The Next Best Book Club discussion

Finished reading The First Annual Grand Prairie Rabbit Festival by Ken Wheaton – 3***
This is an enjoyable debut featuring the kinds of quirky elements that draws me to this kind of Southern fiction. I’ll admit that about a third of the way into the book I was beginning to wonder if it was going anywhere I wanted to go. After the half-way point I got caught up in the outlandish plot and wanted to find out what would happen. It’s not great literature, but it’s a nice diversion.
Link to my full review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

& Sons by David Gilbert

I finished Kicking and Dreaming: A Story of Heart, Soul, and Rock and Roll and The Devil's Bones. Now I'm reading Firestarter.

Am four chapters into Whiskey Beach by Nora Roberts.

These...

Brain Droppings , by George Carlin
p. 210 of 272 (77%)

The Great Gatsby , by F. Scott Fitzgerald
p. 20 of 180 (11%)

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values , by Robert M. Pirsig
p. 55 of 540 (10%)

The Night Circus , by Erin Morgenstern
p. 70 of 387 (18%)

Swann's Way , by Marcel Proust
p. 200 of 463 (43%)

The Book Thief , by Markus Zusak
p. 112 of 552 (20%)

The Name of the Wind , by Patrick Rothfuss
p. 168 of 662 (25%)

The Light Between Oceans , by M.L. Stedman
p. 130 of 343 (38%)

The Complete Stories , by Flannery O'Connor
p. 90 of 576 (16%)

Finished the audio version of The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian – 5***** (Audio book performed by Cassandra Campbell and Alison Fraser.)
This is a wonderful work of historical fiction focusing on the Armenian Genocide during World War I – an episode in history that few people are aware of. It is also an intensely personal story of one woman’s search for her family’s history. The audio version is very well done, using two narrators to differentiate the double time frames.
Link to my full review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

I'm reading Garment of Shadows, . Got my attention from the first couple sentences but that's what they're supposed to do.

The Sandcastle Girls is on

The Sandcastle Girls is one of my favorite books that I have read this year . As Book Concierge points out in her great review , I had no idea of the horrific events depicted in the novel . It is certainly a heart breaking , heart wrenching really story but a beautiful love story that gives hope . Great review !

Don wrote: "I'm reading Jane Eyre to my (disabled) wife after we watched seven different video versions of it from the library."
I am in awe of the thoroughness of your approach. Which adaptation did you think was best?

The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks

The Girl You Left Behind

Finished reading Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn – 5*****
This is a complex psychological drama that had me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end. Told in alternating voices – Nick and Amy’s story is full of prevarications big and small. The reader is constantly forced to change allegiances – alternately believing and distrusting Nick, and trying to figure it out ahead of the police. At the end I am left stunned, disturbed, giddy with relief that it’s over, wishing it were NOT over, wondering what will happen next.
Link to my full review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Water for Elephants...started yesterday and cant stop myself...so freakin good.

Scott - I loved that book . If you haven't seen the movie , it's a pretty good adaptation . Enjoy the rest of the book .

Just started Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller

I'm reading Ghost Walk by Brian Keene.

I just finished I Am Pilgrim which was just an awesome thriller. Brilliant character development and more in the realm of 'Day of the Jackal' than the more recent thrillers. Two men pitted against each other, both flawed. Starts slow but will hook you :)

I am almost done with "The Infatuations" by Javier Marias. I don't want it to end!

Continuing:

A Game of Thrones

My latest update: "I'm on page 550 of 811 of A Game of Thrones: Well, there goes the neighborhood. Is Martin Scorsese in the house? "

I'm currently reading:


Just finished:


Marked was a really good book, and I've just began Avoiding commitment so I can't really tell if it's good or not yet. :)

Finished Ghost Walk and now I'm reading Mr. Monk Goes to the Firehouse by Lee Goldberg.

I've not long started Bleak House by Charles Dickens I really like the syntax and the almost meandering flow of the Victorian English. Finding it a real pleasure after the emotional rollercoaster of Cormac McCarthy's The Road.

Finished Water for Elephants and moved to Notes on a Scandal

Finished Whiskey Beach by Nora Roberts Monday evening, and finished The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster tonight. Forster's novella is notable for predicting instant messaging and the internet. A friend recommended it to me, which I read free online.

Now, on to Life of Pi by Yann Martel.

Finished Travels with Aunt and onto Boy in the striped pyjamas

John wrote: "I've not long started Bleak House by Charles Dickens I really like the syntax and the almost meandering flow of the Victorian English. Finding it a real pleasure after the emotional rollercoaster o..."

I've been meaning to read Bleak house, I've heard that it's not excactly the most pleasent book, but how good do you think it is?

Just finished Death at the Chateau Bremont by ML Longworth. now start Ghostman by Roger Hobbs

Starting Blindsighted by Karin Slaughter

I put aside Alias Grace for awhile to read Night Film. Will start back with Alias Grace after I finish. So far, Night Film is good but I haven't gotten too far in yet.

and so far so many feels. I am loving it. Granted, there is a lot of predictable and very obvious moments in the book, but it was expected since it's an adaption of a very well known tale. The characters are fantastic and the villians are those you love to hate. Loving it!

I'm starting Emma's Secret and Buzzkill. I have a feeling I'm going to need the fun of the cozy to off set the sadness of Emma's Secret.

I read my four kids books every night before they go to bed. Last night I read Yertle the Turtle by Dr. Suess. I know it is an old story...but it is a good one. I like how there is a lesson tied in and all the while it keeps the kids into the story. My daughter who is four at the end said "everyone turtle is the same now" once she saw that Yertle wasn't acting better than the rest anymore. It was a good time for my wife and I to remind them that all people are created equal and that everyone is special in their own ways...but to be kind to all.

Finished Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson – 3.5***
I loved this comic strip when it ran daily and Sunday, and I’ve missed it ever since Watterson stopped drawing it. But I have to say, a little goes a long way, and this is best enjoyed a strip or two (or page or two) per day, and not all at once.
Link to my full review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Finished Notes on a Scandal...great! Started Atonement.

Book Concierge wrote: "Finished Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson – 3.5***
I loved this comic strip when it ran daily and Sunday, and I’ve missed it ever since Watterson stopped drawing it. But I have..."

Calvin & Hobbes used to be my favorite comic strip as well!

Am going to start My Dear I Wanted to Tell You by Louisa Young today

Finished reading Still Water Saints by Alex Espinoza – 3***
Espinoza’s debut is an imaginative look at one year in the lives of the residents of Agua Mansa, California. Perla Portillo, the proprietress of the Botanica Oshun, is at the center of the story. Because the focus of the novel is Perla, all the other characters play supporting roles, and some are quite minor. As may be expected in this kind of ensemble piece, the reader is left without any clear answers as to what happens to these various characters. I enjoyed it, and would read another book by Espinoza.
Link to my full review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Finished Rusty Nail by J A Konrath – 2**
Book #3 in the mystery / thriller series featuring Chicago police Lieutenant Jacqueline “Jack” Daniels. I’ve had it with this series, which I think is just Konrath’s excuse to write sadistic torture scenes. On the plus side, he does manage to write a fast-paced thriller.
Link to my full review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Now reading by Lars Kepler

Currently reading never let me go.. Finding it brilliant!!

Just starting Fade Away by Harlan Coben

Reading The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon. I seen it on the Today Show as a book that they were reading in their book club

The Bone Season

The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes

Finished Life of Pi this morning. Really liked this one!

Lori wrote: "Hi Everyone,

So the last What Are You Reading was glitching something serious, and I apologize for that.

Here's a clean new thread by which you can share your current reads, because we are curi..."

I decided to pick up a collection of American short stories. I have a short story rolling around in my head that I want to write but I want to study the medium before I put pen to paper.

I'm reading three books at the moment.

Currently tackling and

Although House of Leaves and Pentimento are on temporary hiatus. The Asylum was gripping, addicting and mysterious... up until the point I'm at now. I am almost finished and, although I couldn't put the book down, the ending has slowed and my interest is decreasing. I will write up a proper review once I finish completely - perhaps there will be another shocking twist to grab my attention once again.

Just started to read The Bonesetters Daughter by Amy Tan.

I just finished Her Enemy which was a solid mystery very well written. I'm about to start This Is How You Fall and I'm already reading Blood and Snow Volumes 1-4: Blood and Snow, Revenant in Training, The Vampire Christopher, Blood Soaked Promises. I needed a vampire fix.