I’m with you, scout59. H and I are news junkies and spend a huge amount of time on the computer, but we also have the NY Times delivered every day, and I can’t imagine starting my day without it. They’ve already shrunk the physical size of the paper, as well as consolidating some sections, so I can easily foresee them going to a weekend-only delivery service. When that day comes, I’ll be bereft.
[2008’s</a> best books: Yours and ours](<a href=“http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08349/934597-44.stm?cmpid=news.xml]2008’s”>http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08349/934597-44.stm?cmpid=news.xml)
[Signs</a> of Life 2008: The Best Books We Read This Year :: Books Features :: Articles :: Paste](<a href=“http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2008/11/signs-of-life-2008-best-books-we-read-this-year.html]Signs”>The Best Books of 2008 - Paste Magazine)
[New</a> York Books - The Best Books of 2008 - page 1 - Village Voice](<a href=“http://www.villagevoice.com/2008-12-10/books/the-best-books-of-2008/]New”>http://www.villagevoice.com/2008-12-10/books/the-best-books-of-2008/)
[New</a> York Books - Susan Orlean, David Remnick, Ethan Hawke, and Others Pick Their Favorite Obscure Books - page 1 - Village Voice](<a href=“http://www.villagevoice.com/2008-12-03/books/susan-orlean-david-remnick-ethan-hawke-and-others-pick-their-favorite-obscure-books/]New”>http://www.villagevoice.com/2008-12-03/books/susan-orlean-david-remnick-ethan-hawke-and-others-pick-their-favorite-obscure-books/)
[New</a> York NYC Life - Our Favorite Writers Pick Their Favorite Obscure Books - page 1 - Village Voice](<a href=“http://www.villagevoice.com/2008-05-13/nyc-life/favorite-writers-obscure-books/]New”>http://www.villagevoice.com/2008-05-13/nyc-life/favorite-writers-obscure-books/)
Just read “Falling Leaves” by Adeline Yen Mah. I find the autobiography interesting but not particularly illuminating. I know quite a bit of Chinese families with similar family dynamics, so I know the details were probably true.
Many thanks to the poster (somewhere up there) who suggested Octavian Nothing. I just finished both books and enjoyed them very much! Food for thought and a very different perspective on our “War of Independence.”
My sisters book group just LOVED The Elegance of the Hedgehog - a french novel translated into english. Some read it again immediately. I have just started it.
Truth and Beauty by Ann Patchett
I’m a fan of the old English mystery writers. The owner of a local small, independent bookstore suggested that I check out Wilkie Collins. I’m reading his book “The Lady in White.” Think Alfred Hitchcock meets Thomas Hardy or the Brontes! I’m about halfway through and really enjoying it.
Correction to post #648 above. The book is entitled “The Woman in White” by Wilkie Collins.
Baystate, I’m glad to hear that you’re enjoying the book. It’s a classic of that genre. Too bad Andrew Lloyd Weber had to ruin it with his ridiculous stage musical adaptation.
Baystate, The Moonstone by Collins is also very good.
Thanks for the suggestion for “The Moonstone”. (How did you get those italics in there???) I’ll be sure to read it! What was the stage adaptation?
For italics, put a [i ] and <a href=“but%20eliminate%20the%20space%20between%20the%20i%20and%20the%20bracket”>/i </a> around the word or phrase. You can also underline using a u instead of an i, or put something in bold using a b.
Baystate, the stage adaptation was also called The Woman in White. I saw it in London a few years ago and was surprised when I heard shortly after that there would be a Broadway production. I was not surprised when it proved to be a huge flop.
I’m reading C.S. Harris’s St. Cyr mysteries. Not serious reading at all. Think Georgette Heyer meets James Bond or Peter Whimsey. Enormous fun.
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
Mathmom - I just love Peter Whimsey (and of course Harriet Vane)! I’ll have to try the St. Cyr mysteries.
^Me, too! PBS did a serialization of The Moonstone decades ago that was just fabulous!
Confession: my book club (for fun) decided to read “Twilight.” I was embarassed to go to Borders & get it from the ‘teen lit’ section, with middle school girls browsing nearby (I was an English major…).
It’s not great literature by any stretch, but I really loved it! Absorbing romance (I never read them) & (I thought) a nice parable on the challenges/virtues of self-control/abstinence (I thought…not many people agree w/me).
I’m now obsessed & read the sequel in 2 sittings at Borders (New Moon).
It’s escapist in the way that “Harry Potter” is, I think…
I did read King Lear 2 nights ago, to compensate!
Jolynne,
totally agree with you on Twilight. We had the book at home for months for the kids before I read it, but once I picked it up, I couldn’t put it down. Read the entire series in a week. Junk reading from the word go, but nice easy read.