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August - What are you reading?

Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 8:16 am
by mellenhead
I just finishing The Kitchen Boy - A Novel of the Last Tsar. It was really good - it's not that long - I got really into in and finished it in about 2 days. It's about the last days of the Romanovs - the author did a lot of research and incorporated many authentic documents from the Russian archives.
http://www.amazon.com/Kitchen-Boy-Novel ... 401&sr=8-1

Now I need a new book -I want to get something a bit "heavy" - any suggestions? I was thinking of picking up Anna Karenina.

Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 8:47 am
by Spudd
I haven't read Anna Karenina, I think Crystal read it recently though so maybe she can tell you if it's any good or not.

I just read "Persuasion" by Jane Austen, and really enjoyed it. But it's not really *heavy* - it's a romantic comedy (or it would be if it was a movie). It is more challenging to read than modern fiction, though.

One of my favorite classics is Jane Eyre.

Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 9:35 am
by Blush
I just started this: Image

It's about friends brought together again after a former schoolmate's death. I usually like Jane Green. We'll see.

I'm also listening to this: Image

It is FANTASTIC.

Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 1:16 pm
by Bugsy
I just started on "The Günter Grass Reader," but I'm not sure how much I'll get into it. I'm not sure what else I might try.

Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 3:14 pm
by Stacy
I am reading Heretics of Dune and listening to a series of lectures on Ancient Greek Civilization.

When I finish the Greeks, I have Ancient Egypt in the wings, and Sandworms of Dune for when I finish Heretics

Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 4:19 pm
by Anna
The Other Boleyn Girl, it will probably be awhile before I finish it though

Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 10:23 pm
by mellenhead
Anna wrote:The Other Boleyn Girl, it will probably be awhile before I finish it though
Anna, I loved that book! I'm almost afraid to try her other books because I'm afraid I won't like them as much.

Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 2:04 pm
by Lady Bug
I just finished A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hossini, who also wrote The Kite Runner. Definitely a worthy second novel. Now, I'm reading Kabul Beauty School, a memoir by this American hairdresser from Texas who went to Afghanistan to help rebuild after the Taliban. I'm really enjoying it and it's validating what I read in A Thousand Splendid Suns. (A lot of commenters on amazon.com said that the book was exaggerating and propaganda, etc.)

Blush -- Eat. Pray. Love is on my reading list. Glad you are enjoying it! I read an excerpt of it in O Magazine a while back and decided that I *had* to read it!

Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2007 9:17 am
by Blush
Lady Bug wrote:
Blush -- Eat. Pray. Love is on my reading list. Glad you are enjoying it! I read an excerpt of it in O Magazine a while back and decided that I *had* to read it!
So THAT's where I read that excerpt. I was listening to it, thinking, "I've read this part."

Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 6:52 pm
by Malanee
So far I've read the two books out of Orson Scott Card's Women of Genesis series and I'm working on the third.

I've finished Cross by James Patterson. It was okay.

I've got a bunch of financial books by Suze Orman, but other than that - I need to go to the library.

Posted: Sat Aug 18, 2007 8:39 am
by Rowan
I just finished HP and Order of Phoenix. Yes, I know I'm late to the game. Its ok because I'm #46 in line for the last HP at the library. I'll be done all the others then.

I"m working on Family Fortune - a story about a wealthy Boston family who loses all their $$. Its good fluff.

In my pile I have the next HP, Rant (new Chuck Palahniuk) and a couple other things that escape me right now.

Posted: Sat Aug 18, 2007 5:52 pm
by Sílvia
Argh. I can't seem to find a book I like. I read 4 Brazilians in a row, one more boring than the previous one. I gave up on the last one. Then I tried to read Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. I couldn't stand it (sorry, Crystal ;)). Way too pretentious for my taste. And boring. And the main character annoyed the crap out of me. That should teach me to trust my gut feeling, not the hype. I thought it wasn't my kind of book, but everybody said it was so good...

Anyway, after giving up on that one too, I picked up The Other Boleyn Girl and A Thousand Splendid Suns today. Both seem to be right up my alley. Wish me luck. I need a good book!

Posted: Sat Aug 18, 2007 5:59 pm
by Crystal Meth
Sílvia wrote:Then I tried to read Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. I couldn't stand it (sorry, Crystal ;)). Way too pretentious for my taste. And boring. And the main character annoyed the crap out of me.
*squawk*

That's okay. I only thought "The Kite Runner" was so-so. ;)

Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2007 8:39 am
by Sílvia
Yeah, we definitely don't have the same taste in books. Maybe we should use each other as an "unsuggester" thing like the one they have on librarything :giggle

Btw, how did you like The Namesake?

Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2007 9:34 am
by kayley
I´m reading Salt, and Faye Weldon's Wicked Women. I just finished a book about a guy who is curing TB in Haiti, but I can't remember the name. I'm also reading a book on travel writing which I have had kicking around among my posessions for years.

Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2007 1:48 pm
by Spudd
I was impressed to see that "A Thousand Splendid Suns" was #1 on the bestseller list, and the new Harry Potter was #2 this week (the Toronto Star bestseller list).

I'm listening to "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman (?) and really enjoying it.

I'm reading "Invisible Armies" by Jon Evans, which is also pretty good.

Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2007 2:14 pm
by Bugsy
I've stalled on reading. I should try something new.

Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2007 2:47 pm
by Crystal Meth
Sílvia wrote:Btw, how did you like The Namesake?
Yeah, I loved the Namesake. (But I liked Interpreter of Maladies better...)

Personal taste is such a weird thing. :dunno

Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2007 3:28 pm
by Malanee
I didn't like The Namesake.

I'm just starting the Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. Foot binding is so horrendous!

Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2007 1:38 pm
by Crystal Meth
I think I mentioned this book before, but I'm finally reading it now:

Without You: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and the Musical Rent is completely breaking my heart. It's about the guy who played Mark in "Rent" and how the skyrocketing success of the musical happens alongside the tragedies of Jonathan Larson's death and his mother's terminal cancer. *sniffle*