Book Lovers Club
Comments
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Just finished The Lowland by Lahiri. If you have read her books before, you will find it enjoyable, however I didn't like it as much as her other books The Namesake or Interpreter of Maladies. 3.5 out of 5 stars. Going to start Big Brother by Lionel Shriver. Anyone have anything to say about this book?
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GS stands for German Shepherd. Hubby and I used to be active in the breed. Not so much anymore but will always have at least one for a companion.
I did like Dr.Sleep. Very easy read which for now I tend to like. My mind seems to drift easily lately,lol.
I haven't read Wally Lambs "We Are Water" yet. I have my name on the list at library however will most likely buy it for my Kindle. I have a hard time waiting for books I want to read at the library.
I used to read three or more books a week. Since my diagnose I have been having a hard time concentrating to read as much. With the cold weather we are having here the next few days I hope to finish a couple books that are overdue already........
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Thanks, Pamela, I'll put Dr. Sleep on TBR list. That and Takedown Twenty, the new Stephanie Plum. Meant to mention I read Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker while on vacation. Enjoyed very much the story of Elizabeth Kekley, personal dresser for Mary Todd Lincoln. I like the author, Jennifer Chiaverini, especially her Elm Creek Quilters series.
I have Wally Lamb's She's Come Undone but haven't read it yet.
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Finished Idiopathy by Sam Byers. snookered by another cover with a cow motif (Apocolypse Cow)when will I learn??? Set in Britain - 3 unpleasant 30-somethings. I have to say that though the subjects were unlikeable, they were very believable - the writing was fantastic - the inner dialogues were very authentic.
Finished another Spencer Quinn - Chet and Bernie mystery - always good to get inside Chet, the dog's head. Highly recommended light reading.
Took out the first Bryant and May mystery by Christopher Fowler but something makes me think I read this one- I know I have read books in the series already and I like to read starting at the beginning and on the inside flap - this sentence sounded familiar " it began when a dancer in a risque new production of Orpheus in Hell was found without her feet." something you wouldn't ordinarily forget!! I am simply torn - continue or not????
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Jelson: I'd go a little further. Sometimes I find I've read the 'preview' at the end of another book.
Just read a really good legal thriller by Robert Heilbrun - Offer of Proof. It's not new - but well worth looking up. I kept wondering where I'd seen his name and around midnight I got up to see if maybe he was Carolyn Heilbrun's son. Sure enough!!. I love her non-fiction and all the Amanda Cross novels and really miss her. And I miss John Dunning too with his antiquarian book mysteries.
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MinusTwo while wikepedia has JohnDunning's last book as 2006, I checked on fantastic fiction and found that he had two novellas published in 2013. the bookscout and something else, from the summaries, the main character is not cliff Janeway? if that was the book dealer's name. I was just reading an article about Carolyn Heilbrun life and suicide, I only knew her through the Amanda Cross novels. what a fascinating woman. Thanks for mentioning her.
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I'm on vacation so I'm hoping to read some of the books (on kindle) that I've been saving. So far I've read a kindle single Disconnected but Jennifer Weiner. It was a short story and I liked it. I just finished Mary, Queen of France by Jean Plaidy. Historical fiction about Henry VIII's youngest sister. It was like reading a soap opera~~~with all the intrigue and manipulation to improve one's standing. Now, I' reading the Snow Child that has been a read and reviewed several pages ago. So far, so good.
I have lumpectomy (again) next week so hoping to continue the reading! Gina
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I've been devouring mystery authors lately - been through Dana Stabenow and Sue Henry both series in Alaska. ( I was hooked on Alaska after The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey. ) Now I've found Canadian author Louise Penny and LOVE her Inspector Gamache series. I keep thinking they would be a wonderful miniseries for PBS.
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cp418 - love Stabenow & Penny. I'll have to look up Sue Henry.
Jelson: Thanks for the Dunning reference. I'll have to scout them out (no pun intended). Checking Amazon it looks like there are also two older books re-released. Not the series, but...
As for Heilbrun's non-fiction, I have The Last Gift of Time:Life Beyond Sixty and Writing A Woman's Life - both well thumbed & marked and read more than once. On my list to buy Hamlet's Mother and Other Women and Reinventing Womanhood. Her personal history as a professor at Columbia is amazing.
Two other authors that I really like who are "recently" gone are William Tapply - legal mystery series featuring Brady Coyne, and Philip Craig - Martha's Vineyard mysteries. They even wrote a book or two together. I know Tapply is mostly out of print but I found a trove of 6 paperbacks on a $1.00 table at a used bookstore recently.
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Voracious: Happy new Year. More non-fiction for you. My son gave me Rachael Maddow's book Drift for Christmas. He said it isn't really political and it isn't - mostly history. But certainly makes you think about where the country's been & where we're going.
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Happy New Year Minus! I just read notes about Maddox's book! I'm very familiar with the topic and I agree it is an important topic that should be understood by the country. Years ago I recall learning about how fighting has moved from face to face to the creation of combat from a distance. Interestingly, war has grown more intimate since the creation of 24 hour cable news and the Internet. What's also interesting is how journalists and scholars have imbedded themselves in war torn countries. The only problem is that unless an individual is interested in where our country's soldiers are, then the drift that she describes will continue. Another point...the DH's friend's job for many years was securing procurements for the military. The job was endless! Reading The Twilight War, last year...or was it the year before...AND watching The Military Channel, PLUS having a son who is both an aerospace and nuclear engineer has exposed me to a Birdseye view of "war.". Finally, I'm reminded of the old Latin phrase, "In times of peace, prepare for war."
I'll get the book and take a peek! And one more thing...if your son is interested in military books, I highly recommend reading The Twilight War and my favorite author, Geoff Dyer's, The Missing of the Somme. His newest book about being aboard an aircraft carrier will be published in May. Not only am I looking forward to reading the book, but I'm looking forward to meeting him again while he's on tour promoting the book!
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Thanks for the tip. I LOVE Rachel Maddow.
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Sandra: Since you're a military family, I'll be particularly interested in your viewpoint.
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I put in a request on the public library website so hopefully I'll have Rachel Maddow's book in a few days.
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CP - I just finished The Snow Child and loved it! I can see how you be hooked on Alaska after reading it.
I just re- started a book called Drinking Closer to Home. It's about a family who lead a very bohemian lifestyle in Santa Barbara in the early 70's. The chapters alternated between the childhood years and the present when their larger than life mother has heart attack. It's ok. I'll try to finish it but may give it up. It' s just not holding my attention.
Gina
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I got Rachel Maddow's Drift today from the library. Anxious to read it. Also picked up The Language of Flowers which was favorably reviewed. It's by Vanesssa Diffenbaugh. OMG, too many books sit on the table next to my reading chair! I need to read The Book Thief for my bookclub too. I'm going on a cruise on the 18th and don't want to drag too many heavy books so I'm getting a couple of Gregg Hurwitz's audio books to listen to with headphones as I sit by the pool. I have my Kindle too so I'll have plenty to do.
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Couldn't resist the cheerful book cover - so picked up and read The House at the End of Hope Street by Menna Van Praag. The premiss is there is a magical house in Cambridge which attracts women in need of help in turning their lives around - to follow their dreams - even if at the outset they don't know what their dreams even are. The rule of the house is you can only stay 99 days. It turns out many famous British women stayed at the house (remember when Agatha Christie went missing for eleven days? this is where she was)! There is a house mother but the house itself supplies encouragement and tries to nudge the women along. You follow three women. A very comforting book. I liked it.
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CP, a friend introduced me to Louise Penny and I've read all the Gamache novels, not even in order. Great characters in Three Pines, and murders without a lot of gore. Also second recommendations others have mentioned, including 'language of Flowers.'
Still highly recommend Kate Atkinson's 'Life After Life,' best book of 2013 on many lists.
Now reading Sue Monk Kidd's latest...
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I tried to see if my library had The House at the End of Hope Street. Nope. But i ran into Peril at End House, an Agatha Christie Hercules Peroit mystery. Senendipity. So i borrowed that one. LOL
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Moonflower - can you ask your library to order it?
WaveWhisperer - I just took out from the library the most recent Louise Penney
and - Smoking Seventeen - Janet Evanovich/Stephanie Plum, the Golderberg Variations - Susan Isaacs and what I hope is an not previously read (by me) Chrisopher Fowler/ Bryant and May - The Water Room. I can keep them out for 4 weeks - which should get me through my hysterectomy - next week. Although this could have been an opportunity to make a major dent in the many as yet unread books I have here at home - oh well. If I get too distracted to post about the book I am currently reading - it is Cinnamon and Gunpowder by Eli Brown. a novel taking place in the early 19th century - a chef to the head of a British trading company is kidnapped by a lady pirate captain and made to cook a delicious meal each sunday -only for her. The book is in the form of a journal. he keeps trying to escape - a lot of mayhem - as you would expect when on the high seas in a pirate ship - also much about cooking - he reminisces about when he was in better circumstances - but for the present - he doesn't have much in the way of ingredients to work with. I guess like Scheherazade but with food?
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Anybody read The Light Between the Oceans by Stedman? What did you think of it?
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Loved, loved, loved The Light Between Oceans. My bookclub read it two months ago.
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Sandra - not to oversell a book, but I believe the Book Thief is in a class by itself. Really a unique beautiful story.
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I'm not much of an audio book person but I did Rob Lowe's Stories I Only Tell My Friends. He does spot on imitiations of many in Hollywood. A great way to pass the time in the car. Light and simple but fun to listen to.
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The Book Thief was tremendous. I don't think I want to see the movie because I don't know how they could possibly capture the essence.
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Just finished reading Fall On Your Knees...loved that Frances!!
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ruthbru- I agree completely. I don't want to see the movie for fear that it will ruin the book for me.
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I agree about The Book Thief. I've got a lot of books on my shelves that I refused to see the movie since I had the characters so firmly in my head & didn't want to ruin that magic. Mary Poppins is one, and The Secret Garden; The Hobbit & the Ring cycle; the CS Lewis Lion Witch & Wardrobe series; some of Anne Tyler's books, and some of Margaret Atwood's. Guess I'm old fashioned but I really "see" characters so clearly I can't imagine substituting them for a Hollywood version (or even a BBC version for that matter).
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My mom loved the book Jane Eyre as a girl. She was so excited when it came out as a movie, but was devastated when Orson Wells played Heathcliff, whom she had envisioned as very handsome.
The Lord of the Rings movies are the only movies that live up to the books, IMO.
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I think i liked the Harry Potter movies too. But i loved LOTR books since 1969 I've read them at least 50 times. I was scared to see the movies but I did love them too. Not exactly as the books are but the feel of the books was there. And that has made all the difference..... LOL
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