Hey!! Let's get some action going! What are we reading?

[The Terminator]

Originally Posted by maianhvk

I just finished Of Mice and Men and since it was so good I think I'm reading The Grapes of Wrath next.

That was a great book, I read it last year. I haven't seen the movie though, in my mind the book was too short to have a full blown movie made out of it.

[orlok]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Have you read The Count of Monte Cristo? Great read.

Marvellous book.

Currently reading The Princess Bride as part of our MR reading challenge, and against my expectations am rather enjoying it.

[Straycat1945]

If you are looking for a classic, how about East of Eden by Steinbeck. There is also a collection of his short stories which I highly recommend.

[Straycat1945]

I just started The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. I can't really comment on it yet.

Just finished Confessions of a Prairie Bitch: How I Survived Nellie Oleson and Learned to Love Being Hated by Alison Arngrim. Not what I expected at all. A very interesting, and sometimes shocking book. Very highly recommended.

[poohbear_nc]

Just finished London Under by Peter Ackroyd - a short, superficial, but sweeping look at what lies under the streets of London - sewers, buried rivers, the Underground, pipes, bomb shelters, etc. Ackroyd is quite widely knowledgeable of London geography and history - this book is a companion to his London: The Biography and Thames: The Biography, among others. If you're a fan of Christopher Fowler's Peculiar Crimes Unit mystery series, reading Ackroyd's books will supplement/verify much of the arcana that Arthur Bryant keeps inflicting on his helpless partners.

P.S. And I learned the origin of the term "fornicate." Can't wait to drop that tid-bit on unsuspecting folk.

[orlok]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

P.S. And I learned the origin of the term "fornicate." Can't wait to drop that tid-bit on unsuspecting folk.

I do read Fowler's books, so how about me? By the morning I'll have forgotten you mentioned it and will be completely unsuspecting .

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by orlok

Marvellous book.

Currently reading The Princess Bride as part of our MR reading challenge, and against my expectations am rather enjoying it.

That's good news. William Goldman's The Princess Bride is the MobileRead Book Club's April selection. I haven't started it yet, but if I find myself "rather enjoying it," it will be against my expectations as well.

We'll see.

[dreams]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

The God's Wife by Lynn Voedisch and Servant of the Gods by Valerie Douglas sound interesting from your descriptions. I've downloaded samples of both, but I have no idea when I'll get to them.

Both of those were recent kindle freebies. I am downloading whatever looks somewhat interesting and then if I get to them and don't like them, I just delete. My pile is getting very large, but I find I am liking the fun of digging through it.

Originally Posted by lila55

A couple of weeks ago I finished "The Curse of the Pharaos" by Elizabeth Peters, also taking place in Egypt for the most part. It reminds me of some Agatha Christie books and has a lovely, somewhat biting humor.

Thank you! I think I saw a bunch of her books in the used book store.

Sadly, I have set my 2012 goal to be no book purchases for 6 months and I will have to wait.

I am finding that there are a lot of unexpected nice reads in my pile of TBR and all the new freebies, though.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by dreams

...Sadly, I have set my 2012 goal to be no book purchases for 6 months and I will have to wait. ....

That decision is very sensible and rational. Which goes a long way to explain why I could never abide by it.

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by dreams

....Sadly, I have set my 2012 goal to be no book purchases for 6 months and I will have to wait.

I am finding that there are a lot of unexpected nice reads in my pile of TBR and all the new freebies, though.

....er, that's a moratorium just on paper book purchases....right....?

[dreams]

Originally Posted by alansplace

....er, that's a moratorium just on paper book purchases....right....?

I have tried to rationalize buying a pbook by thinking I only meant it for ebooks. Then I tried to rationalize buying a ebook by thinking I only meant it for pbooks (to not add to my bookshelves). I also thought maybe if I used my gift cards it wouldn't count.

Unfortunately, I know in my heart that I really did mean _no_ money to be spent, at all, for any books, no matter what form. I tried to make my goal that way to force myself to go through my stack of pbooks and the large (and getting larger) TBR ebooks.

[WT Sharpe]

Just finished The Sunday Philosophy Club: An Isabel Dalhousie Novel by Alexander Mccall Smith. The phrase that came to mind as best describing it is "an absorbing promenade." This book does not rush to a climax, but takes a leisurely stroll down dozens of miscellaneous side streets as Isabel Dalhousie, editor of the Review of Applied Ethics, seeks the killer of the young man she saw fall to his death. The tangents are what make this story so fascinating. Isabel is constantly reflecting upon all she hears, feels, and thinks, and weighing it in her own ethical balance.

[maianhvk]

Many Steinbeck fans here Seems like I have to put a lot on TBR list. East of Eden, Cannery Row, and then the short stories collection as well. Thanks Straycat, CRussel, Alan and Bilbo.

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Have you read The Count of Monte Cristo? Great read.

I read it several times already, and have this love/hate relationship with that book

Originally Posted by The Terminator

That was a great book, I read it last year. I haven't seen the movie though, in my mind the book was too short to have a full blown movie made out of it.

Yes, I didn't notice that it is only 100-page long when I began. Too short for a great story. I wanted more, hence Grapes of Wrath.

@ Orlok & WTSharpe: You won't be disappointed. It's a light read, full of humorous... well, I'll let you figure that out.

[Stitchawl]

I'm in the middle of "The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair. After many, many years it's finally made it to the front lines. I confess this is NOT my usual fare...
I confess too that I'm surprised at my reactions to the book. We all have heard that this is 'the shocking story of the horrors of Chicago's stock yards, meat packing industry of the early years, and the horror stories of the lives of the immigrants who worked there." But what surprises me is that I'm not shocked! This sort of graft, corruption, and poor working conditions are still going on today, just not so much in the US. They are the fodder of everyday newspapers looking to grab readers. Child labor in Cambodia, rotten meat being sold in Indonesia, people swindled out of their homes by scheming con men...

I am enjoying the reading though, and following the lives of the characters. I'm 1/3 into the book and will certainly finish it, but I keep hoping Jack Reacher or Lucas Davenport will come to the aid of the cast. Or at the very least, Rena Lazarus will comfort the women when their children complain of no food to eat.

Stitchawl

[iSimon]

I have just started "Lolita". Thought it was about time I found out what the fuss was about. I am a College Librarian, and just before Half Term a member of staff loaned this to read over the holiday - and said she was surprised that we stocked such a book! This struck me as rather reactionary!

I will admit that, by and large, my reading tastes leave something to be desired - mostly cozy murder mysteries! I am making a concerted effort now to read more classics and literature - something I have allowed to slip since I was younger (when I would quite happily read Hardy or Tolstoy).