Somehow, I manage to be in several books clubs. Mention a book that you want to read and discuss, and I will likely want to read it with you. My book friends are constantly asking me what I am reading, and I am always eager to share and to hear the same from them.
I asked a few of my book club buddies if they wouldn’t mind sharing with me what they are reading each week, and while a few lamented that they are only able to read a book a month, they still readily agreed to let me take a peek at what they have on their nightstand, beside the bathtub, in their purse, on their Kindle, or in their glove compartment. Some of the titles are familiar and others are completely new to me, so I am looking forward to the answers that I’ll be getting.
JMi is reading The Mole People, by Jennifer Toth. It’s all about people who live under and the subway tunnels in New York City. I think I heard about this one when it first came out, and I wonder how big the community is that is living down beneath the streets. I will have to ask what the verdict is on this one.
JMo is reading The Girl Who Played With Fire. Can I just say that no one escapes Stieg Larsson. A friend of mine has the first book in the series and she said that I could borrow it, so I guess I won’t be escaping either.
R. is using Holidays on Ice, by David Sedaris for her train reading and says, “David Sedaris is light and funny as always. Easy read at only ~130 pages. I just love him because he consistently makes me laugh out loud, probably because I have done or thought most of the things he writes about.
R. is also reading The Year of the Flood, by Margaret Atwood, a book that has been haunting my bookshelves for a while. R. is having a bit of a time with it. “The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood is proving to be a tougher read for me. I like the theme which is about a futuristic world after a major environmental catastrophe occurs. It follows 2 girls who survived the event – both of whom are barricaded in different places but knew each other before the event happened. Overall I am enjoying it. I think the problem I am having with it is that she’s made this environmental group (“God’s Gardeners”), who predicted the catastrophe, pretty cultish. It makes them less believable so IF she’s trying to make a point that a catastrophe like this could actually happen, I think it detracts from that.”
What are your bookish pals reading?
Other reviews and posts:
My sister is reading An Offer You Can’t Refuse by Jill Mansell.
The Mole People sounds fascinating!
The Jill Mansell books appear to be loved and very popular. I see them popping up quite a bit. I want to read The Mole People. I have heard such random things about people living in the subway system that I would like to see some facts and research. Reminds me of Sonny from 31 Hours.
I’m currently reading Black Hills by Dan Simmons but the next one coming up for my book club is Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons. I’m looking forward to that one!
I think I have Ellen Foster. Didn’t they make that into a movie. I am struggling to get back into Black Hills. I am supposed to be finishing up a discussion on it.
What a great idea for a post. I might just steal this idea from you but will give you credit and a link! I’m going to ask my book reading friends from my book club what they are reading!
You definitely should. I can’t wait to see your answers!
I still haven’t gotten around to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo!
Me either. It falls under so many book and not enough time.
I agree w/ R. I love the world Atwood created in Year of the Flood (and O&C), but the God’s Gardeners are a little weird at times. And the inclusion of the songs and sermons…I could’ve done without all that.
I read the first chapter and remember thinking that I would like it, but i havent been able to get back and finish because of other commitments. I can’t imagine that I would enjoy reading either songs or sermons, especially since I won’t know what to sing them to the tune of – like with your songs!
I love this, sort of like I am spying on people I don’t know! Which is what I do when I am in a coffee shop or in the park! So here is the deal…you must read Larsson. If you like audios, do yourself a huge favor and listen to them. They are fabulous, and work well with some of the Swedish names and a few dry parts of the books. Simon Vance is a wonder.
I will have to give the audio a shot. I do hear horror stores about the first 100 pages in Dragon Tattoo. A friend has advised me to skip them, lol. An audio would be fab as far as keeping me from mangling the Swedish in my head.
Quite a few in my group are reading Stieg Larsson too.
He is everywhere. I just haven’t had the time to read his books yet, and I haven’t heard good things about the first 100 pages in book 1. I hear boring a little irrelevant.
One of my friends is reading On Folly’s Beach, and other is reading Crashed. I love seeing what others are picking up!
Is Crashed by Robin Wasserman? I had to look that one up because I wasn’t familiar with it.
Yes…my friend just finished it and hated it! So I don’t think I’m going to proceed any further with that series! Too many great books out there calling my name!!
Unfortunately, my girlfriends are HUGE Sparky fans – UGH. I just sit there with my mouth firmly shut while they rave and rave and rave about how wonderful his books are. They have been swapping his entire book list for months now, so I can never escape. LOL!
Wow, girl! You have it tough. I think my mom had one of his books at one point and I picked it up and trued to read it, but I never made it through. I did enjoy the movie version of The Notebook, but somehow I doubt that I would have enjoyed reading it as much as I did watching the movie.
I’m reading/listening to: One Good Dog; Wilson (love it); Posrmistress; Blake (good) and Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding; Frost.
The Mole People has my interest now; thanks Nicole.
I am always happy to add to TBR piles! I may look for that one myself. More than once I have found myself in conversation where people allude to people who live beneath the street. I have to find out how much is just urban legend at this point.
When I hear about the mole people, I think of the episode of Felicity where she and Julie are stuck on the subway underground and they see weird roommate Megan walking by with a group of mole people in the tunnels. Man, that show was great.
I never watched Felicity, but I have been going back and rediscovering old shows. There are very few shows that I find I can keep up with, plus they take them on and off so fast and put them on hiatus for a while that I have no patience for watching tv in real time. Felicity is one that I might check out, so thanks for mentioning it.
Oh man, I will always have a love for WB shows circa 2000. Felicity was great. Roswell was great. And Buffy was the best. I’ve re-watched all of Roswell and Buffy in the past year, and they’re just as good 10 years later. TV on DVD is the best.
I haven’t been able to watch all of Buffy yet, but I have made quite a dent in Angel. I didn’t love the first few episodes of Buffy. Is it a series that gets better the further you get into the series?
I really enjoyed reading David Sedaris at Christmas. His Santa book was really funny. My friends tend to read a lot of YA and I am usually way ahead of them in what is new in the YA market,so they tend to read my recommendations.
That’s always cools when you are in the position to tell friends about the hottest new books. One of my friends made a guilty confession that she was way too old for it, but loved YA, and I told her not to worry – there are plenty of grown folks who love a good YA read.
What a great post idea! I love discussing books with my friends and hearing what they are reading – I think it says a lot about them
Shhh. I try not to think about how much I am always revealing myself with my book choices and responses to the things that I read.