughter. It was sweet and good!

The Return Journey , by Maeve Binchy, a book of many short stories that, of course, take place in Ireland. I love her books and always think I've read them all, until I find one that I missed, and rejoice! Thankfully, she's a prolific writer.

I'm currently reading:

You: The Owner's Manual This is great!!! So easy to read but SOOO full of information!

The Dissident Daughter by Sue Monk Kidd (of Secret Life of Bees Fame) This is a book about how Sue realized after years of fervent involvment in her church and writing as a Christian woman, that she felt a lack of connection with the female spiritual in herself, in her faith, in her church, and in her world. The book is the story of her journey to awakening as a spiritual woman. Hard to describe...she didn't stop becoming a Christian...she just realized that she was missing the female side of her Christianity. It's a fantastic book...mine is covered with Post-it flags and highlighting!

The Quest for Peace, Love, and a 24" Waist, by Deborah Low, my sister gave me this for Christmas...someone on here recomended it and I put it on my wish list. It's fantastic! Like Kidd's book, it's covered in Post-it flags and highlighting...but I can't go any farther in it until I write my story in my journal...that's the first of three exercises that she asks you to do.

A Lover's Almanac got this at a used book sale and it sounded intriguing. It's a bit scattered and sometimes hard to follow, but slim and has great character portraits, so I'm sticking with it, for now.

Okay, I'm off to read this thread and respond to what you're reading!

Wow, Rebel...the book by Mattison sounds amazing! Being of Russian Jewish descent, it sounds particularly fascinating to me, personally! It's on my list of books to read. Thanks! I love Sue Grafton...her books take place in Santa Barbara and she often discribes cities where I've lived or worked, like Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks. The Red Tent is a huge favorite in this forum!

finallyready07, from a fellow fanatic! Why did you choose these books? Tell us more about them (and if they are good! )!

LITTLE CHICK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm SO excited to see you...it's been FOREVER!!!!!!!!!! I love Nora Roberts, too.

RNmom...it's good to see you too! You crack me up about the fun and not-so-fun reading. Enjoy!

Ooh, Ruth, I'm with you on magazines...I have so many to read!

Sierra, great choices...sound fascinating! It's much more fun to work than to be in school when it comes to having time to read!!! My book club toyed with reading Running With Scissors but just didn't think we could stomach it. Wonder if it would have helped to hear that it's not all true?

Hey, Jetsetter! What was Tuesday Erotica Club about? Sounds intriguing! I like Dr. Phil's books...I'm partway through Self Matters, then had to read something else and haven't gotten back to it. Ooh...can't wait to hear how Cold Sassy Tree is...I'd like our group to read that one, too!

Soon2be, I can't wait to read that Albom book!

Sounds like a lot of us are reading or planning to read You: On a Diet. I bought it at Sam's the other day and it's on my list too. I think there might be a lot in that diet and Bob Greene's new diet that we could incorporate with SBD in terms of emotional issues and eating healthy. What do you think?

soon2Bfab: Have you read Mitch Albom's Tuesdays With Morrie yet? I LOVED that book. It was required for an english course in college and I dreaded it at first (my professor gave us a HORRIBLE description of it the first week of class). I read it in one night! It is one of the few books from college that I didn't sell back to the bookstore!

@Beachgal: Well, I am having trouble making it through Cell, so I started reading Running with Scissors. I'm going to read the other books I had listed...after I make it though these two (which I hope will be soon)

Kim, not yet, but I am sure I will eventually. Thanks for the idea.

I've recently read:
The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella--Really fun, I read it all in one night because I couldn't stop! Great chicklit, I loved it.
Julie and Julia by Julie Powell--I thought this was totally worth the hype. It's the memoir about a girl who cooks through all of the recipes in Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child in one year. SO great. Read it!

Right now I'm reading: Annie Freeman's Fabulous Traveling Funeral by Kris Radish, Chocolate Chip Cooking Murder by Joanne Fluke. After I am done the next ones on the list are Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult, The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant, and Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott.

PS I am reviewing a diet book for a Web site, it's called The Feel-Good Diet. Please don't buy it! I don't feel like it's a very healthy diet. Stick with South Beach.

Oh, I loved that book!! One of my favorites; I've already read it about 8 times. I'm totally in love with Dr. Clifton, even though he's on the sidelines a bit.

I also just finished The Woman in White. In true 19th century fashion, it's a bit wordy, but oh so excellent. Deliciously suspenseful.

Another Nora Roberts fan here! Do ya'll read Susan Elizabeth Phillips too? She's another one of my favs.

I'm on a bit of a non-fiction kick, so right on the heels of finishing Citizen Soldiers, I'm in the middle of another Stephen Ambrose D-Day. After that, The Proud Tower by Barbara Tuchman awaits me.

I really enjoyed Julie and Julia.

Plain Truth is right up there in my short list of best books of all time! I've read everything Jodi Picoult has written.

Rebel, I'm working on reading Jodi Picoult's full works! This year I've read My Sister's Keeper, The Pact, and The Tenth Circle. She just obviously does so much research to make her books SO believable...just love them! The Tenth Circle was a little strange for me, but I did devour it in two days!

Jessie, a journalist friend of mine interviewed Jodi a couple of years ago. Jodi said Plain Truth was her "cleanest" book, as in she got it back from the editor with only two clarification notes in it.

She actually lived with an Amish family for a few weeks to research Amish life. I love that she gets so into it with her research, especially when she went out with the ghost hunters for "Second Glance."

Tuesdays with Morrie is definitely a must-read. I approached it as one of those 'brussel sprouts' kind of books...you know, the kind you know you should read but you really, really don't wanna... Anyways, it turned out to be really fantastic! One of the few books that lives up to its reputation.

What do you think of Running With Scissors, Anna? Someone said recently that most of it isn't true and I think that might make me more likely to enjoy it, but I'm still seeing it as a 'brussel sprouts' book for now. Let me know what you think!

Jessie, when I was little, I had a dear friend who was also an avid reader. We used to get together at the mall, buy bags of Jelly Bellies at the candy store and books at the bookstore and then sit on a bench together, eating our candy and telling each other whenever we got to good parts in our books. I have a feeling if you and I were ever in the same place, we'd be like that...only we'd be eating roasted chickpeas or something healthy. I love hearing about what you're reading! I've wanted to read Julie and Julia for a while...thanks for giving me further inspiration. I envy you the experiences of reading Plain Truth and The Birth of Venus for the first time. Plain Truth is absolutely mind-bendingly fantastic. You will drool. Really. The movie version isn't half bad, btw. Venus is really good as well...and I loooove the cover. It's gorgeous. Enjoy!

ObviousChild, I LOVE your avatar and the comment under your name. You're a hoot! YAY for you for reading The Woman in White. One of my favorite all-time authors is Sarah Waters and she named Wilkie Collins (the author) as one of her biggest inspirations. I haven't read Moonstone yet, but it's on my list. I loved Woman in White, and was interested to read that it was one of the first 'mystery' novels ever written. Did you know that Andrew Lloyd Webber made a musical out of it two years ago? It did well in London, but not in NYC, sadly.

You know, I never paid attention to the author with Jodi Picoult! I obviously should have...didn't know she wrote many books, but I have read My Sister's Keeper (I think?) and loved it...hmmm. What are her other books about? What made Tenth Circle strange, Jessie? I love that she lived with an Amish family, Rebel! That so shows in the novel...it's amazingly real!

Okay, so Lover's Almanac honestly reads like the author was taking hallucinogenics at the same time as she was writing...but it didn't work out as well for her as opium did for Lewis Caroll. I've posted it on PaperbackSwap and moved on to the book for my book club, which is Tracy Kidder's Mountains Beyond Mountains, a non-fiction book about Dr. Paul Farmer's work with the poor in Haiti. It's absolutely addictive and amazing! I couldn't possibly do it justice with a description, but if you care at all about our world, those who suffer, or just want inspiration, you have to read this book. It's just phenomenal!!!

Jodi Picoult's website Scroll down to the bookcovers, and click on them for a synopsis (and other things as well.)

Laurie, I love that! I think we would be the same way. True booklovers at heart. In The Tenth Circle, Picoult's main character was a father who was a comic book artist. So she inserts these comic book pages in the novel. It just didn't click with me. I did enjoy the story though. I am so glad to hear that about Birth of Venus! I have been waiting to read it forever! What's your screen name on paperback swap? I live on that site. Mine is jessielynn.

So I started reading Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott even though I haven't finished any of my other books! But I love her. Her nonfiction is so fun. I am still amused that I like it so much, because I am rather staunchly conservative and she is raving liberal. But she is so interesting and zealous for life! I don't care much for her fiction, but her book on writing, Bird by Bird, is the best one of all time in my opinion!

bumping...
I finished Annie Freeman's Fabulous Traveling Funeral by Kris Radish. If you love girly friendship books, you will love this one! It is a treasure and a treat to devour. Her writing is beautiful and it's sort of...mystical, almost, like Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. Less back story, more living in the moment. Really wonderful, A+, you should read it.