Author Topic: Fiction ~ Old ~ New ~ Best Sellers #1 (Read 165330 times)

Judy Laird · « **Reply #80 on:** January 08, 2009, 03:25:50 PM »

This is the place to talk about the works of fiction you are reading, whether they are new or old, and share your own opinions and reviews with interested readers.

Every week the new bestseller lists come out brimming with enticing looking books and rave reviews. How to choose?

Discussion Leader: Judy Laird

O.K. I am back over 80 miles this morning dodging water and downded tree's.
I have read these books by Greg Isles and I have every intention of driving most of the roads that he is writing about. The Natches Trace is on my to do list if I can get out of Georiga.

These are the books True Evil
Dead Sleep
Blood Memory
Third Degree
Trapped
I have one book here I haven't read The Footprints of God.
Its almost crazy how many books I have around here. I have 5 different book cases and I find one here one there I found 4 now of Pual Auster.
Myself and the office staff have all breathed a sign of relief Bill's plane is taking off right about now, before he travels he like a whirling dervish, go here go there open bank accounts here and there deliver stuff. I think I will call the office and tell them they can all take the afternoon off. hehe

pike99 · « **Reply #81 on:** January 08, 2009, 04:36:44 PM »

Currently, I' m reading The Given Day by Dennis Lehane ( author of Mystic River) It takes place in Boston around 1918-1919,and is a big, sprawling novel that mixes real people and events into the narrative. Deals with the end of WWI ,the influenza pandemic,immigration,racism,baseball,unions and the labor movement,the rise of and threat of Bolshevism,and the Boston Police Strike.
A fascinating "read" and lots of good imagery. I suspect it's already optioned for a film.

Judy Laird · « **Reply #82 on:** January 08, 2009, 04:50:37 PM »

here
I know I read Mystic River.Pike 99 welcome,welcome we are glad to see you
The Given Day will go on my list today.
Glad to see you.
Ann Alden my friend where are you???

ANNIE · « **Reply #83 on:** January 08, 2009, 07:25:18 PM »

Hi there, Judy. I've been reading all of the posts about books that other people are reading and making a long list of "search fors" when at the library. Just finished "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khalid
Hosseni, author of The Kite Runner. Very good book. We had a nice discussion.

Steph · « **Reply #84 on:** January 09, 2009, 08:02:30 AM »

I have read a few of Gulley. I am a Quaker, but he is a different type.. I am what is called a Philadelphia Quaker, no ministers, no singing.. just quiet and elders to oversee.. And the deep conviction from within. oops., no preaching.
I went to very light again, after the Chute book.. so picked up a fantasy by Charlaine Harris. This is one of the small series on the girl who can find dead people. Weird but nice somehow.

Judy Laird · « **Reply #85 on:** January 09, 2009, 11:10:09 AM »

For any of you that are watching the flooding here I saw this last night on TV

53,000 csf per second are going over Snoqualmie Falls at this time.

I-5 is closed for a 20 miles stretch and trucks are backed up for miles.
Costing 4 million per day.
Some people in the Snoqualmie are stranded with out any type of emergency people able to get in to them.

JoanP · « **Reply #86 on:** January 09, 2009, 04:17:51 PM »

Judy & Company -

The polls just opened in the Book Club Online discussion. Lots of good fiction has been nominated. A varied and interesting slate. Please come on in and vote for your first and second choices for our February discussion of one of these titles.

Judy, I have been watching from across the US - are people beginning to evacuate? Where are you? I have the answer to the question as to why you still live there - SUMMERTIME!

mynioga · « **Reply #87 on:** January 09, 2009, 04:43:58 PM »

A couple days ago I mentioned that I had started reading The Shack, by William Young. It has turned out to be a whole lot more interesting than I imagined. When Steph talked about her Quaker beliefs it made me think of this story. I'm sure it won't be a book for everyone but it really does make one think about our beliefs and I'm enjoying it (if that is the proper term).

straudetwo · « **Reply #88 on:** January 09, 2009, 09:51:02 PM »

Judy, yes I saw the flooding in Washington state on TV and wondered about you. It's a relief to see you here!

I had never heard of an "Emerging Church" before and took a quick look at the Wikipedia. There seems to be a rather broad umbrella of theological "leanings".

CubFan · « **Reply #89 on:** January 09, 2009, 10:20:51 PM »

Just took a nonfiction break to read the new Joan Medlicott book Promises of Change, a continuation of the Covington ladies series. More trials and tribulations than triumphs. I definitely enjoyed the first book in the series more than any other but can't resist the temptation to read each one as it appears. Mary

Aberlaine · « **Reply #90 on:** January 10, 2009, 12:33:25 PM »

Mary, thanks for letting me know that there's a new book in the Covington series. I have a list of all the books and have read the first four. I'm taking a break to read some other books, but I definitely plan to get back to the adventures of Amelia, Hannah and Grace.

Aberlaine · « **Reply #91 on:** January 10, 2009, 12:36:33 PM »

Mynioga, my daughter gave me The Shack for Christmas. I haven't started it yet, but it has made its way to the top of my "ready to be read" books.

Nancy

Steph · « **Reply #92 on:** January 10, 2009, 01:19:43 PM »

Oh Judy stay safe. We live in Florida, not Georgia, but come stay with us if the rain gets too much. Florida at this time of year is glorious.
We are planning a spring or fall trip, not in the rv, but flying out to the west coast and renting a car and driving the Pacific Coast Highway from San Francisco all the way up to the Canadian border. Always had it on our list and I think this is the right year for it.

joangrimes · « **Reply #93 on:** January 10, 2009, 02:36:39 PM »

I really cannot read an Anne Perry Book and it has nothing to do with her writing...it is her past that Stephanie calls interesting that turns me off. I know that some of the people here on Seniorlearn would not agree with me because we talked about her and her past on SeniorNet a while ago. I will not into it but encourage you to research her past.

Joan G

mabel1015j · « **Reply #94 on:** January 10, 2009, 02:53:34 PM »

I have read all of Janet Evanovich's 14 books and have laughed out loud many, many times while reading them, but a friend gave me the 14th one on cd's and i have been listening to them in the car. I have been laughing on the way to the bank, on the way to the yarn store, on the way to the grocery store, to pick up my grandson at school - have to turn it off then, some of the language is too old for a six-yr-old.................there is just something much funnier about hearing the book read. The reader is excellent and has about 8 voices she uses for all the characters................I figure i'm adding years to my life from all the laughing i'm doing..............."reading" can be beneficial in so many ways............

..................jean

mynioga · « **Reply #95 on:** January 10, 2009, 05:21:26 PM »

Joan, It is a little strange for her to go from her "history" to be a best seller author. Someone else made another comment and I'm inclined to agree that we should consider that she did her time and if she could go on to do something productive in later years, why not? When I read the first book, I had no idea of her history. It wasn't until we started talking about her this December that I learned her own story and did a little research.

Judy Laird · « **Reply #96 on:** January 10, 2009, 07:31:16 PM »

Thanks for all your concerns, we are fine here. I tell you what if we are evacuated it will be Noah coming by to pick us up.

Mary glad to know their is a new covington book out I love those books, I think I have some here.

Steph thanks for the kind offer I would love to be in Georgia but Florida works too. Rain and wind here dark cold and just plain ugly.

I am getting my husband ready to go to NY his sister has to go to a rest home and he needs to close up here apt and all the things that go along with that.
I just looked up Rochester on the weather channel and its snowing so thats just great. He leaves Mon morning a 4AM. I got up this morning fully intending to go back to bed and he says I want to go to NY now. Its a good thing I have a computer.

Finished Richard North Patterson's book The Race is was good but not really my cup of tea. Its about politics and a presidential race. I hope things aren't run in the goverment the way this books tells it.

Have a nice week-end

Hi Joan Grimes is the pink vest still keeping you warm??

pedln · « **Reply #97 on:** January 10, 2009, 11:20:36 PM »

Well, gollee, Judy Laird. You take care. I remember that Snoqualmie Falls when we went there and it was lovely. Not so now, I’ll bet. So where do all the cars go when they can’t get on I-5. Traffic must not be much fun either.

I don’t envy your husband having to go to New York at this time of year. Brrrr.

JoanG, I’m with you on Anne Perry. I’ve never read one of her books and I probably never will, as there are so many other choices.

Judy Laird · « **Reply #98 on:** January 11, 2009, 12:11:05 AM »

Pedln I-5 was closed for 20miles by Centralia. The trucker's just sat. It said it cost Washington's income 4 million dollars a day. I think most everything is moving now but its still raining and the mud slides are taken out many homes. I understand 100 homes in Index are cut off and there are lots of elderly out there.
Its too bad your not here pedln Snoqualmie Falls in spectacular. Remember the little trickle you saw, you should see it now.

I don't know anything about Anne Perry but I guess I don't want to now.
You all have a great Sunday

hats · « **Reply #99 on:** January 11, 2009, 10:40:50 AM »

I finished "Home to Harmony" by Philip Gulley. It's a wonderful, wonderful book. It's not like a novel. It's like different stories about the people in the fictional town of Harmony. It heartfelt, funny. The book hits all the emotions. It's a good book about a small town.

Steph · « **Reply #100 on:** January 11, 2009, 12:16:12 PM »

I dont like Anne Perry as a human, but she writes well. I rarely read her stuff, but used to.

JoanK · « **Reply #101 on:** January 11, 2009, 07:50:39 PM »

I read Anne Perry before it was known that she was a murderess in real life. When I found out, I reread some of her books to see if it changed my feelings toward them. It didn't.

Judy Laird · « **Reply #102 on:** January 11, 2009, 09:40:51 PM »

Well maybe I will have to try one.
Nite all

Steph · « **Reply #103 on:** January 12, 2009, 08:02:49 AM »

I am reading an Alexander McCall Smith book called 44 Scotland Street. Scottish of course and episodic. He wrote it for a newspaper as a weekly chapter type book.. You can see that in the book, but it is mildly interesting at this point. Since my main book at present is the Yiddish Policemans Union, I wanted something I could pick up, when the plot gets too too complicated in the Chabon book.

Aberlaine · « **Reply #104 on:** January 12, 2009, 08:23:50 AM »

Steph, I have The Yiddish Policeman's Union on my book list. I didn't realize it was a tough read. I've reviewed some comments on B&N and found the opinions all over the place.

I may read it during the summer, when I don't have so much going on and can concentrate more on the story.

joangrimes · « **Reply #105 on:** January 12, 2009, 08:56:06 AM »

Hi Judy Laird,

Yes I still wear the pink vest when it is cold enough and it is right now.

Joan Grimes

JoanK · « **Reply #106 on:** January 12, 2009, 03:51:13 PM »

I've read the 44 Scotland Street series. Not as good as his "Ladies No.1 Detective Agency". But after awhile, I got into it.

Aberlaine · « **Reply #107 on:** January 12, 2009, 07:49:14 PM »

Judy, did you make it to New York? I live two hours southeast of Rochester, in Elmira. Yes, our weather is awful this winter. But it's bad everywhere, I guess.

Joan, I agree. I loved the few books of the Ladies No. 1 Detective Agency I've read. I've promised myself to get back to the series and read the rest.

maryz · « **Reply #108 on:** January 12, 2009, 08:33:19 PM »

Hi Alberlaine - Elmira is in a beautiful part of the country. One of John's cousins lives in Owego, and we've visited there a couple of times.

mynioga · « **Reply #109 on:** January 12, 2009, 11:13:47 PM »

Hello NYers and NY visitors. I'm about an hour and a half west of Rochester, Lewiston, NY. Yes it has been kind of a bad winter but non of the major blizzards.......yet. It seems more like just an old fashioned NY winter.

Judy, I hope your DH makes his trip out and back ok.

I'm still reading The Shack and I read in the church newsletter today that there will be a discussion group in late January on it. That should be interesting. When I read the reviews on the book, I wasn't sure what the church's view would be.

MarjV · « **Reply #110 on:** January 13, 2009, 08:32:26 AM »

I've read all of McCall's " 44 Scotland" series. They were fun for me since they follow the characters.

And of course his "#1 Ladies....." is excellent.

And then his Isabel Dalhousie novels are another genre and I llike those - deal mostly with philosophy behind the fiction.

4th is is Portuguese Irregular Verbs series - funny.

Here is his official web site: http://www.alexandermccallsmith.co.uk/

About "Yiddish..............". Excellent I thought; and yes, difficult reading but worth the challenge.

Steph · « **Reply #111 on:** January 13, 2009, 08:53:12 AM »

The big thing about the Yiddish.... He slings yiddish slang all around the place and introduces a wide variety of characters.. Plus a little philosiphising about jews and homelands.. All thrown into a suicidal policemans day.. Hmmm. Some of it is great fun.. the idea of the Hasids being the gangsters of a jewish state is pretty funny actually.

pedln · « **Reply #112 on:** January 13, 2009, 09:47:46 AM »

Read Around the World, our site where we talk about books and films with an international vein is now open HERE

Do come and join us and let us know what you’ve found from other parts of the world.

Judy Laird · « **Reply #113 on:** January 13, 2009, 01:26:24 PM »

Sorry if you misunderstead or I said it wrong. My husband went to Rochester NY. I haven't talked to him but I assume he is alright.

Very busy lately had a one way drop off to Kirkland hostpital yesterday and turned out that the person who was to pick her up couldn't or wouldn't pick her up. Guess who stayed the 4 hours to bring her home. Not a happy camper.

Is anybody reading Greg Iles yet?? I would love to hear your opinions.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #114 on:** January 13, 2009, 03:00:36 PM »

Judy - did i read you right, there is a town in WAshington called "Index"? I love the names of towns thru out the midwest and west - altho i guess i shouldn't make such a big deal about that area, i'm from Pennsylvania who has towns named Slippery Rock, Intercourse etc. But it's fun to hear about them and sometimes wonder how the names came about.................jean

Judy Laird · « **Reply #115 on:** January 13, 2009, 03:59:17 PM »

Jean yes there is a town called Index. It is on the Sykomish river I believe.
To get there you go through Monroe, Gold Bar, Sultan and then over the Pass.
Small two land road which is not nearly big enought and many deaths. Their trying to do some thing but you know the old song, not enough money.

I am reading a new author today, Its Pursuit by Thomas Perry so far I am liking it.

Hi Macou, these hard names I cannot remember.
Got to go check my soup, a sick neighbor.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #116 on:** January 13, 2009, 05:01:40 PM »

Gold Bar and Sultan, uh? ...........love it.............jean

pike99 · « **Reply #117 on:** January 13, 2009, 09:26:28 PM »

I started to read "Yiddish Police...." and gave up after about 100 pages. The book came with a lot of media "hype" but I found it a grind.
I'll usually give a book 100 pages,but that's about it. Life's too short to read lousy books or drink bad wine.
Does anyone else here have a point at which they give up on a book? How about walking out on a movie? I've done that.

maryz · « **Reply #118 on:** January 13, 2009, 09:56:14 PM »

pike, I've given up on many books. If I get a ways into a book and decide I don't really care about any of the characters, it's gone. No problems at all. We don't go to many in-theater movies. But with DVDs or on TV, movies have about 20 minutes max to "get" me - otherwise I'm through. Like you said, Life's too short.

CubFan · « **Reply #119 on:** January 13, 2009, 10:42:56 PM »

Pike - I agree but I had a hard time adopting that philosophy. For years I would continue to plod through a book thinking there had to be something of value in it. Sometimes I wouldn't even let myself start something new until I had finished the book I didn't like.

Now if I can't get into something after 2-3 chapters I will set it aside and try again when I'm in a different frame of mind or a different time of the year just to be sure. Now after two tries I pass it on.

I did find it interesting once when I finished a book in which I couldn't find any redeeming qualities, I passed it to a friend and said that I didn't like it and couldn't justify the time I had spent reading it. She said she'd give it a try. When she returned it she said that she too kept going thinking there had to be something to make it worth reading and ended up finishing it even though she didn't like it.

I still haven't figured why/when we learned we had to finish every book we started. Mary

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Author Topic: Fiction ~ Old ~ New ~ Best Sellers #1 (Read 165330 times)