Do you like reading?

[Aya]

Re: Do you like reading?

Ooh, ooh, just thought of a few more. Secret History by Donna Tartt. Although for some reason I couldn't get past the second chapter of The Little Friend, anyone else have that happen?
How to Lose Friends and Alienate People by Toby Young. Gossipy and hilarious. The Katharine Graham biography is so interesting.
To pretend that I'm at least a little bit erudite, Jane Eyre and then WIde Sargasso Sea (haunted me for ages), our very own JM Coetzee with Disgrace and Foe, and Moll Flanders (don't you love her!) by Defoe.
Don't know if I should admit that I've never heard of Outlander but will search the series out...

[sallyseachange]

Re: Do you like reading?

Soooo not hokey. My #1 fave of all time is Pride and Prejudice (I relate to Elizabeth and I have a wild crush on Mr. Darcy) but my #2 which I end up reading every other year or so is Outlander. I have read all the books in the series, and still prefer the first one the most. Gave me a lifelong thing for redheaded men (well, the goodlooking ones at least). Actually Claire and Elizabeth have some elements in common. Hmmmmm....

Oh sorry - least favorite? Easy one. My Organic Chemistry II text. Hands down.

I am not reading anything at the moment. Sad but true.

Oh wow! How could I forget to list Pride and Prejudice!!! I totally agree TW! It's my all time number one favourite... and yes... Mr Darcy is the ultimate! (well, Heathcliff's in the running too, but Mr Darcy tops him)

Now you make me want to read Outlander!

[Alexa]

Re: Do you like reading?

Ooh, ooh, just thought of a few more. Secret History by Donna Tartt. Although for some reason I couldn't get past the second chapter of The Little Friend, anyone else have that happen?
How to Lose Friends and Alienate People by Toby Young. Gossipy and hilarious. The Katharine Graham biography is so interesting.
To pretend that I'm at least a little bit erudite, Jane Eyre and then WIde Sargasso Sea (haunted me for ages), our very own JM Coetzee with Disgrace and Foe, and Moll Flanders (don't you love her!) by Defoe.
Don't know if I should admit that I've never heard of Outlander but will search the series out...

I really like Secret History too! But when read The Little Friend I was disappointed too - not worth finishing, though I think I did.

JM Coetzee is great too

[Katlam]

Re: Do you like reading?

oh my I could go on forever about books. I read so fast and so many that I'm now recommending books to our librarians from our own library. <grin>

I've recently read 2 by Lisa See: "Peony in Love" and "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" about women in Japan prior to any westernization

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (a former circus dr is in a nursing home reviewing his life)

some James Patterson and John Grisham but I can't recall which ones

all the Harry Potters and even the Charlie Bone series (hey I have kids! LOL)

Most of the Wheel of Time series (by the late Robert Jordan)

Nefertiti A book of the dead by Nick Drake (a detective in Egypt during the time of Akahnatin)

Pilate's Wife (as in Pontius Pilate, interesting viewpoint) Antoinette May

Carved in Sand (about mid-life memory issues) Cathryn Jakobson Ramin

Tuesdays with Morrie (quite profound - read it when my friends hubby was dying from ALS)

Tons of Jodi Picoult (quite the unexpected twist in her books) (have 5 or 6 here now)

re-reading a bunch of Mercedes Lackey with my 12 yr old daughter (the heralds of Valdimar series)

reading a series based (very obliquely) in/on Irish Mythology by Juliet Marillier

listening to another Irish bit o'history by Edward Rutherfurd (2nd one)

chuckling thru Quirkology by Richard Wiseman

just finished Daughter of the Blood by Anne Bishop (very wierd)

waiting for A Thousand Splendid Suns (read Kite Runner, hear its similar)

read another about a physician with the Roman army but can't recall the title or author but I really liked it. It was a murder mystery set in a town in britan that was full of roman legions and when they found a body, they called in the Dr from the roman army and he solved the mystery of the murder and learned about the local british tribal folk as well... dang I wish I could recall the title.

I read Stephane Plum and Sophie Kinsella and JD Robb and Norah Roberts and a whole bunch of others I can't even recall the names.

I read sci-fi/fantasy and mysteries and then historical fiction and then almost anything. I read my kids books, their required reading and their fun books. I have to catch up with my 12 yr olds Maximum Ride books (James Patterson) and Bloody Jack (girl pirate) and catch up with my 8 yr olds Katie Kazoo as well.

[Alexa]

Re: Do you like reading?

Wow! It sounds like you LOVE to read I bet you're the kind of person who reads when eating breakfast and stuff - it's great

I haven't heard of most of those - great to have some recommendations though.

I bet your kids like having someone to talk to about their required reading. What age are they?

Did you enjoy Kite Runner? I had it for a book group. I found the stuff about Afghanistan very interesting. I'd learned about it in school, but it really brought the context to life. I didn't really like the story per se, though.

[Katlam]

Re: Do you like reading?

Alexa I read all the time and with kids (girls 8 and 12) in activities, I'm forever in a book waiting for them to finish something and yes, even with meals I've typically got a book in hand. LOL!!

Kite Runner was disturbing in much of the topic in how the boy was treated but it is a whole 'nother world. I believe that A Thousand Splendid Suns is similar in that it's in the same country but maybe more about women's lives? Will let you know when I actually get my hands on it to read.

I read Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold and HATED it (rape and mutilation of a young girl and then it's her view from heaven) as well as The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (again, ill treatment of the folks in the book and they kept on staying there...I was annoyed at the characters...LOL!)

I do love the Tracy Chevalier books Girl with a Pearl Earring, Lady and the Unicorn, Burning Bright in that she takes a painting, tapestry or poem and then writes a story about how she thinks things happened to create the work. (she'll be at a library in Dorset on 11/16, oh I wish I was in england)

[TitianWasp]

Re: Do you like reading?

Oh wow! How could I forget to list Pride and Prejudice!!! I totally agree TW! It's my all time number one favourite... and yes... Mr Darcy is the ultimate! (well, Heathcliff's in the running too, but Mr Darcy tops him)

Now you make me want to read Outlander!

Why Sally, you have just excellent taste!

I think Diana Gabaldon should write us a thank you note for all the sales we're giving her series!

[Aya]

Re: Do you like reading?

Oh my goodness, these boards are getting addictive Next it'll be Boards Anonymous for me...
The Kite Runner was a completely fascinating. How about Margaret Atwood? Some of her stuff is so completely different it's amazing that one person wrote them. My best is Alias Grace, the one she won the Booker (was it?) for, Blind Assassin was also good but I've realised I'm a sucker for Victorian prisons stories.

Has anyone ever done anything life-changing because of a book they read? I read Memoirs of A Geisha six years ago and decided I HAD to go and study Japanese culture because of it. Ended up staying there for four years. My husband now censors what I read

What were your favorite books as a child? I can still rememember my first full read - one of the Enid Blyton Famous Fives. Read them all, adored them. Couldn't understand that the word sandwich was actually the edible kind and thought everytime the kids went on picnics these witches emerged from the sand.

[sincub]

Re: Do you like reading?

Ooh, ooh, just thought of a few more. Secret History by Donna Tartt. Although for some reason I couldn't get past the second chapter of The Little Friend, anyone else have that happen?

That's funny... I couldn't get more than 1/2 of the way through THe Secret History. It got too pretentious for me. My boyfriend gave both to me for CHristmas and assures me I'd love it, but I read The Little Friend without any trouble. Not one of my favorites, though.

I thought The Poisonwood Bible was excellent. The idea that in Africa men stand on equal footing with all other living things - snakes, ants, trees - was very interesting, especially juxtaposed with the Prices' devout faith.

Just finished Of Human Bondage, and it's amazing.

Other good stuff: Anything by David Sedaris, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, To Kill a Mockingbird, In Cold Blood, Ender's Game, The Jungle, anything by Hunter S. Thompson, Michael Chabon, Fahrenheit 451, 1984, Main Street... and so many more Reading is my escape.

I don't dislike many books. But there are a few. A friend told me to read Farnham's Freehold by Robert Heinlein, but I got lost in all the overt sexism and bridge-playing and got terribly bored. I didn't dig Cry, the Beloved Country when I had to read it in high school, but maybe now I'd change my mind.

[Katlam]

Re: Do you like reading?

Gee how about The Secret Life of Bees or Mermaids Chair (Sue Monk Kidd)

Loved the outlander series, have read the first book twice and once thru the whole series.

Anyone read By A Lady: being the adventures of an enlightened american in Jane Austin's England by Amanda Elyot -- oh a present day america actress who specializes in performing jane austin characters ends up going back in time to jane's reality -- very fun read!