Tuesday Book Club
Yay! I read one of the books on my end-of-year list! Love it when I actually do what I say I want to do.
Lisey’s Story by Stephen King was AMAZING. Complex and shocking, a complete surprise from the very beginning. I stayed up until 11:00 three nights in a row, then took off some more time yesterday to finish it. It had me in its grip. Not only is the story itself incredible, but there are so many fun details from a famous writer’s life–and you have to think at least some of that must come from Stephen King’s own life. Or so we can suppose.
Also read Karen Joy Fowler’s The Jane Austen Book Club because I saw the movie and thought it was cute. The book was cute, too, and better than the movie, but Stephen King wins this week’s round.
How about you guys?
Technorati Tags: Tuesday Book Club, Book Clubs, Reading Clubs, Books, Reading, Book Recommendations, Book Reviews, Stephen King, Lisey’s Story, Karen Joy Fowler, Jane Austen Book Club
November 6th, 2007 at 5:42 am
I finally finished Evil Genius, my bedtime, read it to myself, one chapter at a time book. Then I went back to my usual “gulp it down” style and read How to Steal a Dog by Barbara O’Connor. I loved it. She writes perfect middle grade: honest but not heavy, and it’s chock-full of lovely detail and great action. AND it has a dog, Robin!
Now I’m on to my four books for the end of the year list.
November 6th, 2007 at 6:08 am
I’ve been pressed for time lately, but I did manage to finish Dovey Coe by O’Roark. I most enjoyed the voice of the heroine, a mountain girl unafraid to speak her mind. The book was a simple, middle grade reader with good pacing.
November 6th, 2007 at 7:21 am
I have not read Stephen King in a very long time. I will add Lisey’s Story to my must read list. I read Stumptown by Carol Gorman. I wished I had read it before we decided on our district readers’ choice nominations. I would have selected it over some others. I started Astrid and Veronika for this month’s book club. The writing is very lyrical thus far.
November 6th, 2007 at 7:24 am
Yesterday I finished Rebel Angels by Libba Bray. I quite enjoyed it & I’m looking forward to the next book in the series.
November 6th, 2007 at 8:12 am
Go read Tom Perrotta’s The Abstinence Teacher. No, don’t ask me why. Don’t sit there with a blank look on your face. Just go read it already.
It’s funny, sad, deep, painful, insightful (and even inciteful…). A magnificent book. Best of all, reading it, it seems so EFFORTLESS, as if Tom just sat down and the book ran out of him in a steady gush.
A quick read, so what are you waiting for?
November 6th, 2007 at 8:36 am
Barry, you’re bossy, but I think I will read it. I know what it’s about, and it sounds like the kind of thing I need to read.
Kimmy, I haven’t read any of those yet. I need to! Maybe that will start off next year’s list.
Jone, I often can’t read Stephen King because he’s too scary for me, but this book has so much going for it I decided to put up with my elevated heart rate. It’s really, really wonderful.
Kelley, love the description of that book! I’m all for any story about a girl unafraid to speak her mind. Thanks for the tip.
Sara, a dog book? Yeah, you know I need to know about those. Glad to hear you’re turning to your end-of-year list. Do you realize it’s already a week into November? What’s happened to the year?
November 6th, 2007 at 8:38 am
I am reading Run by Ann Patchett, her new novel. And here’s why I need to re-evaluate my blog priorities: This book was not sent to me by a publisher or an author, and I have a huge, HUGE stack of books that were, but I am gulping this book down as if I’m doing something really, really bad. My husband rolled his eyes at me (lovingly) last night and told me to just. read. it. . . . and enjoy it. (I think Kelly H. is on to something when she talks about giving up review copies, though I don’t know if I’m quite ready for that). Anyway, I shouldn’t feel like it’s a guilty pleasure to read a novel a publisher didn’t send to me, but regardless, it is GREAT. Am I surprised? Nah. It’s dear, sweet, brilliant Ann Patchett.
November 6th, 2007 at 8:40 am
I, too, finished reading Rebel Angels last night. It was really good! I’m starting Twilight now, which Kelley lent to me.
November 6th, 2007 at 8:52 am
See, Jules, I look at it another way: that book is obviously so great (haven’t read it yet, but boy do I love Ann Patchett’s writing) that you were willing to put aside all reason and obligation so you could give yourself that treat. What a wonderful recommendation for a book! Please release any guilt. Books are brain candy. And didn’t you read my post yesterday about giving up the shoulds?
Katie, you’re going to eat Twilight right up. Such a girl book.
November 6th, 2007 at 9:07 am
Glad you liked Lisey’s Story,Robin. It’s such a great book,one of the better ones that King has written lately.
So,I went to a rummage sale on Saturday and brought five,yes,five new books(I have a probelm,I know). Here’s what I got:
Doctor Zhivago:I’ve never read it or seen the movie(just added it to the Netflix queue)and it’s about time I did both.
Katherine: Anya Seton is one of those authors who I stockpiled their work and then take my time to get to. I do have a paperback of Katherine but this was a hardcover that had a coat of arms enbossed on the front and back cover,plus a genealogy chart as the end papers-hard to resist!
Chez Pavan: All I know about this book is that it was written by Richard Llewellyn,who wrote How Green Was My Valley,and it’s a novel about a French hotel/restaurant. It’s a really worn out library copy that just seemed to need me,like that Christmas tree Charlie Brown chose for the play.
Teacher Man: I have Angela’s Ashes and Tis but haven’t gotten around to the last memoir of McCourt’s trilogy. Well,the price was right!
Cod,a biography of the fish that changed the world: Yes,this is a history of cod but I’ve heard good things about it over the years.
As to something I did finish,Tastes Like Cuba by Eduardo Marchardo is a very heartfelt memoir,about a Cuban American playwright whose memories of the past are mixed with his love of food.
November 6th, 2007 at 9:21 am
Don’t mean to be bossy. But when you read something THAT GOOD, you want to share it with the world.
November 6th, 2007 at 9:26 am
I haven’t finished reading any books, but have started a couple that seem good so far.
Tamar by Mal Peet
Girl in a Cage by Jane Yolen
November 6th, 2007 at 11:57 am
Did I mention that your site looks funny on a pocket browser? only 1 word per line.
November 6th, 2007 at 1:59 pm
I bought Lisey’s Story recently at an airport and it is in the pile-now I know I should move it closer to the top of the pile.
I finished reading (MY PERSONALLY SIGNED!) Boy Toy by Barry, and WOW. Just WOW and more WOW. WOW.
I also finished Happiness Is A Choice by Drs. Frank Minirth and Paul Meier. The complete opposite of WOW. If you think religion and evolution make for some conflicted bedfellows, you ought to give religion and psychiatry a read. To be fair, it is an older and somewhat out dated book and I kind of read it for a hoot, but I was distressed thinking of how many people could have read this book when it was written or are reading it now and actually ‘believed’ it-I know there are people out there who are still preaching this kind of medicine. Scary.
November 6th, 2007 at 2:33 pm
I finished (and reviewed on my blog) The View from the Cherry Tree by Willo Davis Roberts. It was very fun — and a quick read too.
November 6th, 2007 at 5:43 pm
I read Eric Rex: The Dragon’s Eye by Kaza Kingsley and it is wonderful!!! My husband (who loved it) made me read it, and I’m glad he did. It is PERFECT for fans of Harry Potter, and great for all ages. The second book is Eric Rex: The Monsters of Otherness.
I finished the audiobook of Skulduggery Pleasant. I miss it, particularly the narrator’s lovely Irish accent.
Barry is very persuasive! He makes me want to ditch my large “must read NOW” pile… must resist… must resist…
November 6th, 2007 at 6:24 pm
I read ‘Write is a Verb’—lots of useful stuff in there if one happens to be stuck in his or her writing, or is having trouble even writing a book.
November 6th, 2007 at 7:36 pm
I resigned from one of my reviewing jobs at the beginning of last week because I felt like I just didn’t want to read anything I SHOULD anymore, only things I WANT.
*dances around room with joy*
Okay, back. To celebrate this newfound freedom, I finally read Letters from Rapunzel by our very own Sara, and I loved it. It resonated, and I really, really wish books like this had been around when I was a kid. The second book I’ve started is Blackbringer by Laini Taylor. It’s a big book, and I’m only about a quarter of the way in, but I’m enjoying the heck out of it. Taylor chooses her words with precision, and the plot keeps a-zipping along.
November 6th, 2007 at 7:48 pm
I read Gemma Malley’s The Declaration, Sara Zarr’s Story of a Girl and Rose Kent’s Kimchi and Calamari over the past few days (November is off to a good start for reading). All good, in different ways. Right now I’m reading Olivia Kidney (which is not one of my high-pressure review titles, but one I picked up in the bookstore the other day, because I’ve been in a bit of an earlier middle grade mood ever since I read Linda Urban’s A Crooked Kind of Perfect and Marlane Kennedy’s Me and the Pumkin Queen (both of which are SO wonderful).
I do have Lisey’s Story on my TBR list. Sometime when I have a trip and need a longer book… Glad to hear the positive reviews, because it has sounded like something I would like. I don’t like everything Stephen King writes, but some of his books I really like (The Stand and The Shining, especially). Plus, you know, I support him because he’s such a big Red Sox fan.
November 6th, 2007 at 8:49 pm
Let’s see! I finished a Certain Slant of Light, and a biography of Albert Einstein! The firts I thought I liked it as far as writing goes but I really started to think I may have almost hated it there at the end… XD I dunno just to intence for me I guess….
the biography was good!
November 6th, 2007 at 10:41 pm
My grandmother is on my case to read “adult” books, rather than the YA books I usually read. She has a good point about my knowing about different kinds of books since I’m in library school. Any advice on which “adult” books are not filled with murder, mystery, and/or sex? I mean it’s ok if they have some of those things, but I like a good story to go along with it.
November 7th, 2007 at 5:02 am
Katie,
Nicholas Sparks and Beverly Lewis are a couple you could start with.
November 7th, 2007 at 5:51 am
@Deborah: many thanks! Glad you liked it.
November 7th, 2007 at 8:27 am
I finished the audiobook of CS Lewis’s Surprised By Joy yesterday. I think I need to read the paper version to help it sink in, though. It’s too easy to get distracted in the car and miss an entire paragraph.
November 7th, 2007 at 6:22 pm
Uhhh… Yeah… Really, in a car, technically it would be the audiobook that is the distraction…
November 7th, 2007 at 6:22 pm
Katie (sister), don’t read Lisey’s Story. It’s going to be too harsh to fit your criteria. In addition to what Judy suggested, I’d try Bel Canto by Ann Patchett. Beautiful book–and some great writing.
Katie A., I’ve never even heard of that C.S. Lewis book. Did you like? Must have, or you wouldn’t be thinking of getting the paper version. What’s it about?
Dylan, I like that you read a bio of Einstein! He’s such a cool guy (uh, yeah, that’s an understatement).
Jen, I’d say November is off to a great reading start! You are definitely in the flow. As for Lisey’s Story, I agree with you that I don’t like all of King’s work–mainly because I’m too chicken to read his scary stuff–and there are definitely scary part in this one, but it’s such a great read overall, you’ll just have to put up with some missed sleep for a few nights.
Adrienne, congratulations on your new freedom! Happy dance away! And how great that you’re using your time to read Sara’s and Laini’s books. You’re right about Sara’s, and I can’t wait for you to finish Laini’s–so excellent.
Judy, thanks for the tip on a good writing book. I’ll add that to the list.
Michelle, an Irish accent on that audio book? Be still my heart! I was going to read it in paper, but maybe now I’ll switch. Why not have the treat?
Alysa, thanks for chiming in! Welcome!
Deborah, I agree with all your WOWs about Boy Toy. Absolutely. That psych book you read sounds . . . interesting. I’m more interested in your reaction to it. Really got your fur up, huh?
Patrick, so we all look skinnier on the pocket browser? Sweet!
Vivian, be sure to tell us how you like those. I’m interested in both.
Lady T, what can I say? You gorged! How wonderful! Doctor Zhivago is going to take you quite a while, if the length of the movie is any indication. But what a nice long winter treat for yourself. SO romantic.
November 7th, 2007 at 9:36 pm
yeah he was! At first I didn’t like him very much but then I liked him more in the end!
I’ve read some for school and so far I like Newton the best! And George Washington Carver the least XD…
November 8th, 2007 at 8:44 am
It’s the story of his conversion, although much of the book is spent explaining how he came to build up certain prejudices that he later dismissed in the process of conversion. It’s fifteen chapters and everything leads up to chapter 15.
I love CS Lewis’s non-fiction.
November 8th, 2007 at 1:25 pm
Katie, Kelley’s sister, try anything by Tracy Chevalier, Mark Helprin (especially Winter’s Tale), Neil Gaiman, Ursula Hegi, Gwyn Hyman Rubio, Amy Tan, Daphne DuMaurier, John Steinbeck (my all time fave), Sue Monk Kidd, Mary Stewart, Shirley Jackson . . . I better stop now or I’ll end up doing an energizer bunny routine . . .