What are you reading?

[couleur 0]

 

 

 

I know the feeling. I nod off after reading for only a few minutes.

 

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Hoyaheel!

Thank you for all the birthday wishes. Fykey--I commented on your blog that I may be the only person who really loved The Historian, even (especially?) all the "boring" history stuff. But I was a history major in college so maybe I'm immune by now??

 

Nah - I know of a lot of people who liked it just because of the history; you're not alone

 

I took one history course in college and I think perhaps it scarred me for life

 

I liked the history part of the Historian, and I did like most of the characters whcih kept me reading, but ultimately I found the book to be a bit disappointing. The ending seemed like a stretch and I've read/seen enough vampire-hunting stories, I guess.

 

I'll be curious to see how you like it bittermuch.

 

Have you tried the 13th tale? That was better than I had expected, but mostly because I liked the old-book angle?

[bittermuch? 0]

See, I liked The Thirteenth Tale a lot and read it mostly in one sitting (although I paid with giant eyebags the next day at work). So maybe I'll like The Historian once I turn back to it. I used to be much more patient with books (and I majored in English but did enough history coursework to come very close to a double major, so the history part could actually interest me), but I read all day long at work, so I have to really be engaged in a book in order to read for long periods in my limited free time. I found myself spending more time looking at the map inside the front cover than reading, though, so that may not be a good sign.

[Serendipity 12]

Ok, I might be opening myself up for a bit of ridicule here, but I'm reading a first edition (with dust cover) Nancy Drew - "The Hidden Staircase." Makes me feel like a kid again! Granted, a lot of the text is no longer "politically correct," but overlooking that, it's a cool blast into the past. And it's only a couple of days' investment, timewise!

[bittermuch? 0]

I can picture the cover. Hey, I read boyfriend's daughters' modern preteen books on occasion. Nancy Drew is sooooo retrocool (and the old ones are soooo much better than the updated ones).

[Hoyaheel 1,874]

I keep looking for Nancy Drew (and Trixie Belden) books at the book sales I go to. No luck so far. Think there's too much of a market on ebay or something I LOVED Nancy Drew when I was little. I really got into mysteries young, and have stayed with them. I think I read all the Agatha Christie books the summer I was 10 or 11. I know I was young because I remember strangers commenting to my mother that wasn't I a little too young. She disagreed--she told strangers if I understood what I was reading then I wasn't too young. Love her! That might have been the same summer I read all the Barbara Cartland books too. I vividly remember the library I used when I was growing up in Connecticut. The children's section was upstairs--I got to go every Tuesday and/or Thursday after school--I walked to the library from school and mom would pick me up after work. Yeah, back in the 80s it was safe to walk as a kid and the library actually allowed unaccompanied kids in. Downstairs, in the adults section, was a circular rack of all the Barbara Cartlands. They were numbered. Around 150 pages each? Yep, read them all....I also remember reading books in the library that I wasn't allowed to check out. Pretty sure I read Forever by Judy Blume that way......

 

OK, whose fault is it I just took this trip down memory lane?

[Serendipity 12]

Phew! Glad I'm not the only closet Nancy Drew/retro fan!

 

Hoyaheel, I looked in antique stores, used book stores, and nowhere could I find first or second edition Nancy Drews with dust jackets. Well, around Christmas time, I found some on eBay. Early bids only intrigue others and sometimes encourage unscrupulous sellers into planting higher bids, so I silently watched them for a few days. On the night the bidding ended, I sneaked out the in the middle of my office Christmas party (we had an entire bar reserved for our holiday celebration), teetered through downtown at a trot in high, strappy heels and a skirt, went back to the office (an entirely deserted government center), waited at the computer and made my bid in the last 30-seconds and won! Trotted back to the party, hi-fived my boyfriend (who promptly handed me a glass of wine), and enjoyed the rest of the night! (Nancy would've been proud.)

[fykeylicious 1,099]

I Nancy Drew. My mom has a complete first edition of hardcovers from the 60s. I read almost all of them. I spit on the movie coming out, as I'm sure it will utterly fail to deliver the spirit of the series.

Edited April 27, 2007 by fykeylicious

[Bette Davis 0]

I read this wonderful book around a year ago:

 

Girl sleuth : Nancy Drew and the women who created her by Melanie Rehak

 

 

You Nancy Drew addicts should definitely love it.

 

 

Just read Edith Wharton by Hermoine Lee. A snoozer. Way too long. (nearly 800 pages.) Lee's Virginia Woolf bio was much better.

Edited April 28, 2007 by Bette Davis

[Hoyaheel 1,874]

Just read Edith Warton by Hermoine Lee. A snoozer. Way too long. (nearly 800 pages.) Lee's Virginia Woolf bio was much better.

Darn, that's on my reading list, great review in Vogue (I think? I read too many magazines ) Well, I'll put it off for a while...I was planning on requesting it from the library anyway....

[Bette Davis 0]

 

Just read Edith Warton by Hermoine Lee. A snoozer. Way too long. (nearly 800 pages.) Lee's Virginia Woolf bio was much better.

Darn, that's on my reading list, great review in Vogue (I think? I read too many magazines ) Well, I'll put it off for a while...I was planning on requesting it from the library anyway....

 

 

You could like it! It just went on and on and on about how Edith's mother was so cruel and distant and how "crazy" Edith's husband was and how depressed Edith was and all about 19th century rest cures.....oh, and there is a whole section on designing gardens. The relationship with Edith and Henry James was interesting and Edith did have an adulterous affair with a bisexual (gay?) man but.......

Edited April 28, 2007 by Bette Davis

[bittermuch? 0]

I read this wonderful book around a year ago:

 

Girl sleuth : Nancy Drew and the women who created her by Melanie Rehak

 

 

You Nancy Drew addicts should definitely love it.

I second this recommendation. I read it in January and really enjoyed it.

[Leia1912 0]

Just popping in to throw some love at "The Historian." It's a slow-builder, so if you are having trouble getting into it, that's normal. Just keep pushing and suddenly it will start to read much faster.

 

(TH really reminded me of an older writing style, which I liked. And I like the history, too, since that's my job!)

[Trizzie 0]

I am reading Prep and Momzillas right now. I have to be honest - thinking about giving up on Prep. I am about halfway through it, can anyone give me a good reason to keep going?

[fykeylicious 1,099]

can anyone give me a good reason to keep going?

Honestly?

 

 

No.

[Hoyaheel 1,874]

Prep engaged me (and I was able to read it quickly) because I went to boarding school around the same time as the author, so all the experiences were very realistic to me. The story itself--ugh. That girl had some serious psych issues! I sent the book to one of my best friends from prep school and she agreed with me--the book was an interesting read, very disturbing, but a fairly realistic portrayal of a lot of our experiences.....

 

But if you're halfway through and you're still not into it, give it up. Life's too short!

 

[i gave up on A Secret History....My best friend read it and loved it, I got it at the library used booksale I help run every year, I read a couple chapters and had to force myself to keep going....I stopped. I haven't gotten rid of the book, "just in case" I might want to go back to it some day.....]

[smartypants23 0]

I tried to get The Thirteenth Tale because so many of you have enjoyed it but some jackass seems to have moved it from it's location at the library. Given that this is a huge university library, I have little hope it will be found. Woe is me!

 

Anyway, I checked out The Ghost Writer by John Harwood instead because Amazon says it is similar. So far it looks predictable and I have a feeling I guessed the ending 50 pages in. I guess we'll see.

 

Any other mysteryish books people recommend?

[bittermuch? 0]

I liked the Ghost Writer. You must post what you thought of it when you're done. I was a bit put off by the ending, but I hadn't worked it out altogether in advance (although I suspected the basic outlines of it).

 

Just popping in to throw some love at "The Historian." It's a slow-builder, so if you are having trouble getting into it, that's normal. Just keep pushing and suddenly it will start to read much faster.

Well, I've been pushing on and off for probably a month and am only on page 225 or so.

[mirana_ 0]

I'm about halfway through Mansfield Park right now, and kinda sick of all the characters.

[smartypants23 0]

I liked the Ghost Writer. You must post what you thought of it when you're done. I was a bit put off by the ending, but I hadn't worked it out altogether in advance (although I suspected the basic outlines of it).

Finished it. It was pretty much what I expected. I couldn't have guessed the exact ending 50 pages in, but (like you) had a good idea of what it would look like.

 

Anyway, not a bad book, but I would have liked more of a surprise. And I thought the ending didn't fit with the rest of the book. I did enjoy the stories-within-the story. Better than the main story, in my opinion.

[smartypants23 0]

Aha! House of Leaves was finally available. Now I'll get to see what all of the excitement is all about.

[couleur 0]

I'm reading 1491, which is a non-fiction history of life in the Americas before Europeans arrived. It's really interesting, and I am learning a lot about native American history that I never knew. The author seems to have done a good job talking to historians, anthropologists, archeologists, linguists and molecular biologists.

[couleur 0]

I'm about halfway through Mansfield Park right now, and kinda sick of all the characters.

Mansfield Park may well be my least favorite Jane Austen. Fanny is sort of a prig. Better to read P&P one more time, I think....

[mirana_ 0]

 

I'm about halfway through Mansfield Park right now, and kinda sick of all the characters.

Mansfield Park may well be my least favorite Jane Austen. Fanny is sort of a prig. Better to read P&P one more time, I think....

 

I agree with you - after Elizabeth Bennett, Fanny is well, boring. But I feel compelled to finish it before I relapse into P&P. My best friend got me a collection of Jane Austen's works for Christmas, and well, unread books on my bookshelf are like unloved children

[Trizzie 0]

Thanks for the feedback on Prep. I gave it up.

 

I picked up Friday Night Knitting Club tonight. Anyone read it?

[soho2chelsea 3]

Aha! House of Leaves was finally available. Now I'll get to see what all of the excitement is all about.

I never could get past the first 30 pages of that tried three times. Maybe I'll try again...

 

I am reading the new Harlan Coben thriller "Promise Me" from the Myron Bolitar series -- it's good.