Sheri,

All of John Dunning's Cliff Janeway (protagonist) novels have books and book collecting as the basis. The one you just finished was furthest from "the mold" with the horse racing tangent.

I don't recall specifically which other one you read, but last year's The Sign of the Book definitely revolves around book collecting.

Dunning also has written a few other mysteries besides the Cliff Janeway ones. Deadline and The Holland Suggestion are two of those.

Linda

I finished "The Bookwoman's Last Fling" by John Dunning just now while eating my lunch. I would classify it as okay, certainly not a BAD book, but not as good as the other one (or is it two now?) that I've read of his.

The main character in Dunning's series is a book dealer and ex-cop so when he gets called in to appraise a collection or something, there is ALWAYS some intrigue afoot that his cop training makes him perfect for.

The other book in the series I read was all about books, but this one was more about horses than books. The bottom line of the intrigue was still about books, but the story went off on a major horseracing tangent. It just didn't thrill me.

quote:

...I read On the Road two or three years ago. I, too, had mixed feelings. Not completely understanding why it was a "must read"...

I understand that it is the definitive work about the Beat Generation.

For me, at it's best, it is sometimes poetic, and gives a glimpse into the Beat Generation's frenzied search for different experiences.

At it's worst, it sometimes reads like a repetitive tale of vapid party boys.

Sheltieguy,

I read On the Road two or three years ago. I, too, had mixed feelings. Not completely understanding why it was a "must read".

I have been reading The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins. It is the original mystery detective novel published in 1868. so far, it has been a relative easy read (not like Scarlet Letter, for instance.

Linda

quote:

Originally posted by D in St Pete:
I've read "The Road"...have you read any of McCarthy's other works? It's different (more hopeful), but the same beautiful writing style.

Glad to hear it--I really appreciate great writing and especially descriptive writing, so I'm looking forward to it and just hoping that it isn't going to be TOO dark.

I've read "The Road"...have you read any of McCarthy's other works? It's different (more hopeful), but the same beautiful writing style.

If you haven't read any of his others, definitely give "All the Pretty Horses" a go. If you speak Spanish (or have a basic understanding of it), it's even better, but without, it's still a heartbreakingly beautiful book. So is "The Road".

I finally got around to reading "On The Road" by Jack Kerouac.

"...the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everbody goes "Awww!"

It's on numerous Great Books lists, but I had mixed feelings about it.

I just finished Lance Armstrong's first book. It was really interesting to see what happened to him as he battled cancer and came back to win the Tour de France.

I'm finally getting close to finishing The Bookwoman's Last Fling by John Dunning at work. Now comes the hard choice of what to read next...decisions, decisions!!

I picked up what I gather is a rather dark but marvelous book at the bookstore last week based on Entertainment Weekly's top 10 list of books in 2006--The Road by Cormac McCarthy--so I may start with that one. Definitely will need to be an at-work book and not a bedtime book from the sound of it!

Has anyone read that McCarthy book?

quote:

Originally posted by TriGirl:
Just finished Augusten Burroughs' Magical Thinking.

I hadn't heard of that one. Is it very dark like his Running With Scissors? Or is it a memoir of a later stage of his life that wasn't so awful?

I finished The Memory Keeper's Daughter, which I would highly recommend despite the sad subject matter. Now I'm reading my book group selection, On Beauty by Zadie Smith. Very funny so far.

Just finished Augusten Burroughs' Magical Thinking. Our local bookstore is closing so I also bought a huge pile of other memoirs to read.

I finally got my hands on Fast Food Nation. It looks very promising and I've heard a lot of good things about it.

I'm also hoping it'll help keep me away from McD's for as long as possible (preferably for ever).

Just finished reading the Next Stephanie Plum book called "Plum Lovin'" (between the number book)it's only about 164 pages..It was okay..

Heather

Well, I just finished "The Shaman Sings" by James D. Doss. It was very good and kept me guessing till the very end. I "had it figured out" twice during the course of the book and was wrong both times

While I have never actually read a Hillerman book, I have seen all three of the PBS movies made from his books and really enjoyed them so I think if you are a Hillerman fan you will like this series of books.

I am in the middle of re-reading "Improper English" by Katie MacAlister and have about 75 more pages to read in "The Bookman's Promise" by John Dunning.

AND...I just picked up "The Shaman Sings" by James Doss at the library today. Maybe now I can find out why this book is so hard to find in used book stores or on-line .

I'm reading J.A. Jance's "Long Time Gone". For those familiar with J.A. Jance, this one is from her earlier J.P. Beaumont series. She hadn't done one of those for a long time, so it is fun to read with that character again.

Dawn

I'm doing back-to-back Krakauer, moving from finishing "Into the Wild" to starting "Under the Banner of Heaven," his look at the fundamentalist Mormon sect that was responsible for the murder of a woman and her baby a few years back.

Just finished "Isaac's Storm". Loved it. In the wake of Katrina, it's an amazing, enlightening read. I feel so lucky to have the advantages we do in weather prediction (and what we think of now as "common sense").

quote:

Originally posted by Preciousmew:
I decided that I am going to read the Harry Potter Series.

Heather

Dd and I both love the books and the movies