BOOK SNOOP!

[mcknzbwl]

Hi Jessica:  I see that you have read Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert.  I just finished one

of her earlier books for my Book Group.  It is called Stern Men. 

Hope you try it.  Let me know what you think.  Donna McKenzie.

[Jessica]

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mcknzbwl wrote:

Hi Jessica:  I see that you have read Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert.  I just finished one

of her earlier books for my Book Group.  It is called Stern Men. 

Hope you try it.  Let me know what you think.  Donna McKenzie.

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Actually, I'm among the group of people who have not read it.

Everyone on my train to work seems to have read it though...

[Melissa_W Moderator]

Saw something new today on the bus - someone was playing a Nintendo (??) hand-held, whatever those are called (obviously I am not a gaming afficionado). 

Other than that there were many newspapers; I was reading Susan Jacoby's The Age of American Unreason.   

[ande]

I saw someone reading the brand new Beautiful Boy (a father's story about his son's meth addiction) yesterday. I read the author's original article in the NYTIMES magazine that was turned into the book and that was plenty for me. But it's the new Starbuck's pick so I'm probably in the minority on that.

Ande

[Oldesq]

Now I will reveal myself as a non-coffee-drinker but I had no idea Starbucks had "picks" -- what is a pick for Starbucks ?  Is it a suggestion, are there discussions, are the titles for sale at the stores?  Seems a bit off their core business- maybe that is why they had to close and re-train this week.

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ande wrote:

I saw someone reading the brand new Beautiful Boy (a father's story about his son's meth addiction) yesterday. I read the author's original article in the NYTIMES magazine that was turned into the book and that was plenty for me. But it's the new Starbuck's pick so I'm probably in the minority on that.

Ande

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[ande]

I think Starbucks has been in the bookselling business for only a year or so and they sell one title at a time, I believe -- not certain how many they plan on offering each year.  And I have no idea why they decided to get into the book business is the first place. In any case, their CD business is much more active.

I agree with you: they should concentrate on making better lattes.

Ande

[Melissa_W Moderator]

There were an inordinate number of newspapers today (bad news tends to spike the paper sales around here).  The only other reading material on the bus besides my copy of Then We Came to the End was a Bible.  And it was being read aloud by a guy with some poor personal hygiene.  Pretty sure he was reading Revelations.  It wouldn't have been so bad except he was trying to be louder than the pack of little kids on their way downtown.  They were excited.

It was noisy.

[Aunt_Beth_64]

Hi Jessica:

I'm a little late joining this discussion, but thought I would respond to your question:

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Jessica wrote:

hi all,

here are a few more books i snooped this morning:

yet another Eat, Pray, Love (if you've read this book, please post and let us know why you think it's so popular... other than the Oprah touch. every time i look up, it seems, someone's reading this book.)

jess

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I am about a third of the way through Eat, Pray, Love and think it is fantastic! It is more than Gilbert's writing style--I do love her descriptions, honestly and self-effacing humor--what I really like is that I can identify with her struggle to find her true self and learn from her experiences.

You said you've seen a lot of people reading it--I'm wondering about the age group. Would you say that most of the people are mid 30's to mid'40's? I suspect that Gilbert has struck a chord that many of us in that age span can relate to.

Beth

[flyjo9]

My response to "Eat Pray Love"-fabulous.  I read it , found it the most delicious dive into life, love  and a spiritual journey.  Her search for love was earthbound and heaven sent and I just could not let this book down.

The combination of food, prayer and love, cravings I guess, but so real and so intensely written and described  The words   filled me with memory and in a way a longing . 

 I admired her struggle to find herself and learn to let go and be forgiving of herself was touching. 

I could go on and on, but I won't belabor.  I just felt a strong connection with her, having known the same guru and also share her love of good food and her struggles in her relationships. Joan

. 

[Melissa_W Moderator]

I spied several book the last few days:

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

Rose Madder by Stephen King

My Name is Anne (author unknown, but it's about Anne Frank)

Several books of crosswords and Sudoku

A Susan Hooper mass market and a Mary Higgins Clark (too far away for a title)

Uplift War (mass market sci-fi I think)

I've been reading Villette, Then We Came to the End, Birdsong, The Devil in the White City, and Beloved.

Message Edited by pedsphleb on 04-08-2008 06:38 PM

[dhaupt]

Great finds I read and loved The Historian.

[IBIS]

I was flying from Boston to Ft. Lauderdale last week; the woman sitting on my left  was reading Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Love, Pray. We spend the entire 3-hour flight discussing the book.

The woman on my right was gripped by our conversation; she said she'd grab a copy of the book on her way home.

Word-of-mouth advertising. What a wonderful thing.

IBIS

[Melissa_W Moderator]

Today I caught sight of someone reading In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower from Proust's In Search of Lost Time.   (As well as several Sudoku games and a bunch of class notes - it's finals week here)

[ilovelovelovee…]

pedsphleb, r u a student?

[Melissa_W Moderator]

Not really - I'm trying to go back to grad school to get an advanced degree in literature.  I finished my master's in epidemiology so I'm a research assistant in the college of medicine right now and I work for B&N to support my book habit.

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iloveloveloveedward wrote:
pedsphleb, r u a student?

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[ilovelovelovee…]

ok, i just ask b/c of what u said earlier.

[Timbuktu1]

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flyjo9 wrote:

My response to "Eat Pray Love"-fabulous.  I read it , found it the most delicious dive into life, love  and a spiritual journey.  Her search for love was earthbound and heaven sent and I just could not let this book down.

The combination of food, prayer and love, cravings I guess, but so real and so intensely written and described  The words   filled me with memory and in a way a longing . 

 I admired her struggle to find herself and learn to let go and be forgiving of herself was touching. 

I could go on and on, but I won't belabor.  I just felt a strong connection with her, having known the same guru and also share her love of good food and her struggles in her relationships. Joan

. 

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You could be a book reviewer! You described my reaction so well. I think it was her utter honesty that I loved so much. So often people seem to have an agenda when they write a book but she seemed to just be open to the truth.

[debbook]

I must be in the minority because I just did not like that book. I got two-thirds of the way through and then just could not read anymore. I do like her writing style-she is quite witty, but I found it annoying. Maybe I just have been over-exposed to the recent onslaught of memoirs, i.e. James Frey, Augusten Burroughs. I don't find them very credible and they seem more like fiction than non-fiction.

I love this thread because I am always book-snooping. Anytime I see someone with a book, I try to get the title, love to get ideas for new books!

[pjpick]

On an American Airlines flight to Dallas the people in my row were reading A Thousand Splendid Suns, The Zoo Keeper's Wife, and Crispin (haven't heard of Crispin). 

[Melissa_W Moderator]

Crispin is a children's book by the author Avi (who has many, many other titles for kids and YA).

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pjpick wrote:

On an American Airlines flight to Dallas the people in my row were reading A Thousand Splendid Suns, The Zoo Keeper's Wife, and Crispin (haven't heard of Crispin). 

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