The Book Club
 

Here is a place for the discussion of literature....in all its forms. From the Classics to the latest fiction, cookbooks to sappy romance.

so....who starts?

it's not literature... But he did say cookbook... I just bought Rachel Ray 365: No Repeats cookbook... Lots of great recipes, all take less than 30 minutes to complete. She's got a lot of 'master' type recipes then suggestions to make some changes to it so you can easily create a repitiore of easy, but very tasty recipes. I actually like this cookbook because she doesn't always give exact amounts.. which is how I cook... I tend to just throw stuff in - though it's funny to read in a cookbook, "twice around the pan" for an amount of olive oil - and her use of EVOO instead of olive oil is a little annoying... But she writes how she seems to be on the food network - and I'm not sure there are 365 unique recipes... but I was looking for something different cause i'm tired of cooking the same things... all in all - -good purchase... three out of four stars...

I'll admit we have yet to crack the hour mark on those 30-minute recipes.

Not sure if this counts either, but I just finished reading "Setting Limits for your Strong-Willed Child", which will hopefully help us improve the quality of our lives :-)

I'm just starting A History of God by Karen Armstrong, which I've been looking forward to.

fwiw, my all-time favorite novel is Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce

Mal, that's exactly why I like Rachael Ray. Nothin' exact about her recipes, just do what tastes good :)

Might have to buy this one...

That is an incredibly interesting book. It bogs down a bit in a few places, in my opinion, but if you can power through...well, like I said, it's a very interesting book. I also recommend Holy War and her book on Jerusalem.

Currently, I'm reading a compilation of 'Bertie Wooster & Jeeves' stories by P.G. Wodehouse (The Return of Jeeves...Bertie Wooster see it through...). Hugh Laurie, who played Bertie Wooster in a series for the BBC, recommended them in a magazine article.

I just finished the second part of the Dark Tower series. Amazing books. I really look forward to starting the third one, but I am going to read Don Quixote for my friend. He loves the book and told me I have to read it so I am going to humor him. So far its humerous and not too hard of a read, but I do have to go a little bit slower with it than I did with the Drawing of the Three.

I would definitely recommend the dark tower series, at least so far.

I just finished Tom Wolfe's new(ish) "I Am Charlotte Simmons." I liked it, as an interesting interpretation of the modern college experience. And some of the characters were incredibly well-drawn and there were some fantastic moments. And, true to Wolfe form, he runs circles around modern grammatical use.

I only have a few complaints. Firstly, it ended far too abruptly, (but that's a problem I'm finding more and more, especially with authors like Wolfe and Maguire.) Secondly, seeing as I'm greek, the blatant anti-greek sentiment in the book was hard for me to swallow, but probably generally truthful in the end.

Lastly, and most frustrating, was how much I hated the main character (Charlotte, naturally.) When it comes to main characters, there has to be an element of love. I don't mean a romantic entanglement, I mean that we as readers need to empathize and care for the character. We can like them, or we can love to hate them, but there has to be some element of theirs to which we are attracted. Charlotte was incredibly well-written. She was, as all great characters are, flawed. But her flaws were just too great. I hated her. She was intelligent, but spiteful towards those less intelligent, wanted everyone to love her, but in turn, was hateful towards everyone, and incredibly judgemental. She used people, and even in the last two pages of the book, she almost admits she hasn't changed at all in that regard. It wasn't even fun to hate her as a character. She was the biggest disappointment in the whole novel, by far.

So, overall, it's an interesting character-study of the instution of college itself, but prepared to want to scream at the main character as you read it.

Oh, I will be stopping by this thread frequently for ideas! Thanks for the Rachel Ray cookbook tip, Mal, I'm all over that.

Currently, I'm reading the latest from Diana Gabaldon. If you are a history buff AND don't mind a little supernatural element, then jump on these. The first book is "Outlander" and most places have it mis-marked as a romance. It has romantic elements, certainly, but it's a whole lot more than that. The first couple books start in 1740's Scotland, and move to England, France, the Caribbean, and then the Colonies. Right now, in the (I *think*) 5th book, we're in the Colonies right before the War for Independence.

Why I love these books: they bring the past alive in a real, visceral sense; it's not just what they're wearing, but how things smell, the textures, the sights and sounds, the beauty and the gross in life. I am not a fan of books that spend too much time describing every last detail either - this feels like a natural progression, as if you were sitting in the person's head noticing what they notice.
The characters are strong, with each of them growing throughout the books they live in. They're engaging and funny and human, all at once. This is FICTION, but I find myself often wondering what the various characters might think of our world now. That's how real they become. Because the main characters, like Claire (and later, others, but I won't spoil it for you), are not from the 1700's either, seeing things from their eyes gives an interesting perspective on the past.

LOVE THESE BOOKS. I do.

I need to get on re-reading them from the beginning--I have all of them up through Fiery Cross but I think it'd be nice to read them again all the way through.

I'm going to have to get digging in boxes, though...they're buried somewhere.

I agree completely with what you've said, JustJess--Gabaldon has a style that feels authentic. You can tell she knows her shit, and that's what makes it easy to suspend disbelief about other things.

Just consumed "Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed" by Jared Diamond. It is an excellent exploration of both ancient and modern societies and why some succeed and some fail. It is a really good read and an important one for anyone concerned with where the world and their nation is headed.

Now reading a bit of fluff for a change - "Stonehenge" by Bernard Cornwell.

As you can see from my sig, I am a huge fan of The Dark Tower. I would love to keep up with your progress if you are so inclined.. I started the series in the late 80s and finished it last Jan... but am on the second book again. So damn good.


As a post script, I lobbied to name our dog after a character, but my wife won.. we have Emma as her name.

I have just finished Anne Bishops last book called Sebastian. It's a goooooodd book. It is on the romance side of the fence but there is enough dark fantasy and the constent strugggle of light vs. dark to make it a great read.(I consider it fantasy) She dosent go into many of the "gory" details, but the main character is half incubi(?) half human ... Its a really good read... I like her dark jewel triology better but i highly doubt there will ever be anything that tops that on my list. This book is worth getting your hands on it will take you to a landscape nothing like our own but you will feel familure with it. 437 pages of page turning excitment

On the theme of discussing literature and a book club, do y'all think it would be feasible to create a book club on TFP(if we had enough interest) such that we would choose a book and read it together and discuss it while we go along?

Of course, I think it's a great idea, maybe about a book a month divided up so we only discuss sections at a time, then about a week after we finish before we announce the next book. Right now I'm reading Milton's Paradise Lost for the first time(a reference to it in The Sea Wolf by Jack London sparked my interest). Not that we have to start with me, but it's a suggestion, if any of you like the idea I'm more than open to suggestions about what to read next to get this rolling.

I could read her books all day long (and sometimes do lol) I have to say though that the first one is my ab fav of the series

I've been spending my time rereading every book Victoria Holt ever wrote

THE DAVINCI CODE
 

Has anyone read this book yet? And if so was it a good read?
Its all i've heard about lately ... it has me curious.

My last read was a bio of Dany Kane, "Hell's Witness"
An interesting peak into their sub culture. I would recommend
it if you are into that kind of thing.

Favorite of mine would be Tolkien's LOTR's, (and the Hobbit, of course).

I'm reading Edvard Radzinsky's "Alexander II: The Last Great Tsar". Its very interesting, and there are even some anecdotes that he's found that are new to me (such as the tsarina's crown falling off during the coronation ceremony), and he's drawing some very interesting paralells between Alexander and Gorbachev. The translator's chosen to keep the words "glastnost" and "perestroika" unitalicized in the text throughout which is less distracting that I would normally find. However, the translator (Bouis) hasn't corrected some of the sentence structure that's acceptable in Russian but not English, and that's really distracting at times.

Since I realize that not everyone is the Russofile that I am, Alexander II ruled from 1859 to 1881 and was the one who freed the serfs, introduced the jury system to Russian law and reformed the army. He was assassinated by a group called "The People's Will" as he was about to transform Russia into a constitutional monarchy, although that was unknown to the general population at the time.

Davinci code? Thought it was about the worst book I've ever read. No exageration, it was abysmal.

anyone here who has read paolo coelho books? the alchemist is my favorite!

Books, books and more books.
 

DaVinci Code... I read it and adored it! It is a brilliant and well thought out work of fiction (in my opinion which is just that mind you... my opinion). It makes you think and promotes a healthy workout of brain cell synapses.
If you liked DaVinci code, Mr. Brown has written 3 other books as well. The best in my opinion (again only my opinion) being Angels and Demons. (Another good mind screw.)

I recently read a book by a "new to me" author named Chuck Palahniuk, the books title is "haunted". Alas, it is not for the faint of heart, as in the back it states that when he read a short excerpt from the book many people fainted. The book itself is eloquently written and extremely messy, if you will with blood guts (literally) and gore. Definately not for the faint of heart!

I'm just getting started with Collapse. Jared Diamond is a genius and his earlier book Guns, Germs and Steel changed a lot of my thinking in a good way.

I would love to participate in this. Problem is we need to seperate them into genre so to peak interest.

I think Collapse is a more relevant and interesting read, and less preachy than Guns. But both are must reads for anyone interested in history and knowing how we got to where we are and where we might be going.

I have a third book of his The Third Chimpanzee which is OK, but not comparable to the other two.

My wife reccomended "Five People You Meet in Heaven" and I read the first 120 pages in one sitting (earlier today) and will probably finish tonight.

the made for tv movie wasn't near as good as the book - but it was still good.

I loved that book - really made you think... was a little sappy but it's kind of expected from the author... :D I still wonder who the five people I meet in heaven (should I get there) will be - and who I will be on the welcoming committee for... Enjoy it.

I wanted to get "Choke" at the library but it was out, so I picked up the latest Stephen King novel, "Cell". So far it's basically "The Stand" meets "Night of the Living Dead", but it's a quick read (I'm 120 pages in already) and not terrible so far.

"Cell" wasnt half bad but I still say "From A Buick 8" is Stephen Kings best work. "Choke" was funny but not nearly as good as "Haunted" by the same author.
I am currently reading "Killer Dreams" by Iris Johansen and am fairly disappointed as it mimics another of her novels. I have higher hopes for "The Husband" by Dean Koontz which is next on my list.

I recently read "Anal Health and Pleasure". I was surprised at what a neat book it was. I was looking for ideas for a bit of diff'rent lovin' but it turns out to have all sorts of neat things in it about how to feel better about you bum, how to fix constipation and hemorrhoids, and just be heappy and healthy in general. It talks about power gradients in sexual relationships too, and that has actually helped me to get along better with the wife and, as a spill oer effect, to be nicer to my kids.

After that, I re-read the 6 Michael Moorcock "Corum" books, and realized that they're just a short step up from Edgar Rice Burroughs, and then Neal Gaiman's "Neverwhere", which is awseome.

Right now, I am poking through Gore Vidal's "Burr", which may not end up holding my attention.

I recently stumbled across a book called "The complete Idiots Guide to Stepparenting". I tell ya what, from dating someone with kids to learning the ropes on how to deal with children in general, it is a very funny and straight up book. It informs you on many of the "games" kids play and bring to light things such as; you can't tell little Jane she cant have nookie til shes married yet you have your unmarried significant other spend the night so you CAN. I'm only a few pages in but its great for learning and laughing... 2 elements that help you remember whats important.

I loved all that Moorcock stuff years ago. Especially the Corum and Elric stuff. Good fun.

I agree that Cell was only okay, but we disagree on From a Buick 8. I would rank it in the bottom of his work. I've read nearly every Stephen King book and I would rank the Dark Tower Series, The Stand and It was his best

Call me crazy (since I certainly am) but I have tried 3 times to read the first of the dark tower series and I just cant get into it. I did love "the stand" though and "it" was fabulous. Alas, variety is the spice of life and to everyone their own taste. :D

Book 1 of the Dark Tower is basically a 150 page prologue. Books 2 and 3 are the best

If youve ever read Dean Koontz I think his best ever books were "Watchers" which 2 terrible movies have been made and "Phantoms"

just stumbled across my copy of Eleanor Rigby by canadian author Douglas Coupland... it is slightly far fetched, like all of his work, but uyses his extreme veiws of reality to really connect to you through the fiction. It's just as the book would suggest, a lonely celebration.

"The Husband" Dean Koontz. I loved it! Marvelously well written positively nail biting and so engrossing that I finished it by candlelight in a power outage last night.

ooh i saw that book in the store the other day and was gonna get it- it soudned good but his books of late has just been so bad, my groupiedom on his has waned... guess i'll have to get back into the spirit of it again..

I am debating wether I should start another novel or dip into all that leftover yarn and make something..... Ok I will read another book... "Wither" by J.G. Passarella... we shall see how this one works.

If you like Sci-Fi novels I would definitely suggest "The Old Man's War" John Sciali. It was a great read, very reminiscent of "Starship Troopers" but not in a bad way.

Just read the first Harry Potter.... I could not put it down... havent been to bed all night and cant wait to start the second. The movie left out so much! The books are definately a treat for child and adult alike and answer many questions the movie doesnt.
It has been a long time since a book has sucked me in so completely.