Read any good books lately?

[marcy]

I just started 11/23/63. It seems good so far.

 

[Lady_Disdain]

I read Rebbeca last week. It is a fantastic modern gothic book (gothic atmosphere, not gothic as in ghosts and vampires).

I am now reading 2 great books: The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde and 1Q84, which is amazingly great.

 

[jaysonsmom]

I don't know if anyone has mentioned Anita Shreve author of (The Pilot's wife)? but she is one of my favorite authors nowadays. I've been reading through a bunch of her books. My most recent was Weight of Water. Every book she has written has a different theme that can speak to different people, such as infidelity, loss of a spouse, unaquainted love, or abuse....but everything she writes is so subtle and packed with punch that evokes the deepest emotions inside. I swear I can feel my heart muscle twist with pain and agony just by a subtle descriptive passage. Awesome writer!

Past the Island, Drifting (1975)
Eden Close (1989)
Strange Fits of Passion (1991)
Where or When (1993)
Resistance (1995)
The Weight of Water (1997) (Shortlisted for the 1998 Orange Prize)
The Pilot's Wife (199
Fortune's Rocks (1999)[3]
The Last Time They Met (2001)
Sea Glass (2002)
All He Ever Wanted (2003)
Light on Snow (2004)
A Wedding In December (2005)
Body Surfing (2007)
Testimony (200
A Change in Altitude (2009)
Rescue (2010)

 

[jaysonsmom]

Jaysonsmom, I want to read Bossy Pants, and I also want to check out Ellen Degeneres' book. Have you read that one?

I'm going to check out Ellen's book! Thanks for the tip. I love funny ladies!

 

[sapphirering]

I don't know if anyone has mentioned Anita Shreve author of (The Pilot's wife)? but she is one of my favorite authors nowadays. I've been reading through a bunch of her books. My most recent was Weight of Water. Every book she has written has a different theme that can speak to different people, such as infidelity, loss of a spouse, unaquainted love, or abuse....but everything she writes is so subtle and packed with punch that evokes the deepest emotions inside. I swear I can feel my heart muscle twist with pain and agony just by a subtle descriptive passage. Awesome writer!

Past the Island, Drifting (1975)
Eden Close (1989)
Strange Fits of Passion (1991)
Where or When (1993)
Resistance (1995)
The Weight of Water (1997) (Shortlisted for the 1998 Orange Prize)
The Pilot's Wife (199
Fortune's Rocks (1999)[3]
The Last Time They Met (2001)
Sea Glass (2002)
All He Ever Wanted (2003)
Light on Snow (2004)
A Wedding In December (2005)
Body Surfing (2007)
Testimony (200
A Change in Altitude (2009)
Rescue (2010)

Jaysonsmom, have you read The Red Tent? It was amazingly good.

Lady_Disdain, I enjoyed Rebecca, too. I've read The Eyre Affaire by Jasper Fforde, and now I'll check out his other two books. Thanks!

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Never let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro - very subtle, really enjoyed it.

!

Never Let Me Go was very compelling. I liked it, but as the story progressed and the characters begain their donations, I would find myself cringing and a bit grossed out!

 

[MichelleCarmen]

I read Rebbeca last week. It is a fantastic modern gothic book (gothic atmosphere, not gothic as in ghosts and vampires).

I am now reading 2 great books: The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde and 1Q84, which is amazingly great.

Be sure to post what you think of 1Q84. I was going to buy it but wasn't sure after reading the reviews so instead bought a different book by the author.

 

[jaysonsmom]

Jaysonsmom, have you read The Red Tent? It was amazingly good.

Lady_Disdain, I enjoyed Rebecca, too. I've read The Eyre Affaire by Jasper Fforde, and now I'll check out his other two books. Thanks![/quote]


Looks like that was a different Anita Diamante, but looks interesting

 

[distracts]

I am now reading 2 great books: The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde and 1Q84, which is amazingly great.

Jasper Fforde is terrific! Have you read anything by him before? The Big Over Easy was the first one I read. I like that series slightly more than the Thursday Next series, mainly because it is sillier. Shades of Grey was also good, but somewhat different from the others, and was the first of his books that really left me POed that I couldn't read the sequel the moment I was done.

 

[sapphirering]

Jaysonsmom, have you read The Red Tent? It was amazingly good.

Lady_Disdain, I enjoyed Rebecca, too. I've read The Eyre Affaire by Jasper Fforde, and now I'll check out his other two books. Thanks!

Looks like that was a different Anita Diamante, but looks interesting[/quote]
Oops, sorry about that jaysonsmom. I have read Fortune's Rocks and really enjoyed it.

 

[sapphirering]

Never let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro - very subtle, really enjoyed it.

!

Never Let Me Go was very compelling. I liked it, but as the story progressed and the characters begain their donations, I would find myself cringing and a bit grossed out!

Yes, it was definitely disturbing! But I really like Ishiguro's prose.

On a lighter note, anyone here a fan of Nancy Mitford? I love her light and frothy style.

 

[zoebartlett]

Jaysonsmom - I've read a few of Anita Shreve's latest books. I think Light on Snow was the first one I read and I really liked it. I also liked Testimony, Sea Glass, and A Wedding in December. I've tried The Weight of Water and The Pilot's Wife so many times and I just couldn't get into them. I did see the movie for The Weight of Water and thought it was just okay. I was looking through Shreve's website to read a synopsis of each of her books, and I still couldn't figure out if I've read The Last Time They Met or All He Ever Wanted. For some reason, the titles don't really stand out to me. They sort of blend together, if that makes sense. Josh Grisham's titles are the same in my opinion.

 

[Haven]

I read half of MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN last night and had a really tough time putting it down. By the time 2 AM hit, I knew I had to go go bed.
Really, really good so far.

I really liked NEVER LET ME GO. I used it when I taught high school, actually. Sophomores, I think? Maybe honors juniors. Can't remember anymore. The kids loved it. A couple of them have emailed me at my new school about the movie that's coming out. Makes my heart swell up with pride a bit, kids getting excited to see the movie version of a book they really loved. *sigh*

 

[MichelleCarmen]

I read half of MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN last night and had a really tough time putting it down. By the time 2 AM hit, I knew I had to go go bed.
Really, really good so far.

I really liked NEVER LET ME GO. I used it when I taught high school, actually. Sophomores, I think? Maybe honors juniors. Can't remember anymore. The kids loved it. A couple of them have emailed me at my new school about the movie that's coming out. Makes my heart swell up with pride a bit, kids getting excited to see the movie version of a book they really loved. *sigh*

The movie is out on DVD! The setting in the movie is so unlike what I had envisioned. It's very tranquil and quaint/cottage/boarding school, whereas I had imagined it slightly crisp futuristic in nature. I was so excited to watch it and my DH is also a sci-fi buff like me, but he was utterly bored and wandered around snacking in the kitchen as the movie was very much geared toward woman. eta - I don't think the book is exactly sci-fi, but is in the realm of near sci-fi like other authors like Mary Doria Russell "The Sparrow," and Connie Willis "Dooms Day Book," "Impossible Things." Slightly sci-fi for women.

 

[TravelingGal]

Just read the second in the hunger games trilogy: Catching Fire. I had to slog through it.

What a disappointment after the fantastically well written and tight first book. This book is sloppy, sloppy, sloppy, and simply does not evoke the emotion of the first.

I am hesitant to read the 3rd!

T-gal I loved the second half of the third. The way the series ends is very satisfying (not a 'happily ever after' fake ending).

Thanks Gypsy...I'll give the 3rd book a shot. I already invested in two books, so I guess I am still in for the ride. Good to know you liked the ending!

I disagree with Gypsy here - I loved the first and second books, but I thought the third book was dissapointing all the way through. I would absolutely still read it though if I had finished the first and second! I'm going to read them again before the movie comes out!

OK, I liked the third better, but not by that much. However, I am good with how it all ends. Realistically satisfying.

 

[violet3]

I'm currently about 100 pages into "The Passage" by Justin Cronin - has anyone read this? I am still trying to figure out what's going on....I read that it's a trilogy, and it's a pretty long book - 750 pages or so. I've read great reviews of this book, but I'm having trouble figuring out the plot line.

 

[GK2]

I've just finished Before I Go To Sleep by SJ Watson - enjoyed it but figured it out before the end. I have also just finished rereading the Smiley novels by le Carre - love those!
I was surprised to find I enjoyed Death Comes To Pemberley - untaxing and a quick read but enjoyable none the less. Pleased to see other jasper fforde readers too - no one around me has heard of the books...

 

[jaysonsmom]

Jaysonsmom - I've read a few of Anita Shreve's latest books. I think Light on Snow was the first one I read and I really liked it. I also liked Testimony, Sea Glass, and A Wedding in December. I've tried The Weight of Water and The Pilot's Wife so many times and I just couldn't get into them. I did see the movie for The Weight of Water and thought it was just okay. I was looking through Shreve's website to read a synopsis of each of her books, and I still couldn't figure out if I've read The Last Time They Met or All He Ever Wanted. For some reason, the titles don't really stand out to me. They sort of blend together, if that makes sense. Josh Grisham's titles are the same in my opinion.

I've read the 2 that you couldn't get through, plus 3 others...at first the choppiness of "The Weight of Water" really bothered me, 'cos it kept going from past to present, but towards the middle of the book I finally got hooked. The Pilot's Wife was also one that I couldn't put down after I got to the middle of the book.

Light on Snow as great, A change in Altitude was pretty good, and Testimony (I'm reading this now) so far so good. But I think the Pilot's Wife was my favorite so far.

 

[mrscushion]

I just finished THE HUNGER GAMES trilogy. Amazing. Loved it.

So did I - read all three in a matter of days over the holidays. I really loved the books. Now I'm just about to start the latest Murakami, 1Q84.

 

[Haven]

I just finished THE HUNGER GAMES trilogy. Amazing. Loved it.

So did I - read all three in a matter of days over the holidays. I really loved the books. Now I'm just about to start the latest Murakami, 1Q84.

Ooh, I want to read IQ84, too. Maybe I'll buy that on my Kindle and read it on our trip to Vegas.

I read THE HUNGER GAMES so quickly that I can't even enter the discussion about the different books and how they compared. I read them all on my Kindle, so it felt like one long book. I really, really, really loved them all.

Just finished MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN and JUMPING OFF SWINGS last night.

I really enjoyed MISS PEREGRINE'S, 4/5 stars on Goodreads. Great writing, loved the fantasy elements. I really wanted more about the children and their lives, that aspect was so enthralling. I've never seen such a wonderful integration of photography and story in the novel form.

I gave JUMPING 3/5 stars. It was a very quick read that dealt with really difficult issues, but I felt like I'd read it before. Just a bit derivative of other books in the same genre. I can see HS girls loving it, though.

I'll probably start THE NIGHT CIRCUS tonight. Very excited about that one. Or CITY OF ANGELS. Hmmm . . .

 

[MissStepcut]

I just finished "Boomerang" by Michael Lewis. I love him. He breaks down financial topics so brilliantly without being condescending. I also loved The Big Short and Liar's Poker.