May! What are you reading?

[Beverly]

I just finished up The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters (I think Sílvia read it a little while ago, too). I thought it was pretty good -- definitely kept me turning the pages!

Not sure what I'll read next.

[mellenhead]

I finished The Diana Chronicles by Tina Brown. Good book, interesting look at the royal family and day to day life.

I cried my way through Two Kiss for Maddy by Matt Loghelin (sp?). His wife died 27 hours after giving birth to their 1st child. I had followed his blog when it happened but it was still so sad to read about it.

I have the The Pale King by Dave Foster Wallace at home but IDK if I'm going to read it. I read the first 3 chapters and I'm kind of lost. Not my kind of book.

[mellenhead]

I gave up on The Pale King. Way over my head apparently.

I picked up some new stuff at the library last night. Started on Lions of Lucerne by Brad Thor last night. It's an old book - thriller/military type stuff. It'll be a quick read.

[Malanee]

These are still on my list:

Better : a surgeon's notes on performance / Atul Gawande.
The hidden reality : parallel universes and the deep laws of the cosmos / Brian Greene.
Saving the world and other extreme sports / James Patterson.
Booky wook 2 : this time it's personal / Russell Brand. - just started

Finished Bossy Pants by Tina Fey last night and liked it.
Evil at Heart by Chelsie Cain - liking this series - it's a bit graphic with the blood and guts though
Just started The Host by Stephenie Myer

[mellenhead]

I finished Lions of Lucerne by Brad Thor. I enjoyed it - it was a military type thriller.

I also read Lost in Shangri-La: a true story of survival, adventure and the most incredible rescue of World War II by Mitchell Zuckoff. The over all story was really interesting but the author spent waaaaay to much time on details that just didn't matter to the story.

I'm about halfway through Wicked Bugs: the louse that conguered Napoleon's Army and other diabolical insects by Amy Stewart. It's totally creeping me out.

Next up is In Zanesville by Jo Ann Beard.

[Spudd]

I'm still listening to Room, which is amazing and super suspenseful. It took me a little while to get used to the POV of a 5-year-old thing, but now I'm used to it and I'm dying to know what happens. I rarely get to listen so it'll take me a while. I think I'm about half way through right now.

I got Townie by Andre Dubus III from the library. I believe I got the recommendation from Entertainment Weekly. It's a memoir of a guy who grew up poor in New England, who then became a successful writer. So far I'm finding it fairly interesting, but not loving it.

[Sílvia]

Beverly, yes, I did read The Little Stranger and found it pretty good too. Funny, because I usually hate books with no clear explanation of things, but this one turned out great!

I finished Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner and it was the first book by her that I didn't like. She always manages to entertain me (if not much else), but this one was just silly. And why do ALL her protagonists have to be overweight (in this case not anymore)? It gets old. Authors should let go of the autobiographical thing once in a while. Paul Auster's characters are always male writers, Isabel Allende's have always suffered through a dictatorship. Let it go. Try to write a little about something you do NOT know so well for a change.

Now I'm reading Water for Elephants 5 years after the rest of the universe. Not much of an opinion yet.

[Spudd]

I loved Water for Elephants.

[Sílvia]

Seems like everybody did, so I'm afraid it won't live up to the hype. But who knows? We do have similar tastes!

[mellenhead]

Sil I love Water for Elephants too. Loved it so much I'm afraid to see the movie! I think you will like it.

[Sílvia]

Ugh, did you guys like it from the very beginning? Because I'm on page 75 and so far I'm unimpressed.

[mellenhead]

No, it took me awhile to get into it. It's been a few years since I read it though so I don't really recall around when that happened.

[Bugsy]

I finished "Time Traveler's Wife" a week or so ago. Loved it! Something worth rereading at some point, I think.

I started "A Reliable Wife" by I-forget-who, and it's really not doing it for me so far (about 60 pages in). Someone here read it, I think (Blush?). Does it get better? It just seems so words and overly descriptive.

[Bugsy]

Hmm, maybe it wasn't recommended here then, cuz I really thought it was you. I'm thinking of giving up on it. I just don't have time to waste on ho-hum books.

I do have a Sookie book waiting for me at the library. Gonna take it along when we go camping this weekend.

[mellenhead]

I read A Reliable Wife, if you don't like it by now I'd drop it. The whole book is VERY wordy and over detailed. I didn't love the book by any means. There was one section that I found pretty interesting and then it just thudded to the end.

Bugsy, is it the new Sookie book? Dead Reckoning? I just finished it, it was quite good in the usual ridiculous way.

[Bugsy]

Ugh, ok, thanks, Mellenhead. I'm throwing in the towel. It's been ages since I've done that with a book, but it's got to be done.

Not the new Sookie...maybe #6 or so? Pretty sure it's called Definitely Dead. Should be a good light read for camping, I think.

[Beverly]

I'm working on Middlesex. So far I like it, but I'm getting to read only five or ten pages a day ... at this rate I'll finish by Christmas.

[mellenhead]

I finished up Wicked Bugs: the louse that conquered Napoleon's Army and other diabolical insects by Amy Stewart. CREEPY. I couldn't read it at night in bed because I kept thinking I was feeling creepy crawlies on my legs.

In Zanesville by Jo Ann Beard - good book! About the friendship of 2 girls starting around age 14.

Everyone Loves You When You're Dead - Neil Strauss - A round up of articles and write ups on all the celebrities he's interviewed over the years

Dead Reckoning - Charlaine Harris - It's the latest in the Sookie Stackhouse series. It was good in the usual ridiculous way.

I think I'm going to start The Great Night by Chris Adrian next.

[Sílvia]

I finished Water for Elephants and it didn't do anything for me. Bah. I hate when that happens. EVERYONE loves a book except you. You keep thinking "what am I missing?" the whole time. I think it took forever to get going (like 180-200 pages), so by the time it did I was so irritated that I just wanted to get it over with. Sorry!

Now i'm reading The Postmistress by Sarah Blake http://www.amazon.com/Postmistress-Sara ... 662&sr=1-1 and I'm enjoying it so far, but I've been so distracted by house thoughts that I haven't been able to concentrate much.

[mellenhead]

I read Path of the Assassin by Brad Thor. It's an older book, one of those military suspense type books. I just discovered his books so I'm going back and reading his older stuff. They are good quick reads.

Now I just started Thou Shalt Kill by Daniel Blake (who is according to the book jacket and "internationally acclaimed best selling author" working under a pseudonym). The book is set in Pittsburgh, which I'm loving. Love all the little stuff he's dropping in about the city, he must have spent a lot of time here. It's a mystery/murder/suspense story so I hope it stays good, I hate when I figure out the end 3/4 of the way through.