Comments on: What book have you loved lately?

By: bj

bj — Mon, 01 May 2006 00:19:04 +0000

Thanks, Emily! I love good historical fiction. I wish Rita Mae Brown would dig into that again . . . oh and if you like scary and can find a copy, my all-time favorite scary novel is “The Elementals” by Michael McDowell (there’s actually a used copy available on Amazon right now.) I couldn’t walk on the sand for a couple years after that one without feeling eyes on the back of my neck. It’s the first full book my son read voluntarily after he saw how much re-reading it spooked me out. He never much read until that, now he’s as nuts about books as the rest of the family.

Gothics . . . “We Have Always Lived in the Castle” and “Hill House”– oh yeah. And I’ve always had a soft spot for Daphne DuMaurier. And for the ultimate in Fantasy combined with Gothic, it’s Mervyn Peake’s Ghormenghast Trilogy.

By: Emily

Emily — Wed, 26 Apr 2006 02:34:43 +0000

I have two- The Romance of the Forest, Anne Radciffe– oh what a delightful entree into the sublime horror of GOTHIC NOVELS! oOoooOOOHhhh….
AND
Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen– which makes fun of all of my goosebumps and wide eyes from the previous novel!! Plus, don’t you just love Jane Austen?

(PS another good historical novelist a la Chevalier: Emma Donoghue- quality)

By: Todd

Todd — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 17:33:52 +0000

I just read The Memory of Running by Ron McLarty. I was intrigued by hearing that the former actor/playwright had tried and tried to sell this book, but had failed until his self-funded audiobook release of the title recieved a critical endorsement from Stephen King. Then, bingo, sales took off.

A great, human story that I for one could relate to, the book really satisfied.

By: bj

bj — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 01:16:02 +0000

Did I hear my name mentioned?

I’ve read two by Tracy Chevalier lately. Tracy is an incredible historical novelist, who really captures whatever era it is she’s writing about. The first was “The Girl with a Pearl Earring” which is a fictional story about the girl who modeled for the painting by Vermeer. The second was “Falling Angels” which is a story of three families during the time of the Suffragette Movement in England, told from the POVs of each of the three families’ members at different times, so we get a lot of different opinions of what’s going on.

There are also a few books I keep around for periodic re-reading. John Steinbeck’s “East of Eden” has to be my all time fave, followed closely by “Franny and Zooey” by Salinger, and also “Winter’s Tale” by Mark Helprin, which was the most incredibly prophetic book of New York. Oh, and I sometimes sneak back even further to an Oz book or two, or one of the Seuss treasures.

And I threw out my TV. With as many books as you guys write who needs a TV?

By: Barry

Barry — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 21:23:10 +0000

I hate this question because you would think that I could just rattle off a million books, but for some reason whenever it’s asked, I always blank out.

Fortunately, technology keeps me sane — I have a spreadsheet of cool books I’ve read. (Stop laughing!)

Truly awesome books: The first two volumes of the Everworld series by K.A. Applegate. The series is tough to find now (I’m trying to find volume 3, which is why I haven’t finished it yet), but those first two books just blew me away. A whirlwind combination of mythology, action, teenage angst, and slam-bang storytelling. Kick-ass stuff.