| Author |
Message |
Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Wednesday, December 30, 2015 - 3:50 pm 
I just started it. Of course she is describing real people, but I'm sure Fannie Flagg created her characters based on some real life characters anyway.
I am enjoying it so far.
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Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Thursday, December 31, 2015 - 4:01 pm
I'm lovin' all the recent posts and recommendations - thanks so much everyone for sharing!
I simply cannot remember what made me want to read Tales Out of School by Benjamin Taylor. Anyway, it was his 1995 debut and was only so-so and more uneven than even. The follow-up, The Book of Getting Even, is supposed to be a lot better.
This morning I finished the extremely fascinating memoir by Suzy Favor Hamilton, Fast Girl - A Life Spent Running from Madness. Back in the mid-'90s, I participated in several running-related events hosted by Nike. It was at one of those I got to meet her and was thrilled to do so, as she was one of the top U.S. middle-distance runners (she ran in the '92, '96 and '00 Olympics). At that event, Suzy was sweet, attentive and every bit the wholesome, Wisconsin-raised humble star I'd assumed she'd be.
Like the rest of the running community, I was shocked colossally to learn (in 2012) of her double-life as a high-end Las Vegas call girl via an expose by TheSmokingGun.com.
The book, while not the best written, is still endlessly captivating as she describes the bipolar disorder that led her to create the call-girl alter ego. She does so non-salaciously and very matter-of-factly. I can't even imagine how much courage it took to spell everything out in such vivid detail.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Thursday, December 31, 2015 - 10:34 pm
That was a real shock, for sure..
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Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Sunday, January 03, 2016 - 5:39 pm
Got offered a free ebook and chose "In a Dark Dark Wood" by Ruth Ware. Read it in 3 days online. Good thing I chose it, because about halfway through, it said Whoops something went wrong. So I googled it and found another copy online. Was glad I could finish it.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Sunday, January 03, 2016 - 11:02 pm
Finished Heart in the Right Place and enjoyed it.. more insightful than just humor, in fact much more, which I liked. She's a good writer, too.
I will say that I read books she co-wrote.. I think mostly she helped the guy with the stories.. Bear in the Back Seat and the second book and while there were some entertaining stories, they got to be repetitive. I think I blame the other author.
She has written at least one fiction book, I think a couple of cozy mysteries.
And another non fiction that I already seem to have.. Medicine Men: Extreme Appalachain Doctoring and I plan to read that soon, maybe not my next one.
I just started Men We Reaped: A Memoir by Jesmyn Ward, about growing up in and around New Orleans and the effects of the place, the times and more on the men in her life. She's also written award winning fiction as well.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Monday, January 04, 2016 - 12:48 pm
To clarify, the book is about her family, which is mostly from the Mississippi Gulf Coast.. Bay St Louis, Pass Christian (where Robin Roberts came from and where her mom lived and died) and the family is black (actually multiracial) and she is discussing how many men in her family died young for a plethora of reasons.. fathers, grandfathers, brothers, cousins, etc. Her father did live in New Orleans so they were there often as well. The author went to Stanford and then to Michigan for her higher education.
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Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Monday, January 04, 2016 - 4:29 pm
Had it not been for the glowing reviews posted by Kappy, Mamie, Reenie and Rieann, I never would've known about Lisa Unger's In The Blood, which I finished reading earlier today - thank you all for bringing her to my attention. It was a lot of fun trying to figure out how the thing would play out. And less than 5 minutes after I posted my review of it on Twitter, Ms. Unger acknowledged and thanked me for the review. 
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Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Monday, January 04, 2016 - 5:09 pm
I'm glad you liked it! And having them acknowledge it is the absolute best. I am off to read your review.
I finished a couple of books. What Was Mine by Helen Klein Ross was a good page-turner about a woman who kidnaps a baby and raises her as her own. It's told in quite a few different voices and really a good one.
I also finished Memory Garden by Bettye Lee Crosby. One of those sweet, magical books and just what I needed.
I am now reading The Widow by Fiona Barton. Looks to be a good one with some twists and turns.
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Monday, January 04, 2016 - 6:14 pm
Uncle_Ricky - what's your Twitter handle? You'd be a lot of fun to follow! (I'm Janie_G - but I'm boring to follow! LOL)
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Monday, January 04, 2016 - 7:26 pm
Looks like I read 119 books during calendar year 2015.. compared to 85 in 2014 and 70 in 2013. I think maybe some were shorter or something, but I'm off and reading for 2016.
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Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Monday, January 04, 2016 - 11:43 pm
Oh, Teach (Janie), you flatter me excessively! Proceed at your own risk:
https://twitter.com/munoz_ric
I think I have the market cornered on boring people, but please feel free to follow. I will do likewise! (My posts are almost always about my one or two-sentence book "reviews").
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Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Monday, January 04, 2016 - 11:45 pm
Oh my goodness, Sea, 119 books! I could only read that many in my dreams. For the record, I only read 65 in 2015. I'm a slacker!
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Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Tuesday, January 05, 2016 - 11:44 am
Uncle-ricky, Taylor liked our tweets! We should take our show on the road
I read 96 this last year. In past years, I've read upward to 200 but I have slowed down a bit. I hope I can get that high this year but I am aiming for at least 100.
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Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Tuesday, January 05, 2016 - 1:43 pm
Yes, she did! That was nice to see. Some of the authors are really nice (and grateful) for the feedback. If they don't comment specifically, they'll at least press the "like" icon.
And speaking of Twitter, this news is hot off the griddle. Let's see if it pans out - I hope not -- 10,000 characters are WAY too many!!!!!
https://twitter.com/PopCultureShady/status/684441362410946561
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Tuesday, January 05, 2016 - 7:06 pm
Finally.....finally......finally.... I finished listening to Gulliver's Travels. I enjoy David Hyde Pierce as a narrator, and the story has a lot of chuckle-worthy satire, but good heavens - that was The Longest 16 Hours Ever!! Saddest part - I listened at 1.5 speed, so it didn't even take 16 hours!
Your books numbers are ALL awesome! I only eeked out 47 in 2015, but since it was somewhere around 30 in 2014, I was happy. Until I'm not teaching, 50 will probably be my ceiling.
I've had enough of the Primal series after 2 books (good action but there are only so many raids in Afghanistan that I can read about it); I'm excited to be starting Neil Gaiman's American Gods. I've been a fan for a long time, but I've never read this one.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Friday, January 08, 2016 - 5:37 pm
Finished Men We Reaped.. sad and thoughtful and long.
Starting a memoir Truck: A Love Story by Michael Perry.. compared to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.. maybe.
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Reenie
Member
06-24-2006
| Friday, January 08, 2016 - 7:25 pm
Finished "Heart in the Right Place". Enjoyed it, and it had a good message along with the humor.
I'm very impressed with the number of books read during the year in this group!!!
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Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Monday, January 11, 2016 - 11:20 am
After reading the overwhelmingly positive reviews all of you wrote about The Martian, I had no choice but to pin down a copy to see what all the fuss was about. I typically avoid reading a book if I know who the cast members of the film adaptation are (too distracting). Surprisingly, I never pictured Matt Damon as Mark Watney as I read the story, which was so well written. I'm glad I ignored my rule and read it anyway.
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Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Monday, January 11, 2016 - 1:47 pm
I read The Good Goodbye by Carla Buckley and really enjoyed it. You have two girls lying in the hospital, cousins, after being in a fire in their dorm room and we reflect on the past and what's happening now. Good read.
I started My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout.
When I read a book that has already become a movie, I tend to see the characters as the actors. I also tend to cast a movie when reading a book that is not a movie yet.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Monday, January 11, 2016 - 8:09 pm
Glad you broke the mold and read The Martian, Ric!
I finished Truck and enjoyed it very much.. and would like to read his earlier memoir and the one after this one..
His fiction sounds good, too. One is The Jesus Cow.
Very Wisconsin-oriented but the characters have been around ..
Truck was a love story to the rebuilding of his old truck but also to family and to the woman and her daughter who became his family over the course of the book.
Apparently he writes for the NY Times.
Not sure what is next.
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Scout
Member
01-19-2005
| Wednesday, January 13, 2016 - 1:24 pm
I am reading, "The Auschwitz Escape" right now. I can hardly put it down it's so good. It's the story of two men - one a protestant minister who has helped hide thousands of Jews, the other a young Jewish man who was part of the Resistance. Both end up at Auschwitz and plan an escape together to try to tell the world what is really happening there.
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Mameblanche
Member
08-24-2002
| Wednesday, January 13, 2016 - 2:07 pm
Enjoyed one of my Christmas presents in one sitting - Nora Roberts' Stars of Fortune, Book 1 of her Guardians Trilogy.
Also we saw The Martian last night and I found it wonderful and true to the book. And DH who hadn't read the book, was up to speed on it, as I kept raving about the storyline to him when I read it. LOL.
I didn't read nearly as much as usual last year, spent way too much time online either here, in FB, or playing my online games. Plan to make up for that this year!
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Rupertbear2
Member
07-15-2015
| Thursday, January 14, 2016 - 8:03 am
Just finished my first Fannie Flagg book last night.
It's A Redbird Christmas and was such a sweet, heartwarming little story.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Thursday, January 14, 2016 - 9:47 am
I'm reading a bio of Scott Campbell, "Junior" from The Deadliest Catch. Giving the Finger: Risking it All to Fish the World's Deadliest Sealots of detail on his life AND on fishing and crabbing.
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Reenie
Member
06-24-2006
| Thursday, January 14, 2016 - 12:27 pm
Rupert, I also loved Redbird Christmas! A perfect book to read during the holiday season. My book club loved it.
I just read a novella by Mark Dawson called "1000 Yards". It's a thriller that takes place in North Korea. I enjoyed it, and it's free on Kindle right now. The author has some other books I am going to check out.
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