[rebel]

Here's a link to The Newbery Project. Anyone can join. They are reading all the Newbery Medal winners (first awarded in 1922.) We just started in February. AdiaFaith, no one has blogged about The Giver there yet...

[beachgal]

Wow, you are all killing me with the fantastic books you're reading!!! If I reply to everyone I'll be here until next week (and it cuts into my reading time... ), so here's a couple of thoughts:

Adia: I love the Bridget Jones books...they did a good job with the movies, but the books are much funnier. Wonder what they're like as audio...the words on the page are written in very graphic ways to communicate her thoughts... James Patterson is really graphic...a bit too much for me. I like the writing in the Cat Who mysteries but after two out of six that I read ended with no resolution of the mystery, I couldn't pick up another. Most of the fun in reading a mystery, for me, is to figure out if I can guess whodunit...and if there is no way to find out if I'm right...then it just doesn't seem as fun. I like the main character and the cat(s), though. Giver is an incredible book. I don't know the book by Gaiman, but he wrote the Sandman series of graphic novels. Someone recommended them and I read the first one (Preludes and Nocturnes). You'd be amazed at how literary it was, and at the great writing he did. However, it was a bit too gory, gothic, and dark for me...so I didn't read the rest of the series.

Jessie: I'm listening to Picoult's Vanishing Acts audiobook--I like it as much as Plain Truth. It's about a woman who finds out, as an adult, that her father kidnapped her when she was 4. It's really interesting!

LitChick, welcome! Can't wait to check out your book blog--what a great idea! I wish I'd thought to do that years ago. I can never remember authors and titles for books I've read. Your recommends sound fantastic; I love historical fiction, too.

Not much has changed in my reading...though I did finish the Billy Collins performance CD...it was FANTASTIC!!!! He is so funny and so smart!

[squeaker]

I just finished Vanishing Acts. I loved it! I am now working on Keeping Faith, also by Jodi Picoult. I am only less then 50 pages in, but like it so far.

[beachgal]

Hey, Squeaker! Haven't seen you in a while!

Oh, I have Keeping Faith in my car...but I'm afraid to start it and then get it tangled up in my mind with Vanishing Acts...I only finished half of it and had to return it to the library...I have to wait to get it back and finish! What's Keeping Faith about?

Has anyone read My Sister's Keeper? The plot doesn't interest me much, but I really like Picoult, so I'm interested in trying it.

[AdiaFaith]

Laurie - The audiobooks on Bridget Jones are fantastic. The lady was born in England, but raised from infancy in America. She nails the accents and even the male voices are pretty good. This my first Cat Who mystery....we'll see. Patterson is really graphic, but he usually is so fast paced I don't notice as much. However, I don't like the audio version....it's not quick enough. The more you dwell on the gore the more real it is. Gaiman did recreate The Sandman comic books, which have now become graphic novels. He's quite intense.

Rebel - If I get a moment, I'll definitely blog for The Giver, Thanks! Also, no one has touched on Witch of Blackbird Pond yet, another great one.

Finished The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Listening to a few more Harry Potter and Artemis Fowl audio books this week.

[JessieW]

Laurie, My Sister's Keeper was fantastic. I tried reading it once and stopped maybe 50 pages in, but my second try I flew through it. Once you get into the details it's really fascinating.

[annarenee]

I've finished HP and the Order of the Phoenix, so this morning I started The Glass Castle. I'm also still slowly (very slowly) making my way through The Motorcycle Diaries. Yesterday I went to the bookstore (there's one in the building I work in...I don't even need to put on a coat to get to it...very dangerous ) and bought two other books...The Nanny Diaries and The Devil Wears Prada (which I've read before). I think I'm pretty much set book-wise for March!!

I've heard great things about My Sister's Keeper from several co-workers. It might have to be on my April list!

[squeaker]

Hi Laurie! I am only about 75 pgs into Keeping Faith. So far a young girl seems to have God as her "imaginary friend". It is rather interesting so far. I also read My Sister's Keeper. It was the first Picoult book I read. I loved it, but I hated it too - It made me cry.

Adia - Which of the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants books did you read? I highly recommend all 4! And it does help to read them in order, if you haven't read the others. The last one just came out.

[beachgal]

I love the Sisterhood books too...forgot to mention that yesterday! I've read all three and ordered #4 from Amazon (just waiting for it to get here....*impatient*). Even though they are meant for teens, I found myself relating to them very well...the girls reminded me so much of my circle of friends and I loved learning about how they dealt with such big issues. Did you like it, Adia?

Good to know about the Bridget Jones' books on audiobook. Will have to try them sometime! I hear you about Patterson, though. The details in the book I read, Honeymoon, were just wayyy to graphic for my overactive imagination. I have a friend that loves to read his books as she falls asleep...I can't imagine!

I'm so glad to hear good things about Sister's Keeper, and Squeaker, Keeping Faith sounds really good too! I'll have to re-request the audiobook so I have enough time to listen before it's due. Is anyone able to get through an unabridged audio book in 2 weeks? That's the due date at our library and while I can sometimes renew them, sometimes someone else has requested it, so I can't. The last Picoult one was 14 discs long!!!

Anna, I loved The Nanny Diaries...it's incredibly well written. The father of one of the authors is a professor at the college here in town, so she and her co-author came and did a reading of their newest book (at the time), Citizen Girl. It's really rather well done, as well. So if you like Diaries, check that one out. Looks like they have another book coming out in June called Dedication. No idea what it's about...

[rebel]

JessieW - I looked at your 100 book list and had to laugh at the goal of more non-fiction and more books by men. I then reviewed my book list for the last couple of years:
108 books.
of those, 16 non-fiction. (14.8%), 8 books by men (7.4%)

[AdiaFaith]

Loved the Sisterhood ladies! I just finished the first one. I'm going to the library today to pick up the next one. It's just hard to focus on the books I'm supposed to be reading when there is so much more out there waiting!

Loved the Nanny Diaries! I'll have to look for Citizen Girl......

How is The Devil Wears Prada book? And do let me know how The Glass Castle turns out....that one looks interesting!

[rebel]

I hate when my paid job interferes with my reading time.

[annarenee]

Adia I really enjoyed The Devil Wears Prada. I haven't seen the movie, but I hear it is quite different from the book.

rebel Me too!!

[JessieW]

Y'all are making me itch to just go home and read! It's 20 minutes til quitting time...if I went home now I might have an hour to read before church! LOL. It's awesome to see so much activity on this thread.

Rebel--You can see that my goal of reading male authors hasn't been making great headway! And it's a good things memoirs are nonfiction. Those are about the only nonfiction I've read.

I've read the first Sisterhood book...would love to read the rest! There's just SOOOO many books I want to read!! AHHHH!

Laurie, I'm listening to Rise and Shine by Anna Quindlen on audiobook right now. Great reading! But the only way I can listen to a decently long audiobook is when I am on a trip. I drove 6 hours around PA which helped me put a dent in this one. I used to listen more just going to work and home, but my DH and I drive together now so I don't do that.

[JessieW]

P.S. I heard only bad things about Citizen Girl. It's good to hear some positive comments! I liked The Nanny Diaries even though I wanted to kill the mother!