Author |
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Seamonkey
| Tuesday, October 28, 2003 - 10:30 pm
Besides a new Ann Rice.. there is a new Ann Rule, and a new Amy Tan (an autobiography) and a new David Guterson (Snow Falling on Cedars) and a new Toni Morrison... and I want all except the Ann Rice.
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Seamonkey
| Tuesday, October 28, 2003 - 10:30 pm
Slothkitten.. WALLOW!!
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Slothkitten
| Wednesday, October 29, 2003 - 8:09 am
I chose. I weak. I gobbled.
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Slothkitten
| Wednesday, October 29, 2003 - 3:21 pm
Got The Life of Pi..agree with Seamonkey,I want to read DeVinci Code after all your comment's. Excited to hear of Amy Tan's autobiography..she had an unusual and intense relationship with her mother,if I remember correctly.
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Marysafan
| Thursday, October 30, 2003 - 10:40 am
Okay, I am about to do something that I have never done here before. I am going to give a book a BAD review. Do not waste your time on "Ticket Home". It is amateurly written, the characters are cardboard and the storyline is an over dramatized soap opera. 99% of the time, I finish a book I start, but I am making an exception. I am about 1/3 of the way through the book, have long since figured out where it's going and how it is going to get there so there is really no point in enduring this any longer. I am really surprised that the folks who read it gave it such high mark on Amazon.com. It leaves me to wonder just does one have to do to become a "bestselling author"...because this one falls far short in those qualifications in my opinion.
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Seamonkey
| Thursday, October 30, 2003 - 5:10 pm
Finished Tracy Kidder's book about Dr. Paul Farmer.. very good, eye-opening look at an amazing man. Starting a novel set in Afghanistan and the US, The Kite runner by Khaled Hosseini.
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Slothkitten
| Friday, October 31, 2003 - 2:49 am
Marysfan-I've finished some pretty bad books,good for you for putting that one down.This thread has had some really well written and interesting books listed,all have been well worth reading,so far. Anyone else ever read a new book by a writer you've read and enjoyed for years,only to find that the newest book has a completely different style of writing and familar charactors behaving and speaking in ways that are strange and fake? That's Anne Rice's latest..for me. Don't want to spoil for anyone else,I still will enjoy her previous books, But,since I posted so excited about it,wanted to say..very dissapointed.
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Mamie316
| Friday, October 31, 2003 - 10:03 pm
I just finished reading The Wedding by Nicholas Sparks which is a semi sequel to The Notebook. Let me tell you, I cried like a baby. It touched close to home. It was kind of corny but don't we all need some corniness at times?
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Seamonkey
| Friday, October 31, 2003 - 10:21 pm
There is a definite place for some sentiment/corniness now and then.. Tears are healthy as well...
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Mamie316
| Friday, October 31, 2003 - 11:05 pm
Well if tears are healthy Sea, then I shall live until 100! I cry at everything anymore...tv shows, movies, commercials (especially those blasted Hallmark ones)..you name it..I probably will cry at it! lol
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Seamonkey
| Friday, October 31, 2003 - 11:56 pm
Tears are just fine.. Another of my favorite authors coming out with a new book soon is Jonathan Kellerman!! Woo Hoo!!
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Marysafan
| Saturday, November 01, 2003 - 6:50 am
Well, in order to get rid of the bad taste i nmy mouth, I decided some non-fiction was in order. I started reading "Larry Legend" by Mark Shaw which is a biography of Larry Bird that also chronicles his first year as coach of the Indiana Pacers. If I had a son, this book would be must read. It is VERY well written and flows easily. You might think that it could get boring if you are not a basketball nut (which I am not), but surprisingly the author changes pace at nice intervals and intersperses the basketball with the personal. My favorite line in the book so far is when hthe author was describing Larry Bird's defensive play. "He cheated like a devious older brother playing monopoly." Larry's desire to play well inspired a work ethic that is admirable especially in today's high dollar market. It's no wonder he was so good, he worked so hard at it. I think I am going to enjoy spending some time getting to know him.
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Marysafan
| Saturday, November 01, 2003 - 6:55 am
Slothkitten, I thought of you yesterday when Ann Rice was on "The View". She was talking about her new book and how she wanted to change directions and work with new charaters. Star Jones told her, "Ok, I can understand that...but...just remember what happend in "Misery" when the author tried to do that. You could end up in a bed with your ankles getting smashed!" (Not that you would do such a thing...just that you would not be happy about it!! lol!)
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Reader234
| Saturday, November 01, 2003 - 9:13 am
Thanks mary for the review. Dh went to college in the town Larry did, he was on a work study program and was a janitor at a local elementary school, we always felt Larry tried to stay connected. My ds is hoping to stay involved in sports (he's a lacrosse and hockey player) and eventually coach, I think I'll check into it for him!!
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Slothkitten
| Saturday, November 01, 2003 - 11:03 am
Marysafan,still love Anne Rice and wish her the very best,lol. Just this latest book left a nasty taste in my mouth(Marysafan-ism :.).To cleanse my palate, have read The Life of Pi,loved it and now am refreshed!
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Cablejockey
| Saturday, November 01, 2003 - 5:24 pm
I've just finished Mystic River by Dennis Lehane. I may want to see the movie now. Such a strange sad story of how the past affects the future.
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Mamie316
| Saturday, November 01, 2003 - 7:14 pm
Oh Cable, I have been wanting to read that one! Did you enjoy the book?
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Jennyfields
| Saturday, November 01, 2003 - 7:51 pm
I just finished Rat Pack Confidential, love those guys, especially Frank. Also On the trail of the assassins by Jim Garrison and Mortal Stakes by Robert B. Parker. Has anyone else read any of the Spenser books by Parker? I liked this one, am wondering if the others are good also.
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Mamie316
| Saturday, November 01, 2003 - 8:03 pm
I've just started Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem. It's about 2 boys, one white and one black, from the 70's to the 90's in New York. It looks like a good one!
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Cablejockey
| Sunday, November 02, 2003 - 7:41 am
Yes Mamie, I did enjoy it, and it makes you think about the strange things in life--coincidences, karma,regret. I hope the movie did it justice.
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Seamonkey
| Sunday, November 02, 2003 - 12:23 pm
Finished The Kite Runner by Khaled Hossein.. wow!! I'll steal from what the editor wrote on the back cover: Dear Reader, When I first picked up the manuscript for The Kite Runner, I knew I had something remarkable in my hands. From the opening pages, I was drawn in by the writing -- assured, beautifully descriptive, unfolding at its own pace. Its big thematic concerns -- the relationships between fathers and sons, upper class and outcast, loyalty and betrayal -- set against a historical background, had an epic feel that seemed rooted in a past century. And yet despite the novel's old-fashioned storytelling, the subject of The Kite Runner couldn't be more be more relevant today: through the doomed friendship of two boys, we witness the tragic history of Afghanistan in the pat thirty years, from the last days of the monarchy, to the Soviet invasion, and on to the atrocities of the Taliban. It was all that, and more.. Starting next, non-fiction, Food and Loathing: A Lament, by Betsy Lerner. Agree totally that Life of Pi is one of those refreshing books As for Anne Rice, she's been showing up in interviews, of course, and states that this is the last of the vampire series. Also seems that, after the fact, she realized that a child vampire (I haven't read any of them) represented the little daughter that they lost to leukemia. A wish she could live forever... She's also lost her husband in recent years.
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Slothkitten
| Sunday, November 02, 2003 - 3:57 pm
I read Food and Loathing a while back,Seamonkey. There's a person who makes a appearence in the book that a facinating documentary film featured a couple of years ago. Anne Rice lost her husband just under a year ago. The tragic loss of their little girl is what she has said almost made her lose her mind.She began to write her Vampire Chronicles after that. Now with her husbands passing,she has closed the circle.I will always love her old books and despite the strangeness(to me) of the latest one, will probably always purchase her new ones.
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Alegria
| Monday, November 03, 2003 - 7:00 pm
I just finished Mystic River by Dennis Lehane. Having seen the movie and being unwilling to break the spell, I read the book. The novel enriched the movie. I took my time reading as it felt good to be so hooked on a story. The writing was very perceptive and created a wonderful sense of atmosphere. I wonder what Slothkitten will think of the movie, having read the book first.
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Slothkitten
| Monday, November 03, 2003 - 9:44 pm
I haven't read Mystic River or seen the movie,Alegria.But your post makes me think I want to do both :.)
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Sampatsfan
| Tuesday, November 04, 2003 - 12:14 am
I was thrilled to discover The Library here at TVCH. I have finally realized that this site has so much more to offer besides discussion and live feed summaries of Big Brother. I wish I had ventured beyond that forum before this year. All the other years once the show was over I left and didn't come back here until the new season of BB started. I missed all the people here and couldn't wait until it was time for the new season. I think in many ways I was more excited about joining everyone here than I was about the show. I am so glad I ventured beyond the BB World. I really wanted to respond to the earlier post about Mystic River. And to say Yes, Yes, YES! Everyone read the book (Mystic River) AND see the movie. Both are EXCELLENT!! Entertainment magazine did a review of books that were made into movies and for most they either recommended the book OR the movie.(in some cases they suggested not bothering with either) But for Mystic River they said read the book and see the movie. I was excited because I had planned to do both and I'm happy to say I was not disappointed and I highly recommend both also. Seamonkey I am a huge fan of Jonathan Kellerman's too. I have read every book he has written and loved them all except for the one that was set in Israel. I think the title is The Butcher's Theater. For some reason I just couldn't get into that one and I tried 3 times. Oh and I have never read the non-fiction psychological books he wrote. I know that I am a sucker for continuing characters. I really like James Patterson too. I just read and enjoyed Four Blind Mice. Jonathan's wife, Faye Kellerman, is an author as well. Have you had the chance to read anything by her? She has a series of continuing characters too. Lieutenant Peter Decker and his family are Jewish and she describes many of their customs, disciplines and rituals which I found interesting and fascinating. I always like to learn about other religions and cultures. Anyway, I like her books ALMOST as much as Jonathan's. Well, I think I need to wrap this up because I sure have gone on (and on) enough for one night.
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