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I remember – even as a child – I couldn’t live without a book – I was devouring them and feared the day when in our little library was none left that I hadn’t read already.
Each of those books was like a window into a new and exciting world, a pathway to explore new characters, to even BE one of those characters and meet the most astonishing people along the way.
Those books just opened and stretched my little world in a way that inspired me to dream and encouraged me to think in ways I didn’t even see before, & some were like a hiding place as well.
So – I love books – and I’m always reading SOMEthing–
and I thought it would be cool to find out what kind of books you’re reading at the moment, why you like them (or why not) or just what was the last book that you read that you really loved a lot and why
The pub is open, so grab a drink – and feel free to share – I’m always keen on new and interesting book recommendations
…and speaking of books…if you havent’t sent your submissions yet for our three year dVerse pub anthology, please have a look HERE -We will be accepting submissions through the end of August.
–Claudia
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
I have spent the last months catching up on reading that i had not done for years.. and I agree… one day I used to breathe books… really eat them.. I recall reading Crime&Punishment in just 3 days… now it’s usually slower… Right now I’m reading Captain Corelli’s mandolin.. what I like most with it, is the way each chapter is almost like it’s own little story.. (but I still have 50% left)..
claudia said:
captain carelli’s mandolin… cool… love books where music or a musician is involved somehow… is it a thriller?
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
It’s a book about Greece during WWII.. really a love story.. The language and style reminds me a little of Garcia Marques.. some of the chapters are pure poetry to read…
claudia said:
oh that sounds very cool
Glenn Buttkus said:
It was a terrible movie starring Nicolas Cage a few years back; hope the book was better.
http://vivinfrance.wordpress.com said:
Jock read Captain Corelli aloud to me when I was too weak after surgery to hold a book – The problem was that it kept making me laugh, which hurt!
claudia said:
oh i can imagine… but then… laughing is such a good medicine as well… smiles
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Yes some chapters are so funny.. and the humor varies from extremely ironic, to warm and soft..
Susan said:
I loved the book–totally disappointed in the movie.
Polly said:
I found the movie a disappointment too, they so often are…though of late I find they’re getting better…
Polly said:
It’s a fabulous book…especially when you’re past the first third, which I found a bit of a drag…but the rest is worth it.
ds said:
Yes, I loved that book too. Couldn’t bring myself to watch the movie; with very rare exceptions they almost always disappoint…
welshstream said:
I have too many books to read and not enough years left! And despite the pile waiting at home still couldn’t resist buying the recently released Saramago book, Skylight, on Saturday and started reading today ! And sorry for prolonged absence fron dVerse but back in the loop from this week 🙂
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
There are always new books to be read.. and too little time… and goodreads are not making it simpler 🙂
claudia said:
hey great to see you… hope you’re enjoying your new book… you have to tell us a bit about it…smiles
welshstream said:
If you haven’t read any Saramago then can’t recommend his books highly enough – this was a book he wrote in 1953 and the manuscript was lost for almost 40 years! It’s basically about the families living in a block of Lisbon flats in the late 1940s with his usual take on a group of disparate people. Blindness is probably his best book
Polly said:
…and now you’ve given me Saramago for my list (!) – smiles
ds said:
Cool! Another one for my list as well. And I completely agree about Blindness…awesome book
Polly said:
Couldn’t agree more re insufficient time…
annell4 said:
Yes, I remember riding my bike to the little two room library in my town, spending hours there. I have always loved books and the stories they tell! I have been reading Gail Caldwell and love her books, and Terry Tempest Williams, true words from the red rock country.
claudia said:
nice… as a kid i read all the enid blyton volumes… i just loved the stories…
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Oh yes.. and you always got hungry after reading her writing.
claudia said:
haha… so very very true… i always thought i’m a bit related to Dicki of her Mystery of …series
ds said:
Bjorn, Claudia, Kathryn, Gabriella, I just discovered Enid Blyton (suggestion of several of our “library moms”). So far ive enjoyed the Faraway Tree and the Famous Five. Which are the Mystery of….. books?
Gabriella said:
Claudia and Björn, as a child I just devoured her books and felt hungry for the lovely packed lunches the characters ate.
Kathryn Dyche Dechairo said:
I was a big fan of Enid Blyton too. 🙂
Susan said:
Lately I’ve been supplementing Bible studies with old Quaker science fiction and new scifi either written by or recommended by Samuel Peralta. Just can’t get away from the poetry!
claudia said:
smiles… Quaker science fiction sounds interesting… can you recommend a specific one?
Susan said:
Judith Moffett’s “Penneterra” (and other books), Joan Slonczewski’s “A Door Into Ocean” (and other books), and–although she doesn’t say so–Sheri Tepper’s “Grass.” I love everything written by these three.
claudia said:
the best book i read during the last few months was mark zusak’s book thief… an excellent book about a little girl during WW II – and the storyteller is death himself – it sounds a bit weird but it really works very, very well
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Yes that is on my to read list too..
Bryan Ens said:
also on my “to read” list…my wife read it and says it is excellent.
Susan said:
I loved the book–totally disappointed in the movie.
Polly said:
Loved the Book Thief so much I bought it twice! (bizarrely not unusual for me!)
Steve Shultz said:
I’m currently beginning “The Amber Spyglass,” book 3 of the “His Dark Materials” trilogy by Philip Pullman. I am really enjoying the series. I’ve also been reading the graphic novel versions of Stephen King’s “The Stand.” Very faithful adaptation.
claudia said:
hey— parts of this play in oxford, right…? think i have to get this one…
really loved oxford when i went there a few weeks ago… there’s something about that city – caroll lewis wrote alice in wonderland there…
Steve Shultz said:
Yeah, Oxford — that’s right. Mostly in the first, “The Golden Compass.” I would love to visit there some day!
claudia said:
oxford is called the city of dreaming spires… and that captures it just so well… and dipped in that golden evening light… magical…
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
That trilogy is on my to-read list as well… My wife read them right now..
claudia said:
cool.. unfortunately my husband is not a very vivid reader – what he does though is keeping the world around me running when i get lost in a book… that helps…smiles
i plan to read hein ohff’s “manual for scotland” to him while we’re there… it seems to be a really well written book about scotland’s history and culture…
Susan said:
Enjoyed the trilogy–I think my mother kept the first part–The Golden Compass.
Polly said:
I enjoyed all three, but The Golden Compass is the best – I’m with your ma on this one 🙂
ds said:
My daughter and I adored The Golden Compass and the rest of the trilogy when she was younger. So well written (and so Miltonian)!
claudia said:
at the moment i’m reading “everyday matters” by danny gregory – a young couple that lives in nyc, ten month old son and then his wife falls under a subway train and from then on is in a wheelchair – at one point danny starts drawing cause he says it helps him see things how they really are and helps him discover the things around him in a new way including his wife and everyone… it’s a book about seeing… i love it
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
The way you can learn about yourself through your art.. I can understand you love that.. BTW today I enlisted for a course in creative writing (in English) here in Stockholm.. every Monday evening I’ll be there.. 🙂
claudia said:
oh wow… that is very cool björn – i bet that is very inspring
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
We’ll see 🙂
welshstream said:
That’s an excellent move – I did one several years ago. It is a truly fascinating and rewarding journey 🙂
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
I just never thought there would be one in Stockholm
http://vivinfrance.wordpress.com said:
If it’s anything like the Open University courses you will love it – and top the class.
Victoria C. Slotto said:
Sounds like a good one, Claudia
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
During my vacation I read only books that are on the list of: Those you should read.. those where it almost is a duty to read.. still they were good..
— The Kite Flyer
— The curious incident of the dog in the night
— Birdsong.
— Rebecca
All great books… but I might need something lighter .. 🙂
claudia said:
which of them did you like most?
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
The Kite Flyer probably touched me most.. but it’s a book you cannot read unless you can face what’s horrible… But they are all excellent books.
claudia said:
oh i have to be careful then… i kinda tend to identify with the characters too much and when it gets too tough and dark, i cannot sleep any more….
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Yes.. this one was a dark one.. Last time I completed a book in a nightly read was many years ago.. but I agree..
That one was Murakami’s “the wind-up bird chronicles”… I love that one..
http://vivinfrance.wordpress.com said:
I agree, if we’re talking about The Kite Runner. There is betrayal, violence and a lot that is unattractive but the book is so well written and covers an such interesting world I knew nothing about that somehow I swallowed the horror.
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
A very important book to understand Afghanistan..
claudia said:
probably i have to give it a try…
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
I used an image from it in a poem — one of them I send for the anthology..
Victoria C. Slotto said:
It’s a tough, but worthwhile read.
Susan said:
I agree, of those 4, the Kite Flyer is best. and Rebecca (du Maurier?) is a great mystery and has a pretty good old movie too.
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
It’s du Maurier – loved the language, the Hitchcock movie is a classic.
http://vivinfrance.wordpress.com said:
As the frog says, reddit, reddit, reddit, reddit!
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
🙂
Polly said:
heh-heh, Victoria…me to!
welshstream said:
All good books – another one similar to Birdsong but written several decades earlier is All Quiet on the Western Front which I finished recently. A powerful and yet beautifully written book – personally I’d rate it above Birdsong
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
I would like to read that one too.. yes it’s a classic I know of..
http://vivinfrance.wordpress.com said:
As a lifelong devourer of books, I’ve reached the stage of re-reading. But in the English library near here the other day I found a James Michener I hadn’t read, called The Novel, about a writer in Mennenite Pensylvania and am very much enjoying learning about the local culture and also the world of publishing. It’s quite different from other Michener books I’ve read, but he is a master story teller, and carries you with him from the off.
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
I remember reading many of Michener’s novels.. but I never read that one. Some of them were excellent reading.. and yes you learned a lot in them…
claudia said:
oh it plays in the time of the gold rush… love when you learn a bit about a specific time in history through a book… have to check this one out…
Victoria C. Slotto said:
That sounds good, too. Haven’t read Michener in a long time.
Victoria C. Slotto said:
I’m a book addict, too. Lately I’ve been alternating a serious literary read with something entertaining–mostly mysteries. I finished “The Goldfinch” recently. ..a Pulitzer winner. Had a hard time in parts of it. At times I just wanted to knock Theo upside the head because of the horrible decisions he kept making. He almost became unsympathetic. But that aside, its descriptions are incredible and I was happy with the close, though it took a long time to get there. I think it could have been tightened a bit.
Right now I’m reading a James Patterson mystery but not too happy with it. Its co-written with a woman who probably would do better writing romance.
I’ve always got a few poetry books going at once, the Bible and play around with writing books too to get a fresh outlook on things.
claudia said:
cool… i always have different poetry books lying around as well… and ugh on those long-winded stories that need forever to come to a close…ha
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
I’ve read a few James Patterson.. but after a while I got tired the people in his books.. After living in Arizona I read a lot of Tony Hillerman.. have you read any of those?..
Victoria C. Slotto said:
I love Hillerman. He used to have writing workshops in New Mexico that I hoped to attend but he died before I could afford it!
Mary said:
Ha, we have a saying here – “The way to h*** is paved with good intentions. I have many books I am intending to read, but the truth of the matter is I read some poetry books & start some fiction books, but for me anyway it is hard to find time to read when I am so often involved in writing poetry. I admire those who CAN find time to both read books & write poetry!
claudia said:
i would also love to read more… my problem always is that when i’m reading a good book i cannot stop and stay up half the night… and when the alarm goes off at 5….ouch….
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Yes— I agree.. that’s why I read and read during my vacation…
Glenn Buttkus said:
I have been trying to read all of Cormac McCarthy’s books, gritty, challenging; he skips punctuation a lot.
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
I have a few unread there I think…
claudia said:
oh – he’s a screenwriter as well… i can imagine that this is right up your alley glenn… hope you’re enjoying your holiday…
Myrna said:
I usually read bits and pieces of several poetry books. Especially when I’m at a book store. Currently, not sure why, am reading Victor Fankl’s “Man’s Search for Meaning. It’s a heavy. I’ve read some of the one’s mentioned already. I enjoyed reading the Life of Pi, The Book Thief, The Kite Runner. Those come to mind, but can’t really think of a favorite book. Guess I’ll keep reading ’til I find one.
claudia said:
nice… do you have a fav poetry book myrna?
Rallentanda said:
In my opinion Victor Frankl’s ” Man’s Search For Meaning” is a must on anyone’s reading list. Frankl was an eminent psychologist.
I have just finished reading ” The Poets Wife ” by Mandy Sayers. A true story of a successful Australian author who meets and marries an American poet and her experience of life with him on an American campus. Scintillating read…in the cover to cover category!
georgeplace2013 said:
I nearly always have a book or kindle in hand… These are all older ones but goodies.
Some really interesting dystopian books:
The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
Divergent, Insurgent, Veronica Roth
The Giver and sequels, Lois Lowry
Feed, M.T. Anderson
Wool Omnibus, Hugh Howey
Genesis, Bernard Beckett
Little Brother, Cory Doctorow
The House of the Scorpion, NancyFarmer
Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang, Kate Wilhelm
Earth Abides, George R. Stewart
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Mary Ann Shaffer ‘
Watership Down, Richard Adams
claudia said:
oh i loved the hunger games series as well
and read with my daughter divergent and insurgent – loved the whole idea of how the people were divided into those different groups…
Susan said:
Oh! I’ve read EVERYTHING by Kate Wilhelm–both science fiction and courtroom dramas! isn’t she good? Lot’s on your list are wonderful Young-adult-fiction. I eat those for dinner!!
Susan said:
Have you read Jane Yolen and Orson Scott Card?
georgeplace2013 said:
I haven’t read Jane Yolen but I’ve read several things by Card: Ender’s Game, The Folk of the Fringe and The Tales of Alvin Maker
georgeplace2013 said:
I love Young Adult as long as romance is peripheral to the story, I’m not a fan of romances.
margaret said:
Currently devouring the Outlander series – and now it is a series on Starz!
As a child I loved visiting my grandmother because she made the best scrambled eggs for breakfast and used a LOT of jelly (my mom did not) and I could ride my bike down the sidewalk to the library – they had a wonderful children’s section. If I close my eyes I can still smell it… 🙂
I also am reading Wendell Berry’s “New Collected Poems” and a book I picked up at a used book store “Virginia Folk Legends”.
claudia said:
hmmm… i want some scrambled eggs now….
those are some lovely memories and the folk legends book sounds esp. interesting… always love to learn about cultural things..
brian miller said:
i am curious…have you watched it? is it like the books? i have yet to read them but i am def intrigued by the premise…i may sneak a peak at the show and then get to reading…smiles.
Bodhirose said:
Brian, my oldest daughter is a huge fan of the books…she just finished the latest in the series to come out and is loving the new show.
margaret said:
LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!! On so many levels – I rarely buy a series when it comes out on DVD but after only three shows – I KNOW I will. (I am on book 4) Have not been able to read it for two weeks – went on vacation for a week – and well, six kids = no leisure time – but that’s OK – and this last week before school… I am so paying my dues for not getting dentist and doctor appointments done before now. (I still have school supplies to buy for Monday – it is Sunday 1:00 am 😉
claudia said:
alrighty…..bedtime for me… some really cool book suggesitons… will check back in tomorrow morning…. and my would-love-to-read-list is getting longer and longer…
brian miller said:
sleep well c…
Bryan Ens said:
I recently finished reading “The Partial Sequence” by Dan Wells. A dystopian series in which the last remaining humans are at war with the human-like genetically engineered beings that were designed to fight wars for the humans. An interesting series! I have just started reading The Edge of the World by Kevin J Anderson. I’m not far enough into it to tell you what it’s about, but it does look interesting (I found it when browsing the shelves at the library…it’s a few years old, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing 🙂
georgeplace2013 said:
Absolutely NOT a bad thing : )
shanyns said:
I ALWAYS have a book or three or five on the go. I’m a real fan of reading, we all are in our house, so books are important. I love a good mystery (Animals in Focus serise is awesome for a cozy mystery for example) or action novel, history, thrillers and some spy vs spy is good as are some classics and sci fi. Never got into the romance or bodice rippers, or horror after I had my run with reading all things King. 🙂
Right now I’m reading John Sandford, Clive Cussler, Tolkien, the Bible (a daily read) and some books with our son – adventures, dragons and wild fun.
I am unashamed to admit I have read and re-read almost every western written by Louis L’Amour – I love his books. And an annual read are David and Leigh Edding’s books.
Love to read poetry, of course, and dive into the new and into classics…and am trying to educate myself on things Cree, Canadian, western and agricultural.
Reading has saved my sanity more than once, gotten me through hard and lonely times and kept me company whilst waiting for my farming hubby to come home. And I’m honoured to call some cool authors friends – and I wait impatiently for their books to come out.
MarinaSofia said:
Well said, Shanyn, I also find reading has saved me when I was unable to formulate a single sentence in writing. Although I do find at times I get restless with a particular book or genre (which I was perfectly happy reading before) – I suppose it does depend on what is going on in your life or where your mind is at a particular point in time.
http://vivinfrance.wordpress.com said:
I agree about changing taste according to what’s going on in your life: I read the Hunger Games series while very poorly in hospital, last summer and can’t look at them now. I read and re-read and re-re-read the Georgette Heyer historical romances when I was young and romantic – now they would bore me silly.
brian miller said:
nice….i need to dig through this and make a book list….smiles….i am reading a Lee Child booke for fun….just found an octavia butler that i have been searching for…grad school starts this week so i will have academic reading once more so…oy…
Polly said:
Love the TV series so much, I’ve just started to read Game of Thrones…but my ‘to read’ list is sooooo long I know there may not be time…so, soz, but I’m off to do some reading…so many books, so little time…
brian miller said:
oh the books are great…and add so much depth to the series…the tv series is really good though…but he’s got to get writing so we can keep watching…ha
Polly said:
I can’t wait for the next series, which we won’t get until April 2015…hence the books! I can’t wait to find out what happens next…not impatient or anything…smiles
Jeff said:
Great discussion, all! It’s fun to see what others are reading. I just finished 3 books:
Georgia Odessy, an introductory-type history of Georgia.
Selected Poems of Edna St. Vincent Millay. Goodness, Millay could WRITE!
Far From the Madding Crowd. Hardy is a long-time favorite of mine, it’s always nice to revisit his work.
Currently reading:
Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s These Are My Rivers. Just started, but what I’ve read is pretty good poetry.
Lewis P. Simpson’s The Dispossessed Garden, a book of lectures Simpson gave for the 1973 Mercer Univerisity Lamar Memorial Lectures. About the way Southern literature used the pastoral mode, and the impact of slavery and industrialization on the Southern literary mind. I like that kind of stuff.
Thomas Wolfe’s Look Homeward, Angel. Nobody writes like Wolfe. He’s one of my top 5 all-time writers. Prose that could be set in verse and no one would guess it wasn’t written as poetry. In fact, someone has done just such a thing. A great poetry book!
Keep reading and writing!
claudia said:
that Lewis P. Simpson one sounds interesting indeed…
MarinaSofia said:
What an interesting combination of classics and more exploratory reads!
Kathryn Dyche Dechairo said:
I go through phases in terms of book devouring and I’m definitely in one at the moment.
I recently read The Ocean At The End Of The Lane which I loved. I’ve also read Swimming Naked a story about a dysfunctional family focusing on the relationships between mother and daughters, Steve Shultz poetry book FM Ghost (very cool) and have just started The Invitation (not my usual type of read).
Just a few personal favorites I thought I’d mention are:
Rapture by Carol Ann Duffy
The Light Changes by Amy Billone
Satan Says by Sharon Olds
Otherwise, Soft White Ash by Kelli Allen (this is how I want to write when I grow up)
Introvert Power: Why Your Inner Life Is Your Hidden Strength by Laurie Helgoe
This I Know: Notes On Unravelling by Susannah Conway
Phases Of The Moon by Louise Hastings
The Melancholy Death Of Oyster Boy by Tim Burton
claudia said:
nice to see some names that i know on that list…
Kathryn Dyche Dechairo said:
Love this topic, its fun to see what others are reading. Do you ever go on Goodreads. I know some of us are on there?
Sumana Roy said:
Really enjoying the conversations going on here Claudia…i was a little human-shark devouring book-fish in childhood..feeding & feeding whatever i could lay my hands on to.. oh my….but now i can’t read all the books, i’ve become very much selective, love auto-biographies, and spiritual books most…at present i’m slowly bit by bit enjoying Gandhi’s autobiography & that even not at home but in between my classes at school …i don’t want to end it quickly.. 🙂
claudia said:
oh i do love biographies as well… next on my list is a biography about mother theresa
Bodhirose said:
I was just like you as a child, Claudia…books were my sanctuary, my life, and I always had a stack of them to read. In the last couple of weeks I scoured my daughter’s bookshelves for something to read and she recommended a couple for light reading. One I just finished and passed on to my mother was “Summer at Tiffany” by Marjorie Hart. It’s a true account of two sorority sisters who travel from Iowa to New York City to find work and explore the city in the summer of 1945. They happen to land choice positions at the renowned Tiffany store on 5th Avenue which before hiring them had only used boys as pages but the war was on and most young men were serving their country. Now I’m reading a book by Quinn Cummings who was a former child actor e.g. “The Goodbye Girl.” It’s called “Notes from the Underwire, Adventures from my Awkward and Lovely Life.” Ms. Cummings wit can make you laugh out loud…a fast, fun read. Lined up after this one is a more serious book that won a Pulitzer Prize by Geraldine Brooks called “March.” A story based on Louisa May Alcott’s character of the absent father (Mr. March) in “Little Women” giving his experiences of service during the Civil War. I also subscribe to several magazines and love that type of reading too. Happy reading everyone!
claudia said:
oh that sounds great…esp. that first one with the sisters traveling crosscountry to find work
Suzanne said:
I am reading a completely weird and nutty book called ‘8 States of Catastrophe’ by the Australian author Karen Lee Thompson. It’s about a man who travels Australia on a motor bike with his dog. He has highly developed intuition and tell at a glance what’s wrong with people. He then fixes them. In the first chapter he helps a woman with poetry.
claudia said:
now that sounds interesting… it’s cool that he uses his talent to help people…
MarinaSofia said:
OOoh, do you think he could help fix me and my poetry? Sounds intriguing…
Kathryn Dyche Dechairo said:
I’m intrigued. Will have to check that one out.
ds said:
Sign me up for that one!
biggerthanalasagna said:
I just finished Hell House by Richard Mathisen, and was about to start The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson (LOVE Shirley Jackson) and i am stuck in the middle of both 99 Brief Scenes From the End of the World by TW Grim and The Elements of Style by Strunk and White. Maybe I should finish these two before I start Hill House….nah. 🙂
claudia said:
smiles… sometimes i read books parallel as well… esp. if one is more difficult to read – i need sth. to balance it then…
biggerthanalasagna said:
🙂
claudia said:
ok – need to get me pen and paper and make a i-woul-love-to-read-list… thanks so much for sharing everyone!!
arathi said:
So nice to read about everyone’s reading list…thanks claudia for this discussion..right now i am reading a book by Aruthur Osborne on Sri Ramana Mahahrshi, also I am enjoying Mark Nepo’s Poetry and Eckhart Tolle’s A new Earth…smiles..
MarinaSofia said:
Hello, everyone, I’m just back from holiday and finally back on the internet, so nice to hear about your reading choices. Do you find yourself changing your reading habits in the summer holidays? I used to save up chunky or difficult books for the summer, but after a few years of floundering with ‘The Brothers Karamazov’ and ‘Infinite Jest’ on the beach (both of which I like in small gulps but not over quite so many pages), I decided to go light this year. So I had a bunch of books with an exotic location: Greece, Japan, Solomon Islands, France, Mexico… mostly crime fiction, as that is my reading (and writing) passion. Now that I’m back, I’ve switched to some more serious books (some might say depressing): Joan Didion’s ‘The Year of Magical Thinking’ – which captures perfectly the grief and sense of loss of a loved one; Louise Penny’s latest novel ‘The Long Way Home’ which is labelled as crime fiction but is really a meditation on life, art, creativity and finding one’s true self; and poetry Anne Carson’s quirky poetic saga on a dysfunctional marriage ‘The Beauty of the Husband’.
Kathryn Dyche Dechairo said:
If I’m on holiday/vacation I tend to read easy to read stuff and save the more intense writing for when I’m curled up at home.
http://vivinfrance.wordpress.com said:
What a marvellous discussion. It prompted a rambling post on the publishing revolution. http://vivinfrance.wordpress.com/2014/08/19/thoughts-on-a-publishing-revolution/
leamuse said:
I too was an early reader. I never leave my house without a book and there are always a few to choose from in the car. One never knows… No matter how tight the budget was, being single mother it was often. My children knew I would always find a way to get that book that would have them reading. Great topic Claudia!
ds said:
Sorry to be so late to this discussion (it has been fascinating, reading everyone’s recommendations; I don’t think I have enough paper to write down all the new “must reads” you have shared). A lifelong booklover, I fully agree with Claudia’s early remark that books saved her. They have me also, in more ways than I can possibly name. Guess that’s why I work in a library, in the Children’s Department, so I have been reading a lot of middle grade literature, currently enjoying The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place–Lemony Snicket meets Jane Eyre (an old favorite also). Just started The Infinities by John Banville, have a couple of poetry books on hand to delve into, and a stack of to-be-reads that could fortress a small army…So many books, so little time…
Thank you for this wonderful trip through the stacks.
Victoria C. Slotto said:
Finished the Patterson book I was reading last night and read the blurb for the next in the series…just can’t go there. The stupid female police detective can’t handle relationships…I’ll browse everyone’s list for idea. Thanks for the great post. We should do this from time-to-time. Ask everyone to give one recommendation. I’m too old to waste time reading crap. Ha!
Fly Indie said:
There never was a better book than ‘Red Azalea,’ by Anchee Min…reading it again is such a pleasure…
katiemiafrederick said:
While i love to read everything i find on the internet..but the touch and feel of books..is like elixir to me..but nah..i can’t read at home..too much draw to Internet land..here..so i go to Barnes and Nobles..do my TAI CHI..listening to music on iPhone..that allows me to somehow read faster than ever..usually consuming at least two books in an hour or so…
Lately i’ve read books on Egyptology..Bible of Tai CHI..$9.98 garden variety condensed reference books on philosophy..mythology and religion..and so many more that i’ll fill up this comment section if i go on and on more..but yes..books are delights to me..and a place to escape..the electronic life i know all too well..outside of dance and song!
charliezero1.wordpress.com said:
I’m currently reading “William Burroughs” The Soft Machine. I’m almost done. 🙂
I also recommend these books that I have read:
– Hollywood Babylon by: Kenneth Anger
– Great Expectations by: Kathy Acker
– Alien VS. Predator by: Michael Robbins
– The Death of the Media by: Danny Schechter
– Mona Lisa Overdrive by: William Gibson
– Chariots of the Gods by: Erich Von Daniken
– The Hacker CrackDown: Law and disorder on the electronic frontier by Bruce Sterling
– Robot City, Odyssey by: Kube-Mcdowell
– The Magic of Reality by: Richard Dawkins
– The Electric Church by: Jeff Somers
– The Book of Lies by: Aleister Crowley (A poetry book).
That’s all I can recommend for now…I have a massive book of all books.
🙂
What can you guys recommend to me? Anything that would interest me.