Community Room

[mwinasu]

I tend to be eclectic in my reading habits and I read a lot. But the books that stood out for me were The Book Of Margery Kempe by Margery Kempe ( this is the oldest autobiography in english), Castle in the Forest  by Norman Mailer and, Confessions- an innocent life in Communist China by Kang Zhengguo.

[LucyintheOC]

I was wondering if any of you have suggestions about holiday reading. The in-person B&N book group that I belong to likes to read something light, uplifting and holiday-ish for December. Last year we read A Christmas Carol and the year before we read The Christmas Train. If anyone has some suggestions for our book group, I would definitely welcome them.

[Carmenere_lady]

Summer time is catch up time for me.  Delving into my wanna read pile and choosing whatever I pick up gives me a gammit of different genres and keeps me on my toes.

Here's  a few:

Nanny Diaries

A New Earth-Tolle

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Hunter S Thompson

Winesville, Ohio - Sherwood Anderson

A few Stewart O'Nan novels

Right now I'm really excited to begin reading  Dennis Lehanes new novel - The Given Day

Continued happy reading to all!

[fordmg]

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debbaker wrote:

I read Wicked a couple of years ago. Not an easy book to get into. I am glad I read it and moved on. It was enjoyable when I stuck with it. Definitely not my cup of tea.

Deb

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I wasn't crazy about Wicked either.  It was like an alternate history (fairy tale).  Not interested in trying any of his other books.

MG

[Duch92]

Over the summer I read Keeping the House by Ellen Baker.  I really enjoyed it.  I get tempted to read it again.  I also read Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich.  I am hooked on the series.  I like the lightness of the story and it helps that the heroine is a bit of a klutz.  I also read The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox- which I didn't like.  And the book I just finished was The Friday Night Knitting Club.  It was good.

[Librarian]

         Hi-------My in-person book club is now reading Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson. I have only read the introduction so far. I will have a lot of reading to do because I just got my copy of The Believers and will be starting that too!

Librarian 

[khager23]

I just got my copy of The Believers today, but I'm going to try not to start it until the discussion begins here.  (Or at least a little closer to when the discussion starts.)

I'm in the middle of Dennis Lehane's The Given Day, which I am really liking.

[debbaker]

I am reading The Green Knight by Iris Murdoch with the Literature by Women B&N Book Club, I will be starting Brick Lane with them as well. I am also reading The Girl with the Green Tattoo. Lots of reading! At the moment I am working with SAT prep and College App Essays with my students so I can really focus here. I love books. My house is overflowing and I need more book shelves.

[debbaker]

MG,

 I have not read anything else by him either.

[Everyman]

My house is overflowing and I need more book shelves.

If you're lucky, this will be a perpetual problem all your life.

We built more bookshelves into our retirement home than you can imagine (including a two story library, bookshelves lining both the upstairs and downstairs hallways, floor to ceiling bookshelves in the art room, bookshelves in the attic for lesser used books, etc.) and still we don't have nearly enough.  I have books crammed into every nook and cranny, plus several thousand books left in our pre-retirement home which my daughters now inhabit because we don't have room for them here, and of course I keep making the problem worse by buying more and more books and providing lengthy lists of desired books for those looking for what would be a welcome Christmas or birthday present. .  

It has been suggested that I sell or give some away.  Silly.  What's the point in buying books if you're just going to give them away?

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debbaker wrote:

I am reading The Green Knight by Iris Murdoch with the Literature by Women B&N Book Club, I will be starting Brick Lane with them as well. I am also reading The Girl with the Green Tattoo. Lots of reading! At the moment I am working with SAT prep and College App Essays with my students so I can really focus here. I love books. My house is overflowing and I need more book shelves.

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[krb2g]

I have ~170 books checked out of my university library at the moment and only one bookcase to hold them all, so i've got three stacks growing on top (with the middle one shorter) that creates the general effect of the façade of Notre Dame Cathedral. I'm a little worried that the stacks are going to fall sooner or later. 

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Everyman wrote:

If you're lucky, this will be a perpetual problem all your life.

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debbaker wrote:

 My house is overflowing and I need more book shelves.

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[Everyman]

Egad.  How do you keep track of all the ones that are due back? Or don't you get fined for overdue books from the university library? 

I thought I kept a lot of books active at one time, but I've never gone over about 30 or 40, even counting reference books related to writing I'm doing.  

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krb2g wrote:

I have ~170 books checked out of my university library at the moment and only one bookcase to hold them all, so i've got three stacks growing on top (with the middle one shorter) that creates the general effect of the façade of Notre Dame Cathedral. I'm a little worried that the stacks are going to fall sooner or later. 

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Everyman wrote:

If you're lucky, this will be a perpetual problem all your life.

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debbaker wrote:

 My house is overflowing and I need more book shelves.

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[krb2g]

At my university, you can basically check books out indefinitely; right now most of my books are due at the beginning of next semester. However, all books are subject to recall, after which you get an email and have a week to return them. I do most of my non-class related reading in order to return recalled books on time. 

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Everyman wrote:

Egad.  How do you keep track of all the ones that are due back? Or don't you get fined for overdue books from the university library? 

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[Bearsstar]

Wheeeeee, I did make it to getting into the groups for The Believers, and am anxiously awaiting my copy.  Getting frustrated knowing that others already have their books already LOL!!!  But it will get here soon.  When I told my children that I made it into the club, I could just hear their sighs.  I have books every where in the house, in all the books shelves that could possibly put up, in every available space I can fit them too.  Their suggestions over the last few years has been Mother you need to open a used book store and sell them or give them away or......  Why would I ever do that.  Books are treasures to enjoy and I find ones that I have already read, but it was so long ago I've forgotten, so it's like reading a new book again.  I have gotten two of my four children into reading again, so hopefully we can discuss books together and here.  I am so glad to be part of the group again.  Thank you for letting me a part of this and of learning about all the new authors.  You are expanding my reading knowledge, thank you and everyone here.

[LucyintheOC]

Dear Everyman....check out www.bookcrossing.com. It's like helping to create a world-wide lending library. I used to keep all my books, too. In my case, I really didn't re-read many of them, so they just sat on their shelves, taking up more and more room until I also needed more book space. But then I met friends and started swaping/sharing books, telling them it was ok to pass them on to others and I felt such joy at knowing my books were going on journeys. Then a co-worker went on vacation to London and found a "traveling" bookcrossing book...It was so EXCITING! So now all my books go traveling in one form or anther (except for the few I don't want to let go of for whatever reason). I think it's kind of thrilling...who knows where my books will end up and how many people will read them along their journeys! If you check our bookcrossings, please let me know what you think. I just wanted to mention this to you so you would know about it in case you might want to consider/have a nice alternative to having your books all sit on the shelves until there just isn't any more room!

Librarian, my in-person book club also read Three Cups of Tea. I enjoyed it, but it was about 100 pages too long for me. I would have enjoyed the book more if the writing/stories were more condensed and, therefore, the book shorter. I'm glad I read it. I found inspiration in it and also some things to think about. I would be interested in know your impressions when you finish it.

Message Edited by LucyintheOC on 10-05-2008 09:24 PM

[Everyman]

Thanks.  Yes, I am a member of Bookcrossing, and have let loose a few books into the wild, but only duplicate copies.  I can't stand to let a book go loose -- I might want to consult it late some evening, or re-read it some day, and then where would I be?

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LucyintheOC wrote:

Dear Everyman....check out www.bookcrossing.com. It's like helping to create a world-wide lending library. I used to keep all my books, too. In my case, I really didn't re-read many of them, so they just sat on their shelves, taking up more and more room until I also needed more book space. But then I met friends and started swaping/sharing books, telling them it was ok to pass them on to others and I felt such joy at knowing my books were going on journeys. Then a co-worker went on vacation to London and found a "traveling" bookcrossing book...It was so EXCITING! So now all my books go traveling in one form or anther (except for the few I don't want to let go of for whatever reason). I think it's kind of thrilling...who knows where my books will end up and how many people will read them along their journeys! If you check our bookcrossings, please let me know what you think. I just wanted to mention this to you so you would know about it in case you might want to consider/have a nice alternative to having your books all sit on the shelves until there just isn't any more room!

Librarian, my in-person book club also read Three Cups of Tea. I enjoyed it, but it was about 100 pages too long for me. I would have enjoyed the book more if the writing/stories were more condensed and, therefore, the book shorter. I'm glad I read it. I found inspiration in it and also some things to think about. I would be interested in know your impressions when you finish it.

Message Edited by LucyintheOC on 10-05-2008 09:24 PM

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[delacrlm]

It is interesting to see what everyone has been reading this summer. I've been through a major YA and Graphic Novels kick.  It seems like there are so many great YA series just begging me compare them to Harry Potter.

I've read most of Twilight; I'm waiting for my coworker to finish Breaking Dawn to get my copy back. I've also started a couple of new series (The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, A Resurrection of Magic, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, and the Secrets of Nicholas Flamel...to name a few) and it is torture waiting for the next book to come out.

I just recently completed Holes and I thought it was a great read. It reminded me very much of Jonathan Safran Foer's Everything is Illuminated through the interplay between the past and present story lines.

I also read the Fables graphic novels series up to No. 10. And I'm waiting patiently for the next.

I've also read some amazing nonfiction by Jon Krakauer--he is currently my nonfiction hero. I've also reread some Michael Cunningham--The Hours and new for me is A Home at the End of the World.

But probably the most over all best experience I've had so far this year was reading Things Fall Apart while waiting quietly in my office over the weekend for work on the bailout bill. I thought there was some leanings of irony in that. The following day I saw Chinua Achebe read from Things Fall Apart and several of him poems. That for me has been the total experience for me this year.

I'm also trying to patiently keep up with other online book clubs and my nonfiction class schedule so I'm in a phase where I'm reading many books at once.

If you're interested in more check me out on goodreads (its always good to have friends in different places): http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/385837?shelf=2008

[Jo6353]

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Shadowwolf36 wrote:
My in-person book club just finished "The Sister" by Poppy Adams -- not a bad book but not necessarily the genre I enjoy. I generally read alot of paranormal fiction but also read "A Thousand Splendid Suns" which I loved.  "The Memory Keeper's Daughter" is also very good.

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I loved The Memory Keeper's Daughter, however, I found The Sister to be a little weird with a lot of unanswered questions.  Jo

[Jo6353]

I read Strawberry Shortcake Murder.  It was the first one in that series that I read.  I enjoyed it. Jo

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shesha35 wrote:

I have spent the summer catching up on series reads,and some other book boards group reads.

My favorite so far is the Twilight Series.I did not think i would like them but so far i am enjoying it.I just finished New Moon and have Eclipse waiting for me at the library.Other good ones I read this summer was Old Wound and In A Dark Season by Vicki LaneChange of Heart by Jodi Picoult,Carrot Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke,Cirque Du Freak book 1,Vampire Kisses book 1,and Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz.

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[Jo6353]

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Carmenere_lady wrote:

Summer time is catch up time for me.  Delving into my wanna read pile and choosing whatever I pick up gives me a gammit of different genres and keeps me on my toes.

Here's  a few:

Nanny Diaries

A New Earth-Tolle

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Hunter S Thompson

Winesville, Ohio - Sherwood Anderson

A few Stewart O'Nan novels

Right now I'm really excited to begin reading  Dennis Lehanes new novel - The Given Day

Continued happy reading to all!

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Fear & Loathing was a great book.  Have you read The Curse of Lono?