It's June - what are you reading?

[Rowan]

I'm currently reading Life Sentences by Laura Lippman and its very good. This is my first book by her but she gets rave reviews.

I'm glad I finally have something enjoyable. The last few books have been dogs.

[Beverly]

I just a few minutes ago finished Man Crazy by Joyce Carol Oates. It's the first of her books I've read (!), and it was pretty darn good, if not a little depressing.

Now I'm on to Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris.

[Sílvia]

I finished A Widow for One Year by John Irving. It took me forever because I loved it! I tend to savor books I love. Beverly, I can't believe this is the same guy who wrote Owen Meany!

Now I'm reading The Child in Time by Ian McEwan. I'm finding it boring. He writes beautifully, but there's not much of a plot. I've come to the sad conclusion that I tend to prefer somewhat trashy novels to good literature. They're just more fun. Once in a while I find an author that's both "literary" and highly readable/enjoyable, but that's rare. It's usually either/or. It's so hard to find the perfect balance! A Widow for One Year was one of those books for me.

[mellenhead]

I read the entire Twilight series in a week. I'm pretty sure I lost brain cells.

I need a new book. I'm still reading The Making of a Chef by Michael Ruhlman. It's good, but I can't get into it. I think I need something light and trashy.

[Rowan]

Mellen, you don't find Edward dreamy?

So I finished Life Sentences which was good. I will definintely look into Lippman's other books.

Finished Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris last night. I"m enjoying this series. We're supposed to start watching the series soon so I will see how it compares.

Started American Rust by Phillipp Meyer this morning on the bike. I'm only 50 pages in our so but its really pulling me in quickly.

[Spudd]

I'm STILL dragging my way through Wolves of the Calla by Stephen King and Great Expectations. I'm making decent progress on Great Expectations but Wolves of the Calla seems to be taking forever. And seriously, nothing is happening. Blah.

[Crystal Meth]

Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger. Finished Franny, onto Zooey now...

[Anna]

I bought Farenheight whatever since I never read it in school I haven't started it yet though

[Blush]

I finished Home Safe by Elizabeth Berg. It wasn't overly exciting, but her characters always seem so real to me. Now I'm reading The Believers by Zoe Heller. She also wrote What was she Thinking? Notes on a Scandal which was turned into a movie with Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett. So far The Believers isn't as good, but I'm only halfway through.

[Rachael]

I have been reading like crazy this week (and not getting enough sleep!). The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks, The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Album, The God of Animlas by Aryn Kyle.

Last night I started Down River by John Hart. I was up until 2 AM. I finished it. I couldn't stop reading. I highly recommend it. I've got to pick up his other two books now.

[Bugsy]

I'm borrowing "Dead Until Dark" by Charlaine Harris from a friend. I'm about 3/4 through it now, and...meh. It's ok, I guess, but I don't feel too inspired to read the rest of the series. It feels so cheesy.

[Blush]

I finished The Believers. I wasn't that impressed. None of the characters felt fully developed to me; maybe there were too many of them.

[Rowan]

I finished American Rust and loved it. One of my favorites this year. I hit the 50 book mark with this one.

Not sure what's next. I have Sookie Stackhouse #3 on hold at the library - I just have to get there!

[mellenhead]

I'm borrowing "Dead Until Dark" by Charlaine Harris from a friend. I'm about 3/4 through it now, and...meh. It's ok, I guess, but I don't feel too inspired to read the rest of the series. It feels so cheesy.

It's definitely not great literature - but I do think it's a fun, light series. I really got into it after the first few books once the relationships were more developed.

[Rachael]

I just finished Family Tree by Barbara Delinsky (I think that's her last name). It was okay.

I think I'm going to pick up the first Sookie book at lunch. Target has them on paperback for pretty cheap.

[Rowan]

I finished Club Dead on the bike this morning. I really enjoyed this one.

I'm going to start What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman next. It's been on my pile forever.

[Rachael]

I started Dead Until Dark last night!

I read the Twilight series earlier in the year, we've always been big Buffy/Angel show fans and now we just finished the Moonlight tv series on DVD this week. I'm going to have a hard time keeping all this vampire lore straight! Each thing has a different variation. Sometimes vampires don't sleep at all, sometimes they sleep in coffins, sometimes they sleep in freezers, etc.

[Blush]

I just finished Secrets fo Happiness by Sarah Dunn. I'm going to find her other book, The Big Love. I like her style. Funny, but still meaty, ykwim?

Next up is I Loved, I lost, I made Spaghetti by Giulia Melucci. Description:

From failure to fusilli, this deliciously hilarious read tells the story of Giulia Melucci’s fizzled romances and the mouth-watering recipes she used to seduce her men, smooth over the lumps, and console herself when the relationships flamed out.

From an affectionate alcoholic, to the classic New York City commitment-phobe, to a hipster aged past his sell date, and not one, but two novelists with Peter Pan complexes, Giulia has cooked for them all. She suffers each disappointment with resolute cheer (after a few tears) and a bowl of pastina (recipe included) and has lived to tell the tale so that other women may go out, hopefully with greater success, and if that’s not possible, at least have something good to eat.

Peppered throughout Giulia’s delightful and often poignant remembrances are fond recollections of her mother’s cooking, the recipes she learned from her, and many she invented on her own inspired by the men in her life. Readers will howl at Giulia’s boyfriend-littered past and swoon over her irresistible culinary creations.

[Rowan]

How funny that the ad just as I was checking this thread was for HBO's True Blood.

[Sílvia]

I'm reading The Breakdown Lane by Jacquelyn Mitchard (sp?). It's ok so far. Not terribly gripping, but I think it'll get better.