Re: What are you reading?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gutmutter;3779802;
I'm reading 3 YA books by John Green. I downloaded two on my Kindle and when I started to read one, I realized I had just listened to a third one on audio book from the library. I listened to Looking for Alaska, then read An Abundance of Katherines, and am about to start Paper Towns. The theme is boarding school boys behaving badly but having major life insights and being basicially good at heart. Essential question: What matters?
I've always wanted to read Looking for Alaska, how did you like it?
Just finished Rooftops of Tehran (found recommended on IndieBound) and am currently reading Girl with the Dragon Tatoo. Also read Mudbound by Hilary Jordan, it was fantastic! Set in Mississippi after WWII, those of you who liked The Help will like this as well. The key plot involves the tension of a returning African-American soldier who was treated differently in Europe during the war.
Re: What are you reading?
Thanks for the recommendation. I'm ready for a new book. The John Green books are quick reads. Looking for Alaska was my favorite of the 3 but also the saddest. It takes place in a southern boarding school. An Abundance of Katherines was my least favorite. It takes place on a road trip the summer after boarding school graduation. Paper Towns takes place the last week of their senior year in a public high school. All three have different deep insight concepts and use the dynamic of outcast guy friends bonding along with high school guy obsessive crush/love of unattainable girl themes. Fun to read one after the other, but now I'm ready for something different. I did love The Help, so I'm off to see if Mudbound is available on Kindle.
Re: What are you reading?
I'm reading the Percy Jackson series to see if they're something my daughter can read and, so far, I'm enjoying them. Loved reading about the Olympian gods as a kid so this is right up my alley. They're light and fun.
Re: What are you reading?
I downloaded Mudbound, but in organizing my Kindle contents I realized I was supposed to read Infidel by Ayaan Jirsi Ali for a discussion group next month. I'm about a third of the way through it. Really one of those count your blessings books. Autobiography of a Somalian woman.
Re: What are you reading?
I just finished Official Book Club Selection: A Memoir According to Kathy Griffin. It was a great, light read. The style is very conversational, she seems to be willing to be honest about just about anything in her life. If you like Kathy Griffin, you'll like this book. Even if you don't like Kathy you may enjoy the book for all the insider Hollywood scoop she dished.
Re: What are you reading?
I finished The Help and I absolutely loved it!!! Thanks to everyone here who recommended it!!
I have started Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger. I am not too far in, but I'm enjoying it so far.
Re: What are you reading?
I'm curious to hear how you like it. You really need to be able to suspend disbelief for this one. Very strange.
After reading Infidel, I needed something light, so I'm reading Beautiful Creatures today.
Re: What are you reading?
If you ever wondered what else happened to Ralphie Randy Mom and The Old Man, after A Christmas Story--you have toread Wanda Hickey's Night Of Golden Memories by Jean Shepherd.
I read this years ago and got it for Christmas. Its still funny. Written by the very same author of the now famous 'you'll shoot your eye out' tale, you go on further adventures of Ralphie and his family.
Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories: And Other Disasters (Paperback) by Jean Shepherd - Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs, Lists
Re: What are you reading?
I'm reading Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo...finally! I can't believe I've never read it before. The edition I have is over 600 pages and even that is an abridged version. Maybe that's why I never tackled it before. I'm really enjoying it though - the translation is really good. I can't believe it was written over 150 years ago! The story is so compelling.
Re: What are you reading?
I loved The Count of Monte Cristo. Read Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol during the holiday. What a rip-off: he pretty much just recycles a lot of the symbolism from DaVinci Code; his villain is another version of Silas the Monk from DV Code, and the ending is obvious before the book is 1/3 done. It took him seven years for this?
Now halfway through Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. Won the Mann Booker Prize this year. Fictionalization of the Thomas Cromwell, Cardinal Wolsey, Thomas More, Henry VIII machinations. The first 75 pages are fantastic, and then it becomes a bit hard to follow--she uses a sort of hybrid first person/third person voice and at times it's quite difficult to determine which character is being talked about. Still, that period of history is so fascinating it's worth the effort.
