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Aly wrote:1) What did you think of Everyone Worth Knowing?
Well, I never finished The Devil Wears Prada, so I can't say it was better or worse than that one. I dunno, on one hand it was entertaining as far as fluff goes, but I wasn't really "enlightened" or anything. It's enough to say it kept me intrigued long enough to finish it, and if you know me, that should impress you enough. I have a habit of not finishing books that don't interest me by at least the halfway point. And I have to wonder how long it will take her novels to become too dated. I mean, they can't last too long, since they refer to current celebrities and things like the Brad/Jenn breakup. I just can't see people reading that 5 years from now and still finding it interesting. Any thoughts?
I finished The Namesake, which I loved, then I read Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor by Gabriel GarcÃa Márquez, which was ok. Mellen, you're the one who loved it, right? I don't know, I think I'd be more interested in what happened after the truth was disclosed than in the shipwreck itself.
I just finished And God Created the Au Pair by a couple of sisters. I can't remember their names right now. It's told entirely through emails and was really funny. One of the sisters has just moved from the UK to Toronto, so it was neat to read from that perspective, and the way they banter about their husbands and kids was funny and real.
Now I've got Hand Me Down by Lee Nichols. More chick-lit.
I finished the Speed of Dark about an autistic man who has an opportunity to have an opportunity to have an operation to make him normal. But the thing is, he is functioning in society and has savant talents that have landed him a really good job. Lots of moral dilemmas. I really enjoyed it.
I finished Catcher in the Rye yesterday. I started The Time Traveler's Wife. It's really long and seems like it will take me forever. I couldn't decide between Pride and Prejudice, The Time Traveler's Wife and a non-fiction called "Brought to Bed: Childbearing in America 1750s-1950s" that sounded really interesting.
I started listening to Animal Farm on audio yesterday and am almost finished. I'll start State of Fear on audio by Michael Crichton next.
Right now I'm reading a book called Work to Live. At first I thought it was mostly about strategies to maximize efficiency so you have more time to live outside the office, but really its an indictment of the American white collar workplace and how Americans are working more and more, developing stress-related conditions at an alarming rate, families are breaking down, etc., etc. Also, you know how for years in the 80s we used to hear about the Japanese and how they would "commute home" and often died young due to work-related stress? Well, the USA passed Japan in terms of hours worked in 2003. Yikes. This book is really fascinating to me because it's validating a lot of things I was thinking and feeling, but didn't feel I had permission to say out loud. (Oh and the book addresses that, too - how the workplace nourishes this feeling that if you complain about having to work all the time you are some kind of slacker and/or ingrate (sp?).) The only negative thing about the book is that it makes me look around and realize how crazy everything is here . . . but I'm not done serving my sentence, so I need to keep my head down and "stay the course."
I am currently bookless. I finished My Friend Leonard on Saturday, and haven't found anything else that interests me yet. Maybe I'll go to Costco on my lunch and look at their books...they usually have a good selection. I hate being without a book to read.
I just finished Aprons on a Clothesline by Traci DuPree which was very good. Its a story about a family in small town MI - the character development was just excellent.
*edited to add* That apparently Traci DuPree is a "Christian" writer - I didn't notice a whole lot of Godspeak but I started her other book and it is much heavier. Just wanted to let you all know - although I still do suggest it even though I don't like a lot of God with my fiction.
I'm currently reading "Don't eat this book" by Morgan Spurlock (of SuperSize Me fame) and Body for Life for Women by some woman dr.
I also have in my pile another novel by Traci DuPree.
Last edited by Rowan on Wed Jan 18, 2006 7:36 am, edited 1 time in total.
And I have to wonder how long it will take her novels to become too dated. I mean, they can't last too long, since they refer to current celebrities and things like the Brad/Jenn breakup.
I just can't see people reading that 5 years from now and still finding it interesting. Any thoughts?
LB
Or the actual book.
I couldn't decide between Pride and Prejudice, The Time Traveler's Wife and a non-fiction called "Brought to Bed: Childbearing in America 1750s-1950s" that sounded really interesting. 
