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Thanks for sharing your daughters December reads, JoAnn ! I hope she keeps it up (or you do it for her)

Tell her she was spot on about Mennonite in a Little Black Dress. The book was terrible. I learned nothing about Mennonites. It seemed like all the author did was whine and make fun of the Mennonite community. The book was a complete waste of my time.

I'm afraid reading reviews from people who I don't know wouldn't help me to cull my lists. We all have different likes and dislikes so here in our group I can learn whose tastes are most similar to mine and choose that way.

Bobbie57 wrote: "I'm afraid reading reviews from people who I don't know wouldn't help me to cull my lists. We all have different likes and dislikes so here in our group I can learn whose tastes are most similar to mine and choose that way. ..."

But not until someone has posted many times, I think.

Do you ever read Amazon reviews? I have no idea who those people are, but I read the reviews.....

I read the reviews here on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ quite a bit in deciding whether or not to put a book on my PBS wish list. I think when I get a consensus of reviews, Ican kind of figure out what a book is about and whether or not it will appeal to me.

I do read reviews both on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ and Amazon -- all I am saying is that unless they are uniformly terrible I tend to still leave a particular book on my TBR list. Of course the list is so darn long that I am not going to get to all these books in my lifetime. LOL

Also -- sometimes the thing that someone likes about a book is something that I know I wouldn't like or vice versa. So it does tell me something about the book that I didn't know already and that is helpful.

JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "It is just MY OPINION that people need to participate more.....16 "regulars" out of over 400 people is a poor track record. And, yes, I am still in a bad mood! LOL ..."

Apologies for asking the question, then absenting myself for several days. It's the way life has been going for me lately. I appreciate your reply, JoAnn.

I'll reply more fully on the thread where Alias gave details on the direction she'd like to see those who post take. Here i just want to echo what Barbara wrote, if everyone (or, honestly, even 1/3) posted, i would not be able to keep up. It doesn't bother me that many "members" do not post at all, as i see this as one of our functions. I read boards for almost a year before i found a comfortable place or two to share.

One reason i'm posting this now & on this thread is to let others, particularly non-contributors, know that not all of us are in agreement on this topic. For me, one of the great things about book boards over the years have been that i could contribute as much or as little as i felt comfortable doing. Many readers are not writers and do not want to share. I respect that, even when i see few new posts on the board.

deborah

I have appreciated the comments about War and Peace. Thank you for contributing. It's one of those books i continue to feel i'll want to read in the future. We'll see!

deb

Only finished two books in December:

Dead Weight, by Batt Humphreys -- A novel based on a true story of an innocent black man convicted of a white man's murder in Charleston, SC, in 1910. The New York reporter who came to cover the trial is a fictional character, but provided an interesting way to present all the trial facts, which are accurate. This was read for a book group discussion, which was enhanced by one member's account of a talk by the author, who explained what parts were fictional.


Birds of a Feather, by Jacqueline Winspear -- The second book in the Maisie Dobbs series. I enjoy the characters, the setting, and the time period (post World War I in England).

I expect reading habits to become more normal now that DH and I are the sole occupants of our home again (although I do miss DD and the little grandchildren).

Re the 1-star reviews on Amazon -- It sounds like a good idea as a way to keep down the TBR list, but when I read some poor Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ reviews of books that I have really enjoyed, and think of never having picked them up to begin with, I just attribute the differences to taste. And there is the serendipity factor--some books I never would have chosen myself but have read for my book group, I have loved!

JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "My daughter and her husband just went to Kauai to celebrate their tenth anniversary. She took a huge number of books, 8, I think....and this is what she just wrote on her blog as her December reads..."

Enjoyed reading your daughter's blog, JoAnn. It's great that she has started doing this so early in her life, she'll be glad later. And I can hardly believe that she was celebrating her TENTH anniversary! I remember when she was still taking ice skating lessons in her teens back in the 90s! Gosh it's been a long time for some of us, hasn't it?

Carolyn (in SC) C234D wrote: "Only finished two books in December:

Dead Weight, by Batt Humphreys -- A novel based on a true story of an innocent black man convicted of a white man's murder in Charleston, SC, in 1910. The Ne..."
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Enjoyed reading the snopisis you wrote of your Dec. reads.

As to Amazon reviews, I check out what the main one star complaint is. For example, if they say the book reads like a Lifetime movie, I know that wouldn't appeal to me.

Some other type of complaint might not bother me at all. It really depends on what the 1 star complaint is.

Some of the 1 stars reviews can really be quite witty and funny.

In December, I read









I think that's it. With Room, I wasn't sure I was going to be able to finish because the subject matter is so tough, but I'm glad I stuck with it. I loved the two Lisa Kleypas books. Normally, I love Maeve Binchy, but I had a hard time getting into this book. I felt too removed from where I felt the real story was, with the people who suffered the tragedy.

JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "My daughter and her husband just went to Kauai to celebrate their tenth anniversary. She took a huge number of books, 8, I think....and this is what she just wrote on her blog as her December reads..."

Love these! Had to agree about Olive.

Carolyn (in SC) C234D wrote: "Enjoyed reading your daughter's blog, JoAnn. It's great that she has started doing this so early in her life, she'll be glad later. And I can hardly believe that she was celebrating her TENTH anniversary! I remember when she was still taking ice skating lessons in her teens back in the 90s! Gosh it's been a long time for some of us, hasn't it? .."

Yes, some of us old-timers have been around a while! She was a baby, practically, when we were posting at Favorite Fiction, Carolyn!

She skated from age 8 through almost 15 (in 1995). It was a very long eight years. In the middle of 10th grade, she transferred from public to private school and the work load was so much heavier that she had no time for skating. Thank goodness. I hated that "skating world".

Marialyce wrote: "JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "My daughter and her husband just went to Kauai to celebrate their tenth anniversary. She took a huge number of books, 8, I think....and this is what she just wrote on her blog as her December reads..."

Love these! Had to agree about Olive. .."

People with whom I usually always agree about books have vastly different opinions about Olive. Goes to show you that you cannot always go by what you thought you "know" about others' reading tastes!

Carolyn (in SC) C234D wrote: "Only finished two books in December:

Birds of a Feather, by Jacqueline Winspear -- The second book in the Maisie Dobbs series. I enjoy the characters, the setting, and the time period (post World War I in England).

I really liked that book. A fun read.

Alias & Nancy, I know that most everyone is crazy about these Girl Who books, but I tried to read the first one and gave up. As I recall, I was frustrated with so many words in Norwegian that I didn't understand, and so I felt like I was missing something the author wanted me to know. I'm just at a place in my life when I'm not going to WORK to read a book. Maybe I'll catch the movie when it comes out.

Sometimes I wonder when a book is wildly popular, and I've tried it and quit it, if I'm crazy, or if it's like a case of "The Emperor's New Clothes." No one wants to be the one to say, "I didn't get it." I have no fear in that regard. I say it whenever I need to! LOL

JoAnn, I see Laura read 2 of my favorite books: Saving CeeCee Honeycutt and Look Again. I sure understand her tears in that one. It did have an unusual and thought provoking story line, which I'm sure touched her greatly as she thought of her own Charlie. I've thought that Look Again would be a good discussion book for here after it has been around awhile.

Donna

Donna, I also do not want to have to work to read a book, and you know how I feel about books that have too many words. I started the first "Girl" book twice and found it not only had too many words, but was mind-numbing. IMHO, of course. Not only my humble opinion, but apparently my out-of-step opinion too!

I was surprised to see that Dragon Tattoo only got an average of 3.5 stars at Amazon. I would have thought that with all the brouhaha over it, this would have been a 5-star book.

I enjoyed Dragon Tattoo, but actually found the second book The Girl Who Played with Fire much better. I couldn't put it down. I think that by the second book, you are hooked into the main character, Elisabeth. However, the third and final book I had the hardest time getting into. The first third of the book dragged on for me. The rest of it was very good.

Susan Mallery wrote: "In December, I read

With Room, I wasn't sure I was going to be able to finish because the subject matter is so tough, but I'm glad I stuck with it.
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I have The Room on my TBR list. Glad to hear you liked it.

Donna in Southern Maryland wrote: "Alias & Nancy, I know that most everyone is crazy about these Girl Who books, but I tried to read the first one and gave up. As I recall, I was frustrated with so many words in Norwegian that I did..."
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My f2f book group was going over the books people have recommended and this one was on the list. :(

I don't like books with 100 characters. Never mind one that have hard to remember names.

Like you, I don't want to work that hard for a fiction book.

So many people love this series. As I recall when we read it here at BNC, people liked it.

Alias Reader wrote: "Donna in Southern Maryland wrote: "Alias & Nancy, I know that most everyone is crazy about these Girl Who books, but I tried to read the first one and gave up. As I recall, I was frustrated with so..."

I haven't read the Girl Who books and have been trying to decide whether I want to. They sound very bleak, and as a general rule, I don't find bleakness to be entertaining.

Susan Mallery wrote: "as a general rule, I don't find bleakness to be entertaining."

I could not agree more. Not only is it not entertaining, but it is depressing. Life is depressing enough without this kind of reading. IMHO, of course.

Susan Mallery wrote:haven't read the Girl Who books and have been trying to decide whether I want to. They sound very bleak, and as a general rule, I don't find bleakness to be entertaining.
======================

I don't mind "bleak" books. I think in some weird way I am drawn to them ! :)

One thing that gave me pause in deciding whether to read The Girl Who.. books was the misogynist
original title in Swedish was: "Men Who Hate Women".

I've always wanted to say this....I wish I had been fortunate enough to have had Sherry for an English teacher. As much as I loved to read, I never learned how to look for and understand underlying themes and symbolism in literature. When I read things that Sherry writes, I usually am able to follow. I mean this as a compliment Sherry! :o)

When it comes to memories, history, or telling a story, I think I'm an adequate writer. But I've never felt competent writing about books. In school, I got A's on oral book reports, less than that on written ones. I guess I still have that angst left over for 40+ years. :o)

Donna

Gosh Donna, you're nice!

Alias Reader wrote: "the misogynist
original title in Swedish was: "Men Who Hate Women"..."

How interesting! I had never heard that.

Alias Reader wrote: "Susan Mallery wrote:haven't read the Girl Who books and have been trying to decide whether I want to. They sound very bleak, and as a general rule, I don't find bleakness to be entertaining.
=====..."

Well, if I knew that, I might have hesitated myself.

Susan Mallery wrote: "Alias Reader wrote: "Donna in Southern Maryland wrote: "Alias & Nancy, I know that most everyone is crazy about these Girl Who books, but I tried to read the first one and gave up. As I recall, I w..."

Susan if you like a heroine, albeit an unusual one, Lisbeth Salander just might intrigue you. Although I have to say, using the word heroine is bordering on a very fine line of going to the opposite side. I think her character alone would make a great discussion.

Linda wrote: "Well, if I knew that, I might have hesitated myself. ..."

So Linda, did you find the books to be bleak in tone? Or were they ultimately uplifting?

I just realized i read some books in December. Don't laugh, they were mostly at the beginning of the month & i fully forgot about them until i looked up the total for the year.

The Price of the Prairie by Margaret Mccarter. The subtitle informed the reader it is about early settlers in Kansas. Written around the turn of the last century, one might be willing to forgive the racist comments about American Indians, particularly given the fact the main character also admires some he fought against. Believe it or not this was a love story.

Chariot of the Sun was a memoir by Catherine Ward Allen. I could not find a GR link to the book. It is about the first legitimate settlers to Oklahoma and includes a good description of life on a wagon train. The author was a child when most of the events occurred but she promised that every thing, even the quotes, of which there weren't many, were accurate. She stated her belief that she retained all that because it was all so new and unusual to her, nothing humdrum in that existence. Hmmm. Regardless, i liked it and learned much.

We Were There on the Oregon Trail by William O. Steele. I didn't know this was a children's book until i opened it, despite buying it over 15 years ago. I think students of wagon trains would have liked the storyline but i preferred learning from the first books, which including toilets on the trail. ;-)

Loitering with Intent by Muriel Spark. The more i read by her, the more i like her. The prose are sparse but exacting and i felt i knew the characters. The woman was a crafter of words. In this one her main character "defends" the reputation her first book gained when accusers said she patterned it after real people she knew. Turns out there are those who believe Spark was doing the same thing in this book. lol

The Wayward Busby John Steinbeck. It was a fine novel, featuring his wonderful prose about the land, which i savor. However, the story itself and the characters did nothing to compel me to return to the book. The result is that it took me a long time to finish this, just barely by Dec. 31. I have yet to read the thread about the book, though.

deborah

Susan Mallery wrote: "Linda wrote: "Well, if I knew that, I might have hesitated myself. ..."

So Linda, did you find the books to be bleak in tone? Or were they ultimately uplifting?"

Susan, not the least bit uplifting. But I knew that when I started them. You can call them bleak in tone, but in the same sentence I would also have to add intriguing.

Madrano wrote: "I just realized i read some books in December. Don't laugh, they were mostly at the beginning of the month & i fully forgot about them until i looked up the total for the year.

[book:The Price of ..."
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Deb, it looked like you had a theme going early this month.

I would love to visit out west one day. Though something tells this city girl, her visions of western country living are not what she imagines them to be.

I bet I wouldn't have lasted a day in the "old west". Call me a what you will but I'm a big fan of indoor plumbing.

Madrano wrote: "I just realized i read some books in December. Don't laugh, they were mostly at the beginning of the month & i fully forgot about them until i looked up the total for the year.

[book:The Price of ..."
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Seems like you had a west them going on, Deb.

I'd like to visit that part of the country one day.

Alias, you are correct. I was clearing some shelves to make room for more books (is there any other reason?) and decided to "read 'em or cede 'em". I read 3 of the 5 i took off the shelf.

deb

Madrano wrote: "Alias, you are correct. I was clearing some shelves to make room for more books (is there any other reason?) and decided to "read 'em or cede 'em". I read 3 of the 5 i took off the shelf. deb"
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Well done ! Deb you are an inspiration. My TBR shelves shelves seem to have taken on a life of their own.

I have following book on my TBR list.
Homer and Langley~~E.L. Doctorow

Maybe the book will encourage me to read more from my TBR shelves so I can start to cull them. If not, people will find me one day buried under a ton of books.

Started to read Broken - Karin Slaughter which I've carried on reading in January.

Deboraah read: Chariot of the Sun was a memoir by Catherine Ward Allen. I could not find a GR link to the book. It is about the first legitimate settlers to Oklahoma and includes a good description of life on a wagon train. The author was a child when most of the events occurred but she promised that every thing, even the quotes, of which there weren't many, were accurate. She stated her belief that she retained all that because it was all so new and unusual to her, nothing humdrum in that existence. Hmmm. Regardless, i liked it and learned much

Deb, that sounds like something I would very much like to read. Is it an old book? I'll have to see if the Library has it. One of my favorite things to read about are the Wagon Trains and settlers.

Donna, it is an old book and i wonder if it is even available outside this area. I bought it in Oklahoma but it was published in Colorado.

deborah

Donna, there are quite a few copies of Chariot of the Sun available through AbeBooks.com

JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "Donna, there are quite a few copies of Chariot of the Sun available through AbeBooks.com

"

Thanks, JoAnn. I'll check it out.

I read in December:

Shanghai Girls by Lisa See

Read this one with the BNC group read. Which I did end up enjoying. (see the thread for any thoughts and opinions).

And I just finished:
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. I found this a slow read (it almost took me about a month, which is odd for me) but I enjoyed it immensely!! I loved the simple language of the people, it gave the dialogue a wonderful cadence. I found it a silently poignant book. I thought the ending was beautiful. After I finished the book I did further research on the Dust Bowl Migrations and the Migrants themselves. It was not something I had any knowledge of before, but I found it interesting. I have reserved the movie The Grapes of Wrath at the library and looking forward to see if it lives up to the book. Has anyone seen it??

My first John Steinbeck novel and it was definately a winner. Looking forward to East of Edenand Of Mice and Men as my next Steinbeck reads :)

Amy, I loved The Grapes of Wrath. I would place it near the top of my favorite classics list. It's also one of the few books I read twice.

I haven't seen the movie.

Speaking of the Dust Bowl, here at BNC our June 2009 Book selection was:

The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl~~Timothy Egan

You can check out our discussion in our Monthly Book Selection Folder.

Great Thanks!! I Will do that ;)

Amy -- The movie of the Grapes of Wrath is great. I have seen it a few times and am always moved by the characters -- particularly Henry Fonda and the woman who plays Ma Joad.

Hope you enjoy it too.

Agreed, Bobbie. The Tom's ending words are outstanding, too. It's one of the few examples where hearing instead of reading the words made the bigger impact. Fonda's voice.

deb

The film version of The Grapes of Wrath is an all-time favorite for me. Ma Joad alone is worth the time watching.

Yes, she is an actress i like watching. Another "mother" type i've always liked is the mom from National Velvet, Anne Revere. A list of her movies include Gentlemen's Agreement and The Song of Bernadette. She won an Academy Award for Velvet. I just learned while looking her up that her career was impacted by the "Red Scare".



deborah

Madrano wrote: "Yes, she is an actress i like watching. Another "mother" type i've always liked is the mom from National Velvet, Anne Revere. A list of her movies include Gentlemen's Agreement and The Song of Bern..."

I particularly liked Anne Revere as well. She was "everybody's mother" in movies for awhile there.
I definitely visualize her in the great movie Gentlemen's Agreement.

I certainly look forward to watching the movie of The Grapes of Wrath then!

Did not read much last month but the memeorable bit was:

Makeshift Metropolis I liked this book. It started so strong and passionate about city planning and how amercian cities cames to be and then it fizzled out. He wrote alot about NYC, DC and Philly. I was dissappointed because I was not sure where he was going with his book anymore. But it did give me a few new book ideas.

Major Pettigrew's Last StandI read this over christmas. I really enjoyed it. Its a nice inbetween book when you need a break from a difficult read...as I so often do!!!