No one in my book group could put down 'The Glass Castle' but if you have seen the author on Oprah you might feel otherwise (we saw the show on tape after we had read the book)....'The Red Tent" was our favorite several years ago and if you haven't read the short stories byJhumpa Lahiri they are fabulous, and great for reading in spurts on a vacation.
Alwaysamom, my sister read it a few months after our father died last fall. I'm sure this biased her opinion. I like Joan Didion's other books, too, so I'll probably read it (but not for a while).
I really enjoyed "The Time Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger, as did my wife and 16 year old D.
To the "Secret Like of Bees" fans, did you read "The Mermaid's Chair" by the same author? How do they compare/contrast?
In the books vs. movies camp, I though the novel "The English Patient" by Michael Ondaatje was great: very poetic and dreamlike. The movie did nothing for me, because so much of the book takes place in the minds of the characters.
alwaysamomRegistered UserPosts: 12,440Senior Member
m&sdad, I read The Mermaid Chair, and although I somewhat enjoyed it, I didn't love it like I did The Secret Life of Bees. I think the main reason I enjoyed "Mermaid" was probably because I love the way that Sue Monk Kidd writes. The story was interesting, and I loved the examination of relationships among the main characters, but I think that "Bees" is definitely a better book.
Agree with you about Anne Tyler. Ladder of Years is one of my favorites.
In the books vs. movies discussion, my favorite book to movie success is Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon. Loved the book AND the movie! How often does that happen.
I too loved "The Red Tent".....and "Jonathan Strange and Mr. Morrell" was wonderful (a tad long) with a scene early on set in a cathedral where all the statues begin to talk as though alive, of the time when they were created, so it is a caucaphony (sp) of sound. I still get shivers when I think of what it would be like to have the carvings in Westminster Abbey or Kings Chapel or Windsor Chapel come "alive".....this image was worth the book alone. I gave about 8 copies of the new Lincoln book from Doris Kearns Goodwin "Team of Rivals" out to friends/family at XMAS.....even got the CD's for my hubby... haven't yet read it myself, must be savoring the anticipation?? Abe is my favorite man of all time......
I worry sometimes that I am drawn to these posts and I regurgitate my same old list of favorite books.....but I think the reward is to then see others who post they love a certain book too.....I don't really need to "discuss" books with others in great depth...but I do enjoy knowing others like what I like..... and while we don't know one another here in "RL" I do recognize some voices and get a tiny sense of satisfaction knowing we think alike and seeing what others recommend.
"In the books vs. movies discussion, my favorite book to movie success is Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon"
Much of this movie was filmed around the corner from me. Had the trucks and RVs on our block for months. Michael Douglas was charming and gracious, thanking us for our hospitality and incovenience during the shooting. Some nights the neighborhood was lit up like a Monday Night Football game.
How about favorite classics? I just reread Bleak House--was my favorite Dickens, this time around I still loved it but did find some of it a little too cute. Want to reread my other favorite, "Our Mutual Friend."
I reread "Middlemarch" every few years--I'm a huge Eliot fan.
Keep saying I'm going to tackle Tolstoy again, but haven't yet.
emeraldkity4Registered UserPosts: 35,861Senior Member
now I loved the english patient- the movie
when the book came out I picked it up several times but just didn't appeal to me-
But I liked the movie so much that I gave it another try and read it straight through twice !
For all consuming vacation reading- especially for those who are interested in history I would recommend the Outlander series by Diana Gabladon- yes it is supposedly a "romance" but also time travel and a great deal of character development and history.( it begins in the scottish highlands in the 18th century)
The author has done a great deal of research and even my husband who admittedly skipped through the "racy" parts read the series straight through.
I do really love Joan Didions writing, but the most recent book I haven't gotten to-
Red tent was our first book group book- I think we bugged out the yes of the other coffeeshop customers in discussing some of the details
oh if you like mysteries- especially British legal dramas I suggest Sarah Caudwell- who was a British Barrister and wrote just 3 or 4 mysteries before she died but they are great- full of that dry brit humor.
I love british humor- one more
I read quite a bit. A few of my favorites:
The Virgin Suicides, Jeffrey Eugenides
Bee Season, Myla Goldberg (it's a fast, entertaining read)
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith
One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
The Metamorphoses, Ovid (good if you're into mythology)
I also really like the short stories of Graham Greene, especially because it's easy to read as many (or as few) as you'd like, then come back to them when you have more time. The volume I have is called Twenty-one Stories.
Hysteron porteron,
of course it is okay if you are not a parent...... in fact, your suggestion of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn might be a good one for our mother/son book group. We discuss our latest read, Bode Miller's autobiography, this coming Sunday....and now I have a suggestion to throw out... so thanks for adding to our considerations!!
rereading classics....I'm currently rereading "My Antonia" by Willa Cather. It's been so long since I read it that it's almost like reading it for the first time.
For me there is a whole lot of difference between at home reading and vacation reading. I define vacation reading that if I am distracted I can come back to the book and not have to go back and remind myself who is who.
For vacation reading my favorites are anything by Jodi Picoult. Favorites Salem Falls, The Pact, Plain Truth.
Ann Lamont
Gail Tsukiyama- Dreaming Water, The Samarai's Garden. Women of the Silk.
Year's ago I read a series that I think were written by a San Francisco author who wrote for one of the newspaper's and some of the character's were gay. Anyone know of them. I would love to reread them if I could remember the titles.
I'm currently reading Jonathan Franzen's 'The Corrections', which I think is good vacation fare.
But what I really want to recommend is 'after the quake' by Haruki Murakami. It is a collection of six short stories. All of them are in some way connected to the 1995 Kobe earthquake. These are just awesomely, great short stories. The kind that stick in your mind, long after you've finishied reading them.
As for book/movie pairs. Hands down winner is 'The Tin Drum'. Great book and a great movie. (but you never want to eat eels again)
robyrm, no exaggeration: Every week when I get the NY Times Book Review, I scan the fiction titles and authors to see if Jhumpa Lahiri has written another book yet! Have you also read The Namesake (her novel)?
Replies to: Vacation reading?
To the "Secret Like of Bees" fans, did you read "The Mermaid's Chair" by the same author? How do they compare/contrast?
In the books vs. movies camp, I though the novel "The English Patient" by Michael Ondaatje was great: very poetic and dreamlike. The movie did nothing for me, because so much of the book takes place in the minds of the characters.
I'm also a fan of Anne Tyler's work.
Agree with you about Anne Tyler. Ladder of Years is one of my favorites.
In the books vs. movies discussion, my favorite book to movie success is Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon. Loved the book AND the movie! How often does that happen.
I worry sometimes that I am drawn to these posts and I regurgitate my same old list of favorite books.....but I think the reward is to then see others who post they love a certain book too.....I don't really need to "discuss" books with others in great depth...but I do enjoy knowing others like what I like..... and while we don't know one another here in "RL" I do recognize some voices and get a tiny sense of satisfaction knowing we think alike and seeing what others recommend.
Much of this movie was filmed around the corner from me. Had the trucks and RVs on our block for months. Michael Douglas was charming and gracious, thanking us for our hospitality and incovenience during the shooting. Some nights the neighborhood was lit up like a Monday Night Football game.
Thread hijack over; now back to books...
I reread "Middlemarch" every few years--I'm a huge Eliot fan.
Keep saying I'm going to tackle Tolstoy again, but haven't yet.
when the book came out I picked it up several times but just didn't appeal to me-
But I liked the movie so much that I gave it another try and read it straight through twice !
For all consuming vacation reading- especially for those who are interested in history I would recommend the Outlander series by Diana Gabladon- yes it is supposedly a "romance" but also time travel and a great deal of character development and history.( it begins in the scottish highlands in the 18th century)
The author has done a great deal of research and even my husband who admittedly skipped through the "racy" parts read the series straight through.
I do really love Joan Didions writing, but the most recent book I haven't gotten to-
Red tent was our first book group book- I think we bugged out the yes of the other coffeeshop customers in discussing some of the details
oh if you like mysteries- especially British legal dramas I suggest Sarah Caudwell- who was a British Barrister and wrote just 3 or 4 mysteries before she died but they are great- full of that dry brit humor.
I love british humor- one more
To Say Nothing of the Dog
I read quite a bit. A few of my favorites:
The Virgin Suicides, Jeffrey Eugenides
Bee Season, Myla Goldberg (it's a fast, entertaining read)
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith
One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
The Metamorphoses, Ovid (good if you're into mythology)
I also really like the short stories of Graham Greene, especially because it's easy to read as many (or as few) as you'd like, then come back to them when you have more time. The volume I have is called Twenty-one Stories.
of course it is okay if you are not a parent...... in fact, your suggestion of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn might be a good one for our mother/son book group. We discuss our latest read, Bode Miller's autobiography, this coming Sunday....and now I have a suggestion to throw out... so thanks for adding to our considerations!!
For vacation reading my favorites are anything by Jodi Picoult. Favorites Salem Falls, The Pact, Plain Truth.
Ann Lamont
Gail Tsukiyama- Dreaming Water, The Samarai's Garden. Women of the Silk.
Year's ago I read a series that I think were written by a San Francisco author who wrote for one of the newspaper's and some of the character's were gay. Anyone know of them. I would love to reread them if I could remember the titles.
But what I really want to recommend is 'after the quake' by Haruki Murakami. It is a collection of six short stories. All of them are in some way connected to the 1995 Kobe earthquake. These are just awesomely, great short stories. The kind that stick in your mind, long after you've finishied reading them.
As for book/movie pairs. Hands down winner is 'The Tin Drum'. Great book and a great movie. (but you never want to eat eels again)