I started to pull up one of the old book threads and then figured I'd just start a new one. I just saw Sandy's comment about Madison in the Trader Joe's thread and that reminded me of a book I'm currently reading (because it takes place in Madison), so I thought I'd see what others are reading.

I'm currently reading:

At work: The Dive from Clausen's Pier by Ann Packer (novel)

I'm not quite halfway through this book about a young couple with a troubled relationship (at least from her perspective) who go through a major life trauma that fiercely tests their relationship. So far, I'm enjoying it but it isn't something where I can't wait for lunch hour every day so I can dive into it.

Though I will say, Sandy, that your hometown sounds really charming.

At home: Forever by Pete Hamill (novel)

This is probably the most-recommended book ever by my book chat group. I had had it on my "to be read" pile forever and finally started it some months back but couldn't stay with it. I put it down and picked it back up several times and am finally within 60 pages of the end. Reading that, you would probably think it must be a sucky book. It isn't. It is quite an interesting book and even a well-written book but it is long and slow in parts.

It is about a guy who is given the ability to live forever but can never leave the city where he lives (Manhattan). Because he lives so long, the story ranges from slave days up to the present time.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: SheriaVa,

I tried a couple of the Non-Stephanie Plum books and didn't care for them.

"Sugar Plum", "Plum Lovin'", & "Plum Lucky" ARE Stephanie Plum books but they fall between the numbered books. If you pay attention to the season or what month it is at the end (or beginning) of the numbered books you can figure out where these books fall chronologically. They just are not as intense (or good) and I believe she intended them to be more lighthearted and easy going than the numbered books.

I am now trying to finish "Only the River Runs Free". A book that Linda sent me . I had started it and then let mother have it to read.

I just started reading Amy Tan's "Saving Fish from Drowning." It's a little like "The Lovely Bones" meets "Beyond Rangoon." The narrator is someone who has been murdered observing her still-living friends, who are on a tour of Burma. They have abandoned their itinerary (as planned by the narrator) and are going places tourists shouldn't go under an oppressive regime. A little slow so far, but I like it.

You choose "Amen" or "Ditto" to Janet Evanovich comments from Judy, Sheri & Denise. I haven't experienced the same enthusiasm for the non-numbered Stephanie Plum books as I have the Chronologically named ones. I tried her NASCAR series (Metro Girl[/i[ and [i]Motor Mouth). They were okay, but not fabulous.

Even the numbered Stephanie Plum numbered books aren't always up to snuff. When she's good, she's very, very good. And, when she's not, she's eh!

Linda

I just finished "Fearless Fourteen"... I'm going to have to go along with Sheri on this one and say, it is getting to be too much of the same ol', same ol', but not at as good of a level.

Also Sheri, I read a lot of Iris Johannsen's books. She can be a bit fantastical at times adding some paranormal type stuff into her books, but I like her mysteries. She also has romance novels that I'm not really into.

Dawn

quote:

Originally posted by BrenauMom:
Well I finished Plum Lovin' and while it was cute and funny, it wasn't very Stephanie Plum-ish.

I read one Evanovich that was not part of the numbered series...can't think what it was called (Full House, maybe?) and I didn't care for it at ALL, so I have avoided all of her books outside the numbered series like the plague. I think her non-numbered books can tend toward the romance genre, of which I am not a fan.

Well I finished Plum Lovin' and while it was cute and funny, it wasn't very Stephanie Plum-ish.
She didn't blow up any cars and was never in any major danger. There was no Joe or Ranger. Ranger showed up briefly, just to say he was leaving town & Tank was in charge and Stephanie talked to Joe on the phone once (he is undercover, somewhere).
Basically, it was the same as the Sugar Plum book but instead of Christmas, this one was about Valentine's Day. There was an preview of "Plum Lucky" at the end but I did not read that. I assume that if she follows her "plum pattern" it wall be about Diesel and St. Patrick's Day.

I am excited! I read in Entertainment Weekly magazine that Kate Atkinson, one of my favorite authors of the last few years, has a new book coming out and EW gave it a good review! It continues the character of Jackson Brodie from her novels Case Histories and One Good Turn.

quote:

Originally posted by jillybean:
I am still reading "Eat, Pray, Love" [...] Eat, Pray, Love is a great book and I've enjoyed it...

That one is on my TBR (to be read) shelf and I plan to get to it as soon as I have a break in my required reading (books I am obligated to provide a review of). I have heard wonderful things about it.

quote:

She read To Kill a Mockingbird and liked it a lot

One of the highlights of my high school years was playing Scout in my school's production of To Kill a Mockingbird. What a great story. There is a picture of the cast in costume in the yearbook from that year and it brings back SO many memories. Of course, we had not one person of color in our entire school district, so all of the black people were played by white kids in blackface...a decision that would have surely caused a ruckus these days!

quote:

Originally posted by SheriaVa:
I finished a really good book last night--"The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother." It was written by one of 12 black children about his white Jewish mother, who was shunned completely by her own family when she fell in love with a black man.

Excellent and highly recommended. The only downside for me was that every other chapter is written in the mother's voice and, while these chapters are in italics and therefore visually different from the chapters in the son's voice, I still got quite confused while the mother was recounting her family history.


.

Sheri-I am intrigued by this and want to get this book. Unfortunately, I am still reading "Eat, Pray, Love", the last Harry Potter, Jane Eyre, and the Bonesetter's Daughter! I've been reading some of these for months. My life has been so busy that I just cannot find time to sit and read. Eat, Pray, Love is a great book and I've enjoyed it but I have to say her time in India has slowed me down. I loved the Italy chapters about living freely, eating and drinking freely, and just being. India is much more about seriousness, soul-searching, etc and the fact that she struggles with this makes it a harder read for me. I want her to still be enjoying the free-will lifestyle of Italy! I guess I am reflecting my own feelings into her writing.

For Harry Potter-I think I don't want Harry to end!

For Jane Eyre-difficult read. My dd had this on her reading list for the summer. She read To Kill a Mockingbird and liked it a lot but I told her Jane Eyre would be tough so she has not attempted it yet. It is interesting but the writing style is tough.

Jill

I have several books started but right now I am trying to finish "Plum Lovin" by Evanovich.

I borrowed it from my sister and need to get it back to her as she has not read it yet. It was me that got her hooked on Evanovich.

I just finished "The Plantation" by Chris Kuzneski. I liked it but not as much as his other two, more recent novels. It reads like a solid action movie and was quick.

I also read "Blackwater". Very interesting but I felt like it was way too one sided in its presentation of the company. I ended up watching some on line interviews with the CEO to try to get a more balanced perspective.

Again, I guess I'm catching up:

I presently listening to The Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard.

I'm reading The Source by James Michener. This for the library book discussion.

In the last couple of months I have read a lot of poetry (Billy Collins, Emily Dickinson) children's books - again (Jon Scieszka, Raymond Briggs). and short stories (Best Short Stories of the 20th Century).

I've also read The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas which was an incredible 1500 pages. It took me awhile, but it was a page turner. I had read the illustrated classic comic book edition as a kid and ate that up. This unabridge version was not different. I recommend it highly.

I listened to Dress Your Family in Denim and Corduroy by David Sedaris. He is hilarious.

I also listened to Stormy Weather by Paulette Jiles. It takes place after the depression during the dust bowl and involves a family who has even harder times with the husband drinking and gamblind and ending up in jail. The women (wife and 3 daughters) shoulder on and find security and love in varying ways.

Linda

I finished the modern classic "The Sheltering Sky", by Paul Bowles....

an adventure, an allegory, an ending that I didn't anticipate.

(Apparently the movie version has a significantly different plot.)

"One never knows what a person is made of until the moment of stress..."

*****

I just ordered another modern classic book from Amazon.com. One review quote is:

"A novel that will curl your toes...-The New York Times Book Review

I'll tell you the book's title when I finish it.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Sheltieguy,

I finished "Company of Liars" and am thrilled to say that I was completely wrong in my assessment of this book from its first few pages. Over a week after finishing the book, I'm still thinking about it.

Historical fiction is not generally my cup of tea and this book takes places in medieval England at the start of the spread of the Black Plague. It is about a group of 9 strangers who travel together to try to avoid the plague and make a living at the same time. Each traveller has a huge secret and, over the course of the book, the secrets are revealed. HIGHLY recommended.

I just recently started these two:

"American Wife" by Curtis Sittenfeld. From the review I read, while this is a novel, it is apparently a thinly-vieled biographical telling of Laura Bush's younger years. I don't know enough about Laura Bush to know if that's valid. I'm only about 130 pages into the book and the protaganist has just met the Republican politician that I assume she will marry. The book isn't exactly what I'd call compelling reading (at least not yet) but so far it is okay enough to keep reading...though boring sometimes.

Note to Sandy: Like the first book I talked about when I started this thread over 2 years ago, a portion of this book also takes place in Madison and another Wisconsin town.


"Dark Summer" by Iris Johannsen. I am rather confused by what I've read so far and I'm too early into the book to really be able to explain the story, but the main characters are a very caring female vet, a special dog and a dark, dangerous man who is good at getting everyone around him killed because he is a hunted man (why, I do not yet know). Okay so far...not great, not bad.

I have started listening to the Sackett series of books by Louis L'Amour on CD's. I have read them all before but never in chronological order.
I got some iTunes gift cards for my birthday last months so I bought the first 3 books and then burned them onto CD's so I can listen to them in the car.

I finished a really good book last night--"The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother." It was written by one of 12 black children about his white Jewish mother, who was shunned completely by her own family when she fell in love with a black man.

Excellent and highly recommended. The only downside for me was that every other chapter is written in the mother's voice and, while these chapters are in italics and therefore visually different from the chapters in the son's voice, I still got quite confused while the mother was recounting her family history.

I'm currently reading "A Company of Liars" by Karen Maitland. It's not really my cup of tea (it takes places in medieval England), but so far it is not bad.

Last week, I finished "The Book of the Dead" by Preston and Childs. It's a bit outrageous (i.e., requires major suspension of disbelief), but it was a REAL page-turner. I enjoyed it.

I have started about a half dozen books but can't seem to get into reading them.

I just started one about Lois Wilson.

And when I went to my sister's house to feed her dogs last week, she had Plum Lovin sitting out next to the dog bowls so I brought it home with me. She said later that she wants it back to read when I am done but she is already reading a couple of others she wants to finish first. I haven't started that one yet.

I have also started a book about Meriweather Lewis.

I am about 30 pages from finishing a stinker named "Blind Speed" by Josh Harkan. I would usually not bother finishing a book this bad, but I am obligated to write a review on it, so I felt I should finish it. Avoid at all costs--yuck!

quote:

Originally posted by johnbol:
I read Janet Evanovich's latest Fearless Fourteen. It was a quick read, but wasn't great.

I have found that true of the last several books in the Plum series--they just don't give me the same thrill anymore. The Ranger/Morelli/Stephanie triangle goes on and on and Stephanie's goofy stunts go on and on and her needing a man to ride in and save her, etc. I am getting to the point where I am feeling a little resentful as I'm reading the later installments of this series because I feel like the quality has really fallen off...then again, I believe Twelve Sharp may have been the last one I read.