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  • voraciousreader
    voraciousreader Member Posts: 7,496
    edited August 2012

    Minustwo... Ask your library for a copy of Geoff Dyer's Out of Sheer Rage or begin with his book of essays.. Otherwise known as the Human Condition.



    Last night, I had the pleasure of meeting NOVELIST extradinaire, Jonathan Tropper! I know a number of our Book Lover friends read his last novel, This is Where I Leave You. Yesterday, his new novel, One Last Thing Before I Go debuted. He is quiet, self depreciating and NOTHING LIKE I COULD HAVE EVER IMAGINED. The audiences questions were terrific. I plan on seeing him again in October at another event. Almost forgot to mention that he is as funny in person as he is in his writing!

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  • MinusTwo
    MinusTwo Member Posts: 16,634
    edited August 2012
    Jack Finney's Time and Again.  Yes - it's an oldie from 1970 but has wonderful descriptions of NYC in 1882.  And the ending is surprising.
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  • sandpiper1
    sandpiper1 Member Posts: 952
    edited August 2012

    Oh gosh speaking of that time period I was discussing Theodore Dreiser (Sister Carrie, An American Tragedy). Missed reading a trilogy he wrote.

    Another genre I dabble in is young adult. Got hooked on the Ellen Hopkins books. Interesting format in the first books I have read.....Crank. glass and fallout.

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  • bedo
    bedo Member Posts: 1,866
    edited August 2012

    When I read "Tiger Tiger burning bright" I was reminded of a short story that I was infatuated with when I was 16.  It was called "Tracy's Tiger" .  It was about a person who lived a normal life but at night, when they were sleeping, their heart, the Tiger,  went out hunting for what hearts hunt for.  I have never been able to find that story again and would so much like to re-read it and connect with my 16 year old self.

    For now I am reading

    David Sedaris  When You are Engulfed in Flames

    Oliver Sacks The Mind's eye

    and Twelve Patients by Eric Manheimrt, MD a physician who spent decades at Bellevue Hospital in New York

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  • stride
    stride Member Posts: 470
    edited August 2012

    Looking for something entirely escapist and pleasant to read during unpleasant times? Two words: Jane Austen.

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  • Elizabeth1889
    Elizabeth1889 Member Posts: 1,036
    edited August 2012
    MinusTwo, Have you read From Time to Time, the sequel to Time and Again? 
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  • apple
    apple Member Posts: 7,799
    edited August 2012

    i like historical fiction.  I'm reading the Glass Blowers by Dauphne de Maurier.

    He / She is really a great writer.  One good thing about my house is that i can go down to the library in the basement and bring up 10 good books to read.

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  • LuvLulu07
    LuvLulu07 Member Posts: 778
    edited August 2012

    apple   I'm envious of your home library.  I rely on second-hand paperbacks, and my kids' school library.  Or my Kindle.  

    Currently reading Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power by Steve Coll, and my book group's selection for next month, Mrs. Kennedy and Me by Clint Hill.  

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  • Moonflwr912
    Moonflwr912 Member Posts: 6,856
    edited August 2012

    Apple I do the same. I love to reread my favorites. I need a new copy of "RedAdams Lady", by Grace Ingram. mine fell apart, but its really old, its one of the first historical fiction "bodice rippers", but without the gratuitous sex parts. Good strong characters.

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  • badger
    badger Member Posts: 34,614
    edited August 2012

    Just put my name on the library waiting list for Odd Apocalypse.

    It's book five in the Odd Thomas series by Dean Koontz, which I've enjoyed very much.

    The Secret Life of Bees was as good as I'd hoped, already passed it on to a friend.

    Hubby was at an auction yesterday and bought a box of books for a dollar.

    Most are how-to books but there's a 1940 copy of Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier.

    It's a special edition with stills from the Hitchcock movie with Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine.  That'll be my next book.  Happy reading!

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  • voraciousreader
    voraciousreader Member Posts: 7,496
    edited August 2012

    Speaking of Hitchcock, I recently read this new book about Hitchcock. Scripting Hitchcock: Psycho, The Birds and Marnie gives an in depth view of the scriptwriters who collaborated with Hitchcock on such classic movies. Hitchcock had a sixth sense of plucking unknown writers and giving them a chance to create magic. A friend an I devoted a whole year to watching all of his films and it was joyous! I now look at modern films and still see Hitchcock's contributions!

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  • voraciousreader
    voraciousreader Member Posts: 7,496
    edited August 2012

    Almost finished with reading Jonathan Tropper's latest book, One Last Thing Before I go...Don't want the story to end and I also hope we won't have to wait three more years for him to write another book.

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  • ruthbru
    ruthbru Member Posts: 57,235
    edited August 2012

    Jack 1939 by Francine Matthews

    I really liked this book. It is a novel, a thriller, and the hero is the young John F. Kennedy who is on a spy mission for President Franklin Roosevelt in prewar Europe. What makes it fun is that the author takes real people and events and weaves them into a novel. JFK, for instance, really was in Europe in 1939 working on his senior thesis, which became the book While English Slept. If you like that era, or learning about the Kennedys, or FDR, or spy novels with a twist of romance, you will enjoy this book!

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  • apple
    apple Member Posts: 7,799
    edited September 2012

    I felt so bad.. i sent my11 year old piano student down to the basement (with my daughter.. it is a little scary) to pick a book out.  She found the only one she can't keep... 'Just so Stories' which is a part of Rudyard Kipling beautiful set with gold gilding..  I'm sure we have a paper back or something.

    I also realized my red organ shoes are somewhere down there.  but where?  it's been 2 years since we moved.

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  • voraciousreader
    voraciousreader Member Posts: 7,496
    edited September 2012

    Apple... Just So Stories!!! Wonderful!





    I am now reading Where'd You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple. Flat out hilarious! If anyone is taking notes...VR is in the process of reading TWO fiction books in a row!

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  • wenweb
    wenweb Member Posts: 1,107
    edited September 2012
    Apple I love your stories too.  VR duly noted with interest I might add!
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  • Laurie08
    Laurie08 Member Posts: 2,891
    edited September 2012

    Apple count me in as another who loves your stories :)

    VR- 2 fiction books in a row? :O

    I am reading John Irving's In One Person.  Has anyone else read it?  I am about 3/4 through it, it's pretty good.  It is very sexually graphic and is told first person narrative about a boy who realises he is bi sexual and his life as he grows up.  Not for the squeamish.

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  • voraciousreader
    voraciousreader Member Posts: 7,496
    edited September 2012

    Laurie... I started it but put it down. What do you think of the book cover? That was provocative too...

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  • Laurie08
    Laurie08 Member Posts: 2,891
    edited September 2012

    It was. I am honestly surprised at how sexually graphic it is.  I think the book cover lets it be known that the book is written the way that it is.  As always, John Irving makes his characters someone you care about, IMHO.  But this is not a book I would recommend to everyone. 

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  • Laurie08
    Laurie08 Member Posts: 2,891
    edited September 2012

    Also, as you read the book there is a ceertain event in the beginning of the book that makes you understand why the cover  was chosen.

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  • ruthbru
    ruthbru Member Posts: 57,235
    edited September 2012

    Laurie, love the new picture!

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  • mradf
    mradf Member Posts: 398
    edited September 2012

    I just finished reading "Gone Girl", by Gillian Flynn.  It was a good as I had hoped.  I haven't read anything GREAT in a while, but this was fun and fast for a suspense/thriller.  

    I picked up two new ones based on recommendations here:  "One Last Thing Before I Go", by Jonathan Tropper, and "Twelve Patients" by Eric Manheimer, MD.  I hope to get in some good reading during the drive to Siena College tomorrow to "return" my daughter for her second year. 

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  • wenweb
    wenweb Member Posts: 1,107
    edited September 2012
    Laurie I too am reading In One Person!!  I have been a John Irving fan for many a year, althought have not been able to read all of his books, Son of the Circus being one of them.  I must have started that darn book at least 3 times, read more than halfway through and could not move on despite wanted to know what happened at the end!!  I was given In One Person as a birthday gift from my sister on my Kindle and have not really looked at the cover...I'll have to check it out.  I seem to like John Irving's quirkiness, but as each new book comes out, he seems to get more and more so.  I'm about 25% into it, and am enjoying it...
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  • Laurie08
    Laurie08 Member Posts: 2,891
    edited September 2012

    Wenweb!!  Too funny we are reading the same book!  You have always given me the best recommendations of books to read :)  We will have to compare notes when we have both finished.

    Thanks Ruth on the compliment on the avatar :)

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  • YramAL
    YramAL Member Posts: 1,651
    edited September 2012

    I started the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon this summer. I'm on the second book, Dragonfly in Amber. There is romance, time travel, and history in them. I'm liking them a lot. I don't usually like romances very much, nor do I care for time travel elements in a story, but somehow the combination of all three works for me. The books are very large and hard to carry around, though. Probably one case where a kindle would be good.

    Mary 

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  • Jelson
    Jelson Member Posts: 1,535
    edited September 2012

    Mary, I envy you that you are at the beginning of the series. I have enjoyed every book. They are worth toting around - switch from one arm to the other and consider it a workout.

    Julie E

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  • AnneW
    AnneW Member Posts: 4,050
    edited September 2012

    I liked GONE GIRL, but there wasn't a character in that book that I would want as a friend or neighbor. Rarely do I find a story that I can't identify with at least one character. But, that doesn't make me toss the book as long as it's well-written.

    I heard Kofi Anan (UN) speak on NPR the other day, and I splurged on his new book for my Kindle. I know very little about the UN and "peacekeeping", and this book will spell it all out, plus Mr. Anan's disappointments and heartaches over situations like Rwanda and Bosnia.

    In the political realm, I'm looking for a definitive, non-biased account of Mormonism. Any suggestions?

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  • voraciousreader
    voraciousreader Member Posts: 7,496
    edited September 2012

    http://www.amazon.com/The-Lonely-Polygamist-A-Novel/dp/0393062627

    Not sure if it's unbiased, but I enjoyed reading the novel by Brady Udall, The Lonely Polygamist.  I found myself laughing at times, but the topic of the book and the effect that polygamy had on the characters wasn't funny.  I've read numerous books written by women who escaped fundamentalist Morman marriages, but I don't think that that's what you're looking for to read either.  Here's the link to one of the more interesting and well written books:

    http://www.amazon.com/Escape-Carolyn-Jessop/dp/0767927567

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  • voraciousreader
    voraciousreader Member Posts: 7,496
    edited September 2012

    Ann... PBS's American Experience did a show on Mormons. If you didn't see it, you can go to their website and watch it online.

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  • AnneW
    AnneW Member Posts: 4,050
    edited September 2012

    Thanks, VR, I'll look for the PBS show. Netflicks may have it on demand, too...

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