Reading Is Sexy: Books Part III

[beegee]

I don't want to brag, but...

I've never had a rejection letter.

 

[No spoken words]

I don't want to brag, but...

I've never had a rejection letter.

Neither have I, but, it seemed funny to say so.

 

[No spoken words]

Wait, no, one of the Grad Schools I applied to rejected me via mail.

 

[beegee]

Did you cry?

 

[No spoken words]

You know that I did, of course.

 

[beegee]

Well, that's that, then.

 

[Saracene]

Madame de Pompadour - Evelyne Lever

A biography of Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour, who for almost 20 years was the maîtresse-en-titre (official mistress) of Louis XV. I thought it was interesting and well-written, yet also rather too short and somewhat missing in genuine insight into the personality of its subject (who, admittedly, seems to have kept her thoughts and emotions private).

 

[vjacqb]

The Truth about Forever by Sarah Dessen.

It's one of the fluffs I'm reading. Yes, it's Young Adults, but I couldn't resist the $1.99 price at B&N (and the rave reviews). It's pretty good. I was more interested in the character's recollection of her memories with her dad and the family dynamics after he's passed away than her other life issues. And how can you come up with a better sidekick than a boy who chose to get a former ambulance as his ride when he turned 16? He even put a couch and an end table in the back...

 

[beegee]

There are a lot of great young adult books out there.

I recently read Life As We Knew It, The Dead and the Gone, and This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer (sometimes called The Survivor's Trilogy) and really enjoyed it. It was about an asteroid hitting the moon and knocking it closer to the earth which creates mass chaos. There were some pretty dark themes and graphic scenes in all three books.

Right now I'm reading The Space Between Trees by Katie Williams and some of the writing is just beautiful.

The age range of YA books is roughly 14 - 21 so it's not always kid stuff.

 

[cathou_u2]

I think I waited too long to read even the second. I loved the first book a lot more than I was expecting, and that was probably 6 years ago. I only recently started the second book in the series, after having to go online to refresh my memory of the plot of the first book, and I got 100 pages in before I realized I was already skimming and gave up.

Oops. Should have struck while the iron was hot.

I read the first one like 3 years ago, still haven't read the others, but from what I remember it was pretty good But like you said, I'd have to go back and read the first one again if I ever want to read the second, and third...

 

[powerhour24]

I'm in the middle of rereading Gone, Baby, Gone in anticipation of the sequel Moonlight Mile out in November!

 

[No spoken words]

Just wrapped up The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell.

Not my favorite Mitchell book, not my least favorite either. Still loved it, that's just how much I love the man's work. I've been wholly absorbed in whatever landscape he paints each and every time. Not sure if he's everyone's cup of tea but I'm a fervent admirer to say the least.

 

[corianderstem]

I'm in the middle of rereading Gone, Baby, Gone in anticipation of the sequel Moonlight Mile out in November!

Lehane is writing Kensey/Gennaro books again? I thought he said he wasn't going to?

That was my one beef with the movie - they totally reduced Gennaro's character to a nonentity. It was a big beef I had with it. But I still liked the movie despite that.

 

[powerhour24]

Yes, he did say he didn't want to do whodunit's anymore, and that he'd lost Patrick Kenzie's voice, but it seems he wanted to revisit them, possibly to put the series to bed completely where Prayers For Rain didn't offer a lot of finality. Moonlight Mile is a direct sequel to Gone, Baby, Gone picking up 11 years later with Amanda Macready disappearing again.

My beef with the film is that it is not a good adaptation of the series by any means, what made the series so special is the depth of the characters, and the network of people the cases rely on throughout, which you don't get in a 2 hour adaptation randomly of the 4th book in a series of 5 (at the time). I do however enjoy it a lot as a crime film, with great pacing, atmosphere and acting. And yes, Gennaro's character is basically absent, and such a shame too with the great Michelle Monaghan in the role.

 

[lazarus]

I've never had a rejection letter.

Neither have I, but, it seemed funny to say so.

Surely those restraining orders count.

 

[No spoken words]

The one restraining order out on me is moot at this point cos I can't even go into the state it was issued in anymore.

 

[lazarus]

Sure you can. You just have to announce yourself.

Spoiler

 

[Saracene]

Plutarch - On Sparta

I now wish I bought the entire Lives collection, but this book that's concerned specifically with Sparta's leaders and customs was a good, engaging read. I also liked the collection of Spartan sayings and the notes from the editor/translator.

 

[powerhour24]

As always Saracene, I love the range of your reading choices.

 

[The Edgetarian]

Finished reading Christopher Nolan's "Under the Eye of the Clock" - indeed, beautifully written and it's amazing what is hidden in the mind of a man that everyone looks upon as a crippled. "Miracle Drug" (which btw is one of my favourite songs of u2)was based on him, so this is where i took up the interest in reading a book from him. Thank you u2 for giving me a reason to look up such a wonderful writer! definately one of my favs now

 

[corianderstem]

The Devil In the White City by Erik Larson

A serial killer preys on young women while the 1893 World's Fair comes to life in Chicago.

Riveting! Loved it! I love nonfiction that reads like fiction.

 

[lazarus]

Yeah, that was a lot of fun. But beyond that, I really felt transported to that time and place. A shame that it all burned down, because I can only imagine how amazing the Columbian Exposition was. All we have are some b&w pictures but that architecture is just insane.

Apparently Tom Cruise had the movie rights at some point, but I have no clue what's going on with it.

 

[corianderstem]

He probably decided Larson was too glib.

 

[No spoken words]

I read that book about a month after moving to Chicago, loved it.

 

[corianderstem]

I loved the little mentions in it, like how Walt Disney's father worked on the construction, and how Frank Lloyd Wright was fired from one of the main dude's firms, and how at the fair the inventor of the Braille typewriter met Helen Keller.

Oh, and Mark Twain getting sick and spending his whole time in Chicago in his hotel room. And the next line is "Of all people."

Ha!

 

[Carek1230]

I got Russell Brand's Booky Wook 2 in the mail today and shall probably finish it before the weekends.

 

[Saracene]

Doris Lessing - Under My Skin: Volume One of My Autobiography, to 1949

Doris Lessing might be my favourite author; I absolutely adore her vivid, passionate yet clear-eyed writing and loved this memoir, even though it touched on many familiar themes covered in her other books: her volatile relationship with her mother, her involvement (and disillusionment) with communism, etc. The best parts were about the childhood and teenage years, growing up in southern Africa; while reading them I was often hit, in a very raw way, by the memories of my own childhood that I haven't evoked in ages.

 

[Saracene]

Doris Lessing - Particularly Cats

Beautifully observed and non-cutesy stories about the cats who shared the author's life. There were some truly brutal paragraphs involving the cats her family had at their African farm, and some great and perceptive descriptions of the cats' personalities and habits and changes in their lives.

Terry Pratchett - I Shall Wear Midnight

I adore Discworld series and the Tiffany Aching subseries, but this one felt rather flat. I enjoyed parts of it, but the plot never really took off, the villain was weak, most of the new characters weren't terribly interesting. Plus, the writing and especially the dialogues often lacked that wit and flow of the words that I've been accustomed to from the past books; in some places it was still pure gold and in others it came off as forced, with way too many rambling, stilted monologues and philosophical remarks that made the characters sound like they were all the same person. I'm aware that Pratchett's Alzheimer's disease (man I was gutted to learn about it) might have had something to do with the shortcomings; for one thing I've read that the book was dictated rather than typed.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Still barreling through a bunch of the Shakespeare that I haven't read since sophomore year of college.

Currently on Macbeth.

 

[Cactus Annie]

HAVE YOU EVER READ THE MAN WHO MISTOOK HIS WIFE FOR A HAT BY OLIVER SACKS?


It's awesome!!!!!!!!