BOL Bookclub - take 2

I just finished the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs (Moon Called, Blood Bound & Iron Kissed) - LOVED THEM!

Anyone else reading anything good at the moment? My TBR pile is down to one lonely Tami Hoag. I either need to restock or start rereading something already on my shelf.

I'm reading Deja Dead, the first in the Kathy Reich series, and really enjoying it (the TV series Bones is based on her character).

I also just finished The Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea and really liked it. It was a fairly quick read, fiction, but very thought-provoking. It's about well-off young women in Suadi Arabia and their struggles reconciling the modern world with their traditional culture.

i'm currently reading The Memory Keepers Daughter - it's okay.

next up: Earthly Pleasures by Karen Neches; followed by: The Irresistable Revolution, by Shane Claiborne, Moose by Stephanie Klein, and Her Last Death by Susanna SOnnenberg.

I read Moon Called and Blood Bound on a out of town trip last year, and I wasn't all that impressed. They were very cheesy and simplisticly predictable.

Just finished the latest Elizabeth George, "Careless in Red." It was OK, more for Lynley and how he's coping, rather than the actual mystery part, which seems to have been left fairly open-ended.

My oldest daughter got me "The Last Campaign: Robert F. Kennedy and 82 Days That Inspired America" by Thurston Clarke for Father's Day and I am about half way through it and it is very good. So far what I find very interesting is how many times Bobby Kennedy told others that he wouldn't live to be President. "There are guns between me and The White House." This is one of the statements Kennedy made to people.

I was almost nine when he was shot and always been interested in him and my oldest daughter has always been interest in him.

I'm an escapist in the truest sense when I read. I prefer light, shallow plotlines that require no real thought.

My biggest 'hook' when reading is character development, and I really like Briggs' characters in this series. By the same token - I'm head over heads for the Stephanie Plum books (also cheesy and simplistically predictable, if you want to be a literary critic), everything of Laurell K. Hamilton's, and the Kim Harrison Rachel Morgan series.

If you like light reading, try theAngel series by Mignon Ballard...they are a pretty good light mystery read.

I have also read some of MC Beaton's Agatha Raisin books...which again are pretty light. I can't get into anything deep, I usually only read before bed due to a bunch of wild animals in our house.

I just picked up the Fearless Fourteen book today. I'm ready to laugh again.

I just finished Fearless Fourteen last night. I enjoyed it.

I just picked up Robert Crais' brand new book at lunch. Can't wait to get into that one.

is stephanie still a little bit trampy with both ranger and joe?

Catherine Coultier has an FBI series that is light and good. It is a husband and wife, Dillon Savich and Lacey Sherlock, team who are both FBI agents. The books start out with The Cove, The Maze and a bunch more. They have been good reading.

Keep 'em coming y'all. Not much time to read now but I like to have a book for long car trips (like to my niece's wedding next month) and, unfortunately, fall will be here too soon. So I'll print this list and start stock piling.

have any of you read Harlan Coben's Myron Bolitar series? those are pretty good as far as crime/mystery/humor goes.

I'm afraid we can't answer this unless you want us spoiling the book for you.

dang!!

wait.... wasn't there a spoiler thread?? :runs off to find that one:

Ahhhh....no spoilers! I've only read the first four books so far!

:::runs from room covering ears:::

I'm right there with BSAdiva...I'm almost finished with 4!

LEAVE US ALONE!

I wouldn't call her trampy at all.

The higher up you go on the # the better the book is of the Plum series.

FWIW, I don't think she's trampy either, pjs.

would i be totally confused if i read the series out of order??? like started with #4 or something?

Probably not, but you'd be missing a LOT of character background, plot development, and inside jokes.

OK - so yeah, maybe it would be confusing.

prob not cuz she tells her life story in each beginning HA!

i guess i just am getting prude-ish as i get older. i think the way she acts around these two sets a bad example. :puts on cardigan sweater and sits in the rocking chair smiley:

kitten ha ha- I doubt you're getting prudish----

are you sure you aren't thinking of cheekee?

you kinda remind me of grandma in the Plum series books!HA HA HA

Oh goodness, kitten - if you think Stephanie's a bad example do NOT read the Anita Blake or Meredith Gentry books!

i'm all for a little smut, but for some reason, it just bugs me in that series. idk why.... ::writing down anita blake and meredith gentry on list of authors to read::

LOL! They're not authors. Both series are by Laurell K. Hamilton, and push the envelope pretty hard between paranormal romance (i.e. smut) and scary. Think Anne Rice's later vampire books/Mayfair Witches, but more so.

If you do go looking for them, they are "Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter" (or as my friend says, Vampire Bumper), and "Princess Meredith Gentry".

:quickly amends entry to read "characters to investigate"...:

Has anyone read any of Jeanine Frost or Terri Garey's paranormal stuff?

I just finished Barbara Walters autobiography, Audition. I was not a huge fan before but I am now. Her life has been fascinating and she is very honest in the book without being mean or catty. I'd highly recommend the book.

I am a big fan of the Stephanie Plum series as well. One of the few authors that I actually laugh out loud when reading them (I get a lot of strange looks in the break room )

I actually have worked my through many authors ( I usually read at least three or four books a week ) I'm lucky that my library has a Mysteries table in the front and they just load it with different works by different authors. It keeps me from browsing through the stacks for hours.

I haven't been able to read three or four books a week since...well, not since I had kids! Vacationing with my husband is the only week of the year I get to read book after book.

I love the Plum books also.

Has anyone read any of the "The People of the . . ." series by the Gear husband/wife team? His name is Michael, but I can't remember her name. You can't read three or four of these books in a week!

Well, my kids are grown now (19 & 22) and since my divorce when I'm not working on the house or the yard (last summer I dug up half of my front yard and re-landscaped the yard planting 55 shrubs and 2 dozen perennials; then dug up part of my back yard and put in a 20 x 40 foot paver patio and in the fall tore up all of my carpeting in the house and refinished my hard wood floors - I know you are now convinced that I am crazy ) Back to the point, my ex used to gripe at my reading so now I get to do what I want to do. If I want to spend a rainy day reading I get to do it!!

Back to the thread - what are "the People of the..." series of books about?

Since I go to school from Sept to May, I try to catch up in the summer with reading. I started with "Wonderful Tonight" and just finished Ed McMahon's memoir of Johnny Carson. Now, I'm reading "What Happened". Next, Don Rickles' autobiography, B. Obama's book with "Father" in the title, "Big Russ & Me", "The Cat Who Had 60 Wiskers", "Audition", and Joel Osteen's second book. I hope to be able to get to the two Anne Rice books that are a fictionalized account of Jesus' life. During the winter break I read "Boom" and recommend it highy to anyone who knows that when the commercial plays "Born to be Wild" they are aiming it at you.

You all have given me some ideas for new books to read. Thanks.

I just started James Patterson's new "Sail". I've read pretty much everything he has written. I like his writing style and all of his chapters are really short. Although I love his books, I met him at Book Expo in L.A. in 2002. He was signing his new book and he acted like a pompous ass! Sat there with sunglasses on the whole time and acted like he was doing us a BIG favor by showing up. I try not to remember that when I'm reading his books because I enjoy them so much.

I have read most of James Patterson's works as well - sad to hear he was a jerk but that probably comes with all the fame and fortune - seems to turn most of them into pompous [censored]es!

They are about the earliest people to settle North America. They are fiction based on the authors' imaginations and archaeological discoveries. They're "Clan of the Cave Bear" taken to another level.

Sounds interesting - I'll have to check them out. Thanks for the tip!

EllenA - is that another Cat Who book? hmmm I will have to go and check out LJB's website to see if she 'wrote' another one. The last few have not been that great and so I have not kept up to date on her.

Keep the authors, series coming. This is turning into a wonderful resource.

I finished Fearless Fourteen........I need more Joe...

OK, so I had a very relaxing, unproductive weekend and finished 3:

Dragon Wytch by Yasmine Galenorn
Dead Girls Are Easy by Terri Galey
and the first Lords of the Underworld book by Gena Showalter (Darkest Night, maybe? I can't remember the title off the top of my head)

Anyone read any of these? I'm still looking for Jeanine Frost's vampire series (my BAM doesn't seem to have them) and will likely pick up the next couple of Showalter's books this week. Not so sure about Terri Galey - I'm not a huge fan of ghost stories.

ETA: anyone have any more paranormal/urban fantasy recommendations? My TBR pile is now back down to one lonely little Tami Hoag book again.

I just finished Lean Mean Thirteen... OMG, I laughed til I cried.

Also, "Til Death do us Part", a collection of short mysteries (very good)

Just started Grisham's "The Partner"

I was a little disappointed in this one - thought there wasn't enough of Ranger and Grandma in it.

Just finished Lady Killers by Lisa Scottoline and am about 3/4 of the way thru Phantom Prey by John Sandford.

We've got a Fearless Fourteen thread around here somewhere if anyone wants to discuss that book specifically - that way we don't turn this one into a spoiler thread!

I have read all of his books. He is great, try to see if you can get "The Woods", it isn't a Bolitar, but I couldn't put it down and read it in a day! Awesome.

PS, he lives in Livingston-NJ and I know of all the places he talks about in his stories, it is pretty cool!

I started Motor Mouth and another Agatha Raisin book yesterday after finishing Fearless Fourteen.

i will add that to my list. i really like how he writes.

I thought Motor Mouth was hilarious! Have you already read Metro Girl? Motor Mouth stands fine on its own, but you get the character backgrounds in Metro Girl.

I haven't read Metro Girl, maybe I should pick that one up first. I am not very far into Motor Mouth yet.

This is a cute little series:

http://tinyurl.com/5tsgh3

And this is another series I am liking right now:

http://tinyurl.com/5n5roe

Kiwi and EGB, do you think maybe we should/could start another book box with this group? Seems like there's a ton of good books in this list. Unless, of course, y'all are getting them from the library and not purchasing them.

Do any of you read the Mary Higgins Clark books? I was initially drawn to her out of admiration when I heard how she used writing to support herself and five children. The way she switches from first person to another character's viewpoint is really interesting. The varying chapter lengths also help build tension in the book.

TR - what's a book box?

We compile a list of people who want to participate. I put some of the books I've read in a box and mail it to you. You take some out and put some in and mail it to the next person on the list, etc. Viola! Lots of new reads for the cost of postage. Only problem is keeping the box moving quickly!

That's a great idea TR - only problem is, I'm a hoarder. The only books I let go of are the ones I didn't really like!

oooo! fun!!! i would do that. can anyone play?

Kitten - depends on how it's organized and by whom. I would certainly be able to contribute to another book box, I have enough to go around several times.

So put them in the box, Becca. Someone else may like them. I can guarantee I won't take any vampire ones out!

I've rethought the keeping thing. After 35 years of marriage, if we kept all our books we'd be a candidate for Clean House! So now after reading, books go on a 'keep' or 'donate' pile.

So shall we start a list of who'd like to be in a book box to see if we have enough interest?

TR

OK, so I made a BAM run at lunch and came back with the next two Gena Showalter "Lords of the Underworld" books and a collection of short stories called "Hotter Than He!!"

What is BAM?

We don't have any bookstores here in our town. Unless you count the mom and pop shop that has the equivalent of 2 bookshelves at Barnes and Noble.

Oh..and I might as well lend you "Naughty Neighbor"...It'll be awhile before I could possibly need it.

I think it's Books-A-Million, we dont have them here in MO. I've got B&N and then Borders in the mall, but I never go there.

RRJLJ thinks correctly!

I have never heard of that store. I must be sheltered.

ROTFLMAO

For those of you who have read Janet Evanovich's Loveswept books - does it matter what order they're read in?

i just started reading The Girls from Riyahd (sp?). It's supposed to be really good.

My book club just read Gils from Riyahd - everyone really liked it. I thought that the format of having it as emails really added alot.

good to know. Thanks DEL!

i keep trying to find a book club in my area. no luck so far. my friend and i also tried to start one with people from work. after the first month the response was "we have to read??" um, no, you could act it out in mime.... pathetic.

Perversly uplifting is "Life of Pi". I actually forget the author.

Personally I would like to write my own version of "Million Tiny Pieces" and call it "One Big Chunk"

i really liked the Life of Pi. it's a good story. TWEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One bick chunk???? LOLoad!!!

I thought Life of Pi was really interesting!

I LOVE the Myron Bolitar series. There is another series that I can't remember the name of the author. A is for Alibi, B is for Bullet (I think) I know I got all the way up to Q before they got so popular I couldn't find them at the library.

Steven J. Cannell is also an excellent author (he writes for TV too). Every time I pick up one of his I can't put it down!!

I love the older works of Sidney Sheldon. His newer ones have been disappointing - almost as if he has to crank them out so they lose value. Same with Mary Higgins Clark - her newer books have been too predictable.

As you can see, mystery and crime books have become my favorite genre (I like to figure out what is going on before they tell me) but a different type of author is Nicholas Sparks. He's one writer that can reduce me to sobbing when I am reading his books.

Mocha's Mom - the alphabet series is by Sue Grafton. I really like those too. I think she's up to T is for (something that starts with T )

and i have a few myron bolitars that i have lent to my dad - i want them back so i can read them!!!!

Reading order doesn't make any difference. All the story lines and characters are different in each book. They are not like the 1,2,3 series. The Loveswept books are all old books that Janet Evanovich wrote before she became famous with the numeric series. The old books have been re-released to capitalize on her popularity as an author. As you read them, you can see how she has grown over the years with her Stephanie Plum series as the older ones are OK, but not near as good as her newer, more polished series.

Thanks, GOL! I knew they were re-releases of earlier books, but I didn't know if they were a structured series or not.

Actually, I read a couple, her writing has improved tremendously.

Thank you, Kitten! that would have driven me crazy . I was trying to visualize the stacks at the library - I could see which row and shelf I found them in but not the alphabetical order (beyond A is for etc.)

Another excellent author is Elmore Leonard - he has such a diverse style and genre - one of the craziest was "Maximum Bob".

finished the girls of riyadh. it was good. not great.

i'm reading Infidel now. it's a memoir by a woman from Somalia.

I'm also into the Myron Bolitar books, as well as everything else Harlan Coben has written. Very easy reads, but very entertaining. I also like the Jack Reacher novels by Lee Child.

For the other Stephenie Meyer fans here: Breaking Dawn comes out in 19 days!!! Time for a speedy re-read of the first three!

YEAH! I'm going to start tonight...if things will slow down just a bit.

For the Twilight fans:

They're doing Quotes of the Day from Breaking Dawn from now 'til Aug. 2nd HERE

I started my re-read last night. Can someone tell me WHY I still get sucked into a book that I've read twice already in the last 6 months? I was up until midnight!!!

Love the Jack Reacher series!!! I have yet to figure out who dunit before he discloses it. Usually, I've got it figured out early on.

I don't know, but I'm sure I'll be right there with you when I start my reread. I'm trying really hard to make myself wait until next week because I *know* I'll get sucked in and race through them like always.

ok, somebody tell me about these Meyer books. Will I like them?

Everyone I've gotten to read them has LOVED them. I normally cannot re-read a book to save my life, but as soon as I finished the first 3 I started in on them again. I really didnt think that I'd get sucked in on my 3rd time through them, but I did. I know RR Becca has read them more than 3 times and she still gets sucked in.

from amazon.com - a description of the first book...

Amazon.com
"Softly he brushed my cheek, then held my face between his marble hands. 'Be very still,' he whispered, as if I wasn't already frozen. Slowly, never moving his eyes from mine, he leaned toward me. Then abruptly, but very gently, he rested his cold cheek against the hollow at the base of my throat."
As Shakespeare knew, love burns high when thwarted by obstacles. In Twilight, an exquisite fantasy by Stephenie Meyer, readers discover a pair of lovers who are supremely star-crossed. Bella adores beautiful Edward, and he returns her love. But Edward is having a hard time controlling the blood lust she arouses in him, because--he's a vampire. At any moment, the intensity of their passion could drive him to kill her, and he agonizes over the danger. But, Bella would rather be dead than part from Edward, so she risks her life to stay near him, and the novel burns with the erotic tension of their dangerous and necessarily chaste relationship.

Meyer has achieved quite a feat by making this scenario completely human and believable. She begins with a familiar YA premise (the new kid in school), and lulls us into thinking this will be just another realistic young adult novel. Bella has come to the small town of Forks on the gloomy Olympic Peninsula to be with her father. At school, she wonders about a group of five remarkably beautiful teens, who sit together in the cafeteria but never eat. As she grows to know, and then love, Edward, she learns their secret. They are all rescued vampires, part of a family headed by saintly Carlisle, who has inspired them to renounce human prey. For Edward's sake they welcome Bella, but when a roving group of tracker vampires fixates on her, the family is drawn into a desperate pursuit to protect the fragile human in their midst. The precision and delicacy of Meyer's writing lifts this wonderful novel beyond the limitations of the horror genre to a place among the best of YA fiction. (Ages 12 and up) --Patty Campbell

Guess not. I can't do the vampire thing.

Ah, well, guess it's back to practicing the piano for me. I promised myself I was going to make all those lessons pay off again so I've been practicing everyday. Now that I've told you all, I'll HAVE to keep doing it.

If someone decides to start another book box, I might be tempted to read more than the new Reg Z stuff.

Truff - you should log into swaptree.com. it's kinda like a book box. you list the books you are willing to trade, and list the books you would like to have, and then when there is a match, you just pay to ship the book and you get the ones you want. i just started in it, and it's kinda cool.

it's a good way to clean up your library.

Has anyone read the Jim Butcher books about the wizard Harry Dresden? I really liked the tv series Dresden Files and am thinking of tracking them down. I'd appreciate knowing if they're as good as the series.

Thanks! I'll check that out. Just redid my den and donated a lot of books to the annual library sale but I've a few I would trade for new reads.

Truff - don't knock the Meyer books just because of the vampire angle without giving them a shot. They aren't your typical Bram Stoker/Anne Rice horror movie types. In fact, I've kind of come to think of them as sort of anti-vampires.

Then again - I do read primarily paranormal fiction, so maybe my perception is a bit warped?

Maybe I'll hit the library for one of the Meyer books. That way if I don't like it, I haven't bought it. Which one should I start with?

It's funny. I like things like Ghost Whisperer but not vampire or mean paranormal stuff. Maybe that's because I do believe in ghosts and spirits.

Twilight is the first one. If you start anywhere else the story won't make sense. They're not scary vampires, I promise.

Funny you mention ghosts/sprirts - I don't typically like reading those types of books because my personal beliefs make them too 'real' for me to enjoy most of the time. I also don't really enjoy horror books at all (with a very few Stephen King exceptions).

I just started another one of Robert B. Parker's books at lunch and already read 100 pages!! I love his books - this one is a Jesse Stone novel. I really like the Sunny Randall series but my favorite is the Spenser series. He has to be one of the funniest and quirkiest characters - the reparte between Spenser and Hawk is priceless!!

Anyone else a fan?

MM, we have a lot in common (reality TV *and* Spenser!!) I loooooooove Spenser - I like Sunny Randall OK too, although I'm not into Jesse Stone.

If you like Spenser, you should check out Elvis Cole (Robert Crais is the author.) You'd swear they were related.

Lawrence Sanders created a character Archie McNally and has a series of books about his adventures. Vincent Largo wrote some with him and when Sanders passed away Vincent has written 4 more McNally series. His dads' an attorney and Archie works for his dad and performs discreet inquiries on clients that don't want their business in the gossip papers. Archie is the playboy that turns sleuth in these books. He also has a sidekick Binky- Binky is to Archie like Lula is to Stephanie Plum.

Debbie MacComber has been doing the Cedar Cove series- small town and lots of interesting people and story lines. She has written 1 thru 7 so far- the first one is 16 Lighthouse Road, the second is 204 Rosewood Lane- that series is pretty good reading because you meet alot of interesting people and feel like you know them in the small town.

Agatha Christie mysteries- I love them. I have most of her books. To me they are my comfort books - I don't know how many times I've read them all again and again- Ms Marple and the detective Poirit are wonderful.

i love the cedar cove series!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i already have #8 on order. september, baby!!

have you read the Blossom Street series?

Thanks for the tip about Archie McNally - I didn't realize there were more than just what Lawrence Sanders wrote - I'll have to look them up!

I've been a Robert Parker fan from way back - read all the Spensers. Sunny Randall is OK. Jesse Stone is OK, too, but I really like the TV version with Tom Selleck.

Lawrence Block has two detective series that are pretty good. One is a traditional NY ex-alcoholic noir type (sorry, can't remember his name), The other is lighter and pretty funny, about a second story man. They are all titled "The Thief Who..." with punny titles. If you like Stephanie Plum, or any of M.C. Beaton's Agatha Raison and Hamish McBeth, you'll probably like the Thief Who books.

Empress, I love the Elvis Cole series as well!! I already finished my book last night! I think it's because Parker writes so much of his books in dialogue that they are just fast and easy to read (sometimes too much so cuz I hate it when the Spenser books end )

But that's also one reason I get my books at the library. I read way too many to buy them all the time. That's why I wouldn't be able to participate in the pass around club. I hardly own any anymore - I couldn't possibly have the room!!

If you read Jan Karons' books The Mitford series- you might want to see about the new series coming out about Father Tim.

i read the first one of those, pjs. is the second one out yet?

The first book on Father Tim is out- Its called Home to Holly Springs series 1.

So is anyone else here anxious for the release of Breaking Dawn this weekend?

By the end of the week, I'm going to be like a little kid on Christmas Eve. I'll be way too excited to sleep!

Well, our local contingency of the "Over 30 and Madly in Love with a Teenage Vampire" club is all set with Edward t-shirts and tickets for the midnight release party.

I think the only way we could possibly be more excited about it is if the party was BYOB.

They're better than the series. I think there are only three published in the series so far.

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!! Only one more day until the Breaking Dawn release!

I've almost finished my re-read of the first three, and am intentionally dragging out Eclipse as long as possible so that I won't have time to read anything else before tomorrow night.

I am reading "She's Come Undone", it is bittersweet but sarcastic.

love love love that one DQ!! Wally Lamb is a little twisted huh? Have you read his other one "I Know This Much Is True"?

My most recent reads:

"Storming Las Vegas" by John Huddy
"Brotherhood of Warriors" by Aaron Cohen
"Spies for Hire" by Tim Shorrock
"Authorized Classification and Control Markings Register v1.2"
by some committee somewhere
"Severance Package" by Duane Swierczynski
"Retire on Less than You Think" by Fred Brock

Who is the author?

Wally Lamb, SQ.

This one's for you, Becca. From all the hoopla, I may just have to try to read one of these.

i just love how excited becca is!!!

If you like light-hearted Sci-Fi, Simon Green's Nightside series is pretty good. I just started reading his newest serious, the firt book is call "The Man with the Golden Torc," got a little slow in the middle but picked up quick and made up for it at the end.

I'm too chicken to follow links from work, but I'll check it out from home later. Thanks!

I think what I'm most excited about is the 'girls night out' we have planned tomorrow night. We're going to dinner, the new Mummy movie, and the release party (not necessarily in that order). It's been sooooooooooooooo long since I've done anything like this with girlfriends!

I checked it out....:) I dont feel so bad about not setting the dvr now.

Oh I so envy you the girls night out! Have a wonderful time doing things you love doing with people you'll love doing it with. Have some movie popcorn for me.

"Lawrence Sanders created a character Archie McNally and has a series of books about his adventures. Vincent Largo wrote some with him and when Sanders passed away Vincent has written 4 more McNally series. His dads' an attorney and Archie works for his dad and performs discreet inquiries on clients that don't want their business in the gossip papers. Archie is the playboy that turns sleuth in these books."

pjs - I just finished an Archie McNally book - I can't help but laugh at his character. "One never knows, do one?" The descriptions of his wardrobe and personna are priceless - you can really picture him!!

BREAKING DAWN being released tonight!!!!!

Not that I'm one of those old ladies secretly in love with a teenage vampire. I'm just my daughter's driver....yeah that's it....just providing a little parental guidance!

It's not like I'm secretly plotting how to get the book away from her so I can read it first or anything....

YES! MMOM!!! Isn't he funny and fun? I love Archie and his family too! I think I might re-read one this weekend.

So....have you managed the book-napping yet, BSAdiva?

We started on house renovations this weekend so my reading time was severely curtailed. I still have about 200 pages to go on BD.

I am reading "Dear Neighbor, Drop Dead" (Saralee Rosenberg) and it is absolutely hysterical!

No luck with the book-napping! I couldn't do it in front of all those witnesses and now I think she's hidden it in her room. Scary place, her room. She knows it's safe in there!

OH...yes...fear the ROOM!

I just read "The Little Prince"

In English or in French?

I'm having a hard time finding the second Jeaniene Frost book "One Foot In the Grave." I guess I'll have to do an Amazon order tonight.

english

I remember reading it in French class for the first time. Then got an English copy. Thanks for reminding me about it. It's time I dug out my copy for my eldest gran to read. She's old enough to appreciate it.

"Dear Neighbor, Drop Dead" I bought this book last weekend and it is hilarious. B & N thought it was a hilarious title for the book and so did one of the ladies waiting in line.

Sorry...I thought I had the DQ's comment in here, but it is getting late.

It was pretty funny.

Now I am reaading "Straight Man" by Richard Russo, it also is quite a satirical pip!

PS, I gave that book to my neighbor.

i really liked straight man. pretty funny.

right now i'm reading "a spot of bother" by mark haddon. pretty funny so far.

So I've finally unpacked enough from the move to have reading material again. For anyone who likes 'urban fantasy' type books, I *highly* recommend Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress series (Halfway to the Grave and One Foot in the Grave). Excellent characters and very well written!

I just finished reading The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins, I really enjoyed this book but its the first installment of a trilogy and the second book won't be out until May 2009.
Has anyone read the Graceling?

Has anyone read Nights In Rodanthe? I saw it in Meijer the other day but it was for $11 and I just couldn't pay that much for a short read.

I finished Christopher Paolini's Brisingr the other night. Excellent read! I'm very happy that there will be one more installment in this series.

I've started the books by Brad Thor. I saw him on the Glen Beck show, and though, I would give him a try. I scaffed the books up as fast as I could make it to the book store. They are really good if you enjoy the Matt Repp series by Vince Flynn. Now if I could find a gently used version of Thor's latest book!

Swiped it from Kiwi this weekend (thank you PL, I will mail it on to you when I finish.)

Dick Francis' newest - "Silks" - is good. A little dark, but good.

If you like Dick Francis, you'd probably like Rita Mae Brown. Similar style but Brown tends to be a bit fluffier (at least with the Sneaky Pie (Mrs Murphy) and Jefferson Hunt books.

Not a fan of Rita Mae Brown. Thanks though!

I'm not crazy about her more 'serious' books. The Mrs. Murphy mysteries are supposedly written by her cat (Sneaky Pie) and revolve around a tiny town in rural VA and the antics of a farm girl and her critters. The Jefferson Hunt books are about a hunt club (also in VA) that is a bit of a soap opera in it's makeup and goings on.

I've tried the Sneaky Pie ones, they annoyed me. The only talking animal books I read (I think - don't hold me to this if I come up with something else later) are the Carole Nelson Douglas Midnight Louie ones.

I am enjoying Christopher Reich's financial crime thrillers...

EGB - I haven't heard of those, can you give me a quick rundown? I'm always looking for new material.

Set in Vegas. Main characters are Temple Barr (PR freelancer), her cat (Midnight Louie, sort of a 30s style gangsta knock off), Mysterious Max (Temple's fiance who disappeared - or did he?), neighbor Matt Devine (ex-priest, now radio talk show host.) Various scenarios revolving around murders in Vegas and who is blamed/responsible for them. Start with Catnap, then Pussyfoot, then they go alphabetical starting with I think "Cat on a Blue Monday." They are fluffy but fun. Not Stephanie Plum fun, but still fun.

Thanks, I'll have to check those out. I'm a big fan of fluff...I like my fiction as far from reality as I can get it without crossing into sci-fi. I get enough reality in real life.

There are a lot of them now - I think she's up to S? So if you like them you have a decent amount available to you.

edited...and you know why

Thumbs up to Wally Lamb - love him