I'm reading "Last Call" by Laura Pederson. It is funny and sad all at once.

Dawn

Wow! It's been a month since anyone wrote for this link! I don't believe for a nanosecond that no one is reading out there.

I finally finished last month's book club read All the King's Men - the restored edition. I really enjoyed it. There was a lot to digest in there.

This week's book club (yep, I'm running into myself) is Running with Scissors. I was wondering if part of the author's torture was his parents naming him Augusten (Burroughs). Turns out he chose that name. He was born Christopher.

Too many library books waiting for me when I get done with this one. Not to talk about the piles and piles of books I have around the house. I AM going to clean out. I am.

Linda

I am reading "Eat Pray Love" by Liz Gilbert. A great read at many levels.

While I was gone (yes, again!) I finished Mike Farrell's book. It really is more about his activism than his acting. I thought it was very interesting.

I tried to start a very small book who's title appealed to me: Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar…. It explains philosophy through jokes. My cousin's "insignificant other" (his words) is a Philosopy Professor to whom I lent the book. He didn't think much of it. My mind was too stressed to even settle into the book. It was due back at the library while I was gone. So I returned it, paid the fine, and put my name on to reserve it again.

I am going to start All the King's Men right after supper. This is the book for my book discussion next week.

Linda

Kushiel's Justice, which is the 5th in a series by Jacqueline Carey. It's going to sound...well, strange, but her writing is so engrossing that I feel pulled into the world, even on re-reads.

She writes about a fictional, pseudo-fantasy world (as in, no sorcerers and witches, but some strange happenings) that takes place in what we'd recognize as France, western Europe, and portions of eastern Europe and the Middle East. The biggest difference between this world and ours is that prostitution is a viable, legal, and honored career choice. The main character in the first three books has a gift, in that she heals very quickly and has been "chosen" by one of the gods to receive pain as pleasure. So, yeah. There's some definite eroticism in the writing, but also some dark side of sex as well.

I'll probably do with this book like I've done with the others, and read it every spare minute, and think about when I can read it next when I'm not reading it and not busy. The world she built is SO real, and the characters are so relateable, that it's hard not to feel swept up in them. And the love story in the first book makes me cry every time I read it.

It's definitely not for the younger crowd, and it would be hard reading if you aren't willing to set aside how our culture looks at sex and sensuality. As an aside...one of the truths in the society is that everyone is beautiful, often in unexpected ways.

quote:

Originally posted by Caine:

quote:

Originally posted by Tayhudson:
Caine, I like spy novels too. I read most of Ludlum's novels back in the 80s and early 90s.

I just picked one up at Border's Books a few months ago, and asked the clerk if it was new. He siad, yes, it was a new release. I then asked him if her knew Robert Ludlum died about 6 years ago. He didn't, but insisted the book was new. There is someone out there, who appears to have inherited some of Ludlum's works in progress, and is finishing them and publishing them under his name. Eric Van Lustbader, who's works I have also been reading for years, is continuing the Jason Bourne identity (pun intended) with two novels since Ludlum's departure from this world, but he's doing it under his own name at least.

I will have to look for his books. (Van Lustbader I mean.)

Dawn

I saw that Oprah, too, but I haven't gotten the book. I thought it would be a good one though, so I may go pick one up.

The last book I read was "Slow Fat Triathlete". It's a good book for those who don't think they can! And now I am officially a slow fat triathlete! HA!

I have no idea what I"ll be reading next.

Mel

I happened to see Bill Clinton on Oprah last week talking about his new book Giving. The same/next day, I found an email from Borders in my inbox with a 40% off coupon for the book, so I stopped by there on Saturday and picked it up.

Started it last night. So far, very good. I think it is going to fit in very well with the kind of reading and thinking I have been doing of late. Additionally, I think it will be a great pre-retirement read since it is about giving of oneself to make the world a better place and that is probably my primary goal in retirement.

Anyone else reading this?

quote:

Originally posted by Tayhudson:
Caine, I like spy novels too. I read most of Ludlum's novels back in the 80s and early 90s.

I just picked one up at Border's Books a few months ago, and asked the clerk if it was new. He siad, yes, it was a new release. I then asked him if her knew Robert Ludlum died about 6 years ago. He didn't, but insisted the book was new. There is someone out there, who appears to have inherited some of Ludlum's works in progress, and is finishing them and publishing them under his name. Eric Van Lustbader, who's works I have also been reading for years, is continuing the Jason Bourne identity (pun intended) with two novels since Ludlum's departure from this world, but he's doing it under his own name at least.

I still wonder what happened to Len Deighton. I know he's still alive, but he hasn't written anything in at least a decade. Ever since the Berlin wall came down, he seems to have lost the will to write.

quote:

Originally posted by Caine:
I like [...] suspense novels (Jon Land, Larry Bond, James Patterson)

Caine, have you tried Jeffery Deaver or John Sandford? They are my two favorite authors of that genre. I especially like the Prey series by Sandford and the Lincoln Rhyme series by Deaver.

I just finished Carl Hiaassen's "Lucky You", I picked up "The Last Templar" last night. DH just read it. I needed a book and there it was. I'm not sure if it is something I'll be really into or not.

Caine, I like spy novels too. I read most of Ludlum's novels back in the 80s and early 90s.

Dawn

I like spy novels (Deighton, Follet, Ludlum, etc.) and suspense novels (Jon Land, Larry Bond, James Patterson) and that's what I read when I have them, but right now I don't have any new ones, so I am reading Men's Health, Cooking Light, and Diet & Nutrition magazines. I used to subscribe to The Hockey News, but let my subscription lapse during the lockout, and never renewed it.

My current reading is:

At home: The Secret by Rhonda Byrne

At work: The Beck Diet Solution

Other: One of the newer paperbacks by Patricia Cornwell. I'm thinking it may be called "Trace" but I'm not sure.

I'm one of the people who has read Running With Scissors. Very interesting story, Judy, thanks for posting that. I hadn't heard of the hubbub but, having read the book, am not at all surprised that the family he describes in his "memoir" would bring suit. They are portrayed as a bunch of lunatics.

I think I remember someone saying they read this book. I saw this article on my yahoo home page today.

By RODRIQUE NGOWI, Associated Press Writer Thu Aug 30, 2:38 PM ET
BOSTON - A family that claimed they were defamed in the best-selling book "Running with Scissors" has settled a lawsuit against the writer and his publisher
Author Augusten Burroughs and publisher St. Martin's Press agreed to call the work a "book" instead of "memoirs," in the author's note — though it still will be described as a memoir on the cover and elsewhere — and to change the acknowledgments page in future editions to say that the Turcotte family's memories of events he describes "are different than my own." It will also express regret for "any unintentional harm" to them.
Howard Cooper, a lawyer for the family, said financial terms of the settlement are confidential.
The family's lawsuit had sought $2 million in damages for defamation, invasion of privacy and emotional distress. It alleged the book is largely fictional and written in a sensational way to increase its market appeal; it also demanded a public retraction and an acknowledgment that "Running With Scissors" is a work of fiction.
Burroughs has said the book is only loosely based on his life, but in a statement released Thursday by St. Martin's he defended his work as "entirely accurate."
"I consider this (settlement) not only a personal victory but a victory for all memoirists. I still maintain that the book is an entirely accurate memoir, and that it was not fictionalized or sensationalized in any way," Burroughs said. "I did not embellish or invent elements. We had a very strong case because I had the truth on my side."
In the publisher's statement, St. Martin's called the settlement "a complete vindication of the accuracy of the memoir."
Burroughs' new acknowledgments note will say that the Turcottes "are each fine, decent, and hard-working people," and that the book was not intended to hurt them.
The deal comes 10 months after the family said it had "mutually resolved" issues with Sony Pictures Entertainment to avoid a lawsuit over the movie based on the book.
"With this settlement, together with our settlement with Sony last year, we have achieved everything we set out to accomplish when we filed suit two years ago," the family said in the statement. "We have always maintained that the book is fictionalized and defamatory. This settlement is the most powerful vindication of those sentiments that we can imagine."
Burroughs, formerly Christopher Robison, lived with the Turcottes in Northampton as a teenager. In 1980, Burroughs' mother asked Turcotte to become his legal guardian so he could attend Northampton schools. His mother still cared for him, but he had a room at the Turcottes' home.
Though the family in Burroughs' book is named "the Finches," the lawsuit claims they are easily identified as the Turcottes, and that Burroughs identified them in interviews.
Events in the book which the suit claimed were false include the Turcottes' condoning sexual affairs between children and adults, Turcotte's wife eating dog food and the family using an electroshock machine it stored under the stairs. The lawsuit claims the book also falsely portrays a home in unbelievable squalor.

Did this thread get lost?

I finally finished Anna Karenina. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I didn't expect the ending.

I also finished The Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers. I didn't particularly care for it. Read a review of it today which agreed with me.

NOW…I'm in the middle of listening to Carl Hiaasen's Double Whammy. This is the book which introduces Skink. OMG! I won't give anything away for those of you who may want to read it, but Skink, the rotisserie at Decker's ex-wife's house…ROFLMAO

In between, I've been reading Mike Farrell's book Call Me Mike. I knew he was a decent guy - just had no idea how much.

Linda

I'm reading "The Diana Chronicles" by Tina Brown.

Excellent book.

Oh,my! I think I'm back there might be one more quick trip someplace south (hint, hint, Breanumom and Steph): With so much traveling, I've done a lot of reading, too.

I bought Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows the day it came out (July 21) and finished it on Thursday July 26. DS was at school and dh very nicely did not complain that I did NOTHING! except read that book. (Well, if that were really true, I would have finished it by Tuesday). I think it was the best of all the books. I figured out several plot situations prior to reading the book. I'm with Brie - I think I'll read them from front cover of The Scorcerer's Stone to the back cover of the latest.

I put down Anne Karenina to read Harry (my latest column is about that - the comparison). I am now more than 200 pages into it and really, really enjoying it. It has become a page turner and I won't put it down again.

I also started Mike Farrell's memoir Call me Mike as a palate cleaner from Anna. I like what I've read so far, but am not enthralled with Tolstoy. I'll finish Mike when I'm done with Leo.

I listened to Carl Hiaasen's first book which was co-written with another reporter from The Miami Herald Powder Burn is one of 3 books which the pair wrote. It is a serious crime story - not the hilarious ones he writes now. The story involves a man who sees a former lover and her daughter killed by being too close to an apparent drug war involvement. It was very good.

I'm listening to Frankenstein. Not exactly what I was expecting, and difficult to keep my mind on. I've gotten the book so I can actually read it.

I've read several other books including The Book that Changed My Life. It is a compilation of books by authors. I was surprised how many of the books I had never heard of.

A Thousand Splendid Suns was surpassed by only the most recent Harry Potter. I am recommending that book to anyone I see.

And, I now, know that I mixed up the Carl Hiaasen's books. Skink was in Native Tongue. That is the book about a theme park to compete with "The Mouse".

I also read two children's books I really enjoyed: Pobby and Dignan about a child who's father misplaces her imaginary friend and I believe in Unicorns. What can I ssay about the latter. I collect unicorns!

Linda

Deathly Hallow....

Very interesting ending to the series. I think she did a really good job with it. I didn't say anything about the book because I know people are still reading it.

I just finished the last Harry Potter too : )

Now I'm going back and reading the whole series back to back. It's amazing the threads that were woven in through all the books starting with the very first one.