Ronny

I've done bookcrossing for awhile now about a year, I've released 80+ books, in 2 countries, one of the first people I met over here was a fellow bookcrosser I ran into at a book club meeting and today I had my first journal entry from a finder of one of my books I think it's interesting when people do make entries.

I wish I could read that fast, I imagine I could catch up on my TBR pile then. No, it was spread out over 6 days but today was the first day I had a chance to sit at the computer and enter them in.

The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean I really wanted to like this book, being a plant person with some interest in orchids and a small knowledge of their history. The book did have some interesting information, too bad it was buried in all the filler or repeated so many times you wondered if the book had an editor and if that editor bothered to read it or just skimmed through. I would think 1/3-1/2 could have been trimmed off and not taken any of the story away. It was as if whole paragraphs were copied & pasted again and again throughout the book.

The Mephisto Club by Tess Gerritsen Another, quick, easy book. It was a good story, if typical of this genre. It was my first time reading a Tess Gerritsen book and I liked it, she set a spooky tone, it was not far fetched and it was very easy to get into.

The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards I liked the concept of this book very much, twins are born one is perfect and one is not, what do you do? How does your decison effect your life? your family's? The story was good, although to me, there were places where it seemed to stretch the bounds of normal human reactions. It was a fast read, I finished it in 2 sittings.

I listen to a lot of audio books, I usually check them out from the library and listen while I work around the house. I have to like the reader, a monotone reader will put me asleep, the whole story just blurs and becomes background noise. itunes has audio books, I've not ordered any yet but I like to listen to the preview to see if I like the reader or not before I check it out at the library. I remember liking the Life of Pi, A Short History of Nearly Everything & Memoirs of a Geisha but these were also books I'd already read and liked.

Lucky by Alice Sebold This book deals very bluntly, vividly and honestly with the tough topic of the author's rape during her freshman year of college. Sexual assault has touched the lives of so many and yet so few will talk about it or truely listen to those that do share their experiences. I think Sebold did a remarkable job of sharing hers and it will resonate with many.

Salem's Lot by Stephen King Okay vampire book, nothing too bad or too good about it. I had never read it but heard it mentioned a bit and gave it a go.

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson Bryson gives a quick, funny, nostalgic glimpse into his 1950s childhood. I saw a review comparing this book to Jean Sheperd's, A Christmas Story, and would agree that the two are very similiar in style. Full of familiar (even to those that came along later like me) items and events from the 50s.

It was and I really enjoyed it

I liked this movie and ordered the book and it was burried at the bottom of my TBR pile but I think your review has comvinced me to move it up quite a bit

Stones From the River by Ursula Hegi This book was full of wonderfully drawn characters, the best of which was Trudi, the main character and narrator of the story. Set in a small town in Germany, spanning both world wars and giving a very intricate account of how the Nazi party seeped in and infected the town. Trudi, who helps run the pay library with her father, lost her mentally ill mother at a very young age, runs the town's rumor mill and is also a dwarf, introduces us to everyone in town and their family stories, she also gives detailed accounts of their lives as the Nazis steadily take over the town. For me this was the only book I have read that really showed how that would of been possible, how so many would have let the holocaust happen and even been percipients, Hegi shows the transformation of the decent, close knit community, to the hate filled, war torn town, in awful but very plausible detail. She also paints the picture of the everyday workings of their lives as the war progresses and how some do heroic deeds for strangers, while others turn their backs on close friends and relatives to try to save themselves.

currently reading : December 100.Like Water For Chocolate by Laura Esquival 5/10 99.The Beach by Alex Garland 7/10 98.Elizabeth & Mary: Cousins, Rivals, Queens by Jane Dunn 8/10 97.Dreams of My Russian Summers by Andrei Makine 5/10 96.A Map of the World by Jane Hamilton 6/10 95.The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig 4/10 94.The Last Promise by Richard Paul Evans 4/10 93.Danger Zone by Shirley Palmer 4/10 92.The True Story of Hansel and Gretel, a novel of war and survival by Louise Murphy 8/10 November 91.Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen 9/10 90.Small Island by Andrea Levy 9/10 89.The Dark Queen by Susan Carroll 7/10 88.Lucia, Lucia by Adriana Trigiani 7/10 87.Quarantine by Jim Crace 6/10 86.Ahab's Wife or, The Star-Gazer by Sena Jeter Naslund ( Unfinished, very slow going) 85.A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon 6/10 84.Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin 8/10 83.Girls by Frederick Busch 5/10 82.The Abortionist's Daughter by Elisabeth Hyde 6/10 October 81.Here On Earth by Alice Hoffman 7/10 80. Under The Black Flag, The Romance and the Reality of Life Among the Pirates by David Cordingly 8/10 79.The Sweetheart Season by Karen Joy Fowler 6/10 78.The Feast of Love by Charles Baxter 7/10 77.The End of the Alphabet by CS Richardson 6/10 76.The Prestige by Christopher Priest 8/10 75.The Collection by Gioia Diliberto 7/10 74.Twinkie, Deconstructed: My Journey to Discover How the Ingredients Found in Processed Foods Are Grown, Mined (Yes, Mined), and Manipulated into What America Eats by Steve Ettlinger 7/10 September 73.The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini 8/10 72.A Prayer For Owen Meany by John Irving 8/10 71.The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney 6/10 70.The Cider House Rules by John Irving 9/10 69.Helen of Troy by Margaret George 6/10 68.Man Or Mango? a Lament by Lucy Ellmann 8/10 67.Mutant Message Down Under by Marlo Morgan 7/10 66.Mariette In Ecstasy by Ron Hansen 6/10 65.Unless by Carol Shields 6/10 August 64.The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman 8/10 63.Dying Light by Stuart Macbride 7/10 62.Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner 7/10 61.Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart 6/10 60.Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerney 6/10 59.The Testament of Gideon Mack by James Robertson 5/10 58.The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer 7/10 57.Rain by Kirsty Gunn 6/10 56.Cry the Beloved Country by Alan Paton 7/10 55.Ease by Patrick Gale 5/10 54.Mirror Mirror by Gregory Maguire 6/10 53.The Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard 8/10 52.The Magician's Assistant by Ann Patchett 6/10 July 51.Cloudsplitter by Russell Banks 6/10 50. I Never Promised You a Rose Garden by Joanne Greenberg 5/10 49.The Piano Tuner by Daniel Mason 6/10 48.The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield 9/10 47.The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls 7/10 46.Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling 8/10 45.The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher 6/10 44.Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris 9/10 June 43.Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach 6/10 42.Einstein, His Life And Universe by Walter Isaacson 8/10 41.The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making Of America's First Superhero by William Kalush & Larry Sloman 6/10 40.Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks 6/10 39.Sacred Time by Ursula Hegi 6/10 38.Sula by Toni Morrison 6/10 37.Monkey King by Patricia Chao 6/10 36.The History of Love by Nicole Krauss 7/10 35.The Society of Others by William Nicholson 5/10 May 34.The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters by Gordon Dahlquist 6/10 33.The Conjurer's Bird by Martin Davies 6/10 32.Garden of Eden by Ernest Hemingway 1/10 31.Gangsters by Evan Zimroth 4/10 30.The Lying Tongue by Andrew Wilson 7/10 29.A Yellow Raft In Blue Water by Michael Dorris 5/10 28.The Invisible Wall by Harry Bernstein 7/10 April 27.East of Eden by John Steinbeck 9/10 26.The Liars' Club by Mary Karr 6/10 25.Magic Time by Doug Marlette 7/10 24.If On a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino (unfinished) 23.The Last Days of Dogtown by Anita Diamant 7/10 22.The Stolen Child by Keith Donohue 7/10 March 21.Where Or When by Anita Shreve 4/10 20.Cane River by Lalita Tademy 9/10 19.The Reader by Bernhard Schlink 7/10 18.Choke by Chuck Palahniuk 5/10 17.The Lovely Bones by Alice sebold 7/10 16.A Star Called Henry by Roddy Doyle 6/10 February 15.When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro 6/10 14.A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka 7/10 13.England's Mistress, The infamous Life of Emma Hamilton by Kate Williams 6/10 12.Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf ( I gave up about 1/2 way on this one) 11.Good Omens by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman 6/10 10.The Sixteen Pleasures by Robert Hellenga (unfinished, didn't care for it at all) January 9.Stones From the River by Ursula Hegi 10/10 8.Life And Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson 8/10 7.Salem's Lot by Stephen King 6/10 6.Lucky, a memoir by Alice Sebold 9/10 5.The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards 7/10 4.The Mephisto Club by Tess Gerritsen7/10 3.The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean 5/10 2.The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly 8/10 1.Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami 6/10

As other's have said, I like to be able to look back and see what I read and thought. Usually I remember the books I really liked but many of the mediocre books just turn into a fuzzy barely there memory. Nothing is more frustrating than buying a new book, sitting to read it and realizing you've already read it, didn't like it enough to remember or keep it and have just bought it again:irked: I am really working on trying to sum up the books on a blog but it's hard for me still. I'm hoping that as I push myself to do it it will get easier and I will get better at it.

I just saw this, she has a new book, a short story collection called The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories ( http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1596912510/ref=nosim/priceclash-20 ) and since I know there's a few here that really liked Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell I thought they may want to have a look.

I ordered Into Thin Air, my husband is reading Into the Wild now and he was really interested in reading Into Thin Air, we don't often find books we both want to read so I made sure to get another that we did.

Any suggestions for serving with turkey & ham over the holidays? I'd like to have a white and a red, probably mild as we're having quite a crowd and I want something that'll please everyone.

I just finished Surfacing and I agree with you, it was not my cuppa at all and I usually like Atwood. It actually made me really irritated by the end.

I'll have to look for that, I really like Bill Bryson:) I laughed all through Gideon Defoe's Pirate books, too. I also think Douglas Adams and Tom Robbins are funny.

I don't remember when I started, but I think I was a slow starter. I know my parents had began to worry a bit (which is odd because they were not readers) had me tested with specialist and my dad started bringing home loads of books (the house had none prior to that) and I used them mostly for coloring in. I didn't really read for enjoyment until my parents divorce when I was 10 and I've had a book (or a few) close at hand ever since.

That's not good news, I've only started on the first with my son, I think my hubby is on the third. The boys seem to like them more than I do but I have to read something at bedtime.

I'm not a huge fan of series but I have read or started a few. I've read all the Harry Potter books so far with my son and the Chronicles of Narnia, too. Completed the Otherland books by Tad Williams and the Hitchiker's Guide (are those considered a series?) by Douglas Adams. I've started the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon, Earth's Children by Jane Auel, the Redwall books by Brian Jaques with my son, the Camulod Chronicles by Jack Whyte, LotR, The Thursday Next books by Jasper Fforde and the Women of the Otherworld by Kelley Armstrong. And I plan on starting the Ender's books by Orson Scott Card, the Song of Ice And Fire by George R. R. Martin, the Wheel of Time books by Robert Jordan and the Dark Tower books by Stephen King. In making this list it occurs to me that I may read more series than I'd thought:blush:

I will have to look for it, I just read Into The Wild (about a young man that gave up everything to go live in the "wild" in alaska and died there}by him and I read his Under The Banner Of Heaven {about the Mormon religion} awhile back, I liked both.

I don't really think about it until I go in the room and grab something. I close my eyes, go in, spin 3 times, head for the shelf I'm facing and grab one Not really, I don't spin but the rest is pretty true

I just finished Bitten and really enjoyed it, I'll be ordering more of her books. I thought it was especially good for a first novel.