Book Lovers Club
Comments
-
Went back to Dyer's book and he refers to the book All Quiet on the Western Front a MASTERPIECE. The movie, he thinks is just great.
0 -
My reading in German happened a long time ago....I didn't stick with it, so it is 'nicht so gut'.... 'kaput', actually. Maybe when I retire, I could take it up again. It would be interesting to see if a language is like riding a bike. ?
0 -
Hi all, I am new to this thread, mind if I jump in? I belong to a book club in my town and our last book was Freedom - was so glad to read your pans on it. It was chosen by the man who organized the club, come to think of it he suggested the boring book before it! I also slogged my way through it, I finished it but it was not enjoyable reading. Felt like I was in college reading for a grade, I think I have read two of Oprah's picks and wondered both times why all the hoopla.
0 -
Oprah's almost always depress me!
0 -
Ruth....I am also not a great fan of Oprah's picks...However...for summer reading last year...she picked 8 fiction and 2 non fiction books....One of the non fiction books was one that both you and I enjoyed reading...Larson's In the Garden of Beasts. The second one was The Man in the Rockefeller Suit....which I also LOVED. The only problem for me was that I had already read BOTH books BEFORE the list came out!
Karen...regarding Freedom....I had ONE friend read the book. I told her I wasn't interested in reading it. She kept insisting that we both read it. I told her that while the critics "raved" about the book, IMHO, it seemed that the humble readers weren't as entranced by the book as the critics were.... When my friend FINALLY finished reading the book, I asked her how it was and she told me it was "good." Some how I think that appraisal of the book rang hollow because she's one of my walking companions and when she enjoys a book, she will give me lots of details about it and tell me how much she enjoyed it. I wasn't getting that vibe from her as she was reading the book. BTW....I know her like an open book...because we've been friends for more than 25 years and have been walking together for more than a dozen years......
Finished reading The Missing of the Somme yesterday. Just added it to MY list of MASTERPIECES.
0 -
Dear voraciousreader, I had trouble reading half of the critic's review of Freedom. I think I will give my book club one more chance and if that book is out of left field also, I'm afraid it will be the last recommendation I take from them. I have never been led astray by any advice or suggestions I have gotten from bc.org, ok a few differing points of view shall we say, so will take my spring/summer list from this thread. Oprah's choices are nearly always depressing. Karen
0 -
Here's some food for thought, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the link works:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/feb/03/the-conversation-scathing-book-reviews/print
This year, this group began an award for the "best" worst book review. Of course, Geoff Dyer was interviewed and nominated for his scathing review that appeared in The New York Times of Julian Barnes book that received the prestigious Booker Award.
A friend of mine read the book for her book club. I started reading it (before Dyer's review) and HATED it. And yes, it was also depressing.......
One of my pet peeves is how books are chosen to be reviewed and how many books get fantastic reviews and no one wants to say anything negative about them....
A great film on the publishing industry is The Stone Reader. For all of you voracious readers, the film is a delight!
http://www.amazon.com/Stone-Reader-Special-Carl-Brandt/dp/B00012YIE6
0 -
Wow. I am so glad I found this thread. There are so many fantastic book rec's. I could spend a couple of hours just reading the old posts.
Seems like I need to get a copy of a Dyer book and see what everyone is talking about.
Just finished Mudbound. Very enjoyable. Read The Kitchen Wife before that and really enjoyed it as well. Trying to read the new Rob Lowe biography, but put it on my ipad and just cant seem to get used to reading books that way.
0 -
Voracious reader---I just finished that Julian Barnes book--Sense of an Ending. I did enjoy it----it did keep me until the end. I grew to really dislike the main character--I am guessing the author's intention--and I was surprised at the ending. I have read other Booker winners and didn't think this one was as good as others. Quite wordy for a short book (if that makes sense!).
0 -
So Rachel... Are you recommending the book? What were the other Booker winners that you enjoyed more?
0 -
I did like the book....would recommend it...it is a short read, little wordy, and a main character that I found you started to dislike. I really liked Pigeon English from last years finalists. That book...Room...was good? My Dad really follows the Booker short lusts and winners so I get the hand-me-downs! Couple of good older ones....On Beauty, The Gathering....I read all kinds of books....mainly fiction...tried a couple of non-fiction. I come back here every few days to check out some books....always great to read other suggestions!
0 -
Let's see...since my last visit here I finished The Marriage Plot, but didn't really like it. Just couldn't deal with the characters. Wanted to smack them. Middlesex was a much better story by Eugenides, in my opinion.
Am now into Mudbound and loving it. My kind of novel.
Read A Sense of an Ending and wasn't thrilled with that one, either. The story seemed contrived, and the characters didn't grab me.
I don't care whether characters are "likeable" or not, but something has to make me want to finish a story, to care what happens to them. That, plus good writing, will make a winner for me.
0 -
AnneW - I liked Mudbound, too.
Laurie - Did you read Water Witches by Chris Bohjalian? I was so excited to read it but I never got into it so I returned it to the library, unfinished. I was so disappointed because I've really enjoyed all his other books.
I also read A Moveable Feast after reading The Paris Wife. I also read Battle Hymn of a Tiger Mother. I know it is written as a memoir, not a parenting guide but I wouldn't have lasted with her as a mother! I just started Rules of Civility by Amor Towles and I like it so far. Next on my list is Blood, Bones & Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton. I have Lost In Shangri-La on reserve from the library.
Thanks for all the great reading recommendations! Gina
0 -
i also loved Mudbound. I'm currently reading My Korean Deli which my son gave me for my birthday.0
-
ginadmc: I have Blood, Bones & Butter on my Kindle but haven't gotten around to it yet. A few of my friends have read it with favorable reviews. Let me know what you think!0
-
"Rules of Civility" is one of the better books I've read over the past year. Enjoy!
Also agree with AnneW that "The Marriage Plot" was not nearly as good as "Middlesex."
I also enjoyed "Mudbound..."
0 -
Elizabeth1959-
Mudbound is one of the books on the shelf over my bed which will probably be the death of me when it all comes tumbling down some night. With these positive reviews, I may actually read it. I did read My Korean Deli and found it fascinating - cross culutural marriage, new immigrant values, Brooklyn, learning how convenience stores are run!! I hope you enjoy it.
Julie E
0 -
The Second Shelf
By MEG WOLITZER
If "The Marriage Plot," by Jeffrey Eugenides, had been written by a woman yet still had the same title and wedding ring on its cover, would it have received a great deal of serious literary attention? Or would this novel (which I loved) have been relegated to "Women's Fiction," that close-quartered lower shelf where books emphasizing relationships and the interior lives of women are often relegated? Certainly "The Marriage Plot," Eugenides's first novel since his Pulitzer Prize-winning "Middlesex," was poised to receive tremendous literary interest regardless of subject matter, but the presence of a female protagonist, the gracefulness, the sometimes nostalgic tone and the relationship-heavy nature of the book only highlight the fact that many first-rate books by women and about women's lives never find a way to escape "Women's Fiction" and make the leap onto the upper shelf where certain books, most of them written by men (and, yes, some women - more about them later), are prominently displayed and admired. This is a tricky subject. Bringing up the women's question - I mean the women's fiction question - is not unlike mentioning the national debt at a dinner party. Some people will get annoyed and insist it's been talked about too much and inaccurately, and some will think it really matters. When I refer to so-called women's fiction, I'm not applying the term the way it's sometimes used: to describe a certain type of fast-reading novel, which sets its sights almost exclusively on women readers and might well find a big, ready-made audience. I'm referring to literature that happens to be written by women. But some people, especially some men, see most fiction by women as one soft, undifferentiated mass that has little to do with them....CLICK THE ABOVE LINK TO READ MORE!! Meg Wolitzer is one of my favorite FICTION writers and I think she has made a terrific point!
0 -
Voracious: GREAT article. Thanks for sharing. Disturbing but true.
0 -
I think I've read just about every novel that Pearl Buck wrote.. they are just fascinating. I picked up a biography of Pearl Buck in China.. it's a good read. I also bought NEW, a book entitled "the North American Indian... the complete portfolios of Edward S. Curtis.
It is absolutely fantastic .. He photographs 1000s of different Indians starting in 1905. They are incredible photographs.. unfortunately the book is rather small.. it would be really nice if it were 12 by 16.. but sitting in bright natural light with good glasses.. omgosh i love this book..available in hardback..
you can see an assortment of prints here... you can click on, enlarge and zoom over the prints to see incredible detail. i particularly like the two women.... Pulini and Koyame
blond eyelashes?
0 -
Apple, there is a national geographic Edward S. Curtis hardcover photobook - larger than standard book selling at Oceanstatejoblots for some minimum price. Should I pick it up for you? I am sure it is selling for less than $10, maybe even $5. I can't check your amazon link because my computer is crashing several times a day - needs to last til Saturday - when DH builds me a new one. so trying not to strain it???
Julie E
0 -
nah.. i have too many books.. thanks for asking.. we really have about a whole library branch in our basement.
0 -
Speaking of China - I just finished Bo Caldwell's book City of Tranquil Light. The book was loosely based on the author's grandparents who went separately to China in 1906 as missionaries and didn't come home until... Don't want to ruin the story. Very good read.
Apple: My cousin gave me the book & we both agreed that our views of China were still colored by The Good Earth.
0 -
WaveWhisperer - I, too, enjoyed Rules of Civility. I liked the characters and the era. His desciptions of society were well done and I could really picture the various clubs, NY apartments, estates, etc. I see that you live in Charleston. One of my colleagues and his family is there now for Spring Break. They were so excited to go. They are going to a concert at a very old church tonight. I can't remember the name of it but I'm sure you know it.
McSushi - I did like Blood, Bones & Butter. It started well and kind of petered out at the end. Her writing style was witty and honest.
I'm now reading Lost in Shangri La. Gina
0 -
Now reading Seamstress ( I think it was recommended here). Enjoying it!
0 -
Anyone read "The Weird Sisters"? I'm just starting it and I love it!!
0 -
I am presently reading The girl who played with fire it is the second of the Larson series and much better than the first.I had trouble finishing the first one.
0 -
wenweb...I just put a reserve on it! Looks terrific! Thanks!
If you enjoy Shakespeare....I highly recommend the DVD Shakespeare Retold:
http://www.amazon.com/Shakespeare-Retold-Bill-Paterson/dp/B000OY9VFW
The third episode....The Taming of the Shrew....I've watched dozens of times! I LOVE IT! Here's a clip from youtube...Enjoy!:
0 -
VR Fiction? You?? Let my know what you think, it had me from the Dylan Thomas and Shakespeare quotes before the prologue!!0
-
WenWeb & Voracious - with both of you recommending the same book, I'm going immediately to Amazon to find out more.
0
