Book Lovers Club
Comments
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GREAT thread... I'm in the process of loading my iPad with good books for my hospital stay and post-mastectomy recovery, and you all have given me some great ideas.
I loved Bridget Jones' Diary and Edge of Reason, and it's been at least 10 years since I read them, so I'm packing them as fun, light, funny reading.
I'm hunting for books in that vein... totally silly and hilarious. I was thinking the Confessions of a Shopaholic books?
I recently read a good suspenseful novel called The Disappearance by Bentley Little. I love a good suspence-filled, can't-put-the-book-down-even-at-2am book!
Badger, David Sedaris is absolutely hilarious... any of his books are a good bet and I'm planning on buying that one. (I can't stand his voice, but his writing is excellent!!)
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Crunchy - you can't get fluffier than Hissy Fit and Little Bitty Lies by Mary Kay Andrews.
Hissy Fit: The night before her wedding, in the middle of an oh-so-smart rehearsal dinner, interior decorator Keeley Murdock chances upon her fiancé and her maid of honor "doing the deed." Keeley pitches the hissy fit of the century, storms out and earns herself instant notoriety in her tiny hometown of Madison, GA.
Little Bitty Lies: In a suburban Atlanta neighborhood where divorce is as rampant as kudzu, Mary Bliss McGowan doesn't notice that her own marriage is in trouble until the summer night she finds a note from her husband, telling her he's gone -- and taken the family fortune with him.
http://www.marykayandrews.com/content/books.asp
Best wishes for a successful surgery and recovery!
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You mentioned Garlic and Sapphires......loved that book and it is the reason I finally tried Sushi. I love books that make me laugh outloud and that was one of them.
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Badger, these sound PERFECT for me (and they're even set in my beloved Geawgia!!). Thank you; I will be buying bohh of these and can't wait to read them!! Garlic and Sapphires is going on the list too!
I just found out my hospital stay will be a "23-hour stay" (huh? why not 24 hours? whatever) so I guess I won't have as much time as I thought to read, but it will be great to have plenty of good reading while I'm home recovering too! Thanks again.
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Bookart,
Brunelleschi's Dome by Ross King is also good. Love it, since I've been to Florence several times.
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If you liked Brunellschi's Dme, try Michaelangelo and the Pope. A great book about the artist and the ainting of the Sistine Chpel. A great read.
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Crunchy - Savannah Blues and its sequel Savannah Breeze were good too, also by Mary Kay Andrews. BTW, she lives in Atlanta and was a reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
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Airplane trips to Salt Lake are always filled with children, many crying, and I was surprised at how Don't lets go to the dogs tonight kept my interest on such a 4-hour flight. I tried her follow-up memoir and didn't finish it.
Lane mentioned Donna Tartt's Little friend. Her Secret history is very engrossing, too.
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Okay -- since I'm "voraciousreader" you folks may as well know what I like to read - so here goes!
Regarding Ruth Reichl's Garlic and Sapphires - I loved the book too! But I'm sorry to say, Marybe, I still won't eat suchi!
Loved Erik Larson's Devil in the White City so much that I had to visit Chicago afterwards. I did. And it was AMAZING. Also loved Erik Larson's Isaac's Storm about the Galveston, Texas 1900 hurricaine. Read that a few years before Hurricane Katrina. Heartbreaking!
Crimson Petal and The White was also a great book, even though I'm not a great lover of fiction. Other historical novels that are facinating are Cheat and Charmer, City of Dreams and the novel, New York by Rutherford.
Other novels that I enjoyed include the recent books by Tropper, This is Where I Leave You, which had me falling out of my bed from laughter and Udall's The Lonely Poligamist. I tried not to laugh as much when I read The Lonely Poligamist because I had read the true life account of Carolyn Jessop who left a poligamist marriage in both her books, Escape and Triumph and I didn't think it was appropriate for me to laugh since this woman's life experience left me shaking!!!
Someone also mentioned Sarah Vowell's Assassination Vacations and I agree that the book is hilarious and I'm a Republican! Another road trip book that I love is Harry Truman's Excellent Adventure based on a road trip that he and Bess took shortly after he left office. Imagine, the TRUE story of how after they returned home to Missouri and Harry put their luggage away in the attic, he turned to Bess and said, "Come on, let's take a vacation" and they did -- without the Secret Service -- they just wandered to New York and back! Hilarious!!!!!!!!!
A wonderful book is also Anne Kremer's Going Gray. She decided to not dye her hair and she wrote about her experience. I think the book should be read by EVERY mother and daughter. Really.
Two powerfully written investigative books that I think are the definitive books written about the hijackers from 9/11 are The Looming Tower and Perfect Soldiers. I think they are so important that I think they should be read, TWICE.
And speaking of investigative works, Ann Rule's The Stranger Beside Me about Ted Bundy. Need I say more?
Finally, my favorite book of all time? Geoff Dyer's Out of Sheer Rage. This is all I will say about the book. I gave it to my mother, another voracious reader to read and she said to me, "Is he on drugs?" I replied, "I'm not sure." To which she replied, "Well, if he IS on drugs, he needs to come off them and if he ISN'T on drugs, then he ought to be!"
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VoraciousReader,
Thanks for your list! LOVE to have a big list on hand. Will check the library!
Lane
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Oh, as soon as I pressed "Submit" I realized I forgot to include the following books -
Two very, very, very short novels, but powerful, Meg Wolitzer's The Wife and Kay Langdale's If Not Love. I can't give these two books enough accolades.
Two other important works of non-fiction are The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, by Anne Fadiman and The Bomb: A New History, by Younger. Anne Fadiman's book is read in colleges and med schools. Amazing! The reason why I mention The Bomb is that everyone should read at least one book about nuclear arms. This one is a simple primer that will make you wonder long after you've finished reading it.
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Recently finished The Likeness, by Tana French, based on a recommendation here for the author's first book. Terrific read. I have a hold on her first book; can't wait.
Thanks for all the recent additions to the list, everyone!
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PS CrunchyPoodle, bet that 23- vs 24-hour thing has to do with insurance. Enjoy your reading, and good luck with the surgery!
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Voracious: Someone else who has read Out of sheer rage! What a kick. As for the Stranger beside me, I used to get the creeps whenever I'd shop at the mall where Bundy picked up one of his victims. What to do instead? Why, drive by the motel in Provo where Gary Gillmore, of Executioner's song, killed the night clerk.
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Gosh, I am going to have to print out all these pages....where to start?! I am the Assassination Vacation person and also liked The Crimson Petal and the White, which was Dickens with the sex thrown in.
Is anyone interested in the presidents and historical biography (I am and will have to check out the Truman's vacation)? I have a great bunch of books if anyone is........
Here is a great Truman story. Shortly after President Truman's death, his daughter Margaret visited her mother, Bess Truman, and found her at the fireplace busily burning stacks of the couple's letters. Aghast, Margaret said, "Mother, think of HISTORY. " Bess looked at her, threw another letter into the fire and said, "I have!"
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LWD - Lane - glad you like my suggestions. Hope your library can get you some of them!
Retrievermom -- Looks like we have a lot in common. If Geoff Dyer's book isn't the funniest book about nothing, I don't know what is! He tops Seinfeld! Regarding Bundy and Gilmore, I love reading what I call "364" books. That refers to the Dewey Decimal System and where true crime books can be found in the library. I've read so many of them that my husband sleeps with one eye open when I'm reading one of them. Helter Skelter about Manson is terrific and so is Fatal Vision about Jeffrey MacDonald. John Douglas's Manhunter is a great read too!
Ruthbru - So you enjoy historical books too! Speaking of Harry Truman, the definitive book on him is the masterpiece Truman by David McCullough. Another masterpiece, and I hate to use the word "masterpiece" but it truly is, is Robert Caro's The Powerbroker about Robert Moses. Two years ago the Museum of the City of New York offered an exhibit on Moses and Robert Caro spoke to a standing room only crowd which I was lucky enough to attend. What shocked me was that he hasn't changed his opinion of Moses since he wrote the book more than two decades ago. I would LOVE to see the book made into a film. I always wonder who could possibly be cast as Moses.
Another fabulous book is Erik Fromm's The Art of Loving. A classic.
Since I mentioned a primer on nuclear arms, there's also a primer on spying, Why Spy? Espionage in an Age of Uncertainty by Hitz. Trust me, you read these small books and they will rock your boat.
And finally, yes, finally, there's some older Jewish literature which is dear to me. For those of you who remember Fiddler on the Roof, you might enjoy the stories written by Sholem Alekhem, Tevye's Daughters, that were the basis for show. Sweet, humorous, loving and sometimes so sad.
Isaac Bashevis Singer's Shadows on The Hudson written so long ago and still so contemporary.
The memoir of a young Jewish woman, Stella Suberman, growing up in Tennessee, The Jew Store. Amazing.
I know I probably left more books out. But all of these books that I have mentioned have touched my heart and still resonate within me.
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I can't believe anyone else read the Crimson Pedal and the White! Years ago a Hungarian friend of mine recommended it- I thought I was the only one who read it!! Loved it slow start but a great book.
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Oh my goodness, so many wonderful books are mentioned here! LWD--we have very similar tastes. THE SPARROW is one of my all time favs.
I got a Kindle today and have been loading it up. Crunchy, I liked the three Shopaholic books I read--always post-op when I couldn't concentrate on other stuff. Fun! As well as Nora Ephron's book and I just blanked on the name (something about her neck.) (Doped up on pain pills and valium for back spasms--great excuse for spending $$ at Amazon, and now you all have given me many more titles to explore!)
So many books, so little time...
Anne
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I Feel Bad About My Neck0
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I Feel Bad About My Neck is one book that I DIDN'T like at all! In fact, Anne Kreamer's book Going Gray is exactly the opposite of Nora Ephron's book! She believes you don't need all that work to grow old gracefully. I had the pleasure of meeting Anne Kreamer at a book reading and signing. I was curious to see how beautiful she was in person. Her husband, Kurt Anderson, joined her. Let me tell you, she is one beautiful and intelligent woman!
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Looks like Nora Ephron's latest book, I Remember Nothing, didn't get such a nice review from Janet Maslin in tomorrow's New York Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/05/books/05book.html?ref=books
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Maria - I have my own Sunday paper routine, reading it in order, skipping only the sports section which goes right to DH. Did anyone answer your question about...
any fiction book(s) that are more mature than the typical high school setting of the Young Adult lists, but not quite fully adult. I have a niece now in her 2nd yr of college and I'm searching along the lines of Sarah Dessen, just a wee bit more mature, and preferably not a series.
IDK Sarah Dessen but am thinking of Marion Zimmer Bradley - The Mists of Avalon
It's the Arthurian legend from the females' perspective. And OK I think for a 20 year old.
When I was 20 (30 yrs ago LOL) we were all reading the Lord of the Rings trilogy...
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There's a polygamous community on the Utah/AZ border that has gained notoriety for a number of things, among them, kicking out young males who become "lost boys." These young men have never been exposed to worldly things--tv, popular culture, etc.--and many become homeless street kids. David Ebershoff's novel The 19th wife intertwines the based-on-fact story of such a young man, cast out of his community and cut off from his mother and siblings, with the based-on-fact story of the 19th wife of Brigham Young. I found this book interesting in the beginning, but weak toward the end, but if you are interested in polygamy in America/Utah, check it out.
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Retrievermom - Thank you for the heads up about The 19th Wife. I wondered if it was a good book. The copy that the library has is pretty banged up so I guess a lot of people in my community have been reading it. I just never found anyone who had read it. I think I'm going to take a pass on reading it because after reading Carolyn Jessop's second book, a few weeks ago, and watching a few episodes of Sister-Wives on TLC, I'm a little blown away by the topic. I just don't get it. I will say, however, that I admire Carolyn Jessop. She is a remarkable woman. My mom enjoyed both of her books too!
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I need to make a list.....so many of the ones you have mentioned sound good. I myself thought I feel Bad about my Neck was pretty funny....maybe because that was something my mother always complained about. We are flying to Florida tomorrow and the one woman and I are going to share the library books she is reading, but maybe I will also pick up something in the airport.
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Well, I DO feel bad about my neck, so I can relate
. I will get together some good presidental biography recommendations over the weekend for the historians of the bunch. 0 -
For those who were asking about David Sedaris' new book, watch the clip of Sedaris and Jon Stewart on tonight's show (go to Comedy Central's website for the episode). Sedaris "explains" the book in his usual way. Love Sedaris.
voracious: How about Under the Banner of Heaven? That combines the 364.1523 with the polygamy angle.
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There is a great book lovers site: goodreads.com. You can review books, rate books, read reviews, link up with "friends' and then compare your book lists etc. Another great place to find new authors and book recommendations.
I have enjoyed reading all your recommendations and have a list started! Some of my favorite authors are: John Irving & Anne Tyler. I like mysteries & thrillers by John Sanford, Elizabeth George and find J.D. Robb and Janet Evanovich to be "guilty pleasures" because they are just fun reads.
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If you like mysteries - try any book by A J Orde or B J Oliphant - both pseudonyms of Sherri Tepper (haven't found a C J Osomething yet!), or those of Jo Bannister; Carol O'Conner, Patricia Moyes, Sue Henry, Dana Stabenow, Virginia Lanier, Margaret Maron, Jane Haddam, Dorothy Gilman, Jill McGown, Gwendoline Butler, Martha Grimes, Dick Francis, Jonathan Gash, Rex Stout, Bartholomew Gill, William Murray, Joseph Hansen, the several series of Lawrence Block. I would list more but I think that's enough for now. There may be some books by these authors that aren't as good, but for the most part, they feature solid writing, engaging characters and plots, and just good reads. Some are darker than others - Bartholomew Gill and Carol O'Conner are two such - while others are so light as to be almost silly - some of Dorothy Gilman, Jonathan Gash and the Burglar books of Lawrence Block, for instance. Some are out of print - some of the authors are deceased - some are still writing away.
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Ah! Bookart!!! Your taste in books is in line with my husband's!! Among the authors you mention, who are all wonderful, is Lawrence Block! My DH has read EVERY ONE of his books and short stories!
I know many of you have raved about the Stieg Larsson books. The DH read all of them too! Afterwards, he started reading some other Scandinavian authors and fell in love with the work of Henning Mankill. The Man From Beijing was his favorite. Not to be outdone by him, I decided to start renting Scandianvian MOVIES and that's when I fell in love with the Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen. Oh, it just doesn't end when you pick up a great book and it takes you places you never knew you could roam.
Other mystery writers that were overlooked that are popular and the DH loves are Balducci, Childs, Vince Flynn and Le Carre. He's read all of their latest books. We're anxiously waiting for John Lescroat's next book, as well as Richard North Patterson's.
Getting back to my taste in books and speaking of food, has anyone read The United States of Arugula? It's an historical book about how we cultivated our dining preferences over the last decades. Another terrific historical book about food is written by former New York Times columnist William Grimes, Appetite City. If you loved those Ruth Reichl books, then this book is a MUST read too!
Retrievermom - Thanks for reminding me about Jon Krakauer's Under The Banner of Heaven. I read that between the two Jessop books!
I think I've now read enough on the subject.And finally, a movie to recommend about the subject of books. The Stone Reader. The film should be owned by EVERY community library. It's about a documentary film maker who began reading a novel in high school and finally finished reading it in adulthood. Once finished, he decided to track down the author of the book, who participated in the Iowa Writers Workshop, and great things were expected of him. While attempting to track down the author, the film maker takes us on a journey of how a book makes it into print. Very, very facinating.
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