Books, Books, Books February 1, 2008
Posted by Diane Bird in : All Posts , trackbackThe proposal to share suggestions for good books is alive and well, just slow in getting started!
When a few of us visited family in Central City in October of ’06, Jackie introduced us to a website called www.paperbackswap.com I became a member and my “history archive” already shows that I have read 75 books since joining (!), many of which I may never have come across except for this club. Always a lover of good fiction, my list of recommendations is long on fiction, though I will frequently pick up a non-fiction book that Mike liked.
Mike tends to concentrate on a subject before moving on to the next; for example, he has gone through phases of reading about the Civil War, the Holocaust, the Vietnam war, books on India, on Vietnam, and on Afghanistan. Mike enjoys biographies, politics, sports and history, and has read several books by Halberstam, Woodward, Tolstoy, Sagan, Michael Ondaatje and Cormac McCarthy. If you would like to see a list of books Mike has read in the recent past, you can go to www.golflakeview.blogspot.com and type “books” in the search box.
From way back when, authors I have considered unforgettable are G.K. Chesterton, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allen Poe, Pearl Buck and Washington Irving. Stories about settling the
Most recently I have completed “The Kite Runner”, “Atonement” and “A Thousand Splendid Suns” by Khaled Hosseini, “Ahab’s Wife” by Sena Jeter Naslund and “The Bookseller of Kabul” by Asne Seierstad. Right now I am about halfway through “Ask the Dust” by John Fante, and enjoying it immensely. Waiting in the wings are a book about Marie Antoinette called “Abundance”, written by Sena Jeter Naslund, and also Brian O’Doherty’s “The Deposition of Father McGreevy”.
Anyone who hasn’t read “Eats, Shoots and Leaves” must turn off their computer right now and go get it from your local library or bookstore. I loved it! It granted me the right to correct anyone’s grammar, syntax, spelling or pronunciation… even Mike’s!
Your turn now. Please use the following “comment” section to add your recent good reads, your favorite authors and your thoughts on any written subject matter whatsoever. Let’s have a conversation!
Comments»
I just finished reading Brian O’Doherty’s “The Deposition of Father McGreevy”, which was tragic and sad as I suppose much of Irish literature is. They’ve struggled against unbelievable odds to retain their independence, their unique traditions, their language, their way of life and their land. Unless you are ready for a book about isolation and destruction, superstition and grief, I would not recommend this book… but I liked the author’s talent at making the characters come alive and the presentation of the story through an individual’s deposition to the police after all was said and done. Interestingly enough, Mike and I just watched a movie tonight called “The Wind That Shakes the Barley”, about 1920’s Ireland and the fight against the British “Black and Tans”. The Irish people have had a world of grief, and the movie was sad from beginning to end.
Diane and I share a lot of the same favorite authors I can see. And Diane, I’m glad you’re continuing to enjoy “Paperback Swap”. I just sent off two books today. I think it would be funny if you and I would be sending books to each other at some point in time!
We read “March” in our book discussion group and just this month read “Nineteen Minutes” by Jodi Picoult (pronounced Pekoe (like the tea)). I’ve read several of the Ladies Detective Agency books and find them fun. Also enjoyed ” Kite Runner” and “A Thousand Splendid Suns” (In fact we do “Suns” in book group in April. ) I, too, like Bohjalian and right now have his new book at my bedside “The Double Bind”. Others by him that have been excellent are “Midwives”, “Buffalo Soldiers”, “Law of Similalrs” and “Before you know Kindness”. And, yes, I have “Eats, Shoots & Leaves”. I am glad, Diane, for some of the suggestions you mentioned.
I absolutely fell in love with an English author, Penny Vincenzi, and if anyone is interested I’ll list the titles. I read 10 of her books last year and finished with the tenth one this year. They are long and there are 3 that sequel. (Yes, I am known to be compulsive and I guess this is an example). I also liked “Water for Elephants” which was kind of a strange but intriguing book. I just read a new author to me, Diana Diamond a pseudonym for William P. Kennedy. Definitely light reading probably more appealing to women. Don has been reading some books by Margaret Frazer and has encouraged me to try one, so I have put aside “The Novice’s Tale” (it is medieval mystery). He, like Mike, has read a lot of the Civil War in years past, biographies, war history etc. and everything Grisham has written (just now reading “The Innocent Man”) his first novel that is factually true.
Okay, who is next? Jenn Sampson reads a lot (is in 2 book clubs) so perhaps she will weigh in.
By the way, some of you know this but I’ve downloaded a couple books on an MP3 to listen as I walk. It is more fun to curl up with a book, but this a good way to make exercising somewhat enjoyable.
I’ve finished John Fante’s “Ask The Dust” and Mike and I rented the movie from Netflix and we liked it every bit as much as the book, if not more. Jackie, I’ve made note of the authors you like and requested some of them from PaperbackBookSwap. You must tell me how you liked Margaret Frazer; she’s written a lot of books, and I’ve not read any of them. I’ve also requested Bohjalian’s “Before You Know Kindness” and something from Vincenzi, so pretty soon we’ll be sharing the same bookshelf!
Hello! I have read “Before you know Kindness” and that is a good one. I just recently read a short novel called “Lost and Found”, which I enjoyed, but wouldn’t necessarily recommend. Like Jackie, I loved both “Kite Runner” and “A Thousand Splendid Suns”. I also loved “Eat, Pray, Love” and have been passing that around to all of my friends. It is a story about a woman that decides that she is not happy with her life, and goes on a spiritual journey to find happiness. It is a true story, which makes it all the more interesting to me. I also recently read “Middlesex”. It was an absorbing story about a hermaphrodite. I found the ending to be abrupt, but otherwise found this to be a very iintriguing read. I also recently read “Savages” by Shirly Conran. I have to admit that I didn’t love this one, but it was a story about some woman trapped on an island trying to survive. For March, my book clubs are reading “East of Eden” (a classic!) and “Three Cups of Tea”. I’ll let you know how they go!