Summer Reading - Page 3

DavidMn · #31 08-03-2006, 08:47 PM

I was reading a book by John Sandford called Mind Prey.

markolas · #32 08-03-2006, 08:57 PM

Quote:

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?

I only read non-fiction.

I dunno, I've considered branching out into fiction, but I don't know who's good. I don't want to waste my time on a piece of crap.

Most of what I read is Buddhism-related, or biography. I recently read bios of Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington, and Nat King Cole. I want to get ahold of Marianne Faithfull's autobiography next, and maybe one of the Miles Davis bios.

JazmenFlowers · #33 08-03-2006, 10:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sparky

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.

Donna's from my mom's home town. when I interned at a publishing house the year The Little Friend was released, I got to meet her and she signed the book...I think I've read 10 pages of it...but I've always wanted to read TSH first.

DrummerDeanna · #34 08-03-2006, 11:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by markolas

Most of what I read is Buddhism-related, or biography. I recently read bios of Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington, and Nat King Cole. I want to get ahold of Marianne Faithfull's autobiography next, and maybe one of the Miles Davis bios.

That reminds me - I guess I already do a little non-fiction in the form of bios...

So far I've only read a few:

Grace Slick's
Dolly's
Vivien Leigh
Rocks Hudson
Michael Landon

Lucille Ball

I do enjoy a good bio!

JazmenFlowers · #35 08-03-2006, 11:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrummerDeanna

That reminds me - I guess I already do a little non-fiction in the form of bios...

So far I've only read a few:

Grace Slick's
Dolly's
Vivien Leigh
Rocks Hudson
Michael Landon

Lucille Ball

I do enjoy a good bio!

I want to read Shelly Winters'...

Miss Vicky · #36 08-03-2006, 11:23 PM

I am in a very book-hating frame of mind at the moment.

I don't normally read anyway, but all this struggling to reach my new 60,000 word goal on my own work has really got me annoyed. Jason? Jim? Michael? Any new suggestions yet? (Beside rewriting the ending, grrrr...)

Hey, I have an idea... does someone - ANYONE - want to write the last oh, 3,000 or so words for me? I'll pay ya.

I'm just kidding (I think).

macfanken · #37 08-04-2006, 03:29 AM

I'm reading the "Foundation" trilogy by Isaac Asimov, it's almost 600 pages, I have about 200 left to read. Before that, I read "Galapagos" by Kurt Vonnegut, one of my favorite authors.

I live a block away from a Half-Price book store so I'm always buying new books, I have a reading backlog of about 25 books right now! haha!

skcin · #38 08-04-2006, 09:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrummerDeanna

What's wrong with being an Oprah book??

Her book club featured many great books - all of which were depressing though.

I don't think there's anything wrong with it. I agree with Haley that some people kind of roll their eyes if you dare say you've read the Oprah books, as if they couldn't possibly be any good. It's almost as if you have to defend yourself - "I know it's an Oprah book, but I swear it's really good!"

Like with the DaVinci Code - I don't care if it's jumping on the bandwagon or following the masses - I enjoyed the book! So there!

hayley · #39 08-04-2006, 09:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sparky

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.

The Secret History is one of my favorite novels and I was so disappointed with The Little Friend. It's one of the few novels I bought in hardcover. I almost never buy hardcover because I'm way, way, way too poor. I think I buy Harry Potter, some John Irving, and always Diana Gabaldon. Anyhow. I was disappointed AND out a boatload of cash.

Quote:

Originally Posted by skcin

I don't think there's anything wrong with it. I agree with Haley that some people kind of roll their eyes if you dare say you've read the Oprah books, as if they couldn't possibly be any good. It's almost as if you have to defend yourself - "I know it's an Oprah book, but I swear it's really good!"

Exactly. See my comments about Don't Stop in the Songs You Hate thread- same deal

skcin · #40 08-04-2006, 10:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hayley

It's one of the few novels I bought in hardcover. I almost never buy hardcover because I'm way, way, way too poor.

I'm the same way. The only time I'll buy hardcover are when the Higgins Clark or Hoffmann books first come out & they're on sale. Other than that, it's mostly library for me, once in a while I'll buy a paperback if I really love the book or can't wait for it. Used book sales are also good.

David · #41 08-04-2006, 10:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrummerDeanna

I do enjoy a good bio!

I recommend:

Henry James: A Life
By Leon Edel

Bernard Shaw
By Michael Holroyd

David · #42 08-04-2006, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by skcin

I'm the same way. The only time I'll buy hardcover are when the Higgins Clark or Hoffmann books first come out & they're on sale.

I buy all the Jacques Barzun books in hardcover. I bought "From Dawn to Decadence" in hardcover when it was published.

I bought 1st edition hardcover of Bernard De Voto's "1846: The Year of Decision" but I bought the Houghton-Mifflin softcover of De Voto's "Across the Wide Missouri" & "Mark Twain's America."

DrummerDeanna · #43 08-04-2006, 10:58 AM

When I worked in Rochester I got tons of free books - publishers were always sending books to our talk show host - I'd get them when he was done with them - or sometime I'd snatch them before (he doesn't read a quarter or what he gets)

I am really going to miss that - I acquire Water for Elephants that way - I highly recomend it - it was a really fun and intriguing story

sparky · #44 08-04-2006, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hayley

The Secret History is one of my favorite novels and I was so disappointed with The Little Friend. It's one of the few novels I bought in hardcover. I almost never buy hardcover because I'm way, way, way too poor. I think I buy Harry Potter, some John Irving, and always Diana Gabaldon. Anyhow.

LITTLE FRIEND SEMI SPOILER ALERT

I thought The Little Friend had great exposition, tremendous mood, and intriguing characters. I think Donna Tartt's greatest strengths lie in those areas. Plotting is her major weak point. The Secret History had a strong, crazy plot, but it worked with the goofy characters. I think, in fact that the characters drove the plot. In The Little Friend, even though the plot was laid out in the "mystery" of what had happened to the brother, somewhere along the way, the entire point of what the girl was a looking for seemed to have been lost. It was like a bunch of characters in search of a point. And I hated the fact that the central question of the story never gets answered. That end scene in the water tower was a cheesy, anti-climactic letdown.

I have all of Irving's books in hardcover, and most in first editions. But, I think he blew his wad on Owen Meany. He reminds me of Mac and Stevie. Kind of downhill after a certain point. Garp, HNH, Cider Rules, Meany - absolute genuis. I have yet to finish Son Of The Circus after three attempts. The Fourth Hand was kind of okay...it had moments. There was a bit of that huge eccentric cast of characters, circular life pattern thing that he does so well. But I felt he was getting bogged down in that typical middle aged straight guy thing of wrecked marriages, divorces, what I have done with my life bs that lots of authors get stuck in. And, if one more of his charcters is wrestler, a professor, owns a hotel, or has a bear around, I am gonna jump off a bridge. Really repeating himself. It's like Stevie using an A minor chord and singing about wind and shadows. I hate seeing a genius become a one trick pony.

sparky · #45 08-04-2006, 11:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by skcin

I don't think there's anything wrong with it. I agree with Haley that some people kind of roll their eyes if you dare say you've read the Oprah books, as if they couldn't possibly be any good. It's almost as if you have to defend yourself - "I know it's an Oprah book, but I swear it's really good!"

You know, I loves me some Okra. I have my issues with her, but I think she is a great person and I value what she has offered our culture in general, and specifically with reviving an interest in books. It's fantastic. I jokingly diss the idea, only because some of her choices tend to pander a bit to a Lifetime : Crisis of The Week For Women mentality. Like, it sometimes has bit of this chick lit for bored housewives flavor. However, she has put the spotlight on some excellent stuff, and in my opinion her books are generally a fine bet.