It's January - what are you reading?

[Spudd]

On vacation I finished the third Stieg Larsson book, which was entertaining. I'd recommend it.

I started "World Without End" by Ken Follett, which is the sequel to the Pillars of the Earth. It's as expected, which is to say, not deep but a fun page-turner with interesting historical tidbits.

[mellenhead]

Finished up The Obamas by Jodi Kantor - I thought it was a really interesting look at the behind the scenes type stuff and general dysfunction going on in the White House. I also thought it made both of the Obamas come across as fairly normal down to earth people.

Next up is The Marriage Plot.

[Rowan]

I finished Robin Cook's latest this weekend. It is officially the last of his books I will ever read. They've gotten worse over time but the story was boring, he's overly wordy to a point of pompousness and downright wrong in some of the science/medical education items he writes about. I like reading medical thrillers and there's not very many authors to choose from but he's out.

I also finished A Grown Up Kind of Pretty by Joshilyn Jackson which I liked. Not my favorite of hers but good. Funny though it was a 4 star up until about 30 pages out or so and then I felt the ending was rushed. Hate that.

I have Stephen King's latest 11/22/63 next. I've heard good things but it's huge....has anyone read it yet?

[mellenhead]

I finished The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugiandes (sp?) - it was quite good! Loved all the characters and the end brought everything together.

I also read The Informationist by Tyler Stevens - it was a thriller and was pretty gripping. Usually I end up figuring out the ending half way through the book but I didn't with this one. Looks like the author is setting up for a series with the main character so I'll probably pick up the next one.

Rowan, I started that Stephen King book and quit about 60 pages in. I just couldn't get into it and I was not slugging through that huge book if I didn't enjoy it. His recent stuff is so hit or miss.

[Rowan]

I totally hear you on King. It makes me sad that its so hit and miss. I love a good Kennedy controversy so thought I would give it a shot. We'll see...

I have The Informationist on my TBR list - I'll have to move it up the list at your recommendation. Wasn't the author raised in some crazy cult?

[Bugsy]

I finished "Maus II: And Here My Trouble Began," by Art Spiegelman. Excellent also, and I'm not sure I could choose which of the two parts was better. Very glad I read them.

I'm just getting started on a long translation of the Tao Te Ching, the sort of bible/guidebook of Taoism. It'll probably take a long time to get through. I also still have some of "Farm Anatomy" to look through as well.

Then I have "The Alchemist," by Paolo Cuolho (last name might be spelled wrong). My friend T chose it for her book club that I'm considering joining. The author is Brazilian.

[Spudd]

I enjoyed The Alchemist.

[Sílvia]

Ew, seriously, Spudd? I was going to say that Paulo Coelho sucks! He does! His books are all self-helpy and badly written and just....just.... bad! Where's Lana to help me here? Once she and I talked Beana out of reading him, lol! It's disgusting that he's pretty much the only Brazilian author who's internationally famous. Ugh.

Anyway... How's World without End going, Spudd? I thought it was the exact same formula of Pillars. I loved Pillars, but thought I could have skipped WWE.

Still working on This Body of Death, which is better now. She spends way too many paragraphs on descriptions, which I just hate and am skipping at this point.

[Spudd]

LOL, Silvia. It was kinda self-helpy but I thought the message was nice and it was presented in a fun way. It entertained me, at least.

For WWE, I agree, it's pretty similar to Pillars. I'm enjoying it well enough but I can't say it's a #1 pick. Right now the plague is starting to spread so that's kind of entertaining. Heh.

[Rowan]

It's ok Blush, we still love you.

[mellenhead]

I totally hear you on King. It makes me sad that its so hit and miss. I love a good Kennedy controversy so thought I would give it a shot. We'll see...

I LOVED his writing in The Dome (hated the ending but that's another rant). Then I couldn't even get through Full Dark No Stars.

I have The Informationist on my TBR list - I'll have to move it up the list at your recommendation. Wasn't the author raised in some crazy cult?

Yes! I forget the name of it but I think she lived on a commune and only had (has?) a 6th grade education. Another thing I liked about the book because it was set in unusal places (Cameroon, Guinea, etc)

[Beverly]

I was going to say that Paulo Coelho sucks! He does! His books are all self-helpy and badly written and just....just.... bad!

Finally, one we agree on! I HATED The Alchemist, for all these reasons.

[Bugsy]

Aw crap, that's too bad that so many of you didn't like it. I'll give it a shot and see what I think.

[Sílvia]

Oh, I should clarify that I haven't read The Alchemist! I *have* read one of his other books, though, and from everything I've ever read/heard, they're all equally bad.

And Beverly, we agree sometimes, don't we? Ok, we may have disagreed a lot lately, but I have a feeling that our tastes are not that different. Hey, I also hated The Postmistress!

[Beverly]

And Beverly, we agree sometimes, don't we? Ok, we may have disagreed a lot lately, but I have a feeling that our tastes are not that different. Hey, I also hated The Postmistress!

Yeah, I think we mostly do agree, actually. We've just hit a rough patch lately.

Oh, The Postmistress ... a book that shall live in infamy.