Tuesday Book Club
I swear, the pressure of the Tuesday Book Club! It made me sit in my room for hours yesterday reading so I could report in.
Bwaa-ha-ha. The book club has done exactly what I hoped it would do for me. Little Slacker Girl.
So I’m happy to report I finished John Green’s Looking for Alaska, and while I truly did love it–wonderful writing, great characters, satisfying story–I have to admit (and I’ve been told I’m in the minority here) that I liked An Abundance of Katherines better. I just find that lately I prefer the funny. Maybe it’s just a phase, maybe not. But I’m still grateful to John Green for putting out in the world two outstanding novels. Thanks, J.
That’s my report. Yours?
Technorati Tags: Tuesday Book Club, Reading, Reading Clubs, Books, Book Clubs, Reading Lists, Book Recommendations, Book Reviews, Young Adult Novels, Young Adult Fiction, John Green, Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines
I finished Bourne Ultimatum(Book 3) because the movie is coming out soon. I was pretty convinced I had read Bourne Supremacy(Book 2), because I had seen that movie. Now, I’m beginning to think I have only read Bourne Identity.
Sort of weird that I have read book 1 and 3 but not 2 and that the movie is a significant departure from the book, similar to Jurassic Park which was close in the first book/movie, but drifted in book 2 and 3, from what I recall.
Well, I read my 50th book on Saturday and last night I hit number 52! I really love to read!
First I read Sorcery and Cecelia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer. So cute! The book is about two cousins living in 1800s England and they write letters back and forth to each other about their dealing with men and witchcraft. It’s a YA book and I really liked it!
After that was All Shook Up by Susan Andersen. It was a fun little romance (she’s one of my favorite romance authors). Then I read Jaid Black’s The Best of Jaid Black. She writes Erotic Fiction. The book was three short novellas and I read it all in one day. Very steamy!
Lastly, I finished a book last night that I started months ago and kind of forgot about. It was Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi. It was an autobiography in graphic novel format about Satrapi’s life during the Islamic Revolution. It was very good!
And Looking for Alaska is on my TBR pile. I keep hearing awesome things about it.
You have no idea how happy I am to finally be able to report again!
I read Stray by Rachel Vincent last week. (I have two other books that I began and need/want to finish.)
Whew.
I hit a triple this week: The P.L.A.I.N. Janes by Cecil Castellucci, Twilight by Stephanie Meyer, and The Girl with the Silver Eyes by Willo Davis Roberts, a re-read from my youth, and just as much fun as when I was a kid.
Barry…I just looked up The P.L.A.I.N. Janes! Wow! That looks so good! I’m going to have to read it now =)
I finished up Coffee at Luke’s,a collection of essays about Gilmore Girls edited by Jennifer Cruise(I haven’t read any of Cruise’s novels but maybe I should,since she also edited another anthology I liked,Flirting with Pride and Prejudice). Christen, I saw a story online last week at Galleycat,about Persepolis as an animated film that will be shown at Cannes this year. There’s even a YouTube clip of the movie(which is in French):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUp9o_CNo04
The sequel,Persepolis 2,is just as good.
I finished An Abundance of Katherines, too. I have to admit, I laughed the hardest when…well, when that old lady gleefully remarks that her diapers are paid for and then laughs “disturbingly hard.” Is that bad of me??? I also hate to admit that I found the Thunderstick commentary hilarious. But then, I totally crack up at Jackass. I don’t mean to, and I’m so embarassed, but I can’t look away, and I can’t stop laughing.
On the whole, though, I’m an Alaska fan. Because I was consumed by it as I read. “Katherines” I read…like a writer. You know, analyzing and observing every little thing. That annoys me when I do that, because I prefer to be transported, but sometimes, my writer brain won’t turn off.
Lady T! Thank you for the clip!
I’ll have to go read the sequel now!
Lady T, for sure check out some Jennifer Crusie books. She is SO funny. Those would definitely fit within your beach reading category.
Barry, can’t wait to read P.L.A.I.N. Janes! My copy is already in the mail on its way to me.
Sara, I laughed out loud at a lot of stuff in Abundance of Katherines, too, but I am not ashamed. I mean, it’s not like laughing at Borat, which we all agree is so wrong, but we can’t help ourselves.
Heather, YAY!! This book party is never meant to instill guilt in anyone, but I totally understand how you feel. That’s why I was reading like a fiend yesterday afternoon so I’d have something to report. I’m happy for you that you read a book you enjoyed!
Patrick, I really enjoy those movies, but haven’t read any of the books. Are you recommending them?
Christen, 52!! Outstanding! You’ve done so well so far, I know you can get to 100, even though you’re not reading for school anymore. Go, Christen!
Christen & Robin: You’ll enjoy Janes. Try Cecil’s other new book, Beige, too.
I’m in the “Alaska was better than Katherines camp,” but not by much.
Well, I can only recommend the first and the third. I do recommend them, but disassociate what you know from the movies. I am going to re-read the first and then read the second.
I re-read Dry by Augusten Burroughs. It was, of course, fabulous. I chose it for my booktalk at work, not really thinking until yesterday, “Will these 65+ year old women really want to read about drug use, alcohol abuse, and gay sex?” But they really seemed to dig it! The hour flew by, people actually contributed to the conversation, and I fell more in love with Augusten, my secret gay boyfriend.
Started Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson last night and will probably finish it today, so it counts!
Thanks, Patrick. Good to know.
Molly, sounds like you have a pretty cool book group. I wouldn’t have thought it was obvious that they’d like that book, either. And thanks for revealing your secret crush on AB. Now it’s all over the Web.
Patrick… I read the first two, but I had some trouble following all of the details. Also, I originally read the books before the movies came out and I was so upset by how different the movies were from the books. I was *especially* upset with what they did with Jason’s wife in the second movie!!
Oh well…
Oooh, you’ve finished Looking for Alaska? Does that mean your list is free for Inkheart?
I went on an absolute book BINGE this week, following a celebratory birthday money-spending session at the Books-A-Million. I bought and finished Fullmetal Alchemist volume 12 (gotta include it), Pretties, and Specials, and may I say for the record that Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies trilogy is cool, creepy, and utterly fabulous.
Still rereading Artemis Fowl – I’m on Opal Deception – and I’ve started another of my binge purchases, Mister Monday by the wonderful and astounding Garth Nix.
Miri, you crack. Me. Up. But obviously your reminders are necessary, because Inkheart already flew right out of my brain.
I’ll get it this week. I promise! Thanks for the reminder!
Molly: I might have to fight you over AB. I just finished listening to his latest one (I’m so brain dead right now I can’t remember the title. Oh yeah, Possible Side Effects.) I LOVE Dry though–one of my favorites.
Let’s see: Today I had a meeting a work, had to take a cat to a kindergarten classroom (Yeah, he loved it), drive 2 kids an hour each way to violin/skating lessons, and attend a District Wide Band Concert. So, not one word was read today.
But, in general, I’m enjoying Justine Larbalestier’s “Magic Series”
Back to trying to clear through e-mails….
“had to take a cat to a kindergarten classroom (Yeah, he loved it)”
*snort*
I just started Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life, after reading The Watchman, by Robert Crais, over the weekend. But, oh, my to be read stack is gigantic. Hopefully over Memorial Day weekend I’ll have more time for books.
Don’t you love three-day weekends for just that reason? Heavenly to sit there one whole extra day and read, read, read. Good luck with your stack, Jen!
Lemonade Mouth by Mark Peter Hughes, author of I Am the Wallpaper
Jen: Jeremy is a great story.
Kelly: Meow.
Little Willow, thanks for checking in. Your reading list always intrigues (and tempts) me.