Ronny Posted January 12, 2007 Share Posted January 12, 2007 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronny Posted January 16, 2007 Author Share Posted January 16, 2007 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purple Poppy Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 This sounds really interesting.A slightly different perspective than usual. PP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madcow Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 It certainly does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronny Posted January 16, 2007 Author Share Posted January 16, 2007 It was and I really enjoyed it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronny Posted January 16, 2007 Author Share Posted January 16, 2007 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronny Posted January 16, 2007 Author Share Posted January 16, 2007 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronny Posted January 16, 2007 Author Share Posted January 16, 2007 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
everydayxangels Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 I'm glad you liked Lucky so much! it truly was a good read, even though horribly pressing. The Memory Keepers Daughter is on my list. I'm far from reading it. Maybe after my 8 library books, and then some pre-pubs. Anywho, it's far off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weave Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 I have read 'Lucky' and I prefer it to 'The Lovely Bones' and 'Salem's Lot' is one of my favourite Stephen King's... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrstrecool Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 I've got Lucky on my TBR pile. It gets more positive reviews on here than The Lovely Bones, which I really didn't like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronny Posted January 21, 2007 Author Share Posted January 21, 2007 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronny Posted January 21, 2007 Author Share Posted January 21, 2007 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronny Posted January 21, 2007 Author Share Posted January 21, 2007 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 The Mephisto Club by Tess Gerritsen I've been looking forward to this, but will wait for the paperback.. or after I've gotten through my backlog at the library! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 Nicky - did you read all of those three books in one day? That's amazing, if you did! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronny Posted January 21, 2007 Author Share Posted January 21, 2007 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted January 22, 2007 Share Posted January 22, 2007 Ah - I don't feel so bad now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronny Posted January 27, 2007 Author Share Posted January 27, 2007 The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly It is a dark, sometimes gory adventure through many familiar fairy tales with new twists. Although it was somewhat predictable I enjoyed it and it was a quick, easy read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronny Posted January 30, 2007 Author Share Posted January 30, 2007 Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami It came close but didn't quite to it for me. I can't put my finger on exactly what put me off, there was much about the book I did like but somehow I did finish not caring much for the book. Maybe I should have started with a different Murakami book, I've heard so much about him and was very curious about his books. I did not have any issue with the writing itself, I think mostly I didn't care for the main character Kafka Tamura, although I really enjoyed many of the other characters, Oshima & Nakata were really the ones that captured my attention and pulled me through the story. I will definitely try more Murakami books but was less than thrilled with this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freewheeling Andy Posted January 30, 2007 Share Posted January 30, 2007 I've heard mixed reviews of Kafka on the Shore. I love Murukami, but perhaps he's not for everyone. The people who've loved stuff like A Wild Sheep Chase or Norwegian Wood weren't completely excited by Kafka, though, so it may be worth trying something else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronny Posted January 30, 2007 Author Share Posted January 30, 2007 I've heard mixed reviews of Kafka on the Shore. I love Murukami, but perhaps he's not for everyone. The people who've loved stuff like A Wild Sheep Chase or Norwegian Wood weren't completely excited by Kafka, though, so it may be worth trying something else. I will definitely give him another try, as I did like the style of the writing. I was thinking of the Wind Up Bird Chronicles or Norwegian Wood, do you have a favorite of his? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronny Posted February 6, 2007 Author Share Posted February 6, 2007 When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro I did not like this book as much as I liked the Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go, I did not feel interested in the story until I was nearing the end, I don't think I would have continued on had I not enjoyed his previous books I'd read. I really didn't care for the main character, Christopher. at all (I don't think you were supposed to) seemed he wasn't as well liked by the other characters either but they more or less humored/tolerated him and he did not see it this way (there were hints at his mistaken perception of himself and his relatiionships with others) and so while I do think Ishiguro intended for the characters and story not to be liked in the traditional sense, I don't think that it worked for me and the whole thing dragged and slightly annoyed me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudyB Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 currently reading : A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka Hope you're enjoying this - I read it last year and found it really funny. I lent it to one of the ladies I visit and she enjoyed it as well. Happy reading Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amanda1 Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 I will definitely give him another try, as I did like the style of the writing. I was thinking of the Wind Up Bird Chronicles or Norwegian Wood, do you have a favorite of his? I would highly recommend Wind Up Bird Chronicle, I found Norwegian Wood a bit amateurish, I think he was still trying to find his style Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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