What are you reading?

[MsFroggy]

I'm reading A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle. Liking it so far. I expected it to be more dense and stuffy for some reason, but the style is very airy and readable. The descriptions are evocative but without that this-has-gone-on-forever-and-my-eyes-are-crossing type of feeling you think you might get with long passages describing nothing but vegetation, buildings and air quality.

[Google]

 

[Critical]

I enjoyed the Provence series, MsFroggy. Of course, I've always entertained the fantasy of chucking it all and moving off to live in Provence, so of course I loved it. He definitely paints a picture. I know I definitely wanted to move to Provence and eat lots of French food after reading his books!

I just finished Haruki Murakami's After Dark a few days ago and LOVED it. Such simple, beautiful writing. I actually snuck an extra 10 minutes on lunch just to finish it.

I'm now reading City of Dreams by Beverly Swerling. It's historical fiction set in New Netherland (early Manhattan). It begins in 1661 with a brother and sister landing in the colony and, within about 2 pages, I was totally hooked. I got sucked in to the story right away. She also wrote a sequel called, I think, City of Glory that I have as well. I think I'll be tearing into that one next!

[nicole850]

Right now I'm reading Ordinary People by Judith Guest.

[Gutmutter]

It took me a whole chapter into the Louise Erdrich book I'm reading to change pace from the 13 Stephanie Plum books I read back to back in 10 days. Erdrich is much slower paced but with beautiful passages.

[pakacat]

The Middle Way: Finding Happiness in a World of Extremes by Lou Marinoff. Interesting stuff, so far.

[Mike'sgirl]

Originally Posted by Gutmutter

It took me a whole chapter into the Louise Erdrich book I'm reading to change pace from the 13 Stephanie Plum books I read back to back in 10 days. Erdrich is much slower paced but with beautiful passages.

I went through the same thing when I started J.D. Robb (N Roberts) "Stranger in Death" it was an adjustment, but I enjoyed it just as much - very different flavor though.

[myrosiedog]

Originally Posted by MsFroggy

I'm reading A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle. Liking it so far. I expected it to be more dense and stuffy for some reason, but the style is very airy and readable. The descriptions are evocative but without that this-has-gone-on-forever-and-my-eyes-are-crossing type of feeling you think you might get with long passages describing nothing but vegetation, buildings and air quality.

I LOVE Peter Mayle and a Year in Provence was a delightful book.
If you can, read some of his other stuff. The one about his dog was hysterical. It's called "A Dog's Life".

I've read just about all his stuff and I love it. Not stuffy at all, but all are just fun reads that make you want to pack up and move to France like Critical said.

I would HIGHLY reccomend both Peter Mayle and also Frances Mayes books about Tuscany.
I loved Under the Tuscan Sun and Bella Tuscany. The movie they made out of Under the Tuscan Sun was atrotious (almost as bad as my spelling. ) and did not resemble the book except that it took place in Tuscany.

Both authors inspired me to create some wonderful food while I was reading those books. I would read about the food and wine and HAVE to have it and so therefore, we ate very well while I was reading them.

[Critical]

Originally Posted by myrosiedog

I would HIGHLY reccomend both Peter Mayle and also Frances Mayes books about Tuscany.
I loved Under the Tuscan Sun and Bella Tuscany. The movie they made out of Under the Tuscan Sun was atrotious (almost as bad as my spelling. ) and did not resemble the book except that it took place in Tuscany.

You know, I felt bad about not finishing Under the Tuscan Sun until my boss told me what a witch Frances Mayes is. She interviewed her back when that book first came out and couldn't believe what a rude snob she was. I loved the movie, but didn't like the book at all. Not the usual for me.

In that same vein, I would highly recommend Michael Tucker's Living in a Foreign Language. I was completely charmed by him and the entire book. Great writing, wonderful story and lots of talk about food. Of course, I wish I could duplicate all the food he talked about, but I don't have a walk-in brick oven in my yard!

A co-worker loaned me Steve Martin's Born Standing Up over the weekend and I finished it in a few hours. It's only about his stand-up career and was about 200 pages long. A nice, light read and very good. He grew up in Orange County like I did, so it was fun to read about his experiences there. I think he's quite a good writer, so this was a pleasure.

I'm still totally enthralled by City of Dreams. I keep reading it on my lunch break and hardly pay attention to the fact that my food gets cold!

[Gutmutter]

Now that I have a "reading nook" and all possible creature comforts within arm's length of the comfy chair, I will be doing a lot more reading. I'll have to sit here with a notebook and copy down all the recent recommendations to start with.

[Shaybo II]

Right now I'm reading Mary Higgins Clark I've Heard That Song Before. It's reall quite a page turner. It's about a man whose falsely accused of a murder that was committed twenty-two years ago.