I finished The Help by Kathryn Stockett..okay, I started it last year, but then the week of Jan 3 started last year also. A white woman who wants to be a journalist works with a black maid to publish the stories of maids who work in white households and raise white babies in Jackson. So many different stories and all very realistic and touching. And a stark reminder to those of us who remember the 1960s. The ending is okay--not as happy as one might hope and not as sad as one might fear.
Billie, if you managed to post a blog to this page you've passed the greatest hurdle. Read books, keep a list, share what you can, and party with us next December! (You can pick up a form to keep your list in at the library.)
Elaine, the book set in Nampa is Lake Overturn by Vestal McIntire. A Nampa native, he now lives in London and this is his first novel. It is so fun to read some of the right-on descriptions...how we'll get a little snow and love it and then it just kinds of wears out and changes colors during weeks of cold.
So Week 1 - The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson A bizarre journey of redemption and love that spans 1500 years or more of western history. If you can perserve through the first 150 pages to get to the great storytelling of Marianne Engel, this really is a pretty good read. The first person account of being a burn victim is gruesome (and his shallowness as a porn star is ucky) but all necessary to make the story work overall. I'll probably like it even better after my book club discusses it on Sunday. Judy - we are reading The Help for our April book club. It really is a different book for me but glad the book club choose it.
I can see I will have to watch my magic typing fingers and wandering thought processes in the future... my last sentence pretained to The Gargoyle and I am glad the book club "chose" it!
I finish The Guardian by Nicholas Sparks last week and it was amazing. Its one of his older books but a great read.
This week if finished reading Fallen. It was difficult to get into. The book didn't really catch me the way I had hope. However by the end I can't wait for the next one to be published.
Week 2 - Desire of the Everlasting Hills: The World Before and After Jesus by Thomas Cahill is the third in Cahill's series, The Hinges of History. I have enjoyed all three so far and look forward to the two still sitting in my To Be Read pile! Cahill takes history and turns it into great storytelling.
Week 3: Notes From a Spinning Planet: Mexico. This was book was not my favorite. The author is pretty choppy and the one of the rabbit trails in the book did not get a conclusion so you just sit there wondering, "what about Francesca and her sisters," which is what I really would have liked to know. This is not a recommended book or author. Maybe that's why it was in the bargain bin.
Week Three - The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry This is also for my book club. Very interesting and different. Good suspense and love story wrapped up in the mysteries and conflicts of Salem, MA.
Week Four - In honor of the last week of January, I chose to read The History of the Snowman by Bob Eckstein(2007). It is an interesting and quirky look at the popular and cultural history of the snowman through the centuries and through a myrrid of media. Glad I read it but glad to be onto other reading!
Book 3--House of Bees. Good book about growing up among a sisterhood of strong, black women. Good discussion at the book club! Book 4--Empire Falls. Interesting study of characters in a small-town. I'm not sure there was a plot...a study of the compromises we make in life to just get along.
Book 5 - Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (1937) written in the black vernacular of the southern United States about a girl's journey from childhood into womanhood in a vain search for true love. Powerful for such a short book. Well written and thought-provoking.
The latest... 5. This House of Sky by Ivan Doig 6. Four Seasons in Rome by Anthony Doerr 7. Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende
Doerr is a Boisean...and it really made me wish I'd had more time in Rome! And Daughter of Fortune by Allende is great BUT not as great as her House of the Spirits.
If I say I want to join - how to I do it?
ReplyDeleteHey, 2010 is here! Let the reading commence!
ReplyDeleteFor those of us that are a little late in signing up, could you post the rules and expectations on this site?
ReplyDeleteI finished The Help by Kathryn Stockett..okay, I started it last year, but then the week of Jan 3 started last year also.
ReplyDeleteA white woman who wants to be a journalist works with a black maid to publish the stories of maids who work in white households and raise white babies in Jackson. So many different stories and all very realistic and touching. And a stark reminder to those of us who remember the 1960s.
The ending is okay--not as happy as one might hope and not as sad as one might fear.
Billie, if you managed to post a blog to this page you've passed the greatest hurdle. Read books, keep a list, share what you can, and party with us next December! (You can pick up a form to keep your list in at the library.)
ReplyDeleteElaine, the book set in Nampa is Lake Overturn by Vestal McIntire. A Nampa native, he now lives in London and this is his first novel. It is so fun to read some of the right-on descriptions...how we'll get a little snow and love it and then it just kinds of wears out and changes colors during weeks of cold.
ReplyDeleteSo Week 1 - The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
ReplyDeleteA bizarre journey of redemption and love that spans 1500 years or more of western history. If you can perserve through the first 150 pages to get to the great storytelling of Marianne Engel, this really is a pretty good read. The first person account of being a burn victim is gruesome (and his shallowness as a porn star is ucky) but all necessary to make the story work overall. I'll probably like it even better after my book club discusses it on Sunday. Judy - we are reading The Help for our April book club. It really is a different book for me but glad the book club choose it.
I can see I will have to watch my magic typing fingers and wandering thought processes in the future... my last sentence pretained to The Gargoyle and I am glad the book club "chose" it!
ReplyDeleteWeek 1: Sisterchicks in Sombreros by Robin Jones Gunn...I love the Sisterchick series, they are a nice getaway.
ReplyDeleteWeek 2: Life, Libby and the Pursuit of Happiness by Hope Lyda
I finish The Guardian by Nicholas Sparks last week and it was amazing. Its one of his older books but a great read.
ReplyDeleteThis week if finished reading Fallen. It was difficult to get into. The book didn't really catch me the way I had hope. However by the end I can't wait for the next one to be published.
Week 2 - Desire of the Everlasting Hills: The World Before and After Jesus by Thomas Cahill is the third in Cahill's series, The Hinges of History. I have enjoyed all three so far and look forward to the two still sitting in my To Be Read pile! Cahill takes history and turns it into great storytelling.
ReplyDeleteWeek 3-Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah. This is an amazing story of two life long friends. Great read but watch out you will be crying..
ReplyDeleteWeek one: "Turn About" by Margret Peterson Haddix. An interesting story. I read it in one sitting took me only 3 hours an easy YA book.
ReplyDeleteWeek two: "My Boney Light Horseman" #6 in the Bloody Jack series by L.A. Meyer. This is the best adventure series I've ever read.
Week 3: Notes From a Spinning Planet: Mexico. This was book was not my favorite. The author is pretty choppy and the one of the rabbit trails in the book did not get a conclusion so you just sit there wondering, "what about Francesca and her sisters," which is what I really would have liked to know. This is not a recommended book or author. Maybe that's why it was in the bargain bin.
ReplyDeleteI want to join!!
ReplyDeleteWeek Three - The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry This is also for my book club. Very interesting and different. Good suspense and love story wrapped up in the mysteries and conflicts of Salem, MA.
ReplyDeleteWeek Four - In honor of the last week of January, I chose to read The History of the Snowman by Bob Eckstein(2007). It is an interesting and quirky look at the popular and cultural history of the snowman through the centuries and through a myrrid of media. Glad I read it but glad to be onto other reading!
ReplyDeleteBook 3--House of Bees. Good book about growing up among a sisterhood of strong, black women. Good discussion at the book club! Book 4--Empire Falls. Interesting study of characters in a small-town. I'm not sure there was a plot...a study of the compromises we make in life to just get along.
ReplyDeleteBook 5 - Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (1937) written in the black vernacular of the southern United States about a girl's journey from childhood into womanhood in a vain search for true love. Powerful for such a short book. Well written and thought-provoking.
ReplyDeleteBillie, I loved Their Eyes were Watching God! Such a powerful ending...walking down a road alone, but power....
ReplyDeleteThe latest...
ReplyDelete5. This House of Sky by Ivan Doig
6. Four Seasons in Rome by Anthony Doerr
7. Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende
Doerr is a Boisean...and it really made me wish I'd had more time in Rome! And Daughter of Fortune by Allende is great BUT not as great as her House of the Spirits.
Here is my blog spot: http://billiefarley.blogspot.com/2010/03/book-7-one-of-my-favorite-authors-is.html
ReplyDeleteBillie