what''s next on your reading list?

[zoebartlett]

Date: 3/20/2010 2:03:08 PM
Author: AGBF

Date: 3/18/2010 6:19:15 PM

Author: ZoeBartlett


I can''t get into HP. I wish I could but I''ve tried several times without luck. I just can''t get into fantasy. When I was younger I did read a magic series by Edward Eager, and I loved them. Two of the ones he wrote are called ''Half Magic,'' ''Seven Day Magic,'' and there are a few others in this series. Apparently, they''re considered classics -- they were written in the ''50s and early ''60s.

They are classics! I read one of them, Half Magic, to my fifth grade English class just a couple of years ago and they loved it! I couldn''t keep my voice from shaking when Martha wishes that the cat could talk and she can suddenly ''half'' talk. That angry cat berating the children is one of my favorite passages in all literature!


The author who inspired Edward Eager, E. Nesbit, also wrote wonderful children''s books, like The Five Children and It in exactly the same genre.


Deb/AGBF

Thanks for the info. Deb! I''ll have to read Edward Eager''s books again and check out E. Nesbit''s books too.

 

[zoebartlett]

Okay, how lame is it that I occasionally go to B&N or Borders and write down the names of titles I want to read, and them put them on hold at the library? I just wish the waiting lists weren''t that long. I actually LOVE new hardcover books, but I''m often too cheap to buy them on my own. We were at B&N last night and my husband made fun of me for doing that.

Plus, we just learned that 12 branches of our county library are closing within 2 weeks. How sad is that? If I can help support a library, I will.

 

[AGBF]

Date: 3/20/2010 6:25:16 PM
Author: ZoeBartlett

Okay, how lame is it that I occasionally go to B&N or Borders and write down the names of titles I want to read, and them put them on hold at the library?

Zoe, I do that, too! At Borders! It works well here in Connecticut, where there are great libraries, but not so well in Virginia. (So I hear you about the waiting lists!) Greenwich, Connecticut has the best libraries in the world. I didn't realize how great they were until I lived in Virginia for a few years!

Deb/AGBF

 

[Haven]

I just finished reading Sara Gruen''s Water for Elephants. I thought it was fantastic.
AND, I learned that Ms. Gruen lives right here in Illinois. In fact, I pass by her community nearly every day of the week! I don''t know why it is, but that makes me happy to know.

I just started reading Eric Schlosser''s Fast Food Nation. It is quite good so far. Good and disturbing, just how I like ''em.

 

[Haven]

Date: 3/18/2010 12:20:11 PM
Author: trillionaire

Date: 3/17/2010 11:25:16 PM
Author: Haven

Date: 3/16/2010 11:18:20 AM
Author: trillionaire
just picked up four Miss Manners books from the library! Um, yeah, FI''s going to hate me in a few days...

Which ones, Trill?
I''ve had Star Spangled Manners on my night stand for ages. I adore her large guide, it''s my favorite go-to reference.
If you really get into etiquette, check out Letitia Baldridge''s books, and the Etiquette Grrls. They''re both fabulous.

I picked up the ones available at my local library, which were:
Guide to a Surprisingly Dignified wedding,
Basic Training: The right thing to Say
Guide to Domestic Tranquility
Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior...

They are fun to read and nice to have. I might have a new wedding gift idea... it think it would be nice for all women to have a copy of a broad etiquette guide, as a reference.

I thought it would be stodgey, but it''s decidedly not!

Oooh, all good ones.
The only one I own is her Guide to Excrutiatingly Correct Behavior. It''s a fabulous reference.
I love Miss Manners, her advice always has a nice bite to it.

 

[zoebartlett]

Date: 3/20/2010 11:39:39 PM
Author: AGBF

Date: 3/20/2010 6:25:16 PM

Author: ZoeBartlett


Okay, how lame is it that I occasionally go to B&N or Borders and write down the names of titles I want to read, and them put them on hold at the library?

Zoe, I do that, too! At Borders! It works well here in Connecticut, where there are great libraries, but not so well in Virginia. (So I hear you about the waiting lists!) Greenwich, Connecticut has the best libraries in the world. I didn''t realize how great they were until I lived in Virginia for a few years!


Deb/AGBF

I could spend all day at B&N or Borders. There''s something about the smell of all the new books, the comfy chairs, and the option to get a treat at the cafe that I LOVE. I also like hanging out at the library. My husband JUST got into reading, and he now suggests that we spend some time there on the weekends. I never thought I''d see the day when THAT would happen!

 

[AGBF]

Date: 3/25/2010 5:45:33 PM
Author: ZoeBartlett


I also like hanging out at the library. My husband JUST got into reading, and he now suggests that we spend some time there on the weekends. I never thought I''d see the day when THAT would happen!

I thought I was so cool when I was in graduate school and I went to the main branch of the New York Public Library and looked at esoteric research sources! Whether I was handling a book that had messages between German diplomats during World War II or old magazines from the 1940''s, I felt that being in the reading room with the those materials was magical. I felt as if I were in a movie! [Of course, only would-be librarians and historians have dreams of being in libraries. Normal women probably dream of being on yachts and so forth . ]

Deb/AGBF

 

[Haven]

Date: 3/25/2010 7:31:41 PM
Author: AGBF

Date: 3/25/2010 5:45:33 PM
Author: ZoeBartlett


I also like hanging out at the library. My husband JUST got into reading, and he now suggests that we spend some time there on the weekends. I never thought I''d see the day when THAT would happen!

I thought I was so cool when I was in graduate school and I went to the main branch of the New York Public Library and looked at esoteric research sources! Whether I was handling a book that had messages between German diplomats during World War II or old magazines from the 1940''s, I felt that being in the reading room with the those materials was magical. I felt as if I were in a movie! [Of course, only would-be librarians and historians have dreams of being in libraries. Normal women probably dream of being on yachts and so forth . ]

Deb/AGBF

Oh, I am so with you on the library love, ladies.

As a child I would sit in our little local library and imagine that all of the books were really the most interesting parts of the authors'' minds preserved in very flat boxes and stored on the shelves. It sounds strange to type it out, but that''s what I pretended they were, like a method of preserving the very best of human imagination or something.

Books were magical to me then, and they remain magical to me to this day. One of the most important things (to me) about purchasing a home was the vitality of the local library. Our library is GORGEOUS, and they run the most wonderful programs. I''m proud to live there every time I enter the library.

 

[dragonfly411]

I just read the Poisonwood Bible and really liked it!

Right now I am starting The Discovery of Poetry by Frances Mayes

 

[AGBF]

Date: 5/3/2010 5:47:39 PM
Author: dragonfly411

I just read the Poisonwood Bible and really liked it!

As I said on page 3 of this thread, I liked it, too! I even wrote a review of it on Amazon years ago!

AGBF

 

[elrohwen]

I wish we had such a nice library

I finally got my library card, but I have yet to find any book there that I want to read and don't want to buy (I'll buy Dickens books because I kind of collect them - they'd be easy to find at the library, but they fall into the books-I-buy category, if that makes sense). I always want to look at reference or non-fiction books and our library just doesn't seem to have what I'm looking for.

 

[kittybean]

I just finished Major Pettigrew''s Last Stand by Helen Simonson and The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. I really liked both. The second is a non-fiction memoir of a year in which the author took on the project of making herself happier; the way she went about it made so much sense to me, and I''m now trying to implement some of the methods she used in my own life.

Next up: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

 

[Haven]

I just finished Replay by Ken Grimwood and really enjoyed it. It was this month''s book club pick. I''ve been reading Spark by John Ratey and Merle''s Door by Ted Kerasote, who is my very good friend''s uncle. I''m really enjoying both books thus far.

 

[AGBF]

I usually read "trash" (legal thrillers and books in series like the Harry Bosch police series-books read for escape), so it didn't occur to me to mention a book I just read. However, my daughter and I just took a trip to

Savannah, Georgia and if one goes there it is impossible to avoid hearing about the book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt. In fact, I had heard about it from my aunt before I left for the trip but

had not had time to read it. At any rate, I have now read it and I found it charming, especially after having seen the city. It is non-fiction, but captivating. The characters really draw one in. The centerpiece of the

book is a murder for which one wealthy antiques dealer was tried three (or was it four?) times! I bought the DVD of the movie made of the book, too, but have not yet seen it. If one takes a trolley tour of

Savannah he is treated to a commentary on the sites used in the filming of the movie.


AGBF

 

[dragonfly411]

Apparently I''m going for two at once. I was home ill yesterday and had left my book at work. So I started Wuthering Heights. It''s one of my favorites but I haven''t read it in a very long time.

 

[Haven]

Our June book club pick is Like Water for Chocolate. I can''t believe I''ve never read it before, and I''m really looking forward to it.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Date: 5/8/2010 2:29:36 PM
Author: Haven
Our June book club pick is Like Water for Chocolate. I can''t believe I''ve never read it before, and I''m really looking forward to it.

Like Water For Chocolate is a WONDERFUL book!

Right now I''m reading a non-fiction book about Queen Elizabeth I. It''s interesting, but the author keeps comparing his conclusions to other biographers'' and even called some of them "psycho-feminists!" I had read a few fiction books on the Tudors and had heard that the story line(s) weren''t based on actual historical "facts," but now, it seems that non-fiction isn''t going to provide any better point of reference for me and I''m not sure where to proceed from here.

 

[dragonfly411]

MC - have you tried gathering reviews on books about her? Could you perhaps find a professor (possibly history) to ask?

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Date: 5/19/2010 2:42:26 PM
Author: dragonfly411
MC - have you tried gathering reviews on books about her? Could you perhaps find a professor (possibly history) to ask?

The book is by David Starkey and it got 4 out of 5 on Amazon. . .

http://www.amazon.com/Elizabeth-Struggle-Throne-David-Starkey/dp/0061367435/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274299461&sr=8-12

There is a general book, by Alison Weir, about King Henry VIII's wives (queen elizabeth was the daughter of his second wife, Anne Boleyn - who was beheaded!) and I'm going to try hers next.

Not sure about a history professor but my husband's aunt is really into the Tudors and other families around that time and she has all kinds of info and books she wants to share with me! Hopefully they're good and full of all the historical drama.

 

[OUpearlgirl]

I''m currently reading "In the President''s Secret Service" by Ronald Kessler. It''s pretty fascinating.

 

[zoebartlett]

Date: 5/19/2010 5:45:25 PM
Author: OUpeargirl
I''m currently reading ''In the President''s Secret Service'' by Ronald Kessler. It''s pretty fascinating.

That sounds interesting! I''ll have to check it out. Behind the scenes stuff always interests me. I''m assuming this is a biography?

 

[OUpearlgirl]

Date: 5/19/2010 6:29:41 PM
Author: Zoe

Date: 5/19/2010 5:45:25 PM

Author: OUpeargirl

I''m currently reading ''In the President''s Secret Service'' by Ronald Kessler. It''s pretty fascinating.

That sounds interesting! I''ll have to check it out. Behind the scenes stuff always interests me. I''m assuming this is a biography?

It''s written by a correspondent and is based on his interviews with many men in the secret service. You find out some prettttty strange stuff about the job, the people, and history.

 

[dragonfly411]

Cooking Light

 

[AGBF]

Date: 5/19/2010 4:12:10 PM
Author: MC

Date: 5/19/2010 2:42:26 PM
Author: dragonfly411
MC - have you tried gathering reviews on books about her? Could you perhaps find a professor (possibly history) to ask?

The book is by David Starkey and it got 4 out of 5 on Amazon. . .

http://www.amazon.com/Elizabeth-Struggle-Throne-David-Starkey/dp/0061367435/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274299461&sr=8-12

There is a general book, by Alison Weir, about King Henry VIII's wives (queen elizabeth was the daughter of his second wife, Anne Boleyn - who was beheaded!) and I'm going to try hers next.

Not sure about a history professor but my husband's aunt is really into the Tudors and other families around that time and she has all kinds of info and books she wants to share with me! Hopefully they're good and full of all the historical drama.

Many years ago I went through a period of fascination with Elizabeth I; Mary, Queen of Scots; Henry VIII; etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. I could probably have passed a test on the genealogy! I really recommend watching both the the PBS series "The Six Wives of Henry VIII" and the "Elizabeth R" made by the BBC. If they are not historically accurate in every detail, they are pretty darn close!

I tried to get my daughter to watch the first episode of "The Six Wives of Henry VIII" with me since she had liked, "The Tudors", but she couldn't concentrate on it. I was confounded because, at her age, I had been riveted by the series. I think that it does require one to to focus, however. It is not all about sex and murder (like, "The Tudors") although it is all about power and intrigue at the highest levels!

If one goes into watching the BBC shows one has to know that he will be exposed to the issues of the day. For example, he will be shown that one issue was a struggle for power between Spain and England. Another one was the struggle between the Catholic Church and the Lutherans. There was Henry VIII's struggle to maintain power over church lands in England as well as power over his own succession. Later there was a struggle over Roman Catholicism versus the Church of England and over the succession again...and so on.


Deb/AGBF

 

[dragonfly411]

I wanted to put in a word for two books.

First, someone I know wrote a book! It is called Norton''s Ghost. It is definitely not the norm when it comes to fiction. It follows a young man as he sets off hitchhiking to try to find some answers about his past. He ends up making many relations among hitchhikers and homeless people. It was such an eye opening book, really giving a vivid look into this world which is seldom explored in writing of any kind! I actually couldn''t put it down! It''s available on Ingram and also on the website, so if you google it it will pop up.

The other is a non-fiction. It is by Frances Mayes the author of Under the Tuscan Sun and it is called Discovering Poetry. She actually wrote it to be a textbook for her classes she teaches, and I am just loving every little bit of it.

 

[AGBF]

I just finished True Blue by David Baldacci and decided that he must be planning to use the characters for sequels the way he used the crew he used in The Camel Club. I came up with my theory while not really

thinking about it the book consciously, but just letting thoughts of it swirl around in my head after finishing it. It seemed as if nothing was really settled, you see. It wasn''t as if the book felt unsatisfactory; the ending

was fine. It was just that so much more could happen to so many people in the book! It made me wonder if the author that had gotten smarter and crafted a book with a future! Well, perhaps we shall have to wait

and see...unless Deliver Us From Evil (his latest book which I have not yet read) turns out to be about the same people already!


I am now reading Lee Child''s 61 Hours featuring my favorite protagonist, Jack Reacher, who makes me feel safe .


AGBF

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

I''m currently reading Maureen Ash''s third book in the Templar Mystery series, A Plague of Poison. It''s really interesting - there are four books so far, with a fifth due sometime this year. Basically a Templar investigates a series of murders in Lincoln in the 14th century. The first book is The Alehouse Murders.

I know some people on here are familiar with Ellis Peters'' Brother Cadfael series (a Benedictine monk investigates murders in the 12th century - there are about 20 books I think and a lot of them are currently out of print) and this series is similar, though it definitely has its own flavor. I''m really enjoying it - plus the time periods of the two series are separated only by about 2 monarchs in England

).

After this, I may move to The Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan (author of the Percy Jackson series) or Mercedes Lackey''s The Fairy Godmother.

 

[zoebartlett]

I just bought Lisa Scottoline''s book, Look Again. I just started it but it''s good so far. I had intended on getting something light-hearted and funny but I like Scottoline''s books, and I didn''t want to pass this one up.

 

[ImperfectGirl]

Date: 5/22/2010 1:04:52 AM
Author: AGBF


I just finished True Blue by David Baldacci and decided that he must be planning to use the characters for sequels the way he used the crew he used in The Camel Club. I came up with my theory while not really

thinking about it the book consciously, but just letting thoughts of it swirl around in my head after finishing it. It seemed as if nothing was really settled, you see. It wasn''t as if the book felt unsatisfactory; the ending

was fine. It was just that so much more could happen to so many people in the book! It made me wonder if the author that had gotten smarter and crafted a book with a future! Well, perhaps we shall have to wait

and see...unless Deliver Us From Evil (his latest book which I have not yet read) turns out to be about the same people already!


I am now reading Lee Child''s 61 Hours featuring my favorite protagonist, Jack Reacher, who makes me feel safe .


AGBF

DH just read Deliver Us from Evil last week and really enjoyed it. He also just finished 61 Hours. I suspect Jack Reacher makes him feel safe as well, lol

 

[AGBF]

Date: 5/28/2010 1:35:19 PM
Author: ImperfectGirl

DH just read Deliver Us from Evil last week and really enjoyed it. He also just finished 61 Hours. I suspect Jack Reacher makes him feel safe as well, lol

I am hoping that Lee Child used 61 Hours only as a vehicle to set up his next book, which is supposedly ready to be published in

the fall of this year, because on its own it would be terribly disappointing! His heroic protagonist, Jack Reacher, who usually

makes the reader feel safe because he is so big, strong, and well-prepared, seems to break down in this book. He questions

himself, wondering whether he has always really been a loser. He is humiliated in a fight with a 4'11" tall villain. He fails to

save the life of the one person he has set out to guard in the book. Then when the book ends, the reader doesn't even

know if he is alive or dead. The only satisfactory remedy I can see for this is to bring Reacher back stronger than ever in

the next book. It looked as if Mr. Child might have been setting the stage for a big comeback. When I saw that he had

removed the commanding officer of the 110th (Reacher's old unit in the army) I wondered if Reacher might be rejoining his

old unit in the next book to get some new juices flowing in the series!


Deb/AGBF