I've read all the Sophia Kinsella books but haven't read any Janet Evanovich books. I thought they were mysteries which I'm not that into but if they are funny that will tip the scale for me. Thanks for the recommendation!

quote:

Originally posted by Brie:
I'm looking now for a light hearted fun read for my b-day trip next month.

Have you read either Janet Evanovich or Sophie Kinsella? I have read 13 of the 15 books in the Stephanie Plum series by Evanovich and, while they may not be what they once were, they are still great, fluffy fun. I've only read (listened to, actually) one of Kinsella's books (The Undomestic Goddess) and it was light and cute though, for me, not as funny as Evanovich.

Sexing the Cherry by Jeanette Winterson. I've read some of her stuff before, and now that I've given up analyzing it and trying to understand it, I'm enjoying it.

I'm also reading Amy Hempel's collected stories and so far, I like them.

My last two books were Three Cups of Tea which I loved and One Fifth Avenue by Candace Bushnell (the Sex and the City author) which was just so-so.

I'm looking now for a light hearted fun read for my b-day trip next month.

quote:

Originally posted by Sheri in Reho:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by johnbol:
Does This Clutter Make My Butt Look Fat?

Gets the award for best title!

quote:

I gave two books 5 stars
Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

The McCann is on my TBR shelf and I should be starting it this month sometime. The Verghese has been recommended to me by Amazon a billion times but there's something about it that made me decide not to get it--I think it's because it's a really long book? I don't do well with those.

quote:

I guess I'm a little surprised that you gave two older Cornwells 3 stars...cuz the books back then were the ones I enjoyed the most. I don't read her much anymore.

I've read 2 or 3 of Sedaris' books. They are often funny and sad at the same time.

Sorry to hear about the layoff. Are you still doing your newspaper gig? I just finished writing a 3-part series on transitioning to retirement for Coming of Age Delaware. The first two parts have been published and the third will be published in the next few weeks. Time to start researching the next topic!

I've had been listening to the Cornwall's at work and I found them repetitive and grammatically wrong on more than instance. (It didn't help that the first book was narrated by a Brit - since then I only listen to C.J. Critt).

I'm trying to figure out why so many people think David Sedaris is hilarious.

Yes, I am still doing my newspaper thing. The lay-off was from the Census job which caused me so much stress I ended up having to take a stress test because of the way I was dealing with the stress. I am THRILLED to be unemployed again.

(Now if dh could find a job…)

Isn't it thrilling to write, Sheri? I've got several larger irons in the fire, too.

Linda

quote:

Originally posted by johnbol:
Does This Clutter Make My Butt Look Fat?

Gets the award for best title!

quote:

I gave two books 5 stars
Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

The McCann is on my TBR shelf and I should be starting it this month sometime. The Verghese has been recommended to me by Amazon a billion times but there's something about it that made me decide not to get it--I think it's because it's a really long book? I don't do well with those.

quote:

The Highly Selective Dictionary for the Extraordinarily Literate

Runner up for best title!

I guess I'm a little surprised that you gave two older Cornwells 3 stars...cuz the books back then were the ones I enjoyed the most. I don't read her much anymore.

I've read 2 or 3 of Sedaris' books. They are often funny and sad at the same time.

Sorry to hear about the layoff. Are you still doing your newspaper gig? I just finished writing a 3-part series on transitioning to retirement for Coming of Age Delaware. The first two parts have been published and the third will be published in the next few weeks. Time to start researching the next topic!

Books I've read that I would give 4 out of 5 stars (since I last reported):

The River of Doubt by Candice
The Carnivorous Carnival by Lemony Snicket
The WEed that Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Making Toast by Roger Rosenburg
The Hospital Hospital by Lemony Snicket
The Ersatz Elevator by Lemony Snicket
Stitches (a graphic biography) by David Small
Eragon by Christopher Paolini
Full Dark House by Christopher Fowler
Does This Clutter Make My Butt Look Fat? by Peter Walsh
Home: A Memoir of My Early Years by Julie Andrews

I gave two books 5 stars
Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese (my 2nd time reading)

I gave the following 3 stars:
Turn of the Screw by Henry james
The Highly Selective Dictionary for the Extraordinarily Literate by Eugene ehrlich
Eldest by Christopher Paolini
The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Bartlett Hoover
Cruel & Unusual by Patricia Cornwell
Barrel Fever and Other Stories by David Sedaris
The Piano Teacher by Janice Y.K. Lee
The Body Farm by Patricia Cornwell

AND, I gave only 2 starts to
The Shadow of Your Smile by Mary Higgins Clark (did her daughter write this one?)

Presently working on Wolf Hall - will take me a bit - especially since I'm now laid-off and can actually do something with my time.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Sheri in Reho:


Just yesterday finished my first book by Geneen Roth--Women, Food and God.

[QUOTE]

Thanks for that review, Sheri. I've been seeing lots of positive reviews in magazines and was a bit skeptical. I've never read any of her stuff. I'll take a close look before I buy or wait for it to become available at the library.

I'm in the early stages of Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol. It's a fun summer read.

Finished Elegy for April by Benjamin Black the night before I left for vacation. Didn't love it...didn't hate it...just okay. Some people raved about it--I think, in part, because Black is the pen name of John Banville, who is an award-winning non-genre fiction writer. Part of what was off-putting to me is that the story takes place in Dublin and there was a lot of language I didn't understand.

Just yesterday finished my first book by Geneen Roth--Women, Food and God. I've heard of her work for years but never read it because I thought it was only about binge eating (I have plenty of food issues, but that generally isn't one of them). I can see how her earlier books could be hugely helpful, but this one was a lazy effort. While it's not marketed this way, it reads like a personal journal she kept for one week while leading one of her retreats. It includes large chunks of text from her students and just seems to skim over everything she's probably said in the earlier books. Being that this is my first of hers and I don't have the foundation of the earlier books, it was a little disappointing.

I'm in the last half of a John Sandford mystery--my first outside of his Prey series. This is one of the newer Kidd series and it is VERY VERY different from the Prey series. Even though what is happening in the story SHOULD be exciting and compelling, I am largely bored by it. I'm still picking it up at bedtime, but I can generally only get a few pages at a time.

Anyone else read anything good to recommend?

AFter 1 1/2 years on my TBR (to be read) shelf, I finally read Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. Finished it last week. I REALLY enjoyed it. It is part travelogue (Italy, India and Indonesia), part autobiography and part treatise on finding inner peace and finding God in everything...including yourself.

I'm currently reading Elegy for April after reading an article about the author in Entertainment Weekly. My first sit-down with it was pretty awful--I was bored to tears--but I recently took it with me to the salon and out to lunch and finally was able to get into the groove a bit more. Still very early on.

Since finishing Eat, Pray, Love, I am mostly reading Fodor's California guidebook in preparation for my trip to San Francisco and Yosemite.

I just finished A Fair Maiden by Joyce C. Oates. Boy! For whatever reason, I feel the need to read an Oates book avery couple of years. This one drew me in from the first page- I almost could not put it down. As I read, it became more and more disturbing. The end was not an easy one to resolve. Still, I find that she is able to explore and illuminate grains of truth within certain families.

quote:

Originally posted by johnbol:
Really, really into Pope Joan which is my book club's book this month. Who knew the 9th century was so interesting. I was so tired when I got home from work yesterday I went upstairs to hopefully sleep - instead I read about 80 pages!

Now that's a good book!

Linda

Linda,
I think I saw a documentary or something about Pope Joan. I was intrigued at the time and now want to read the book! Sounds like you are really enjoying it.

Jill

I finished both The Art of Racing in the Rain and The Bride Collector in the past week. Gave both 4 stars. If you like suspense thrillers, the Dekker is a good read. I liked it because it wasn't JUST a serial killer story--there was also an interesting side story.

I started The Bone Thief by Jefferson Bass today and my other book is a nonfiction book called Confessions of a Compact Camera Shooter or something like that...on how to get professional results with a compact camera.

Really, really into Pope Joan which is my book club's book this month. Who knew the 9th century was so interesting. I was so tired when I got home from work yesterday I went upstairs to hopefully sleep - instead I read about 80 pages!

Now that's a good book!

Linda

quote:

Originally posted by johnbol:

quote:

Originally posted by Sheri in Reho:
I finished Beatrice & Virgil by Yann Martel.

Sheri, had you read The Life of Pi - his first book?

Yes, I did read The Life of Pi and really enjoyed it, which is why I chose Beatrice & Virgil when it was offered to me to review.

quote:

I'm still working on The Bride Collector by Ted Dekker (a serial killer murder mystery) and recently started The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein, which is written in the voice of a dog named Enzo. I'm enjoying it a lot.

quote:

Did you read Burn. Don't all of his books have a Christian leaning?

Which author are you talking about--Stein? Martel? Dekker? I haven't read Burn and I've never read Stein or Dekker before the books I'm reading now, so I wouldn't know their previous books or leanings. I have read one book by Martel before this one but I can't say I thought of it as having any Christian leaning, though I don't remember it in detail.

quote:

Originally posted by Sheri in Reho:
I finished Beatrice & Virgil by Yann Martel. Straaaaaange. There are loads of people giving it 5 stars on Amazon, but I gave it 3. I found it dull (to the point of annoyance) for over half the book and then the last third was much deeper and much more thought-provoking.

Sheri, had you read The Life of Pi - his first book? That was the book I read immediately after TTTW and though because it was so much slimmer, it would go faster. WRONG! The first 100 pages were a chore, after that, super sonic speed. But, I realized I needed the first 100 pages as the foundation for what followed.

I have this book and the Stein in my stack TBR.

quote:

I'm still working on The Bride Collector by Ted Dekker (a serial killer murder mystery) and recently started The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein, which is written in the voice of a dog named Enzo. I'm enjoying it a lot.

Did you read Burn. Don't all of his books have a Christian leaning?

Finished and loved Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon. Didn't know until the very last page where it was going. Wow!

Read Erma Bombeck's All I know about Animal Behavior I learned in Loehmann's.

Working on Game Change which is a behind the scenes look at the last Presidential Election. I'm really enjoying that, but then, I'm a news / politics junkie.

Starting yesterday afternoon, I'm going back to reading at work. I can NOT sit there 8 hours a day with nothing to do!

Linda

I finished Beatrice & Virgil by Yann Martel. Straaaaaange. There are loads of people giving it 5 stars on Amazon, but I gave it 3. I found it dull (to the point of annoyance) for over half the book and then the last third was much deeper and much more thought-provoking.

I'm still working on The Bride Collector by Ted Dekker (a serial killer murder mystery) and recently started The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein, which is written in the voice of a dog named Enzo. I'm enjoying it a lot.

I'm reading the unfinished 5th instalment of the Twilight saga, and so far, it shows the same weaknesses as the rest of the story. Sigh.

I am feeling oh-so-cultured today: LOL!

I read the first chapter of a Hemingway book, and then listened to a new CD of Beethoven's 9th.

"All good books have one thing in common - they are truer than if they had really happened."

-Ernest Hemingway

Source: http://www.brainyquote.com/