One of the best books I've read in the last 6 months is .

Parent Cafe
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^ my cousins cousin was captured on the pueblo- he never married.

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Wow. Well, I am only about halfway,don’t know the fate of all the crew yet! But it is fascinating. This is another one I had to go through interlibrary loan for,published in 1970. The Operation Paperclip one is more recent, I just checked and it was published this year.

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Readers familiar with these authors might enjoy this column: <a href=“http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/schmich/ct-chicago-writers-schmich-met-1019-20141017-column.html”>AGT winner Landau Eugene Murphy Jr. earns high school equivalency diploma – Chicago Tribune;

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^paywalled, sadly.

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^ Try this: <a href=“http://trib.in/1FmPd7K”>Custom Domain by Bitly;

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Still not accessible, Mary.

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Just finished Longbourne by Jo Baker. If you’re a Jane Austen fan, you’ll enjoy this. It’s Pride and Predjuice from the servant’s perspective. The Bennet family is definitely part of the story, but they’re secondary. Baker changes a few of the characters, e.g., Wickham is even more sleazy in this book! Overall this was a fun read.

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That’s so annoying. I typed the title into Google and this site let me read it without having to login to my Trib account, so maybe it’s worth a shot: <a href=“http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/topic/ct-chicago-writers-schmich-met-1019-20141017,0,3607842.column”>http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/topic/ct-chicago-writers-schmich-met-1019-20141017,0,3607842.column&lt;/a&gt;

The title is “What Annoys Famed Authors About Their Own Writing.” It’s just a short fluff piece, but I keep trying different links because I hate the paywall.

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I really enjoyed, “As You Wish,” Cary Elwes’ memoir of making The Princess Bride. Lots of nice stories, and many little blurbs from the other actors/director/producer. Nice to read more about one of my favorite movies. It is not the best writing, but it was still fun.

The sucky one I just read (and gave up on) was Marty Sklar’s Dream It! Do It! memoir of the Disney Theme Parks. He was Walt’s PR/ghostwriter, but it is very poorly written with very few interesting stories. Lots of pictures of the author standing with other execs in front of various attractions. When I think of what it could have been


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Mary, third time’s the charm. :slight_smile:

Now what’s wrong with a main dish of tic garnished with a little substance every here and there?

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That was fun Mary, I sometimes notice those tics, and sometimes I don’t. I myself - I’m prone to dashes. (Funny because it’s the thing I dislike most about Emily Dickinson.)

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I have read all of the Tana French books and just finished struggling through The Secret Place. I LOVED In The Woods, but while the others have been good they have not measured up to that one. I was really disappointed in The Secret Place- I felt like it could have been cut by 200 pages. I thought it really dragged and I admit that I skimmed through a lot of pages and don’t feel I missed anything. I would not recommend it.

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I am reading (and enjoying very very much) “Sisterland” by Curtis Sittenfeld. (I loved “Prep,” which she also wrote.)

I also just finished “The Scent of Rain and Lightning” by Nancy Pickard. I dismissed Pickard years ago for what must have been stupid reasons, because “Rain and Lightning” was wonderful - a mystery set in small-town Kansas with wonderful writing and characters that feel real.

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I really enjoyed The Rosie Project. Not sure who recommended it on here but thank you for that.

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I am reading The Edge of Eternity, the third in the Follett Century Trilogy. I highly recommend this set. It’s so much fun to learn history in such an enjoyable way. :slight_smile:

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cartera, I forget who recommended The Rosie Project first, it was mentioned a while ago here but I also loved it! I have the second one but haven’t read it yet.

I’m currently reading The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult. It’s an interesting but difficult read due to the subject matter. A young woman in a small NH town is befriended by a much loved old man who admits to her that he was a commandant at Auschwitz. He wants her to help him die. It’s an exploration of the possibility of forgiveness and what remorse can look like, that includes her grandmother telling her story and the arrival of a man from the DOJ who tracks down Nazis in the U.S.

There’s a lot going on in this book, as is typical of Picoult, and I have a feeling that with only about 100 pages left, there is still much that will present itself.

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Peeked in here and had to say I read Sisterland about a month ago and really enjoyed it.

I always know I’m reading a good book when I can’t wait to go to bed - that’s my main free reading time!!!

Two other good, not heavy books that I read recently: Table For Seven by Whitney Gaskell and First Love by James Patterson.

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^^ I just finished Sisterland last night. So good! I didn’t want it to end


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@scout59, another good “not heavy” “sisters” one - The Geometry of Sisters - LuAnne Rice.

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I loved Jodi Picoult’s My Sister’s Keeper. It would go in the “heavy” category. And don’t see the movie. The book is infinitely better.