Chicks On Lit discussion

OK. So. Looking for a book my husband and I can take turns reading to each other (a new pasttime I hope to start!). He is kind of conservative, but also kind of a romantic. Don't get me wrong, he doesn't read Harlequin novels, but I was able to get him into audio-ing fiction for his commute (he only reads non-fiction normally).

He is a big fan of Sue Grafton, Laurie King (the Russell series), and the Mitford books by Jan Karon. I like all of those too, but he actually got me onto Laurie King (he loves Sherlock Holmes). I'm looking for something we would both enjoy & look forward to, that would draw us together. And something that would turn up the heat in the old bedchambers wouldn't hurt either! But for him, that would have to be tasteful - like the Russell series by Laurie King. The heat without the explicit stuff would be perfect.

Any thoughts chickies???

(Or are you guys all laughing that I would even ask for this kind of suggestion in public??? You know me, what you see is pretty much what you get.)

:)

I would suggest The Time Traveler's Wife. It's such a good love story and you've got the whole time travel-sci-fi angle too. I've lent my copy to a guy a work and he really enjoyed it.

I would suggest the Outlander series, by Diana Gabaldon. It has a lot of adventure, and the main characters are always being put in dangerous situations and saving each other, and the love scenes are HOT!

This is awesome that you and your husband are going to try this....kudos to you Laura!!! How cool :)

First of all thanks for the comments !

BUT, and this is a big BUT...

I do not have a buy-in from him yet. When I suggested it, he kind of laughed and said "Maybe that's something we can do when we're older" I guess it does sound like something 2 old people in rocking chairs would do.

BUT I do think w/the right book, I could maybe convince him. I'm thinking particularly about August, when our dau. goes away to college. I'd like to have something we can do w/privacy assured that will kind of get our minds off of the sadness of her being gone (she is our only one) and help to focus us on each other.

So I'm looking for the right book for this. I actually considered that Outlander series. I'd never really been interested in it before, but I was wondering if that might be the ticket. Time Traveler's Wife is another good idea.

When my dau. started middle school, she'd just left 6 years of a very protected life at a small Catholic school, then was dumped into public school (her choice). It was very very tough, and we started this thing where we would read a book together in the evenings. We started w/a Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and it was fantastic. Just a great experience.

So kind of hoping to duplicate it w/him.

Wow, Laura, you are my hero. There's no way I could get my boyfriend to this.

When I left (I'm an only too), my parents took to going to the Caribbean. Every year in November since the year I left for school (until this year, since my mom's cancer diagnosis) they have gone somewhere new in the Carribean. This sounds like a much cheaper "Empty Nest" activity...

Good Luck and let me know how you end up getting him to do it.

Teri - which improve your marriage books are you talking about?

This is a cool idea - good luck, Laura! I'd love my husband to do something like this.

I have the Time Travelers Wife waiting at home to read, and this thread just made me a little more excited to read it :)

Brandie, it's such a good book...one of my favorites!

My husband used to read to me here and there before bed. I used to love Madeline when I was little and our two kids are boys so I didn't think they'd be too interested and so I felt I had no one to share the Madeline books with. A few years ago my husband bought me Mad about Madeline: The complete tales and read me all the stories over several evenings. While this wasn't "romantic" in the tradional sense it was a very sweet gesture. We recently bought The Tale of Despereaux to read to each other in bed. I know it may sound kind of weird but to me there's just something very comforting about reading kids' books at bedtime. I think it's a good way to wind down after a tiring day. Also, there's so many awful things happening in the world that it's nice to hear "gentle" things before going to sleep.

Oh Beth! I love your idea! He and I still love the Cmas cartoons for kids, long after our dau. stopped caring. So maybe something like that would work for us.

*wheels spinning*

This is def. something to think about!

So do you actually take turns reading from one night to the next? Was it his idea to start out? I'm really curious.

I'm wondering about Little Women, and then Little Men, and then maybe March??? That may work!

I love this idea Laura. I searched and searched for a book to listen to on CD while on a long car trip one year so that my husband would get a feel as to how cool books were. He reads maybe one book a year and that is if I go get it for him and remind him daily to read it..ha.
Anyway it was back when Smoke Jumper came out by RPEvans I think is the author. Sort of a girlie author but with a main man in it and of course the heroics of the smoke jumping profession. He loved it. We didn't even want to stop for bathroom breaks on the road.

I think if you find something that your husband is interested in then add some interesting twist to it like the Time Travelers wife does you will have a hit. My husband loves car racing and anything to do with war heros and energy production then add in some past presidents and I can usually find something he likes and I like too.

That's a good point. Mine likes lots of stuff I'm not way into. But he does like forensics (reads mostly all non-fiction about that, space, wars, history, you know YUKKY stuff). But the forensics is interesting. I think that's why he likes the Laurie King series so much, because Sherlock Holmes is one of the detectives.

Good point KrisT!

Kudo's to you Laura! I think it's great to be open & willing to try new things!

Kudo's to you Laura! I think it's great to be open & willing to try new things!

Laura, when My husband bought me the Madeline book I asked him to read the stories to me. He's a pretty good sport about everything so he didn't mind doing it. With Madeline, he did all the reading to me. With The Tale of Despereaux we're going to take turns. We've been wanting to read to each other for awhile now but we've both been so wrapped up in our individual books we've been reading, and they are library books so there's the time constraint. We're almost done with our books so we'll probably be starting the Tale of Despereaux very soon. You've renewed my interest in doing this. I would ask your husband what his favorite books were as a child and then maybe get them for him to read together. It will is a nice way to spend time together and I'm looking forward to doing it again. It's great that you both like Xmas cartoons. We do too!

By the way, Laura...I can sort of identify with you on your daughter leaving for college. Last year my son left for college and it was really hard at first (he was my only child for 12 years). The day we dropped him off I felt like I was leaving him for wolves or something. Seeing him standing in the parking lot as we drove off made me cry so hard. I'll never forget the way that felt. But I promise you it will get easier. I know my situation is different from yours in that I have a 7 year old still at home but I really think you and your husband will adjust and will probably connect with each other in very positive ways. It sounds like you're already well on your way since you're wanting to read together and you're willing to read some things that you usually don't. In any case, it's nice to see your child become independent. I know that since leaving home our son has matured and grown quite a bit. In fact, he now lives in his own apartment on campus and has done quite well with that.

Thanks, Beth, for those words of encouragement. She and I actually disagree quite often, and so part of me is looking forward to her moving, but the emotional jellyfish inside is anticipating alot of sadness with it too so :(

But thanks alot, I know she will really grow from the experience, and that's why I'm excited for her journey.

You're welcome, Laura. My son had a lot of growing up to do and going away to college was a definite bonus for him. I was surprised by how quickly he took to it.

Oh boy mine too! She really doesn't realize how good she's got it here, but I have a feeling she'll be finding out!

Oh, she will! My son actually admitted to his girlfriend that what he misses most about being at home is my cooking. Funny because he used to always complain about what I made for dinner!

Boy that would be nice! Compliments on my cooking is a very rare thing indeed. If she gets into James Madison tho, they are on the Top 10 list in the US for best food, so may not get those compliments even still!

I think what she'll miss most is her privacy, esp. in the bathroom. I didn't do the dorm thing myself, and I really wouldn't want to - now or then.

Oh yeah, the bathroom thing. My son hated the dorms for that and he hated his 2 roommates. He now has his own apartment and he's loving it.

It must be a real pain to hate the people you're stuck living with. This is why I never wanted to do that! Could he get his own apt. as a freshman or did he have to wait?

No, he had to wait. He's a sophomore now and being in his own apartment with his own bathroom has been great for him. Last year, someone stole a very expensive textbook and also a jacket from him. At least being in his own apartment he has control over who comes in as opposed to the dorm where you don't know who's coming in and out of the room( if you have roommates).

Laura, I just love Laurie King's Sherlock Holmes/Mary Russell series. I'm so jealous that you can get your husband to read with you or to you. The only thing I've ever been able to share with my husband in reading is listening to Tom Clancy CDs while on a road trip. Of course, that was good. Also good is that he told me the other day he had read and liked a book I gave him. He is a LTC in the Army and was going to be overseas for a couple of months, so I got him a couple of books to take with him. They are non-fiction, as that is what he likes to read when he reads. The one he read was The American Rifle, a new book relating the history of the rifle.

Kathy - I haven't been able to yet! (get him to read w/me or to me). Other than audiobooks, which we've done on car trips. Actually the first Mary Russell book we audio'ed on the way to a weekend trip for just the 2 of us. He had read it, I hadn't. The sexual tension between those 2 was quite a hot prelude to our Friday night, I have to say!! It's a great series.

Teri - That Emotional Fitness book sounds great - I'd love to know what the one with the Q'aires is too!

My husband and I have read some Christian marriage books together, and one we have on the back burner is the Complete Money Makeover. I would like to read something different then self help books with him though. Great idea!

By the way I just told my husband we should try this and he said, "I'm not a reader, I'm a breeder." So we have some work to do haha.

LOL!!!

Christeena, is that work on reading or breeding that you have to do? LOL!

Hmm... I'd suggest anything by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, except that some of his stuff is explicit.

Oh! I just thought of a really good possible option: The Flanders Panel, by Arturo Perez-Reverte. It's a fun, atmospheric mystery with no shortage of romantic intrigue.

Sounds good Sage, thanks!

I would recommend Lindsey Davis's Marcus Didius Falco mysteries, starting with The Silver Pigs. I just finished this one and its a great mystery adventure with a quirky investigator and a forbidden (for now) love interest.

My boyfriend and I read to each other regularly. It started when he'd be going to bed and I'd be up reading. He asked me to read to him, but he'd never get the whole story, because I'd keep reading my library books after he fell asleep (or when he was at work etc). One day I suggested he pick something off my shelf that sounded interesting to him, that way we could take our time with it. He picked Memoirs of a Geisha, if you can believe it, and he loved it. It used to just be me reading to him, but I talked him into reading sometimes, too. Now we're onto Brave New World. Good luck getting your husband involved.