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Beth

Beth

I Suck Cuz I'm Banned
Jan 2, 2006
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Has anyone read any good books lately?

A friend gave me "The Shack" by William P. Young
Started out promising, but then lapsed into fantasy land. Still, it will stay with me.

The I read "The Secret Scripture" by Sebastian Barry
An Irish novel about an old woman's memories of her life. Moving.. I recommend it.

Today I finished "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy
I'd call this a horrifying futuristic story of love between a father and son. They're making a movie of it, due out in November. Even though it will scare the h*ll out of me to see it, I must:
http://www.firstshowing.net/2008/08/07/six-new-photos-from-cormac-mccarthys-the-road/

Today I started "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini. Don't know what to expect, but it's gotten great reviews.

Has anyone read these? or can you recommend something? I'll need another book in a week or so.
 
Great books that I've read or re-read in the past year or so:

London Fields - Martin Amis
Naked Lunch - William S. Burroughs
a whole heap of Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett
Good Omens - Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman
The Sandman graphic novels - Neil Gaiman
American Psycho - Brett Easton Ellis (a really lovely, pleasant read)
To Have and To Have Not - Ernest Hemmingway (I only nearly cried at the end)

I am about to start reading the original manuscript version of On The Road by Jack Kerouac. I am sure a lot of you will know this book was based on the adventures of Kerouac and other real people many of whom are also famous writers. This version I am about to read is as the original - none of the names of Kerouacs friends have been changed and it is continuous, no chapter breaks. The original manuscript was typed in 3 weeks on a continous roll of paper.

yeah, I read a lot.
 
The Kite Runner is a painfully great book.

V
 
The twilight series by Stephanie Myers is great !

My 12 year old daughter started reading these and couldn't put them down. As soon as she finished one she had to run out and get the next in the series. She kept asking me to read them too, so I did. WOW ! I know they are "young adult" books, but then again so was Harry Potter.
Reading them together allowed us to talk about things that would have otherwise embarrassed her. I think I liked these better than Harry Potter.

Jennifer
 
The Shack... will stay with me for the rest of my days... could spark a really good debate!

The Final Quest (Rick Joyner)...another "change your thinking" book...spiritual
 
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Two good books that I just finished. Both are motivational type books. Both don't take that long to read either.

'Who moved my cheese?' and 'The greatest salesman in the world'
 
Ugh, I was so disappointed with The Shack. I normally pass books along to my sisters, that one I through in the trash.

Beth, I just finished Peony in Love by Lisa See. Loved, loved, loved it! A lot of Chinese customs and history intertwined in a lovely story. Go buy it today.

Last weekend I read Dear John, by Nicholas Sparks. That was a Sunday afternoon, lie on the couch quick read.
 
Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen
The thirteenth Tale by Diane Stterfield
The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan....a great one for the moment
since we are in basically the same situation that happened in 1928
Twilight--Teen book, but, it is hard to put down
Wild Swans by Jung Chang--one of my alltime favorites
The Kite Runner--- by Khaled Hosseinigreat book, but so sad
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini--similar to Kite Runner
Tuesday's With Morrie by Mitch Albom
A Town Like Alice by Neville Schute---one of my all time favorites
Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Burns
True Women by Janice Woods Windle
The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
Daisy Mae and The Miracle Man by Fannie Flagg--one of the funniest
books ever
The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Nighttime by Mark
Haddan--very deep, but, opened up my knowledge of how an austistic child thinks....written in the words of the child. Outstanding

These are some of my favorites. I can give you more if you run out.

Carol Bice
 
Just a little commentary on "The Shack"...

Funny how this books hit's different people differently. Some like it, some hate it, and some are engrossed by it. I fall into the latter category, as have many I have shared it with in several AA groups I attend.

The preface says it's fiction...or is it? I tend to try and keep an open mind, and since I've yet to meet God, I have now idea what he looks like, what race he is, nor gender.

The Shack, lays out some open minded thinking of "what if's" and lets the reader decide....it's all good.
 
I agree with every book Carol recomended...Loved them!

If you want to send me your E-mail address I will send you an invite to my on-line 'book group' it's a great way to see who is reading what. No reading requirements at all you just list what you have read to get books from others.
 
I am just about at the end of Edward Rutherford's blockbuster "London". Even though I was a history major,I've learned more from this than any course in English History!
'"The Kite Runner" is my next to be read.
 
I appreciate all the replies. I don't want to waste time on crappy books, so it's great to have your recommendations. I'm reading "The Kite Runner" now... didn't know it's sad... not sure I'm ready for sad, after "The Road". Check out what's listed as #1 on this list:
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20207076_20207387_20207349,00.html

If anyone is interested in "The Road", I highly highly recommend it. Just be warned.. it's exceedingly sad and scary. It took me days to feel like myself after reading it. Even today I've been teary.. and I think "The Road" is still haunting me. But it's an awesome love story.

And another question... can anyone recommend good books or series' for my 9 year old boy? He's a smart kid.. could probably read books that a 10 or 11 year old is reading too. It's hard to know what direction to point him in!

Thanks!
 
I just finished "The Almost Moon" by Alice Sebold, love her work.
I'm also reading "I Was Told There'd Be Cake" By Sloane Crosley...almost done. Pretty light read and wonderfully funny.
I just started "The Diary of an Adulterous Woman" by Curt Leviant. Can't give much info here, as I am on page 3 at the moment except that right now it's a man telling the tale so far.
 
Beth, I don't know if you have run across GoodReads.com yet, it's a website entirely dedicated to what your friends are reading or what they have read and what they thought.

My two sisters talked me into joining and it really is a great way to see other perspectives on books you are thinking about getting into.

I currently reading "Wicked" for the second time.

Cheers!
 
Some of my favorite books:

A Collection of Beauties at the Height of their Popularity - by Whitney Otto
"Set in San Francisco in the 1980s, A Collection of Beauties at the Height of Their Popularity is a novel of late youth--the final indulgences and excesses of a group of friends before paths are chosen, before character is set."


White Oleander - by Janet Fitch
"Astrid Magnussen, the teenage narrator of Janet Fitch's engrossing first novel, White Oleander, has a mother who is as sharp as a new knife. An uncompromising poet, Ingrid despises weakness and self-pity, telling her daughter that they are descendants of Vikings, savages who fought fiercely to survive. And when one of Ingrid's boyfriends abandons her, she illustrates her point, killing the man with the poison of oleander flowers. This leads to a life sentence in prison, leaving Astrid to teach herself the art of survival in a string of Los Angeles foster homes."


Desire Lines - by Christina Baker Kline
"Grieving over her recent divorce, Kathryn Campbell quits her newspaper job and moves back to small-town Maine in time for her ten-year high school reunion. It's also the anniversary of her best friend Jennifer's mysterious disappearance. Despite years of searching, only a few meager clues have surfaced."

I also love anything by Anne Tyler or Anita Shreve (fiction)
and
Emmet Fox or Anne Lamott (nonfiction)

There are so many more.... I love to read.

Oh! Can't forget the book Eat, Pray, Love - by Elizabeth Gilbert. I read that recently and it has gone to the top of my ALL time favorite book list. If you are going to read one book on my list, read that one!!!!
 
Hey Beth, I also love my Dictionary and Thesaurus. :)

V
 
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