bittermuch? 0 Report post Posted April 24, 2006 Finished Chuck Klosterman's Killing Yourself to Live yesterday morning. I was deeply annoyed with him and the book for about the first 100 pages, but eventually it grew on me. Don't expect it to be more than tangentially related to the premise (rock critic takes road trip across the country to visit sites of rock-n-roll deaths). I knew Klosterman tended to be a bit on the narcissistic and self-involved side, but I kinda expected his self-examinations and reflections to at least be inspired by the events that took place at the different sites he was visiting. Nope. But overall not a bad read if you can tolerate living in a world that revolves around Klosterman and the women he thinks he has loved for two hundred pages or so.Also just finished The Ghost Writer by John Harwood. Nice and spooky for the most part, and I find myself thinking about all the different things that Harwood may or may not have been doing with the book. At first I found the ending a bit of a letdown, but now I'm reconsidering. Worth checking out, especially if you like spooky Gothic/Victorian-inspired ghosty stuff. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
princess 1,712 Report post Posted May 9, 2006 Just read The Pilot's Wife, pretty good but a bit depressing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MMM1 1 Report post Posted May 9, 2006 Just finished "Secret Prey" by Sanford and just starting "Vanishing Acts" by Jodi Picoult Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bittermuch? 0 Report post Posted May 9, 2006 oh I read The Pilot's Wife a while back. I remember not being able to decide whether I liked it or not.just engaged in massive reading binge. Last four books: Bachelorette #1 (lame and a waste of my time but NOT SPOOKY which was my main criterion after waking up all scared and alone in my dark house - except for bad barking-at-nothing-so-must-be-ghosts doggie - the night I finished The Ghost Writer...), Going Down and High Maintenance by Jennifer Belle (both good, liked second better than first), and now Bergdorf Blondes. Am liking Bergdorf more than I expected to based on my general disdain for Plum Sykes - she seems to be making fun of the whole thing and highlighting how lame and superficial it all is, while simultaneously allowing us to revel in how lame and superficial it all is... am not quite done but so far give it definite thumbs-up as a beach or poolside read. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
soho2chelsea 3 Report post Posted May 10, 2006 Plum Sykes makes me stabby. I LOVE Jennifer Belle and totally recommend both her books too.I also recommend DOPE by Sara Gran, just finished that - awesome hard-boiled mystery which takes place in the 50s. Female narrator. Super cool. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Trizzie 0 Report post Posted May 13, 2006 I am almost finished with "The Men I didn't Marry" by the same people who wrote the Botox Diaries. It is pretty good. Very quick read. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bittermuch? 0 Report post Posted May 16, 2006 Just finished "A Murder in Belmont" by Sebastian Junger. Worth reading but kinda disappointing - I really liked the excerpt in Vanity Fair, but it was practically as bad as a movie trailer and all the best parts of the book were in it so the book itself was a let-down. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cutielb55 0 Report post Posted May 29, 2006 I just finished The Queen's Fool by Phillippa Gregory -- awesome historical fiction! I loved it too, and am not normally a big historical fiction reader. After I read this one, I read all of them in the series... The Constant Princess  The Other Boleyn Girl  The Queen's Fool  The Virgin's Lover  There may be others but I'm not sure. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hoyaheel 1,874 Report post Posted May 31, 2006 I've read most of those--love historical fiction as well! I think the Queen's Fool is my favorite.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
niobe 2 Report post Posted May 31, 2006 (edited) ... and then there will be The Boleyn Inheritance... Â and my love for all things English gardens made me pick up her books Earthly Joy and the sequel Virgin Earth about the royal gardener John Tradescant who brought back many plants that are now common in Europe from his travels to the colonies in America. Virgin Earth is the far better and easily readible as a stand-alone novel. Edited May 31, 2006 by niobe Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bittermuch? 0 Report post Posted June 1, 2006 Read The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion on planes over the weekend. Quite moving despite her usual dry, detached style. The tone was rather dreamlike. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hoyaheel 1,874 Report post Posted June 1, 2006 ... and then there will be The Boleyn Inheritance...  and my love for all things English gardens made me pick up her books Earthly Joy and the sequel Virgin Earth about the royal gardener John Tradescant who brought back many plants that are now common in Europe from his travels to the colonies in America. Virgin Earth is the far better and easily readible as a stand-alone novel. I love Barbara Mertz, who writes historical mysteries about Egypt as Elizabeth Peters and some freaky-ish gothic type novels as Barbara Michaels (Mertz has a PhD in Egyptology from Chicago's Oriental Institute) Anyway, a Barbara Michaels book I just finished (The Dancing Floor) was about one of Tradescant's gardens--very very cool book and a quick read. It's a paperback I got at a book sale so if you're interested, send me a PM and I'll mail it to you  I prefer her egyptology books (fantastic characters--if you read, try to read in chronological order to get the best family character development) Her website is http://www.mpmbooks.com/ for a complete bibliography... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
niobe 2 Report post Posted June 1, 2006 It's a paperback I got at a book sale so if you're interested, send me a PM and I'll mail it to you Thanks for your very kind offer, Hoya - but, as I live on the other side of the big water called Atlantic, it'd be cheaper to buy it. Â I've duly noted the title, there's a trip planned to London in two weeks time, where I'll do some serious book shopping. I will, like Denise Richards in the recent photos, end up with one of those HEAVY stickers on my suitcase again, and will have to field questions from the customs officer like... don't we have any books in my home country. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
niobe 2 Report post Posted June 1, 2006 ... I prefer her egyptology books (fantastic characters--if you read, try to read in chronological order to get the best family character development) Forgot to mention: egyptology's another great tip, I got bitten by the Pharaoh bug when I first saw a King Tut exhibition in my hometown as a kid... Thanks! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hoyaheel 1,874 Report post Posted June 1, 2006 Forgot to mention: egyptology's another great tip, I got bitten by the Pharaoh bug when I first saw a King Tut exhibition in my hometown as a kid... Thanks! For me it was a field trip to the Metropolitan Museum in NYC and the mummy room! For years I wanted to be an archaeologist....Now I just read about them and watch shows on the Discovery Channel Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MMM1 1 Report post Posted June 3, 2006 I tried to get through "Outlander" but it just wasn't for me. I couldn't get into it. I know so many people love the books series. Finished up Patricia Cornwell's "Unnatural Causes" Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MissuTam 85 Report post Posted June 8, 2006 Read the Pilot's Wife several years ago. I agree with you Princess. Also read Fortunes Rocks and The Weight of Water by Anita Shreve, felt depressed after both. Just finished Cinnamon Kiss by Walter Mosley, another classic Easy Rawlins mystery. They always leave me a little sad too. Starting 'The Fall of Rome' by Martha Southgate today. 'Jesus Papers' after that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
k80cat 0 Report post Posted June 8, 2006 Recently finished Shirley McLaine's Out on a Limb. Very good. Also read She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb. How many things could happen to a person before they were 35? but good nevertheless. Now reading Good Faith by Jane Smiley (loved Moo and A Thousand Acres). Next I want to get Terrorist by John Updike. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bittermuch? 0 Report post Posted June 13, 2006 I heard John Updike on the radio this morning talking about Terrorist and now I'm interested too.Finished Flapper by Joshua Zeitz over the weekend - highly recommend. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MMM1 1 Report post Posted June 14, 2006 Just finished "Icarus" by Russell Stevens. Pretty decent thriller leading up the ending (I've read him ("Gideon") before and he's pretty good).I was also able to get "The Historian" on a fantastic discount at Borders.woohoo Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hoyaheel 1,874 Report post Posted June 15, 2006 I was also able to get "The Historian" on a fantastic discount at Borders.woohooI just adored the Historian!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MMM1 1 Report post Posted June 15, 2006 I was also able to get "The Historian" on a fantastic discount at Borders.woohooI just adored the Historian!!I'm glad you liked it...I've been reading that people either really love it or really hate it. I'm just shocked that it was on the discount rack..they were going really fast It's going to be a while before I can get to it..I'm so behind in my reading. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
socrates17 0 Report post Posted June 15, 2006 Paul Levinson's The Silk Code from 1999 as I try to catch up. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
madamecleo 0 Report post Posted June 20, 2006 I was also able to get "The Historian" on a fantastic discount at Borders.woohooI just adored the Historian!!I'm glad you liked it...I've been reading that people either really love it or really hate it. I'm just shocked that it was on the discount rack..they were going really fast It's going to be a while before I can get to it..I'm so behind in my reading.If you liked the Historian, do you read a lot of vampire novels? JR Ward's new series is really good--hot sex and they're nice thick books that you don't read in a day. (Or at least, I don't!) The first one is Dark Lover.For me, I'm waiting for the new Susan Elizabeth Phillips book to come out. Anyone here like her too? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Trizzie 0 Report post Posted June 21, 2006 I like Susan Elizabeth Phillips. Do you know when her next book comes out? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites