Skip to main content

What book are YOU buzzing about right now?

[email protected]
Meg O'Brien's Crimson Rain. WOW what a great quick read. I don't have many female writers I enjoy, no reason, I just don't...but I've now found a friend in Meg. Thanks Meg.

[email protected]
I'm 65 pages into Shannon McKenna's BEHIND CLOSED DOORS and is it a page turner!

[email protected]
Douglas Clegg --- excellent writer.

[email protected]
A Taste for Death by P. D. James.

[email protected]
Two O'Clock, Eastern Wartime by John Dunning.

[email protected]
I am presently reading Red Rabbit by Tom Clancy. 

[email protected]
I loved Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones. How do you explain to people that a book narrated by a murdered 14 year old girl is not the gruesome tale one would expect it to be? Sebold does a beautiful job of exploring the question of grief, grieving, and letting go.

[email protected]
The Lovely Bones. I almost did not read it as the title made it sound creepy to me, but after reading so many rave reviews about it in Word Of Mouth, I decided to give it a try. It was just so moving. I will remember it for a long, long, time.

[email protected]
Eating in the Dark: America's Experiment with Genetically Engineered Food, by Kathleen Hart. This book is frightening. Bioengineered food is mixed into everything we eat, and, while it may be harmless to humans and the environment (though tests and "gene pollution" of the environment indicate otherwise), the huge chemical companies who created the genetically engineered crops persuaded the FDA, USDA, and the EPA to let them put the products on the market without fully testing the foods. The European Union, Japan, and, well, essentially every other country in the world refuses to import bioengineered food from the USA --- and after reading this book, you'll understand why. 

[email protected]
The book I'm still buzzing about right now is Among the Heroes, about the passengers of Flight 93 on 9/11/01. 

For those too frail to delve into such matters, I'm also eagerly awaiting 9/24, when the first volume of Bob Dylan's autobiography, Confessions, is due to hit the stores. It's supposed to be a multi-volume biography [don't recall how many volumes though] but for those of use who are children of the 60s, it should be a magical mystery trou [to coin a phrase] back into that era. 

[email protected]
The Turk...it's a fascinating story about an 18th century, chess playing automata (mechanical machine).

[email protected]
Currently I am reading Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells, and Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard.

[email protected]
The Lovely Bones.

[email protected]
The book about which I am buzzing right now is Agatha Raisin and the Day the Floods Came. She's back! Agatha is back to her former self, before she was sidetracked by that awful James Lacey. This mystery is more like the early stories and much more enjoyable than the previous one (AR and the Love from Hell). And there is a hint that there will be more to come, yay.

[email protected]
One Hit Wonder by Lisa Jewell...this book was wonderful. Funny and heartfelt and sad. I LAUGHED OUT LOUD at so many different parts in this funny and true-to-life book. I LOVED this book. Lisa Jewell's characters are so likable and believable. The book takes place in London following the mysterious death of Bee Bearhorn, a one-hit wonder from the 80's. You follow her sister, Ana, as she ventures out of her shell and discovers so much about her sister's life. Truly, a great read, that I was sorry had to end!

[email protected]
With the movie just being released I decided to listen to the audio version of Possession by AS Byatt. A bit of an older title, it's captivating with it's beautiful and poetic narrative. I'm entranced with the language of this book. The reader Virginia Leishman does an excellent job with her beautiful English accent and crisp enunciation in this very "British" literary work. It's a richly woven tapestry threaded with life and verse. My goal is to actually read the book now since another read through is almost necessary to capture every nuance of this complicated yet entrancing story. A great literary achievement in my opinion!

[email protected]
The House of Sand and Fog.

[email protected]
Five stars to Valley of the Horses by Jean Auel. I am rereading my favorite series of all time (The Earth Children). I enjoyed Clan of the Cave Bear just as much or more the second time around last month. I can't wait to work myself up to her newest and fifth book. 

[email protected]
The most deeply moving book I have read in a very long time is Life of Pi by Yann Martel. If you haven’t read or reviewed it yet, I strongly suggest you do. This surpasses any book I have ever read. I enjoyed every chapter, every page. After I finished the last sentence, I opened the book up from the front and read it again. It is a great discussion book. Your book club will love talking about Pi, Richard Parker, and their voyage. I would advise picking up the book right now and reading it without reading too much about it --- just come to it with a blank slate and let it affect you. (As it will.)

Also, Neil Gaiman‘s American Gods. Amazing… simply amazing.

[email protected]
What book am I buzzing about? A new novel by J. Conrad Guest, January's Paradigm.

[email protected]
I am reading DARK HORSE By Tami Hoag at present. It's really good!

[email protected]
Reading and loving:
The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber
In Her Shoes by Jen Weiner
The Divine Economy of Salvation by Priscila Uppal

Can't wait for:
The Little Friend by Donna Tartt
I Don't Know How She Does It by Allison Pearson
Your Mouth Is Lovely by Nancy Richler
Quentin's by Maeve Binchy

[email protected]
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. Best book that I've read in a long time. 

[email protected]
Right now I'm having a joyous time reading The Magical Worlds of Lord of the Rings by David Colbert. He hooked me with his Magical Worlds of Harry Potter, which gave me insights into Rowling's references, and he's done the same thing with his new book on the Tolkien phenomenon. It really makes The Lord of the Rings come to life, exploring and explaining how and why Tolkien created his masterpiece. A strong recommendation for readers of Tolkien and those who plan to see the new movie.

[email protected]
Douglass' Women by Jewel Parker Rhodes. I had the pleasure of getting a galley of this book at Book Expo America, while I am not a fan of historical fiction, I found myself quickly engrossed in this novel. Rhodes used the alternating voices of Douglass' Black wife, Anna, and his white mistress Ottlile Assling. 

Initially, I wanted to throw the book at Ottilie. Who was she to determine that Anna wasn't a suitable wife for Douglass? Before long I wanted to not only throw the book at Douglass, but I wanted to beat him across the head with it. 

Anna felt Freddy loved Ottilie more because she was educated. Ottilie felt Frederick loved Anna more, because she bore his five children. The women have an opportunity to sit around the kitchen table of the Douglass home and they learn who Douglass loved most.

While the book is historical fiction several elements presented in the book are true. For example, Anna, who was born free, gave Douglass her life savings and helped him escape. He promised to send for her when he got to safety so that they could get married. Ottilie Assling was Douglass' mistress of nearly 30 years and spent twelve summers at his Rochester home with his family, under the guise of translating his writings into German.

The book is a real page-turner and will be released in October.

[email protected]
I have just started reading DESECRATION by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins.

[email protected]
I am currently reading another of Stephen White's thrillers,Critical Conditions.

[email protected]
The book I'm most enjoying at the moment is The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen. I've been waiting a year for the paperback to show up --- my carpal tunnel has made hardcovers difficult to manage. I'm also hearing very good things about her newest book, The Apprentice.

The one I'm definitely going to skip is Steve King's From A Buick 8. The best thing I've heard about it so far its homage to Bob Dylan's old song, and that's not enough. Sorry, I can't suspend disbelief long enough to buy the notion of a possessed car --- and didn't someone already do that [to dire results] in a novel called Christine? And wasn't that author also Steve King? Time for some new ideas, Steve-o. 

[email protected]
The book I am buzzing about right now is called A Painted House by author John Grisham. 

[email protected]
Comanche Creek by Kevin B. Isenberg.

[email protected]
I just finished Nelson DeMille's The Gold Coast. After being told over and over again from friends to read it, one of them finally just bought it for me for my birthday. When you catch yourself walking down a street and something strikes your thoughts to the current book you are reading, it's really making an impact...this happened to me a lot while reading this book.

I loved Frank...the Mafia don; I enjoyed John and Susan Sutter and was truly happy when they both got their "comeuppance" at the end of the book.

Truly a long, but great read!

[email protected]
I assume when you say buzzing you mean can't wait to read... God there are so many --- where do I start? 

Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk
Summerland by Michael Chabon
Middlesex by Jeffery Eugenides
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
Standing in the Rainbow by Fannie Flagg
Empire Falls by Richard Russo

I'm only asking for books this Christmas!

[email protected]
Red Rabbit by Tom Clancy

[email protected]
One Hundred Demons by Lynda Barry. To use her term an "autobifictionalography" done in comic strips. The author/cartoonist reveals demons in her past from losing her uninhibited dancing to an obsession of Bush/Gore Election. Most women will identify with Lynda's demons. She even teaches the reader to paint your own demons.