Anyone up for another "What are you reading" thread?

[Crankyshank]

I'm heading to visit the in-laws and to WDW in 2wks and I'm looking for book ideas.
I read a lot (usually about 3 books a week on top of any reading I need to do for school). I have a very eclectic library, but am not a fan of romance novels. I do enjoy well written books and stories where you can really lose yourself in. Most of my reading is historical fiction and adventure novels. If it's a book about the plague, chances are I own it

I just finished Year Zero by Jeff Long which was so-so and am currently reading Over the Edge of the World (a book about Magellan).

I was going to get the new Outlander book, but I think I'd rather bring paperbacks - easier to fit in the carryon and easier to conceal when I need to sneak away from the in-laws
So what are you reading?

 

[Papa Deuce]

White Hot by Sandra Brown..... only 50 pages in, but I like it so far!

 

[Aimee K]

I'm still on Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts.

It's about a guy travelling in India in short. Great book so far, but I've been busier than normal lately and it's taking me a long time to get through!

 

[aprincessmom]

Heir to the Glimmering World by Cynthia Oziak
Somewhat historical (takes place in 1930s)...the author read an article about how Christopher Milne (aka Christopher Robin) resented his role in literary history and hated his father for "what he did" to him. The author is weaving this thread into a fictional story about a Jewish family who has had to flee Nazi Germany -- the father is a scholar of an obscure area of Judaism -- and the family is now destitute and relies on the largesse of someone known to the world as "the bair boy" (a type of Christopher Robin). You may like this.

Also reading the In the Heart of the Sea -- the Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex which is fascinating. Non-fiction about a whale ship that left Nantucket only to meet unfathomable horrors during the trip.

DD and I are reading the first Harry Potter aloud -- we have the UK version which is different than the Scholastic/US versions. The language is much more interesting in the UK version -- very British and highly colloquial but so colorful and enjoyable. Apparently it needed to be dumbed down for us colonists

 

[dcgrumpy]

I just started Seizure by Robin Cook

 

[Christine]

I just finished reading The Lake of Dead Languages by Carol Hoffman. It's not a new book but one I had been hearing about for awhile on another book site I visit.

It's about a woman who teaches Latin at an all-girls boarding school. She used to attend the boarding school and two of her friends had committed suicide while she was a student. She is now a teacher and the suicides are happening again with her own students. It's not a bad read.

 

[Laurajean1014]

Right now - DS's homework!

 

[Crankyshank]

I read Lake of Dead Languages and thought it started out great and then tanked.

In the Heart of the Sea was a fabulous book! I read it when it was first published since I have a special interest in the exploration by sea and the whalers. Too bad Moby Dick wasn't written as well

I'll check out Heir to the Glimmering World. That sounds very interesting. I wonder if Annie's book stop has it

 

[snoopy]

Actually not reading anything, I'm listening to David Sedaris' Holiday on Ice, as mentioned in another thread.

I do have Jane Green's Jemima J. sitting on my nightstand ready to read though. My sister gave it to me to read. I've read some of Jane Green's other stuff and loved her. I like the neurotic fluffy heroines in books like this because I relate to them so well. I've hidden my credit card bills in a drawer so I could pretend they didn't exist and when I was single, worried about dying alone and having my cats eat me too.

Pure mindless drivel, but I love this genre just the same.

 

[Rex Rules]

I just finished "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou.

Now I am reading "The Devil Wears Prada" - it is absolutely HYSTERICAL!!

 

[keenercam]

Marathoning for Mortals by John (the "Penguin") Bingham.

Just finished Eleven on Top by Janet Evanovich (hysterical!)

 

[aprincessmom]

I'll check out Heir to the Glimmering World. That sounds very interesting. I wonder if Annie's book stop has it

They might because it is in paperback now.

 

[luvflorida]

I just finished "Perfect Nightmare" by John Saul and it scared the you know what out of me! Of course, I finished it while my husband was away on a business trip and it was only me and my daughter at home. It is a very disturbing, frightening book about a pyscho who goes to an open house, then hides in the house, (actually more than one), and kidnaps the teenage girl who lives there.

The night I finished the book, my husband calls and says, "Oh, did I tell you about the door I left unlocked?" What!!! Then he laughs and says he's just kidding. Um, not funny!!! After that, I went all through the house making sure every window and door was locked, I checked under every bed, in every closet, behind the shower curtain, you name it, I checked it! The cat followed me around and looked at me like I was nuts, and my daughter said, "I'm not even going to ask."

Before that book, I read "Don't Stop the Carnival" by Herman Wouk. An excellent book about a New York Broadway agent who decides to move to a Carribbean island and buy and run an old hotel. His misadventures are a riot, kind of in a "Walter Mitty" sort of way. It's humorous but also a little melancholy.

 

[DVCLiz]

I just read Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See. I just really LOVED this book - about Chinese girls and their relationship as "old sames", or young children who were "matched" for life in order to provide friendship and usually strengthen family relationships and marriage prospects. It dealt with an ancient Chinese writing for women only, and had lots of stuff about footbinding, which was completely fascinating. This was a great read.

 

[Holly]

I just finished Light On Snow by Anita Shreve. It's about a 12 year old girl living with her father in near isolation in New Hampshire after the deaths of Her mother and one year old sister in New York. The daughter and father find an abandoned baby and save its life. A short time later, a young woman turns up at their house. It is a sad, haunting book and a great one!

 

[snoopy]

I just read Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See. I just really LOVED this book - about Chinese girls and their relationship as "old sames", or young children who were "matched" for life in order to provide friendship and usually strengthen family relationships and marriage prospects. It dealt with an ancient Chinese writing for women only, and had lots of stuff about footbinding, which was completely fascinating. This was a great read.

Sounds interesting.

I love these threads, as I always see stuff on here I might not otherwise ever know about.

 

[Crankyshank]

That Snow Flower book sounds really intriguing.
I read my 2nd Anita Shreve book last week (Weight of Water). She does have a sad and melancholy aspect to her writing that's very gripping and New England-esque

 

[DVCLiz]

Sounds interesting.

I love these threads, as I always see stuff on here I might not otherwise ever know about.

I found this one by following my new book rule. If I see it in a store, read a review of it, or otherwise have some kind of exposure, and I have a flicker of interest, I'm allowed to pass by. But if I have a second flicker, I must buy and read it. This I saw twice at Target on two separate trips, and the second time it stiill sounded intriguing, so I had to buy!!!! Sometimes they are still stinkers, but I liked this one so much. The newest one I got this way is the Anne Rivers Siddons one - I "outgrew" her style some time back but this one looked interesting, so I'll save it for my next beach trip!!!!

The Weight of Water was such a good book - go look up the website about the actual story - it's fascinating!!!!

 

[TinkerBess_SnowTori]

The Secret Life of Bees - sorry forget the author - good, quick read

 

[DVCLiz]

The Secret Life of Bees - sorry forget the author - good, quick read

Soooooo good! And The Mermaid Chair, her newest one, is good, too. At least, I really enjoyed it - some reviewers have compared it unfavorably to Bees. I think she'll be a great writer - hope she writes many more!!!!