Summer Reading

[hayley]

Originally Posted by sparky

OMG. I didn't know it was an OKRA book. Oh well, she does pick some good ones. What is it with me that I didn't cry while reading this book ? I rarely cry in real life, but books can really do me in. I mean, if I read Charlotte's Web again tomorrow I'd probably have a nervous breakdown when the friggin' spider dies.

It's actually always a happy cry! I don't cry often at books, but I cry at the drop of a hat with movies and TV shows. The other day I was teased for crying at the end of the BBC Office special. I was sobbing. I'm a big baby.

I am totally going to drop Dune and re-read She's Come Undone, like now.

[amber]

Originally Posted by skcin

Don't think I have read either. I read Mulvaneys & loved it, so when I tried some of her other stuff, I was like wtf? She's a hard read sometimes.

You have to read it, it's easy. It's perfect. Sadly, it was made into the most craptapulous movie ever, starring Angelina MiscastCan'tAct.
But the book is great.

[DrummerDeanna]

Originally Posted by sparky

I was so into those books. I think my favorite character is probably Dumbledore. But I also love Hagrid and am tickled to death by Ron's second Owl Pigwidgeon.

Hee his second owl is a hoot (no pun intended)

I am partial to the Weasley twins - they just crack me up. So have you read the latest? Half-Blood Prince? Have you heard the ever-present rumours thatn JK Rowling will be killing Harry off in the last book??

----

She's Come Undone:

What's wrong with being an Oprah book?? Her book club featured many great books - all of which were depressing though.

I do think that Wally Lamb did a good job writing from a female perspective, generally I don't like when men take that on. It's been years since I read it - I may have to revisit.

[skcin]

Originally Posted by hayley

I love Alice Hoffman, btw. My favorite is actually Practical Magic. I love her writing. If you ever want to try something in a similar vein... although it's still way nuttier and more abstract, try Dangerous Angels by Francesca Lia Block. I love her novels, even if it's totally emo.

I'll give that one a try. My favorite Hoffman book is probably Here on Earth (the Oprah book, lol) or Blue Diary. Her writing is so - palpable? I don't know how else to say it. I can almost feel what she's writing.

[sara1998]

I pick a lot of reading selections from Oprah!

Does anyone here get into non-fiction??? Where are the non-fiction fans?

[David]

Originally Posted by sara1998

I pick a lot of reading selections from Oprah!

Does anyone here get into non-fiction??? Where are the non-fiction fans?

That's about 80 percent of everything I read: art criticism, history, essays, biography & autobio, science, etc.

I sometimes have to force myself to read some fiction just to balance things out; but I have a great deal of fiction on my bookshelves, including about 500 plays from ancient Greece to the present. So it's there for me -- but I get distracted with nonfiction.

[DrummerDeanna]

Originally Posted by David

That's about 80 percent of everything I read: art criticism, history, essays, biography & autobio, science, etc.

I sometimes have to force myself to read some fiction just to balance things out; but I have a great deal of fiction on my bookshelves, including about 500 plays from ancient Greece to the present. So it's there for me -- but I get distracted with nonfiction.

At first I thought you meant that Oprah books made up 80% of your reading

I've never been able to get into non-fiction - but I did pick up a few historical novels that I hope will help build a bridge for me getting into more non-fiction.

[Brad]

I read The Kite Runner by Hosseini a few months ago and thought it was excellent. I couldn't put it down and finished the whole thing in one sitting. I put off reading it for a while because I didn't think the subject would interest me much. Then a friend recommended it, and I'm glad he did.

Of course, I love all of the Augusten Burroughs books. I'm reading his newest Possible Side Effects. So far though, I think Running with Scissors is his best...very funny stuff.

I just last week finished off The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings which I think I started a couple months back. I liked them a lot, but you've gotta have a lot of patience to get through all four books. I had seen the movies before and was confused about several things, and the books really cleared everything up.

So, I guess I would recommend The Kite Runner or Running with Scissors. I was fortunate to have a lot of time over the last 7 months or so to read a lot (I think I've read 22 books since January), so I can give you a lot more recommendations if you're interested.

Brad

[JazmenFlowers]

I'm going to finally get started on Donna Tartt's The Secret History

[jannieC]

Originally Posted by Brad

I read The Kite Runner by Hosseini a few months ago and thought it was excellent. I couldn't put it down and finished the whole thing in one sitting. I put off reading it for a while because I didn't think the subject would interest me much. Then a friend recommended it, and I'm glad he did.
Brad

I read The Kite RUnner this summer and loved it, too. It took me a bit to get into it, but once I did, I couldn't stop reading it either. It also took me awhile to like the main character- but eventually I forgave him (just as he forgave himself).

[amber]

Originally Posted by jannieC

I read The Kite RUnner this summer and loved it, too. It took me a bit to get into it, but once I did, I couldn't stop reading it either. It also took me awhile to like the main character- but eventually I forgave him (just as he forgave himself).

What's it about? How come no one is saying what their books are about? Are you trying to make me look them up or something? I like these suggestions because I only read regular fiction about 20% or so, preferring mysteries and fantasies. And apparently, Native historical fiction. But that is because there are so many fiction books it is hard to tell if I'll like it. And I've finished all the Hoffmans and Atwoods.

[sparky]

Originally Posted by JazmenFlowers

I'm going to finally get started on Donna Tartt's The Secret History

That's pretty good. I liked it better than The Little Friend, which was great for the first 80% and petered out at the end.

[Brad]

Originally Posted by amber

What's it about?

Here's a description below from Amazon about The Kite Runner. It's a very emotional book, and parts of it gave me knots in my stomach and left me saying "damn." You get very attached to the characters and really feel for them...at least I did. It also has some good twists to it.

Brad


Amazon.com
In his debut novel, The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini accomplishes what very few contemporary novelists are able to do. He manages to provide an educational and eye-opening account of a country's political turmoil--in this case, Afghanistan--while also developing characters whose heartbreaking struggles and emotional triumphs resonate with readers long after the last page has been turned over. And he does this on his first try.
The Kite Runner follows the story of Amir, the privileged son of a wealthy businessman in Kabul, and Hassan, the son of Amir's father's servant. As children in the relatively stable Afghanistan of the early 1970s, the boys are inseparable. They spend idyllic days running kites and telling stories of mystical places and powerful warriors until an unspeakable event changes the nature of their relationship forever, and eventually cements their bond in ways neither boy could have ever predicted. Even after Amir and his father flee to America, Amir remains haunted by his cowardly actions and disloyalty. In part, it is these demons and the sometimes impossible quest for forgiveness that bring him back to his war-torn native land after it comes under Taliban rule. ("...I wondered if that was how forgiveness budded, not with the fanfare of epiphany, but with pain gathering its things, packing up, and slipping away unannounced in the middle of the night.")

Some of the plot's turns and twists may be somewhat implausible, but Hosseini has created characters that seem so real that one almost forgets that The Kite Runner is a novel and not a memoir. At a time when Afghanistan has been thrust into the forefront of America's collective consciousness ("people sipping lattes at Starbucks were talking about the battle for Kunduz"), Hosseini offers an honest, sometimes tragic, sometimes funny, but always heartfelt view of a fascinating land. Perhaps the only true flaw in this extraordinary novel is that it ends all too soon. --Gisele Toueg

[amber]

I was actually just at amazon. Thank you!
That sounds pretty sad/good. Definitely.


Here's the synopsis of the books I just ordered that I've been dying for. Not that anyone asked, but who cares?

People of the Moon
" The authors Gear began their First North Americans series of preistoric historical novels in 1990 with People of the Wolf. This thirteenth installment is one of the best novels in the whole series. The Gears have consistently captured early Native American life with precision, detail, and narrative excitement, but in Moon they reveal their skills to even sharper effect. The geographical locale this time is an area that will become northern New Mexico and southern Colorado; the Chaco Anasazi hold sway over the region and have done so for 200 years. As is the case with all conquering people--and almost certainly guaranteed by the people they have conquered--maintenance of suppression proves difficult. The gist of this riveting novel is that the warrior Ripple, visited by the goddess Cold Bringing Woman, begins a campaign to destroy the hated overlords. Of course, resistance is met with retribution, and the Gears don't shy away from authenticism in depicting the violence that resulted--their motive, though, is to be realistic, not sensational."

And the other one I ordered - a bit more cheesy, but good, and historically accurate:

It Wakes In Me
"Accused of multiple murders, drugged High Chieftain Sora has been spirited off to the village of their hereditary enemies in the hope that their most powerful healer can reunite her three souls through a series of erotic soul-curing ceremonies. Meanwhile, the High Matron of the Black Falcon Nation grapples with the demands of certain elders on her Council to wage war on yet another group, the Scarlet Macaw People, in order to wrest from them an enormous fortune in jade. Underlying it all is treason at every level and a sinister plot to overthrow their clan's leadership under the guise of recovering hostages from the Loon People. On a more personal level, there's Wink's concern for the well-being of her friend Sora, and Gear's intriguing exposition of the generosity the prehistoric people she envisions extended to the mentally ill. All combine to create a multilayered, complex plot with lushly evocative prose and darkly erotic passages as Gear continues the Florida-based prehistoric saga that began with It Sleeps in Me (2005)."

[GODDESS6]

as i mentioned in another reading thread ,besides reading the mounds of crap, but oh how i love them, magazines, i was trying to read stephen king's "everythings eventual", but i couldn't get past the 5th story~ i am now reading & adore "chill factor" by sandra brown & i just bought "broken doll" by burl barer~