Talk Healthy

Aah, I love these lists... even if only for the fact that I can disagree with them. Of those, the only one I *loved* was The Help. Poisonwood Bible was a close second. I really liked several others (Lovely Bones, Kite Runner, Memoirs of a Geisha). Others to me were utter crap (Eat, Pray, Love, Bernadette, The Secret Life of Bees). Others I couldn't get into at all (Everything's Illuminated, The Goldfinch.)

What say you, oh wise reader friends?

I removed the ones I haven't read.

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold -- enjoyed it
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn -- loved the first half, meh on the second half
Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri -- I think I read this, and it was ok, nothing special
Life of Pi by Yann Martel -- enjoyed it but it went slightly over my head, I had to re-read once I found out what the interpretation is
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green -- loved it
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd -- I had the audiobook, and was listening to it at the gym. I don't know why, I stopped after like a third of it, and never went back to it later. It didn't really grab me.
The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen -- I read this one recently-ish. I found the language pretentious as hell, and the plot meandering and unexciting.
Where'd You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple -- I feel like I read this, I'm pretty sure I did, but I honestly can't remember much about it. When I read the plot summaries they seem sort of familiar but I'm not confident I read it.
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver -- eh, it was okay.
The Help by Kathryn Stockett -- Pretty good, not life shattering.
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen -- This one I did really enjoy. I think the fact that I read it as an audiobook probably helped. You really get sucked into the descriptions with an audiobook.
The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje -- Meh.
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls -- This was sort of fascinating because it was a true story, but I wasn't super in love with it.
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini -- LOVED this. Loved it to death. Another audiobook, read by the author, which again I think helped a lot.
Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt -- I found this pretty enjoyable. Although, I was amused when he cited having to use his tea leaves twice as an example of the hardship of his childhood, because I do that all the time to save money. It's nearly as good the 2nd time.
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins -- Loved it. The 2nd one was also quite good, the 3rd one not at all.
Bossypants by Tina Fey -- Meh. Boring.
Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer -- This was entertaining. It was another audiobook so the accent really added a certain pizzaz.
The Road by Cormac McCarthy -- I think I read this, but I don't remember.
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden -- I really liked this one. But it was years ago that I read it.

Ok, now I feel bad that you were so thorough! Here's me:

•The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold - 4 stars
•Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn - 3 stars
•Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri - read the 1st story the other day. It was well-written, but I really can't see the appeal of short stories. When they start to get interesting, they're over.
•The Fault in Our Stars by John Green - 3 stars
•Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang - I skimmed through most of it. It's not even on my goodreads because that was cheating. I found it super boring.
•Wild by Cheryl Strayed - I gave it 4 stars, though looking back now, it's more like 3. I really think I should start rating books at least 1 month after I've read them. I often change my mind.
•White Teeth by Zadie Smith - 1 star
•House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III - haven't read it, but I liked the movie.
•Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert - 1 star
•The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd - 2 stars
•Where'd You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple - 2 stars
•One Day by David Nicholls - 3 stars
•The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver - 5 stars, but I don't remember much. Should re-read it.
•The Help by Kathryn Stockett - 5 stars
•Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen - 1 star. One of those cases where you question if you've read the same book as everybody else.
•The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro - haven't read it, loved the movie.
•The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls - 3 stars
•The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini - 4 stars. Don't remember much, should re-read.
•Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt - 3 stars
•Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer - couldn't get into it AT ALL.
•Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden - 4 stars, don't remember much.
•The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt - couldn't get into it.

• The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold – yes, loved it
• Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn - yes, loved it
• The Fault in Our Stars by John Green - yes, loved it
• Wild by Cheryl Strayed – hated it but finished it; whiny whiny whiny
• House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III – started it but couldn’t finish
• Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert - ok
• Fifty Shades of Gray by E L James – take all 3 books and make 1 book and it’s ok
• The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer – I know I read it but I forget
• The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd – I think I read it but I forget
• Where'd You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple - yes, loved it
• The Help by Kathryn Stockett - yes, loved it
• Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen - yes, loved it
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot – I liked the history of this (particularly since I’ve used these cells in experiments) but I thought the author’s treatment of the family was very poor)
• The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls – very good
• The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini – I started this 3 different times and it finally took and I loved it
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins – I read it before it was a thing and loved it
• Bossypants by Tina Fey – I want to like Tina but I just don’t
• The Road by Cormac McCarthy - - yes, loved it