Book Lovers Club
Comments
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Hopeful, I just finished Meredith Norton's book. She had a voice. Thanks for the recommendation.
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Dragging on with reading The Rosie Project. Two cousins recommended it. Had my mom get a copy from her library. She raced through reading it and enjoyed it! So here I am, visiting her and trying to get into reading it. Read the first 50 pages. Awful. Read the second 50 pages. Still awful. Read another hundred pages and can't find anything interesting about the story. But then....on page 229 it finally resonates with me. There it is....the character is on an airplane watching the film, The Bridges of Madison County and is crying! And so am I....for reading this garbage!
On a happier note....I'm glad to read that Eula Biss's book, On Immunity was nominated for the prestigious National Book Critics Circle Award. Very deserving book! Her previous book, Notes From No Man's Land won the award back in 2010. Both books are great! Her newest book is also getting a lot of attention due to the measles outbreak at Disneyland. Biss could have predicted it.
Next book up will definitely be non fiction. I've soured on fiction for now, but will read some more fiction later in the year....
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Voracious- my book club is reading Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey The River of Doubt by Candice Millard. It took me a few chapters to get into but I'm enjoying it now.0
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Finished reading the book. Author explains that originally the book started out as a drama and through revisions, it became a comedy. I found the book shallow and most emphatically NOT humorous. Having a relative on the spectrum, diagnosed informally in his late 50s....I find nothing humorous about autism. From time to time, the main character found others "distressed." This observation that the character made, I found to be quite a stretch. My family member is incapable of observing other people's feelings of being "distressed.". I just thought that the book really tried to make light of a very complex disorder. I will say, in defense of the author, that the book does try to explain what goes through the mind of a high functioning autistic individual....but from my perspective, the character is too simple. Autism is a very complex disorder...so complex that many high functioning autistics will argue that there is nothing wrong with them and something wrong with " normal" people.
Too simple of a book to explain a highly complex disorder and certainly not a funny book.
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fgm...I read Millard's previous book...Destiny of the Republic....Excellent! I recall Ruth also read Destiny of the Republic...looks like I will be heading to my mom's library early tomorrow and will look for her latest book! Did I also mention my mom's library system doesn't even own any of Biss's books??!!! I don't know how much longer I can take visiting my mom if her library system doesn't carry any of the books that I NEED to read!!!! Oy!
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Finally read Emperor of All Maladies but not appropriate to discuss here, will just say that I mentioned it to my MO and he said he thought it was fantastic and has given it as gifts to his NPs. And since my prior book was the The Big Fat Surprise - I mean much medical/epidemiological research back to back - I indulged in Christoper Fowlers' White Corridors, 5th in the Bryant and May series (British - peculiar police investigative unit) AND the 7th Flavia de Luce mystery by Alan Bradley - As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust which takes Flavia to boarding school in Canada where she is supposed to be trained as a secret agent (like her aunt and mother)??? very satisfying, AS ALWAYS.
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Jelson, you sure can discuss The Emperor of All Maladies here. Although we don't often discuss "cancer books", many of us think that one is different. It's one of my "go to" books and I've recommended it and loaned out my copy to many, many people.
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Me too! I have read EOAM three times now! Go Mukherjee! Can hardly wait for the series!
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Yes, I loved Destiny of the Republic and Emperor of All Maladies too. Both excellent books.
My Book Club just read a book called Gridlock, which is a follow-up to a book called Blowout (which I had not read, but now will). It is a pretty good spy thriller. What made it especially interesting to me is that the author was one of North Dakota's Senators for many years (and a very good one for whom I voted), and quite a bit of the action takes place in North Dakota in places that I know well. Mine is not an unbiased review, so here is one from Amazon:
Former U.S. senator Dorgan (D-North Dakota) and veteran thriller author Hagberg team up again in this tense follow-up to Blowout (2012). Sheriff Nate Osborne, journalist Ashley Borden, and scientist Whitney Lipton have become fast friends after the events in the previous book. They barely survived; all are trying to forget, but Osborne has a gut feeling that another attack is coming. He’s right. An assassin starts the ball rolling, but the murders are only the beginning. At stake is the entire power grid of the U.S. Bring that down, and the country will revert back to the Stone Age. Gridlock is a far superior book to its predecessor, with more action, better-developed characters, and effective use of the stark North Dakota landscape. Readers new to the series will find enough backstory to throw them into the tale. Imagine Vince Flynn on a road trip to the Dakotas.
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the Blowout/Gridlock series sounds fascinating - will check it out Ruthbru ..... in the meantime I just finished Eat Me, The Food and Philosophy of Kenny Shopsin by Kenny Shopsin and Carolynn Carreno with a forward by Calvin Trillin. I add that because if you have read Calvin Trillin, gives you an idea how the book will provide insight into living in a NYC neighborhood. So you learn about this quirky grocery store that morphed into a small restaurant which had rules like no parties larger than 4, no choosing your entree based on what you see that looks good at another table, no special orders (seriously, why should you special order when the menu at least at one time had 900 items - you are just an a**hole anyway according to Kenny who wouldn't want you in his restaurant so GET OUT!) so yes the book is about this unique restaurant which has been kept small to keep it fun to run, and run well, and to maintain Kenny's ability to interact with his customers. There are many recipes most of which include cream, cream in egg dishes (Kenny's favorite to make), cream in soups etc. but having just read The Big Fat Surprise.....I could almost imagine cooking this way. What was fascinating was how he organizes his kitchen to enable him to make so many different dishes in a small space in a short time, having made many components of his dishes before hand and having frozen them in single portions so that he can add what needs to be fresh and whip it, or has he says, wack it together within 5 minutes of receiving the order. I am going back over the book to take notes on recipes, short cuts, ingredients....He makes salads, but he says of all the dishes he makes, salads are the ones that are always finished. He believes that his other dishes or more satisfying and people eat til they are sated, but salads are always finished - now what does that say?
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Ruth and Jelson,, sounds interesting! Will have to look for these!0 -
Jelson....I'm so on it! Will definitely read the book and hopefully get to the restaurant!
Took my 6 year old grandniece to the library to get her first American library card and I suspect she has my family's trademark gene for the love of books! Little Miss Voracious Reader took out 17 books! She told the librarian EXACTLY who were her favorite authors and within 15 minutes she chose a stack of books to read! Can hardly wait to see her tonight so we can talk about books! Yay!
Just finished reading a terrific nonfiction book about fiction!😇
James W. Hall's book is titled, Cracking the Code of the Twentieth Century's Biggest Bestsellers. The book grew out of a literary criticism course that he teaches. With the help of his students, they uncovered the common themes of the century's best sellers. Of course The Bridges of Madison County was thoroughly dissected along with, among others such as The Godfather and To Kill A Mockingbird. He does a terrific job of analyzing the common themes with razor sharp wit. I'm giving the book 5 stars. Would love to have been one of his students. From the way he speaks about his students and their involement, I bet his classes are well attended!
Just started reading Alain de Botton's The Architecture of Happiness. As a passionate lover of architecture, I find this slim volume most fascinating.
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oh, VR,, I must look for that! I have read his entire Thorn series which takes place in the Keys and Miami (where I'm from) and a few of his stand-alone novels too.So many books,, so little time,,,,
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glennie...at the end of his book he explains how he originally came up with the idea for cracking the code. He mentions living in Key Largo and his desire to write a book...I guess he did crack the code because he has produced a number of books!
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VR, Shopsin's is now located in the Essex Street Market http://www.essexstreetmarket.com/merchants.asp keep scrolling!! Funny about James W. Hall, I read the name and wondered if it was same author of the mysteries in the Keys - thanks Glennie for the confirmation. and a book about the nature of best sellers sounds interesting. another to add to my list! VR please keep us updated on your grand child's reading interests - and reviews. Who indeed are her favorite authors?
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Yes, I'd like to hear the grandniece's favorite authors too!! I have no grandchildren but have always try to keep up with children's books.
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Mo Willems!
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I put a reserve on Harper Lee's " new" book! I laughed when I read that editors agree it will be the biggest seller for 2015! I am drooling in anticipation of the book! That is one piece of fiction that I definitely won't miss. I wonder if it follows Hall's formula.....
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Thanks for the Head's up!! I put a reserve on it too. When is it supposed to come out?0 -
July 14.
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ooooooo,, we are in for a wait, aren't we???0 -
😱
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Ruth, thanks for the rec on Gridlock. As a lover of Vince Flynn and ND, will def check it out.
Just finished a good book - Terms & Conditions by Robert Glancy. "A clever and caustic office comedy about a lawyer who drafts the fine print in contracts - the part no one reads - and his search for a more meaningful life."
Now on to an older book - American Gods by Neil Gaiman. My BIL highly recommended it so I got it from the library before hearing an interview with him on public radio. Interesting guy; should be an interesting read.
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Hi all - I'm just joining this conversation. Recently came back from vacation, so I had lots of reading time. A good time to post here.
I just finished The Middle Place. It was recommended as a comedy, but I found it not funny and very distressing. About a lady getting BC and her father having C too. I do not recommend it.
Also recently finished The Last Days - Joel Rosenberg. CIA Middle East thriller. Loved it. Starting another of his books now.
Also just finished Dark Places - Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl author). Rural Kansas family murdered in 1980s setting. Like Capote fiction. Disturbing page turner. No likable characters. Not good for anxiety.
Started Bella Cora. Interesting start. Reads like a memoir, but a male author. In that sense, like Memoirs of a Geisha (fab book). Set in San Fran during the great earthquake. About a Madame. I used to live in SF, so I'm enjoying the setting. So far, it's slow but good.
Love Mary Kay Andrews. She's in Atlanta, so writes books with lots of southern charm. Her formula - a heroine who is involved in some home restoration project, swears off men, yet falls in love despite herself. Nice light breezy reads.
And I'm reading Nancy Drew to my DD. It's been years and I had forgotten how these read. In 4th grade, I devoured these. Fun to share with her
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Welcome! For!
Not sure if anyone is following the Leon Wieseltier controversy following his opinion column in The New York Times. The article is entitled Among the Disrupted. I'm happy to see that many have disagreed with him. Looks like books are making a comeback...perhaps being wrong might make him happy!
http://www.oregonlive.com/living/index.ssf/2015/01...
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I LOVE IT!! Thanks for sharing that article!!**print books forever!!!***
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VR - great article. I'll forward to my DIL, the girl who insists her first published full length book will be on paper like her original dream. Oh & not self published. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for her.
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minus...my family has several authors...they are published by top notch publishing houses. Years ago, my family members would initially be published with "real" books. Nowadays, publishers like to see followings online first and then they might offer a book contract. I wish your DIL the best of luck
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Who? WHO, VR, please tell! Sorry I haven't gotten back to you yet on the Rocha book. I was not really paying alot of attention to scott peterson at the time it happened except to tell myself, that dude is guilty. But he is just a smiling fool. He never looked to me like he was in dhock or mourning. Man, If my man was missing, I would be zombified and unable to eat or sleep, they would have to put me on meds. And if they found my loves' body, I would be tearing my hair out, and there would be screams to curdle your blood, seriously, I would be hyperventilating, I think i would die... So, but the thing that really chilled me in the book was his psychotic family. No wonder.
Also, I got a chuckle remembering when I was wondering if i was going to be picked for jury duty, trying to figure out how i could get myself off the hook, is when they ask if there is any reason that you can't be a part of it, this one lady stood up and said, "look at him, he is guilty!" . They escorted her out promptly.
Harper Lee: I am wondering if that really is her book. I thought I read somewhere long ago, that the experience of fame turned her off so badly, she said she would never publish again. I think someone is pulling a fast one. If she wanted to, why wait till now? If it was not completely fabricated out of things she did write, by someone else?
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