Constant Reader discussion

Women's National Book Association picks its annual 13 best books for reading groups:

http://www.wnba-books.org/news/great-...

Little Bee by Chris Cleave (Simon & Schuster Paperbacks)-I read this one it was ok.

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender (Doubleday)-This one looks interesting.

The Queen of Palmyra by Minrose Gwin (Harper Perennial)-This one looks good as well.

Room by Emma Donoghue (Little, Brown)-Everyone who has read it has nothing but good to say about it.

I must have had my head in the sand this year. All these titles are new to me.

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake -I think I will have to read this one, it sounds intriguing to me.

The Girl Who Fell From the Sky-This one really sounds good. Blame: A Novel- I have to read this one also. hahaha.

Carol: I wouldn't blame you. Arr, arr, arr.

hee hee

I've heard of a couple, but never read one.

I've read three: Little Bee, The Girl who Fell From the Sky, and Blame. Of the three, Little Bee wins hands down. I was in an independent bookstore the other day and saw his first book, Incendiary. I almost bought it. Has anyone read it?

I did not particularly like Little Bee. I thought the ending fell apart and the child was far to articulate for 4 or 5 years old. It did have some great quotes in the book. One I remember still is "and the men came and they did..."

Dale, Little Bee is the only one on the list I have read and I liked it very much leaing my comments here on Goodreads. Room I have heard about and is on my to be read list. The others are all unknown to me. Given the basis for choice of the list , namely to stimulate good topical discussions, I can see why both these books made it to the list, so that bodes well for the others from my pointof view. If you read any, I look forward to your opinions

I almost bought Little Bee, then decided not to. I haven't read any of the books on the list.

MrsSeby wrote: "I almost bought Little Bee, then decided not to. I haven't read any of the books on the list."

It was ok.

I've got other books I really need to be reading, Carol, so I decided to give it a pass.

Oh, goodness, I just looked up Room. I would never read that one. I can't stand child narrators.

I've just read a couple of rave reviews for Room, in Time magazine and the NY Times.

I understand your reservations about child narrators, Gabrielle. They can be damned annoying. But both the reviews I read say in this case it's exceptionally well done. Never say never. Room sounds like a fascinating book. I definitely intend to read it. My name is already on the reserve list at the library.

MrsSeby wrote: "Oh, goodness, I just looked up Room. I would never read that one. I can't stand child narrators."

It is getting rave reviews though. I am curious, but I don't want to spend money on a book I might not like and the library does not have it yet.

Ruth wrote: "I've just read a couple of rave reviews for Room, in Time magazine and the NY Times.

I understand your reservations about child narrators, Gabrielle. They can be damned annoying. But both the r..."

I won't say I would never like a book with a child narrator, Ruth, because I'm often surprised by things, but I doubt that I'll read it because I have so much other reading to do. I'm behind in the classics because the school I went to didn't bother to teach literature and concentrated 100% on grammar, instead and books I do want to read keep coming out. Unfortunately, I'm not as fast a reader as I'd like to be, either. I don't trust reviews. I've gotten burned that way too many times. I'll wait to see what people with reading tastes similar to mine say about the book. I do find child narrators annoying, though. I'll say "generally" rather than "never." :) I'm open to change.

I used to just buy any book that seemed mildly interesting until Sebastien and I started saving for a house. Now I can't do that. When I feel like doing it, I just go back and look at the house plans.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/...

This is the review I read recently and an extract from Room. I now have the book at the top of my subscription list with Audible. I've previewed the sampler of it and it definitely gets a place on my to be bought shelf. Now whether I can stand the kid's voice on audio is another matter. But unless the ebook version comes out at a reasonable price before mid Oct, which I think is unlikely given its shortlisting for the Booker, its audio version will be the one that next comes. I'll be happy to post a review and comment at that point.

MrsSeby: On a related note...the biggest change in my reading habits over the years is that I no longer feel obliged to finish any book I start. I used to think it was being disrespectful to the author not to do so, but now that I realize how much great stuff I'll never read, I don't feel any guilt at all about ditching after a few chapters.

I have read two Eternal on the Water and Little Bee and can see why they would lend themselves to group discussions. They were both good one for its portrayal of a love story and the other for the concept of friendship.

Me too, Dale. I'm 75 years old. I don't have time to waste on books I'm not enjoying.

Me three; if it is totally beyond me out it goes.

Ruth: You wear it well. For me, it was a bitter pill to realize I would never get to read all the books I wanted to. But an even more bitter pill came recently when I realized I can never even read all the books just by people I know. Unless I develop a really swift thumbing technique for the new Kindle.

Dale wrote: "MrsSeby: On a related note...the biggest change in my reading habits over the years is that I no longer feel obliged to finish any book I start. I used to think it was being disrespectful to the au..."

Dale, I used to feel obligated to finish every book I started, but like you, I don't any more. I no longer feel it's disrespectful to the author because no one is universally liked. I feel if I don't care for a book, others will.

Sheila, thanks for the links.

The hardest thing for me to learn, Dale, was that everything I've learned will exit with me. I'd always thought of learning as an inherently good thing. The more books I absorbed, the better.

Ruth: Bummer, ain't it? I'm trying to convince myself there's such a thing as universal consciousness. Otherwise it's a case of, as my grandfather used to say, "Live and learn, die and forget it."

Dale, "Live and learn, die and forget it" Love it! Now if I was to really get philosophical I'd ask you whether it is even possible to forgt something once you are dead, after all you are no more, so you cannot do anything, leastways forget something!
As for finishng books, likewise, I used to think I had to finish them, that I owed it to the author, that I owed it to the story, that I owed it to the person who recommended I read it, that I owed it even to me for buying the book in the first place. Now, life's too short. I call a halt on more. Not all that I struggle with, but certainly more than before. And sometimes it surprises me which ones - Life of Pi, Mr Biswas to name but two.

Ruth said: The hardest thing for me to learn, Dale, was that everything I've learned will exit with me. I'd always thought of learning as an inherently good thing.

I know what you mean, Ruth, but one consolation at least for those of us who have spent a lot of our lives teaching is that much of what we've learned as been absorbed (and likely transformed) by our students, and sent on forward, in some process mostly out of our sight.

In this regard I love this little passage from David Mitchell's The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet about teaching and learning:

He was proud of you. 'Pupils like Miss Aibagawa justify me, Domburger,' he used to say, and 'Knowledge exists only when it is given ...' Like love, Jacob would like to add. Marinus was a cynical dreamer.

Philip: Beautiful quote. I've got to seek out that book.

Rule of thumb on deciding to stop reading a book:
"Subtract your age from 100; that's the number of pages you should try to read before throwing in the towel." So if you are 48 try reading 52 pages before quitting. Where did that come from? I have no idea. I used to tell the children at my school to read one chapter before they quit. At my age, I ignore the "rules" - I do not want to waste a single minute on a book that can't hold my attention or interest.

One time I interviewed Alan Sillitoe ("Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner") and he said his benchmark for writing a novel is 100 pages: "If the story's not airborne by then, I call it quits and put it in a drawer."

Philip wrote: "Ruth said: The hardest thing for me to learn, Dale, was that everything I've learned will exit with me. I'd always thought of learning as an inherently good thing.

I know what you mean, Ruth, but..."

Lovely way to think of it, Philip.

Katy wrote: "Rule of thumb on deciding to stop reading a book:
"Subtract your age from 100; that's the number of pages you should try to read before throwing in the towel." So if you are 48 try reading 52 pa..."

And conversely if we normally read about 75 pages that means we're 25, right?

Right on Ruth, I like the sound of that equation!

Ruth wrote: "The hardest thing for me to learn, Dale, was that everything I've learned will exit with me. I'd always thought of learning as an inherently good thing. The more books I absorbed, the better."

Some people say we take nothing with us. In a way, we take everything. Everything that was us. It's not death that bothers me, but the fact that I'll be obliterated. It will be as if I never existed. Some days, I think, "What the heck is the use? It's all for naught anyway." (Oh, that's getting too philosophical for me. LOL I do not like philosophy!) I just try to enjoy every day and live in denial as much as possible. :) And yes, it is death that bothers me and scares the bejeesus out of me. But not quite as much as it used to.

On a slightly lighter note, I looked at Room and I just don't think it's my type of book, not my cup of tea. It is probably an excellent book, but I'll just read what the rest of you have to say about it. I may be younger, but I'm a lot slower reader.

Ruth wrote: "Katy wrote: "Rule of thumb on deciding to stop reading a book:
"Subtract your age from 100; that's the number of pages you should try to read before throwing in the towel." So if you are 48 try r..."

You are fifteen again, Ruth! Maybe ten! :)

Katy said, "At my age, I ignore the "rules" - I do not want to waste a single minute on a book that can't hold my attention or interest."

I'm with you, Katy. I just gave up on Let the Great World Spin after 72 pages. Didn't care for the writing, nor find any interest in the characters.

Marge