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Jul-27-2006 03:15

I know we already have the Sleuths Bookshelf, but people there talk about their general tastes, what books they liked in childhood etc. I'd like all of us to share with others what we are reading now, do we like it or not and to recommend the books we like. Possibly we could have a similar thread for movies.

Nov-2-2006 06:12

I am indeed in desperate times.... I am not reading anything right now. Which is a first for me. I usually read a book a week. (depending on how big it is.) I read a variety of things. From classic lit to mystery to comedy. Just as long it gets my attention in the first chapter. The only book I forced myself through was EMMA by Jane Austin. after halfway through I finally got interested in it. - which was weird for me because Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorite books.

Nov-2-2006 10:52

Almost done with The Deadly Curse of Toco-Rey. Just two more chapters...

Nov-2-2006 19:07

Just finished "A Confederacy of Dunces" and it was excellent. I was afraid it was one of those books that many people touted as great simply because of the tragic personal story of the author, but it really is a good read.

Nov-2-2006 23:43

Just finished re-reading "Thinks" by David Lodge and I'm thinking about reading "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" by Dave Eggers again. That was the last book I really liked reading, and I kinda think most of the time, the ones you like, you'll like even more next time around.

Update: After a THIRD run at "Everything is Illuminated" I pretty much quit the book with thirty pages to go. It's not a bad story at all, but the thing is, the way the author keeps experimenting with different techniques (read: showing off what he can do) start to become more prominent than the story itself. It's a shame, really because sometimes what he writes is just indescribably beautiful.

Jul-11-2007 10:37

I've just finished reading The Poisonwood Bible for the first time and reread The Bean Trees and Prodigal Summer by Barbra Kingsolver.
She is definately one of my favourite authors.

The words bittersweet are way over used in book reviews, but her work is very honest and very real leaving you with a slight regret and yet hope, not only for her characters but the world that they (we) are in.

The Poisonwood Bible is narrated by five different females, the wife and daughters of an American Missionary sent to the Congo. The women aree all struggling to find a place int he world and each of them eventually find in their own way. The Father is more of a representation character, he too has a defined character that you first dislike before coming to pity.

The Prodigal Summer also has a split narrative with two old feuding neighbours, an older women disillusioned with humans who finds solace in nature and a much young man who whom is also a hunter and a young widow who has just lost her husband and is struggling to fit in.

The Bean Trees is my favourite, it's so beautiful, full of heartbreaking loss yet full of hope too. About a young woman who "finds" a baby and ends at somewhere in Arizona.

I really recommend checking out her writing soon if you can. :)

Jul-11-2007 10:42

Oh and I tried to read Wicked, (the one Squirrel mentioned earlier) but bejezzus, what hard work it was. I think I managed to the third chapter before I gave up.

Jul-11-2007 11:02

The same thing happened with me and Wicked, this is the first time I'm admitting it. Previously I never divulged the fact that I hadn't finished it. I'm currently reading a slim volume of poetry by Jessica Powers, Terrier by Tamora Pierce, The Simple Art of Detection by Laurie R. King, c couple of romace/fantasy novels that aren't, so far, memorable enough for me to recommend them.

Just finished Cast in Courtlight by Michelle Sagara which is really enjoyable, and the first couple of chapters in my old Calculus book as I prepare to go back to college to finish my undergrad degree, finally.

Jul-11-2007 11:02

Here's a poem by Jessica Powers, titled, "for a silent poet"

Song was a wild bird and it came unbidden.
It settled down across the darkened air
to a gray branch in a dull orchard hidden.
One morning it was there.

Feathers of luster and a polished beak,
you cried in your delight, what is this bird
that in one space of music seems to speak
the note and the note's word?

It came from meadows seasonless and boundless
into your orchard for a summer stay,
and then one night you saw it lift on soundless
white wings and float away.

Weep not that visit of a brief duration.
You are a guest yourself and you must know
that in you lie the instincts of migration,
and where the bird went, one day you will go

Jul-11-2007 12:46

I finished reading The Constant Princess by Philipa Gregory. It's a historical fiction novel about King Henry's first of his six wives, Cathrine of Aragon. The book is written very well and it's like a movie going through your head while you're reading. I loved it and plan to read The Virgin's Lover next. (I like historical fiction books, especially ones about the Tudor times)

Jul-11-2007 15:31

I'm reading "Nelson Love & Fame" by Edgar Vincent. It's a biography of Lord Nelson.