What are you reading?

[Critical]

Okay, after all this talk about them, I think I may have to pick up these two - The Eight and Rule of Four so I can see what the fuss is all about!

I think the FoRTers who read both books would agree that The Eight is the superior book. Not that Rule of Four was bad - I just felt there was too much expository stuff getting in the way of the plot. I'll be interested to hear your opinion

John - please give your review when you finish The Eight

I finished Handling Sin last night - finally! I will say that I ended up enjoying it more than I was at the 200 page mark. I did feel like the author could have cut about 100 pages of the 600 by just eliminating what I felt was unnecessary exposition (again with that complaint!). He'd get to a good pace with the plot and then the next chapter would be talking about the hero's ancestors and he'd totally lose his momentum.

I'm now about 15 pages into John Berendt's City of Falling Angels. It begins with the burning of La Fenice, the major opera house in Venice. I LOVED Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and enjoy Berendt's writing style, so I'm sure this one will get a big thumbs up as well.

[MRD]

[QUOTE=remote_goddess;2578567;]Geek, I read that one earlier this year and really liked (not loved) it. I guess I had different expectations after reading The Horse Whisperer... But I did really enjoy the story, and the writing itself was superb. Let me know what you think when you're done.

Okay, after all this talk about them, I think I may have to pick up these two - The Eight and Rule of Four so I can see what the fuss is all about![/QUOTE]

I've got the Eight on my nightstand waiting for me to finish Labyrinth and I have rule of 4 on reserve at the library. You guys are such bad influences. (just kidding, love the book influences I get from this board. I've read some great books that I might have overlooked had it not been for the reccomendations here. So thank you, all of you)

Of course, I have spent most of the day immersed in The Labyrinth and I really should have been doing other things. I can somehow always justify reading and putting off other stuff because I was READING-you know, expanding my mind, gaining knowledge, preventing dementia and all that good stuff that reading does for you!!!

[GossipGirlANTM]

I'm reading:

Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin
Flawless (A Pretty Little Liars Novel) by Sara Shepard
Crank by Ellen Hopkins

Elsewhere is pretty interesting. It's about a girl named Liz who dies at fifteen, and is sent to a place called "Elsewhere" - basically the afterlife, where everyone ages backwards. I like it.

Flawless is the second Pretty Little Liars novel. It focuses around a group of friends (Spencer, Emily, Aria and Hanna) who live in a weathly surburban neighborhood, and who all used to hang out together until the one girl who brought them all together - Alison - disappeared. Now they're getting text messages from someone named A, who is threating to disclose all their secrets, including the horrible one they all share. This book is actually much better written than your average teen-lit book, and the storylines are amazing. Love this book.

Lastly, Crank. This story is written in prose - which is what attracted me to it. It's about a girl's journey towards her addiction to meth. This story is so heartbreakingly real, it's scary sometimes.

And there you have it!

[swingkat]

I'm almost done with One Good Thing by Kate Atkinson, and Geek, I totally agree with you . Great book. I'm trying to read it slowly, to really savour it, but it's difficult, you just want to read it in one fell swoop.

I love how Kate Atkinson writes. Her books are always so character driven that you sometimes forget that there's actually a plot underneath the whole thing. She makes storytelling seem so easy . This book is very different in style from her first ones, which I've also loved. I even think it's different from Case Histories, although the main character in both books is the same. Anyway, once I finish this book I still have one of her earlier books to read so I won't despair so much.

[Lucy]

I'm with Critical -- I liked The Eight much better than The Rule of Four (which I only vaguely remember).

[remote_goddess]

Of course, I have spent most of the day immersed in The Labyrinth and I really should have been doing other things. I can somehow always justify reading and putting off other stuff because I was READING-you know, expanding my mind, gaining knowledge, preventing dementia and all that good stuff that reading does for you!!!

Are you enjoying it so far, MRD?

Got tied up and busy this week, so I am still about 30 pages from done with Garden Spells... and I have really loved this book. Can't wait to read the last of it tonight.

[swingkat]

I forgot to add that the next book I will be reading is The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. I've had this book since summer last year, but somehow it ended in my "completed book" shelf where I discovered it a few days ago. I also took out The Secret History by Donna Tart, one of my favourite novels, out for a reread.

[MRD]

Are you enjoying it so far, MRD?

Got tied up and busy this week, so I am still about 30 pages from done with Garden Spells... and I have really loved this book. Can't wait to read the last of it tonight.

Immensely. In fact, I'm almost finished. Have to go to a dr. appointment later, so am saving the very end to read while I wait forever in the waiting room.

And, like The Historian, I've been busy googling stuff from the book and learning all kinds of new stuff I didn't know before about the Cathars, etc. That's why I LOVE historical fiction because it prompts me to want to know more and I tend to go on a research binge for more information.

Garden spells is on my list too now. And I may go and get Practical Magic as well. Wasn't that a movie?

[remote_goddess]

Yes, but read the book first. I really think they did a fine job with the movie, but there is only so much you can take from a book and convert to the screen... The book is by far the better of the two mediums for this particular story, but the movie is worth watching, too.

I generally always try to read the book first, then see the movie, if there is one. Sometimes that "spoils" the movie for me, or is a disappointment because if I really enjoyed the book and they changed it for the film I am inevitably upset. But somehow I never enjoy the book as much when I see the film first...

[MRD]

Yes, but read the book first. I really think they did a fine job with the movie, but there is only so much you can take from a book and convert to the screen... The book is by far the better of the two mediums for this particular story, but the movie is worth watching, too.

I generally always try to read the book first, then see the movie, if there is one. Sometimes that "spoils" the movie for me, or is a disappointment because if I really enjoyed the book and they changed it for the film I am inevitably upset. But somehow I never enjoy the book as much when I see the film first...

I saw the movie a long time ago and frankly I don't remember much about it.

I too generally try to read the book first. But occasionally I watch a movie and find out later it was adapted from a book and will go back and read the book. Even though I've seen the movie, I still usually find enjoyment from the book as it fleshes the story out more.

Usually the books are better. But I can tell you that the book that Forrest Gump was taken from was awful! I definetly liked the movie MUCH better and I can rarely say THAT!