Chicks On Lit discussion

OK. I'm trying out The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath. I really like it so far.

I just started "The Heretic's Daughter"

just started Breaking Dawn so i can finish the series.

So did I Kat :)

Lori, you're brave to read The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath. I'd worry that I'd end up with my own head in the oven if I tried it.

I just started The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story. Female author. Female subject. So far I think it's over-written, but am hoping the story itself will triumph in the end.

Jean, Well, I do have a gas oven...and this semester could be stressful...(KIDDING! Because you just can't joke about stuff like that anymore) It's my first journal to read, but I also have Susan Sontag's for later. She doesn't seem so depressed at the beginning; she just seems like a "normal," awkward (around boys) 18 year old.

The thing that gets to my is the beauty of what she writes in her journal. I'm so not eloquent like that. I started Sontag's before Plath's was delivered, but Sontag was off the charts as a teenager; she was so deep in her thinking and analysis! I just wonder why I can't be like that.

I suspect that few of us will ever reach the depths of Susan Sontag's thinking. Or at least I know I won't.

Very true. I am just surprised by her depth.

Right now I'm reading Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz and Loose Threads by Lorie Ann Grover. They're both young adult books currently, but I'm getting ready to start Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke (I'm just intimidated by the size).

I just finished Time Traveller's Wife and loved it. It's right up there with Peace Like a River by Leif Enger which is my absolute favourite.
I have also just finished Enger's newest book So Brave, Young and Handsome and I have to admit that I was somewhat disappointed with it. It didn't seem to have the same "heart" as PLAR.

I just finished 3 Willows by Ann Brashares. Its loosely tied to her Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series but features a younger generation of friends. I liked it but didn't think it was anything extraordinary. I'm now reading Such a Pretty Fat which is hilarious but not particularly PC...

I'm not sure what I've posted that I'm reading in the last week. I have been in a state of indecision. I have finally settle on Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos. I will probably read The True Story of Hansel and Gretel by Louise Murphy next, fitting in the rest of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (which I started right before Christmas and uncharacteristically had to abandon) sometime while reading the other two books.

All right. I am doing Sylvia Plath's journals for non-fiction. I'm pacing myself on reading War and Peace (15 pages a day, perhaps). I just need to fall in love with a fiction book, preferably one that I have not yet taken back to my college house.

I've just started Uglies by Scott Westerfield.

Heather, I've got the Uglies series on my list of YA to read, just haven't gotten to it yet. Let me know how you like it.

Same with me...I just haven't gotten to the Uglies yet!

I'm reading El Demonio y la Senorita Prym, which is just The Devil and Miss Prym: A Novel of Temptation, by Paulo Coelho in Spanish. It's taking me a bit longer than normal, because I haven't read anything in Spanish in awhile. But, I am almost done :-)
I also just started One Hundred Years of Solitude a couple days ago.

April -- my son's girlfriend just gave me a list of Spanish authors/books that she has read and loved from the Latin American countries. I would be willing to share if you are interested. She is also going to coach me through magic realism.

Meg-That would be great! Thanks so much!

Lori wrote: "I'm currently focusing on 3 books (down from 7, which made me kinda of scattered because I avoided certain books) and my goal is to finish one of them by tomorrow at midnight. I'm going to focus o..."

What did you think of Grace and Power Lori? That's on my TBR. I started it and it seemed terrific, but had to put it down due to too many others already going.

Melissa / I hope you like Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell I loved it.

Meg / There you go with "Magic Realism" again! let me know if you crack that nut since you and I are compadres in our experience with it.

I just started Mrs. Woolf and the Servants very interesting non-fiction and a nice break from what I've been reading. (Yes I know I should be reading War and Peace - I have both translations......yikes it's a big read!
Which to choose and what to do!

Ashley, I'm only through the prologue and about 25 pages into the book but already I'm really enjoying it.

Laura, I really liked Grace and Power. It's worth it to read. And I got some book suggestions from my reading. Schleisinger published his journals and I really want to get a copy. But the book also mentions books that Jack and Jackie bought each other.

Kelly Jo, I'm not a fan of short stories either. I like the depth of novels rather than the brevity of short stories. I took a short story writing class and hated how you had to make every word count because you had so few to use to make your point. Don't let me discourage you though. If you find an author you really like, you might like their short stories. I like Hemingway's short stories as well as his longer fiction.

And Kelly Jo, at least if you end up hating the short stories, it's not as big of a time committment as reading a novel, so you feel like you wasted less time. Haha.

Meg, I'm interested in the whole magic realism topic too. I read the previous posts about it and I'm not sure I understand it...but it's interesting to me.

Kelly Jo, Personally, I like Hemingway's short stories. They are quite different from his novels, so if you don't like his novels, don't let that discourage you. I started with The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories for a class and liked it so much I bought The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway: The Finca Vigía Edition. I haven't made it through them all, but I loved "Hills Like White Elephants."

Don't laugh.
Im reading
Letter to my Daughter Maya Angelou
Reading Lolita in Tehran
Mr Darcy Takes a Wife.

I never read that many at a time but I cant help it that there are too many books in this world!

What do you think of the Darcy book Tera? There are a bunch of sequels to that. My mom (84 for God's sake!) really loved that series.

Another series that any P&P lovers out there might really enjoy is this one - the whole story is told from Darcy's point of view, with additional bits added that deviate from P&P. It is written so much in Austen's style - and the 1st and 3rd especially are real page-turners too!

Here they are: An Assembly Such as This: A Novel of Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman, Duty and Desire: A Novel of Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman, and These Three Remain: A Novel of Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman.

I can't recommend these highly enough.

Tera, I own Mr. Darcy Takes A Wife but have yet to read it. What's it like? I really want to read Reading Lolita in Tehran, but I thought maybe I'd get more out of it if I'd read Lolita and the other books mentioned in the sections first. Do you have any thoughts on that?

I got 6 Jodi Piccoult books for Christmas! I'm going to start with "Salem Falls" because New York agent, Donald Mass, mentions it in his book "Writing the Breakout Novel."

Best
Kathy-Diane
author of "Let the Shadows Fall Behind You"
http://kathy-dianeleveille.com

Tera, I'm reading Letter to my Daughter too. It's nice to just read a short chapter or two when you want to read but not dive into a book.

I'm reading The Heretic's Daughter right now. It is great! Anything about the Salem Witch Trials is interesting.

Kathy & Melissa:

I'm only about a third of the way through Uglies, but I'm really liking it so far. It's definitely a very interesting subject and it's really light reading, which is a nice change.

Right now I'm reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I absolutely LOVE it.

It's a great one.

I'm reading American Gods. I'm less than 100 pages in and waiting for it to really hit it's stride.

My online/classic read is Villette. I finally read the first chapter yesterday and I'm...well, I'm not going to put it off anymore. I have a problem reading classics, especially if I have no idea what the story is.

I've just started Jessica Z so I'm only about 25 pages in but so far, so good!

Chantal wrote: "Right now I'm reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I absolutely LOVE it."

i'm reading this as well! I'm loving it so far!

Thanks for the recommendations Laura.
Lori I like it so far. It is kind of like Austen but a bit smuttier. Not advert your eyes sort of smutty but if you were really wanting to see Darcy and Elizabeth get some lovin then this will certainly satisfy it.
I thought about reading the books in Reading Lolita in Tehran first but then I have just been so interested in the lives of women in that area of the world I didn't want to put it off. If anything it will make me want to read those books more when I am done but I just couldnt hold myself back. I have no will power ;)

LOVE the Book Thief. It was our book of the month here a few months back and there was some good discussion on it if anyone wants to read through it in the Past Book Chat and feel free to bounce up any of those discussions if you have thoughts to add to it.

I am a little over halfway through "Just Listen" by Sarah Dessen. I should be able to finish the book by the weekend.

I'm new here, but trying to jump in... :) I'm reading "The Tenth Gift", "Son of a Witch" and "Dreams from My Father" (part way through all three -- it's a bad habit...).

I started The Road and stayed up as long as I could last night to read it because I love it so far. I'm so captivated by the father & son's relationship in the book and on the edge of my seat about what they might face on their journey. Very gripping!

I am curious about magic realism too... I'm thinking "Like Water for Chocolate" would fit in that category? Is there someone who could lead a discussion about this?

I am starting to get lessons in it, what I get I will pass on. I am a newbie in the understanding though. I just read a book called Alburquerque that had some magic realism in it and I got it, but it was slight and it wasn't real subtle. I struggle with Marquez and other writers.

I do believe I will start reading Jane Eyre.

Right now I'm reading Wicked:The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. I saw it on the nomination list for March and have been thinking about reading it for a while. So far, I'm liking it. I'm also looking forward to reading this author's versions of Cinderella and Snow White.

When I finish Wicked, I'll get back to the Harry Potter books...I'm re-reading them and am on #4 now.

I'll probably get Wicked in the near future. But right now I'm reading The History of Love and then I'm thinking about Love in the Time of Cholera or Little Women or The Sound and the Fury.

Lori, I LOVED The History of Love. Love in the Time of Cholera has a hard read at times for me...like swimming in quicksand, if you read it I want to hear your thoughts. I had to watch the movie in the middle of the book (I was stuck) and then I breezed right through the rest.

I'm reading The Gargoyle.