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Let's Talk About Books (V.2)

Wingfoot

Wingfoot

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The original thread from some weeks ago is located in the archives (http://www.mjjcommunity.com/forum/showthread.php?t=74637&page=4), but we can continue the discussion here!

I've just recently picked up a couple of books...

I read "The Undomestic Goddess" by Sophie Kinsella (author of the Shopaholic series, which I haven't read yet).. It was surprisingly really good! I really liked it... A very fun, humorous book (for girls, that is.. guys would definitely not be interested!). It's about a hotshot lawyer who makes a huge mistake, gets fired, and now starts her life over as a housewife! And she meets a hot guy along the way :)

I read another book by the same author called "Remember Me?" who which I thought was a waste of $11. Didn't like it at all. I guess with the author it's a hit-or-miss thing... The book is about a woman who wakes up in the hospital after an accident with amnesia -- she has forgotten the last 3 years of her life, and the last thing she remembers is having a sucky job and a terrible boyfriend... Then she wakes up to discover that her life has changed drastically -- she has a gorgeous husband, is rich, and looks hot!
It sounded really interesting and a light read, but it was a bit of a let down..

Other than Sophie Kinsella, I've read a bit of Karin Slaughter ("A Faint Cold Fear"), a murder-mystery novel.. Didn't like it that much (I don't like her style of writing.. she got confusing in certain parts).

I'm currently working on "The Shack" by Wm. Paul Young, and will be reading "The Tale of Edgar Sawtelle" next..

What have you guys been reading lately?
 
I'm reading Great Expectations and it's exceeding my... expectations. For some reason I'd never picked up Dickens but now I'm glad. I have almost finished volume one! I'm reading in between my other novels for Uni so it will be a long leisurely read :)
 
Gosh I'm still not finished with my Last train to Memphis: The rise of Elvis Presley which I've been reading now, I don't know, almost two years? (or maybe just one, I got it for Christmas but I don't remember was it last Christams or the Christmas before) :lol: But I will not give up! I will read it some day!

And after I'm done with it I'll definitely leave biographies alone for awhile. I would love to find a new, good book that I haven't read already because I've been stuck with Agatha Christie and Harry Potter lately.
 
I'm still reading The Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger - I'm really liking it :)

But I want to pick up some classics that I haven't read before. Like To Kill A Mocking Bird, Oliver Twist, and I want to read the Harry Potter series, because everyone is telling me to!
 
I just finished reading My Sister's Keeper i loved it through out but HATED the ending it was completely anticlimactic. Jodi Picoult really could have written a better ending.

Im looking for another book to get into now does anyone have any suggestions?
 
I recommend the ones i'm reading at the moment (post above) really sucks you in to keep reading, especially towards the second half :)
 
I Love to read.

I used to read tons of books per year, but this past year I mostly read Twilight series and MJ-related books..

But I read and read again Wuthering heights, I just love it.
Nelson Mandela autobiography is marvelous too, I love reading bios.
 
^^ haven't read wuthering heights yet, but I am meaning to!

One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest is great - as is the movie, which I watched last night...again! Love jack!

I like bios too, I read Michael j Fox's first book which was really good.
 
Naytobes said:
...and I want to read the Harry Potter series, because everyone is telling me to!
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Oooh you haven't read them yet? :bugeyed I'm pretty certain you won't be disappointed! Though there's always those who doesn't like them (I don't understand why!) . Rowling has great imagination, the characters are awesome! And reeally Harry Potters are funny, exciting, scary, sad... you get the whole scale of emotions with it!
Oh, I think I need to read them again soon.
 
Naytobes said:
But I want to pick up some classics that I haven't read before. Like To Kill A Mocking Bird, Oliver Twist, and I want to read the Harry Potter series, because everyone is telling me to!
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"To Kill a Mockingbird" is great! It's one of my favourites -- I read it in high school, and reread it awhile back... Definitely check that one out!

I just finished reading My Sister's Keeper i loved it through out but HATED the ending it was completely anticlimactic. Jodi Picoult really could have written a better ending.

Im looking for another book to get into now does anyone have any suggestions?
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The ending was quite surprising though! I liked that ending much better than the movie's ending...I don't want to ruin it for you, but I found the movie one very disappointing.

If you haven't read "The Time Traveller's Wife" yet, I guess I would recommend that one. I didn't like it as much as everyone did, but it's an interesting read. Also
 
Wingfoot said:
"To Kill a Mockingbird" is great! It's one of my favourites -- I read it in high school, and reread it awhile back... Definitely check that one out!



The ending was quite surprising though! I liked that ending much better than the movie's ending...I don't want to ruin it for you, but I found the movie one very disappointing.

If you haven't read "The Time Traveller's Wife" yet, I guess I would recommend that one. I didn't like it as much as everyone did, but it's an interesting read. Also
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i love "to kill a mocking bird" it was the only book in high school i actually liked :lol:

I havent watched the movie and i dont think im going to. I guess im going check out "The Time Travelers Wife" next, i watched that movie and kind of enjoyed so hopefully ill like the book even better..
 
I know, I think I am one of few people on the planet who hasn't read harry potter :lol:

I try to always read the book before I see the movie, because you just can't do it the other way round, in my opinion. It's never the same. I'm so glad I read Twilight before I saw the movie, and the same reason I haven't seen the Harry Potter films, because I want to read the books first.

I just finished Time travellers Wife, I really liked it. I think the movie comes out soon here :)

Someone told me to read Too Close To Home by Linwood Barclay, so I might pick that up next.
 
I know so many people reading the Time travellers Wife must get onto that.

I just finished The Secret Life of Bees which was a nice read, only just found out it was made into a movie too.
Also just finished a book called A Long Way Gone came out a few years ago. Really good...apart from the end which kind of had one of those sudden finishes.

Right now me & a friend (a friend & I? haha) are going through the Penguin Classics collection & just started 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez which is pretty interesting thus far :)
 
StarSecret said:
I'm reading Great Expectations and it's exceeding my... expectations. For some reason I'd never picked up Dickens but now I'm glad. I have almost finished volume one! I'm reading in between my other novels for Uni so it will be a long leisurely read :)
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I read that a few years back. You should try David Copperfield one day, I like it more than Great Expectations:)

"To Kill a Mockingbird" is great! It's one of my favourites -- I read it in high school, and reread it awhile back... Definitely check that one out!
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I love that book! I also read it in high school, which was strange because I never used to read the prescribed texts in school, but then for some reason I read Mockingbird and LOVED it. I reread it about once a year and it always gets me:yes:

I also like historical biographies. I loved Antonia Fraser's book about Marie Antoinette and other similar reads - I like reading about the people and the period of the French Revolution.

Has anybody read the new Dan Brown? I'm kinda in the mood for a nice Dan Brown.
 
If anyone hasn't read "The Lovely Bones", hop to it! The movie is coming out soon. It looks awesome. The book is really sad, but amazing. I reread it like a month ago and since it deals with death, of course yeah I was thinking about Michael the whole time and it was hard....but it was kinda' cathartic in a way. Some of the insight the narrator offered made me feel a little better, like maybe that's where Michael is and maybe it's okay. =/ Great writing.
 
Raylo said:
I read that a few years back. You should try David Copperfield one day, I like it more than Great Expectations:)



I love that book! I also read it in high school, which was strange because I never used to read the prescribed texts in school, but then for some reason I read Mockingbird and LOVED it. I reread it about once a year and it always gets me:yes:

I also like historical biographies. I loved Antonia Fraser's book about Marie Antoinette and other similar reads - I like reading about the people and the period of the French Revolution.

Has anybody read the new Dan Brown? I'm kinda in the mood for a nice Dan Brown.
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Thanks for the recommendation :) I'll try to pick it up after exams, to read over the looong summer break. I have Bleak House by Dickens also, we were meant to study it for year 12, but it was too long so we cut it out in the end. I need to get more Dickens under my belt, don't think they'd let me leave with a Literature Major having not read any! haha.

Also I love the French Revolution!! I havent read personal biographies, but I've studied it :) Who are you reading about? I think Robespierre is a fascinating character.
 
Has anyone read The Shining? I want to know if it's better than the movie...although, it's always hard to go from movie to book....but i might give it a go :)
 
Naytobes said:
Has anyone read The Shining? I want to know if it's better than the movie...although, it's always hard to go from movie to book....but i might give it a go :)
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I havent read it, but I've read quite a few Stephen King novels and his writing is much more descriptive than film... he really makes you feel like you're inside the novel so I'd give it a try! :) Thanks for reminding me too! I have a copy at home that I havent opened yet.
 
Aw, it's nice to see so many people loving "To Kill a Mockingbird", that's one of my favorites. Have you guys seen the film with Gregory Peck? It's a classic.

I mostly read a lot of latin american literature for my major, which is Spanish. I love Julio Cortazar, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Pablo Neruda.

My favorite contemporary author is Haruki Murakami, whose novels I am always frantically recommending to everyone I meet!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haruki_Murakami

I adore his novels and his short stories. If anyone's intrigued and looking for something new to read, I really highly recommend his novel "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle". I've read it three times and never tire of it.
 
StarSecret said:
Thanks for the recommendation :) I'll try to pick it up after exams, to read over the looong summer break. I have Bleak House by Dickens also, we were meant to study it for year 12, but it was too long so we cut it out in the end. I need to get more Dickens under my belt, don't think they'd let me leave with a Literature Major having not read any! haha.
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Dickens is one of my favourite authors. :) A Tale of Two Cities is my favourite book by Dickens, and it's about the French revolution. Very, very good book.

My favorite contemporary author is Haruki Murakami, whose novels I am always frantically recommending to everyone I meet!
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I read Kafka on the Shore this summer which was quite interesting, though I think you have to read the book more than oncein order to properly understand it. I liked his style but I had a hard time connecting all the dots in the book. I think I'll try the Wind-up Bird Chronicle next. :)

I recently discovered Carlos Ruiz Zafón's books. I picked up his first book "The Shadow of the Wind" at an aiport by chance and I read it in one weekend, even though I'm a terribly slow reader. The book's set in Barcelona in the 40's and 50's and the main character is a boy who loves books and becomes obsessed by a book that he reads as a child. The book's hard to describe, except that it's really mesmerizing. It's partly a love story, partly the biography of an imaginary author, and partly horror. It's a really good book, and Zafón writes like he's been doing this stuff for years, except that he's so fresh and exciting, like he's writing the book out of sheer love for writing.
 
I love reading the late Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park. It's such an amazing read for the imaginative mind.
I also love reading/looking at Jame's O'Barrs graphic novel "The Crow". It's an emotional ride.
 
Strange Blues said:
I read Kafka on the Shore this summer which was quite interesting, though I think you have to read the book more than oncein order to properly understand it. I liked his style but I had a hard time connecting all the dots in the book. I think I'll try the Wind-up Bird Chronicle next. :)

I recently discovered Carlos Ruiz Zafón's books. I picked up his first book "The Shadow of the Wind" at an aiport by chance and I read it in one weekend, even though I'm a terribly slow reader. The book's set in Barcelona in the 40's and 50's and the main character is a boy who loves books and becomes obsessed by a book that he reads as a child. The book's hard to describe, except that it's really mesmerizing. It's partly a love story, partly the biography of an imaginary author, and partly horror. It's a really good book, and Zafón writes like he's been doing this stuff for years, except that he's so fresh and exciting, like he's writing the book out of sheer love for writing.
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Yeah, Kafka on the Shore is a bit scattered and weird, but I adore that book. I've read it twice, and it really does make more sense each time you read it. You being to connect the dots. It's fun. I love stories like that.

I always suggest The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle as an intro to Murakami's work because I feel like it's the most accessible and least abstract. I also just love the characters.

That Carlos Ruiz Zafon book sounds RIGHT up my alley...I am going to run to the library later and search for it. Thanks so much for mentioning it! Is it in Spanish originally? Because I'd love to read it in both languages.

I've been lacking new things to read ever since I completed the Murakami collection. :)
 
littlesparrow said:
That Carlos Ruiz Zafon book sounds RIGHT up my alley...I am going to run to the library later and search for it. Thanks so much for mentioning it! Is it in Spanish originally? Because I'd love to read it in both languages.

I've been lacking new things to read ever since I completed the Murakami collection. :)
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Yep, the Zafón book was originally published in Spanish (la sombra del viento). He's also got another book in English and Spanish called The Angels' Game, and he's also written some books for young readers. :) I hope you enjoy them!
 
Strange Blues said:
Yep, the Zafón book was originally published in Spanish (la sombra del viento). He's also got another book in English and Spanish called The Angels' Game, and he's also written some books for young readers. :) I hope you enjoy them!
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Aw, great. Thanks. :)
 
I've just started reading "Confessions of a Shopaholic" and "Bloodsucking Fiends", which was recommended to me by a friend... So far, they both seem okay..
 
I just read A Doll's House by Ibsen and The Cherry Orhcard by Chekhov... then wrote my final paper on them

I really enjoyed them, but writing the paper was tiresome!
 
I'm reading 2 books at the moment.

"The Voice of Knowledge" by Don Miguel Ruiz

and the other is one I felt like re-reading for the millionth time about Marilyn Monroe, it also has some of her final pictures ever taken.

"Marilyn" by Gloria Steinem & George Barris
 
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