Talk Healthy

I have a few books that I've recently finished:

Substitute Me by Lori Tharps - I read a review of this in Entertainment Weekly that presented it as a book about a new mom struggling with going back to work and leaving her baby with a nanny. In reality the book was about a white couple hiring a black nanny and racial issues. It was a decent book, just not what I expected.

The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory: About Margaret Beauforts life and her struggle to put her son, Henry Tudor, on the throne. It was ok. I don't know why I read her books anymore - they are all becoming so tedious. I know it's historial fiction but this one bugged me

I also caved and bought Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins and read it in one day. I think I'll start another thread for that though.

I finished "Juggler of Worlds". Meh. It made me feel dumb. Stuff kept happening where I was like "wha? how'd that happen?". I'd flip back a few pages and something that seemed totally inconsequential at the time turned out to have a massive effect. Also, it's apparently the 2nd book in a series, which it doesn't say ANYWHERE on it. Annoying.

I picked up "The Help" from the library yesterday and started on it last night. So far it's pretty good. I only just finished the first chapter.

I just finished up Mockingjay. Wow.

I'm also still working on Anna Quindlen's Rise and Shine and am about halfway through the first Sookie Stackhouse book.

No "Mockingjay" spoilers, please!! I'm about halfway through it now and probably won't really get to read it much until maybe Sunday.

Finished "Mockingjay"! I thought it was really good, but it wasn't my favorite of the trilogy. Good, quick, engrossing read, though. I feel like I should reread the entire trilogy back to back to back to really get the full story continuity, because I know I forgot details from the first two that came up in this one.

Mockingjay was probably my least favorite of the 3, but I still LOVED it! There were two deaths that I was like "WTF???!!!!!!!!" I thought she did a great job ending the series.

I'm reading The Help. You guys were right, I love it so far. But it's so heartbreaking! I'm only on page 100 and I'm almost in tears already.

I finally managed to finish The Pillars of the Earth! I think it took me 3 months or so. Between the revision job I did, which cut way into my reading time and Leo being sick, then me, then him again, then the fact that he suddenly started going to sleep 90 minutes later, I thought I'd never finish it. But I did! And it was great. Not great literature, but great entertainment. Not for the book snobs. The writing style is so simple you get offended at times for having your intelligence underestimated. But the plot moves so fast. It's like a 21st century TV series set in the 12th century. With 21st century language and actions, but it worked for me. It was a little annoying when he mentioned the boys were playing football (soccer) 700 years before it was invented, but I can live with that if the story's good enough.

I just finished "Juliet" by Anne Fortier. It's based off of Romeo and Juliet, and swings between the year 1304 in Italy and modern times, following families are the descendants of the families. It was pretty good overall. There were some parts that were a little annoying and it was loooong (500+ pages) but I'm glad I read it.

I have "The Widower's Tale" by Julia Glass and "The Disappearing Spoon" from the library. Not sure what I'm going to tackle next. A friend gave me a book called "Hell is Other Parents, and other Tales of Maternal Combustion" that I might start tonight.

I just finished The Girl Who Played With Fire and loved it.

Here is my amazon wish list:

Killing Critics by Carol O'Connell

Clown Girl: A Novel by Monica Drake


Tell-All by Chuck Palahniuk


Fugitives and Refugees: A Walk in Portland, Oregon (Crown Journeys) by Chuck Palahniuk



First Meetings in Ender's Universe by Orson Scott Card


A War of Gifts: An Ender Story by Orson Scott Card


Port Mortuary (A Scarpetta Novel) by Patricia Cornwell


Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King


Beatrice and Virgil: A Novel by Yann Martel


The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption, and Pee


Official Book Club Selection: A Memoir According to Kathy Griffin


Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary by David Sedaris


Under the Dome: A Novel by Stephen King


Zero History by William Gibson


Numbers Rule Your World: The Hidden Influence of Probabilities and Statistics on Everything You Do by Kaiser Fung

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson

I just finished "The Widower's Tale" by Julia Glass. Loved it. Great characters and story.

I have "Fly Away Home" by Jennifer Weiner and "Red Hook Road" by Ayelet Waldman waiting for me at the library so those are up next.

I'm about halfway through Noah's Compass by Anne Tyler. It's good, like all of her books.

I just finished The Help and I need a hug . I LOVED it, you guys were right. I thought I still had 10 pages to go, but I was wrong. I was devastated when I turned the last page and saw the acknowledgements. And I was also devastated by the events in the story. I was at a café and I actually started to tear up near the end and had to bury my head in the book. So embarrassing! And now it's over. I have a new book on my night stand, but I don't want it! I want The Help all over again. Bah. I'll tell you guys later what the book is. When I'm ready for it.

I loved The Help too. Now I just read Outliers in a few days (it's a quick read), and I think next I'll read A Game of Thrones (or something like that). Outliers was very interesting.

Silvia, I totally cried at the end of "The Help." That book was amazing.

Well, I was *going* to read "A Game of Thrones" but my ebook reader wouldn't turn on. So instead I'm reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

I finished up "Fly Away Home" by Jennifer Weiner yesterday. It was good but not as good as some of her other books.

I started "The Gendarme" by Mark Mustian this morning. I hope it picks up a bit because the first few chapters were painful.

Glad I'm in good company

I'm reading The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters and I'm finding it terribly slow. Way too many descriptions and so far no action at all. But I'm only on page 76.

Anna, Read "Wicked"!!! That's one of my favorite books.

Sílvia, I really like Sarah Waters, but I haven't read this new one. She can be a bit slow-going at times, though. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend Fingersmith by her ... man, what a good read!

Me, I'm working on The River King by Alice Hoffman, which is good so far. I almost always enjoy her books. I've also ordered The Help, since you all have liked it so much. I'll probably read that next.