Just wondering ... what is everyone reading now?

[pdswife]

Poe has always been one of my favorites! Enjoy !!

 

[DampCharcoal]

Hey Claire and Pds, the book WAS great until I got busy again and had to take the book back cuz it was two weeks overdue! I'll get back to it soon enough. One book I bought last weekend that I've been picking at is, "The Ship and the Storm: Hurricane Mitch and the Loss of the Fantome" by Jim Carrier. Basically the story about a 282' schooner that got trapped by Mitch and went down with all hands in 1998. Tragic but extremely well written and you really get to know the crew.

 

[ironchef]

Anything by Dan Brown, Michael Crichton, and Nelson DeMille

 

[Claire]

I'm looking for a good read-aloud book for my ladies. We just finished The English Governess at the Court of Siam. The books I've read to these friends have been mind-expanders, no doubt about it. We do a lot of local memoirs (one of them was a freind of Ann Landers, he wrote her bio, and that's how we got started). A couple of our first books were a history of Greece and one of Ireland, by the same author, trying to tie the history into how we live today. Trust me, this twisted my tongue. Reading The DaVinci Code to them was great fun in that their household help fell in love with the story!!! One lady who was just there as a temp, doing cleaning, pulled me aside and asked me what I was reading! But if any of you can come up with shorter books that are interesting reading with an intellectual bent, let me know. I'm never at a lack for reading material, but we are always open to suggestion.

 

[msalper]

Awareness: The Key to Living in Balance by OSHO

My friend suggested me to read it. I interested in "Reiki".. I think it will help me in this way...

 

[Claire]

I don't reread books much, but do go back and re-read posts. It just occurred to me ... pdswife, Victoria Holt? What wonderful memories. When I was 13, just returning to the 'states from Germany, a cousin turned me on to Victoria Holt and others of her genre (I already knew about Stewart and had read most of what she had written at that point). That has given me the idea for my next readings. My friend is absolutely enamoured of the King Arthur tales, but don't think she's read Mary Stewart's Merlin books! At least I can pronounce the names (hey, I just finished reading a book full of Thai names, and have been twisting my tongue around Gaelic and Greek and ....)

 

[mrsmac]

My mum loved Victoria Holt,( she also wrote under the name Jean Plaidy and another name i can't remember) I haven't heard that name in years, makes me think of my mum.
This term I am going to read Charlie and the Chocolate factory to my class, there are heaps of fun activites we can do with it.

 

[Daphne duLibre]

Like the plumber with the leaking faucet. Ph.D. in lit, retired from the U. I don't read literature any more because I'm burned out on it -- can't read it without being theoretically analytical . . .

And so recent books are about surfing, and lately have been looking at Robt. W. McChesney, U of Ill. at Urbana-Champaign, on media and the FCC. -- because I'm a news junkie and of late have been more and more suspicious and skeptical about news reporting and the commercial motives of the major networks: FOX, CNN, and the "big three" . . . and NPR is getting a second once over, if that's not contradictory.

 

[Ishbel]

I've just finished 'Lethal Intent' by Quintin Jardine - he's an Edinburgh author who writes books about an Assistant Commissioner called Skinner and another set of books about a character called Oz Blackstone.

He's a sub-Ian Rankin in my opinion, but I find them 'easy reading' - ideal for hot sunny days when you just sit in the garden, turning the pages....

 

[tweedee]

I don't read much other then the newspapers. Unless that is if you want to count Dr. Seuss to the grandchildren.

 

[mudbug]

Mostly reading all and sundry posts here because I've been away for awhile and need to catch up!

Finished the latest Harry Potter two days after it was released. Almost finished with James Boswell's journal of his year in London (1762-63). Thinking of reading "French Women Don't Get Fat" next - anybody have a review?

 

[GB]

Mudbug, what did you think of Harry Potter (without giving anything away of course). I enjoyed it, but now can't wait for the next one. It is going to be a loooong wait.

I just picked up Tom Clancy's Red Rabbit.

 

[mudbug]

hiya geebs. Loved the latest Harry, like I did all the others. I guessed wrong on which principal character was going to...you know. I'm ready for the next movie too.

As a side note, on the way down to the Outer Banks we listened to the audio book version of "The Order of the Phoenix." Even daughter and her buddy were transfixed and did not ask us to put on one of their stupid screaming boy-band CDs instead. HH, not a great reader, has discovered audio books and listens to them on his way to and from work. That's how he "read" the latest Harry book. He's also got a bunch of Tom Clancy ones.

 

[GB]

Yeah I guessed wrong too. I am glad I did as it added to the surprise.

I have done a few books on tape and love it for long trips. I bet the harry potter books would be very well suited for tape. That must have been fun!

 

[mudbug]

Jim Dale, the guy who does the Harry tapes, is great. Apparently he has won several Grammys for his recordings.

 

[Claire]

I just started reading The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart to my ladies (one is completly house-bound with severe arthritis, her house-mate is in advanced states of macular degeneration -- very vital and active, but cannot really read a book any more). They are in love with the tales of King Arthur, so I thank you guys for helping me think aloud and remembering old books I've read. The gothic novelists are a part of my past (I loved Holt (in all her psuedonyms), Stewart, and their ilk when I was a child), and are something these ladies would never be interested. I'd forgotten that Stewart really stretched herself on this series. They are tickled with it, so I now have two more books after this. Not that it is ever a problem. These women were feminists before the word was coined, are far more educated that I. So when I said Mary Stewart -- well, I suppose luckily, they didn't even know who she was (I think I my first Mary Stewart novel when I was 11).

By the way, how DOES the web site do their ads? I'm amazed. As I was writing this I got an ad for a new Merlin book. I haven't even hit "post" yet, so I suppose it is coincidence. At least the ads that appear on the top are always appropriate, as opposed to when I used the TVFN ones that showed buff gorgeous women on the side and told me I was fat and needed to go on a diet.

 

[Sandyj]

Just finished Ursula, Under by Ingrid Hill. Wonderful. I notice there are a few people from Michigan belonging to this forum - you might be interested in this book (Goodweed of the North?). Next, The Kite Runner (Khalid Hosseini), which is highly recommended by a friend/colleague of mine. And, oh gosh, Claire, I do remember The Crystal Cave and how I loved it. I only discovered it when I was about 18 or so. How great that your are reading to those lovely ladies. -Sandyj

 

[Claire]

Thank you, Sandyj! I have to say ... I just got my latest AARP mag and do you know what it said? That reading aloud will keep me going (I'm 50). Haha! Seriously, I've always wanted to discuss books with like-minded freinds, so this really works for me. We not only read, but look up odd words, and try to translate some French and even occaisionally other languages. We have connections to a professor at a Chicago university, and the editor of a major newspaper. This is actually how we got started. Anyone who loves to read sould consider doing this. On top of the reading, it is a big hike for me (only a half-mile, but completely up and down hill). Sometimes I drive it (less than 5X/yr) if the weather is severe. The entire experience is good for me, all around. My friends act like I'm doing THEM a favor. Haha.

 

[Ishbel]

I am a member of a woman's book club. Some members are colleagues, but others are friends of friends of friends.....

We've read some really interesting books that I would never have thought of buying for myself. I finally read Salman Rushdie - after swearing that I just couldn't perservere with his stuff... Still didn't like it after reading it, but at least I'd given it a fair 'go' as Aussies would say!

 

[Alix]

By the way, how DOES the web site do their ads? I'm amazed. As I was writing this I got an ad for a new Merlin book. I haven't even hit "post" yet, so I suppose it is coincidence. At least the ads that appear on the top are always appropriate, as opposed to when I used the TVFN ones that showed buff gorgeous women on the side and told me I was fat and needed to go on a diet.

No coincidences, I think there is something in place that recognizes the words you type and advertises accordingly. I was just on a thread talking about smelly tupperware and the last post suggested kitty litter as help. The ads below were all pet related and urine removal related. Sheesh!

As to books, I am finally going to break down and read the DaVinci Code. I am not sure why I have been resisting, everyone tells me how wonderful it is. I am out of library books so now seems to be the time. LOL.