Weigh in: What are the best and worst gifts for people with breast cancer?
Share with us: What are your proudest moments of 2024 and personal goals for 2025?
Take our poll: How are you feeling as we near the New Year?

Book Lovers Club

1…3637394142…278

Comments

  • sarah1968uk
    sarah1968uk Member Posts: 327
    edited August 2011

     Hi!

     Thanks for some good book suggestions. BTW - what is THE HELP about?  I've not heard of it. I agree that " A Fine Balance" is excellent - I read it some years ago. "Room" by Emma Donohue is also very good and original. I also read, last year, " Her Fearful Symmetry " by Audrey Niffenger ( I know this is the wrong spelling, sorry!)  - who also wrote "The Time Traveller's Wife" - brilliant too!  The Lemon Cake book mentioned sounds interesting - I'll look that up. One of my all-time favourites is "Lucky Jim" by Kingsley Amis. It's literally laugh-out-loud funny from beginning to end - it's the story of a young lecturer in a post-war British university and even though it was written, I think, in the early 50s, it's a real hoot still.

     Sarah.

  • exbrnxgrl
    exbrnxgrl Member Posts: 5,318
    edited August 2011

    Hi Sarah, The Help is about a young woman in Mississippi in the early 1960's who writes a book about the stories of black maids who tend to the homes and raising of white children in Jackson. It is a wonderful book. I saw the movie today and thought it was a great film. I usually hate film versions of books but this is a pleasant exception. -Caryn

  • sarah1968uk
    sarah1968uk Member Posts: 327
    edited August 2011

     Hi Caryn,

        Thanks for that - sounds good - I have added it to my Amazon wishlist - I'll buy a batch of books soon when I get a few more ideas.

    Sarah x

  • ruthbru
    ruthbru Member Posts: 47,794
    edited August 2011

    A backward poet writes inverse.

  • voraciousreader
    voraciousreader Member Posts: 3,696
    edited August 2011
    ruth...Laughing LOL!
  • dreaming
    dreaming Member Posts: 219
    edited August 2011

    For the fans of" Prime Suspect" the older series from BBC, the author and producer Lynda La Plante not only has several police series, I get them from Netflix, but she writes excellent thrillers, one cant put them down. I just finished the last one. Excellent!

  • apple
    apple Member Posts: 1,466
    edited August 2011

    Surprisingly I found a book at the library by Steve Martin called 'an object of beauty'.

    It wasn't the best book but Steve is brilliant at coming up with words to write with.. very articulate and funny.

  • Alpal
    Alpal Member Posts: 112
    edited August 2011

    Just saw on Meet the Press that Cutting for Stone is on President Obama's reading list. I hope it doesn't take him as long to trudge through it as it did me! Funny that although I didn't enjoy it at the time, I remember things about it and think about it. Most books don't make an impression on me - probably because I only read for entertainment. I'm almost finished with Maine. It's ok, not great.

  • exbrnxgrl
    exbrnxgrl Member Posts: 5,318
    edited August 2011

    Family gave me an iPad2 as an early b-day present last night. Eager to try iBooks and maybe the kindle app as well. I think my library system loans out e books too. This should keep me occupied during bmx recovery. -Caryn

  • ReadingMama
    ReadingMama Member Posts: 338
    edited August 2011

    I saw The Help on Friday and really liked it and I loved the book.  I have not seen Sarah's Key yet, but see it is now in wider release and is near me.  I also read One Day, which is now out in the movies.  I don't get to the movies very often, so not sure if I will see either now or wait to rent them.

    For India, I havn'te read much, but I loved Beneath a Marble Sky by John Shors. Historical fiction about the building of the Taj Mahal and a love story between the Emperor daughter and the Taj's architect. 

    Cutting to Stone took my a while to read also, but at the end, I would say I liked it.

  • wenweb
    wenweb Member Posts: 471
    edited August 2011

    I saw "The Help" today and was pleasantly surprised.  The book was very enjoyable, but I cried my eyes out during the movie.  Usually, the movie after the book is not impressive.

  • Stanzie
    Stanzie Member Posts: 1,611
    edited August 2011

    I saw the movie, The Help as well and cried a lot... I too thought it was well done and kept the feeling of the book and the characters. My teenage kids read the book and saw it and we had some wonderful talks about it. Brings up so much to think about.

    A friend of a friend is the author best friend growning up - sorry know this is confusing - but I believe she told me she wrote it based on stories around town and that the friend's parents bought the character's Hilly's house when they moved there - not sure when but I think late 70's or early 80's.

    I got two of Jonathan Trooper's book, not the one you all talk about so much but so far not really getting into them - sounds like I'm unusual in that not sure I'll finish the second one. I do have Cutting For Stone which I'll read next and have heard such good things, not just here but from others. 

  • hbcheryl
    hbcheryl Member Posts: 4,164
    edited August 2011

    Have just started reading Emily Alone, very good so far.  Saw The Help yesterday and was pleasantly surprised at how good it was and how they did keep to the tenure of the book.  Dreaming they are remaking Prime Suspect for American television I can tell you it's going to be terrible as I saw shorts of it at the movies yesterday, why in the heck do they always have to ruin great stories, for goodness sake if you want to watch it rent the originals as Helen Mirren was a fantastic Inspector Tennyson and they've got her now as someone in her late 20s - LaPlante wrote the character as a smoker, a drinker and has to be a hard nose to deal with all the chauvanism that goes on in her department - this one came home opened the fridge and drank milk!!!!!

  • sarah1968uk
    sarah1968uk Member Posts: 327
    edited August 2011

     I agree, I don't usually like those kind of things, but Helen Mirren was so good in "Prime Suspect". A lot of British series are very "gritty" and they seem to feel the need to water them down for the US market. I think they did the same thing with a series called " Cracker" about a hard-drinking, Glaswegian police psychologist, played by Robbie Coltrane and a teen series called "Skins" got the same treatment. I don't think they did very well! Off topic, sorry! "One Day" is very enjoyable and certainly light reading. Don't know yet if I'll see the movie. I wish they could have got a British actress to play Emma - Anne Hathaway is world-famous though. They did the same with Renee Z. in "Bridget Jones' Diary and she was very good, mind you. Sorry about the bold - can't get rid of it!

  • apple
    apple Member Posts: 1,466
    edited August 2011

    I have been reading so much lately.. more than I've done in the last 17 years (since kids).  I am always happy to see konakat's face as the original poster.  This is a good thread .. a great thread.  (Thank you Elizabeth).

  • vtellen
    vtellen Member Posts: 8
    edited August 2011

    Ok, I'm popping back in here, forgot about this fun post! Just finished Ann Pachett's " State of Wonder" Enjoyed it, fun escape read. I'm glad I found this post again, have written down some titles!

  • ruthbru
    ruthbru Member Posts: 47,794
    edited August 2011

    Ellen, you can go to the top right hand side of the screen and click on "Add to my Favorite Topics". Then when you log on you can go to 'My Favorite Topics' on the bar on top of the screen and it will show up without looking through the whole boards.

    I love it that Elizabeth started this thread, and I always have a smile when I come on here and see her face. (I believe she said she was wearing a sexy outfit and fishnet stockings on the part of the picture we can't see......something I'm sure she would want pointed out Smile.)

  • voraciousreader
    voraciousreader Member Posts: 3,696
    edited August 2011

    Emily Alone was terrific!!

    Now, VR's is reading another wonderful fiction book... The Old Romantic by Louise Dean.  Imagine that!  VR enjoying fiction....must be the heat!Wink

  • emegram
    emegram Member Posts: 60
    edited August 2011
    I just finished 22 Brittania Road, a novel about a young Polish couple and their son who flee their homeland in order to survive the horrors of World War II, are separated for six years, and then find they are like strangers when reunited after the war ends.  It was such a sad story, but I was fascinated and really, really liked the book.  I am a baby boomer who listened to my parents and grandparents talk of life during and after the "big" war, so I really like to read books about that era.  This particular book was quite a story! 
  • WellWater
    WellWater Member Posts: 4,524
    edited August 2011

    Has anyone read Elizabeth Street?  It was on a daily Kindle special from Amazon this morning, sounded good (but don't they all) so I thought I'd download it.  I'm just curious for a review or 2 since we'll be going to DC later this month and need to know if I should download another book before we go in case Elizabeth Street doesn't hold my attention.

    Thanks, Trina

  • wenweb
    wenweb Member Posts: 471
    edited August 2011
    WellWater I read the Kindle sample of Elizabeth Street a while ago.  It didn't do anything for me, and I did see that it was only $1.99 today, but decided against it.   I loved Cutting for Stone, so you may be talking to the wrong person!  I'm making sure that I have enough reading material in the event there is no power from hurricane Irene.
  • Hauntie
    Hauntie Member Posts: 369
    edited August 2011

    This is kind of off topic, but the mention of Prime Suspect brings back fond memories of watching the series on video, with friends. Watching Prime Suspect, when it first came out on video, was the beginning of  Monday Girl's Night, with 4 other friends, that continues to this day. We gather for dinner every Monday night. We have occasionally watched movies - i.e. "Chicago" (dinner - Chicago deep dish pizza, of course) and tv series - "Dancing with the Stars". Now, we usually play word games - current favorite - Quiddler.

    I'm currently reading about 4 books at once. One of them, "The Prize Winner of Defiance Ohio," because of the recommendation on this list. I'm really enjoying it. I want to watch the movie after I finish the book. I wonder if there's any place I could find it without having to buy the DVD?

    One of my favorite books is "Snow In August," by Pete Hamill. I read it several years ago. I recently found a copy of it, in a used book store, and it's on my re-read list. I also really enjoyed his novel,  "North River."

  • Hauntie
    Hauntie Member Posts: 369
    edited August 2011

    I picked up one of these at Ocean State Job Lots for less than $4.00. Irene turning off  the lights isn't going to keep me from keeping up with my reading list.

  • Elizabeth1959
    Elizabeth1959 Member Posts: 78
    edited August 2011

    Ellen

    I am in the middle of  Ann Pachett's   State of Wonder and am enjoying it.  I also am very excited because I figured out how to download audiobooks for free from my local library.  Yeah, no more paying $40 for an audiobook

    Elizabeth

  • apple
    apple Member Posts: 1,466
    edited August 2011

    i need to get to the library..

    Anyone ever read Wodehouse..?

    "Reginald Jeeves is a fictional character in the short stories and novels of P. G. Wodehouse, being the "gentleman's personal gentleman" of Bertie Wooster (from wiki)., He is the funniest author ever.. (british but hilarious).

  • exbrnxgrl
    exbrnxgrl Member Posts: 5,318
    edited August 2011

    Thanks to those who recommended Bossypants, Tina Fey's autobiography. It's the first book I downloaded to my iPad. Have only read a few chapters but it is funny! Maybe I should finish it before my bmx so I don't laugh too hard post-surgery. Caryn

  • hrf
    hrf Member Posts: 706
    edited August 2011

    I jus finished reading Sarah's Key. A great book. Now I can see the movie

  • badger
    badger Member Posts: 24,938
    edited August 2011

    I just finished Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire.  Was hard to get into but I'm glad I persevered.  It got good halfway through, when it finally connected me to the Cinderella story.  BTW, he also wrote Wicked, and Son of a Witch, both of which I read and enjoyed.

    Now I have The Emperor of all Maladies, it just came today through inter-library loan.  I have two weeks to read it, 500+ pages with tons of footnotes.  So I know what I'll be doing with any spare time.  I'm on a waiting list for The Help but there are multiple copies so it shouldn't take too much longer for me to get my hands on it. 

    Happy reading everyone and Ruth I love that story about our dear {{kk}}

  • ruthbru
    ruthbru Member Posts: 47,794
    edited August 2011

    She was one of a kind!

    I just got three new books in the mail that I've been wanting to read; but won't say anything about them yet as I don't want to be accused of 'premature articulation '. (I read that phrase in a book once and use it whenever possible Tongue out.)

  • Kay_G
    Kay_G Member Posts: 1,914
    edited August 2011

    I just saw The Help and loved it too.  Highly recommend it.  Am now about 3/4 of the way throuhg the book and that is also very good.

    Did anyone read The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo?  I started that several times and put it down again.  Just watched the Swedish movie of the first 3 books in the series and that was very well done.  Going to go back and try the book once more when I'm finished  The Help. 

Categories

Join Us on Zoom: Upcoming virtual meetups. Read more...
Give your account some personality! Add a profile photo.