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Friend of Jane
whiterabbit25
06 January 2009 @ 03:11 pm
Reading Mode  

I am plotting to read The Great Gatsby and possibly Water for Elephants. Have you read WFE and what did you think? It looks good and I know it was a huge book club selection. I also need to go back to my non-fiction list as I rarely read nf and would like to try some.

What about book clubs for you - do you like them or would rather not? I belonged to one for a few years that was great in its hey day. Then, it sort of got hijacked by members who wanted to read things the rest of us had no interest in so it slowly died out. I miss it. Although, I could do without reading the history of candy making which was one of their selections.

I am immensely proud of LoudBoy b/c we finally finished the first Harry Potter book. He was thrilled to finish his first real chapter book. I read it to him but he's 6 1/2 so he's learning to read more and more. I bought the dvd used on Amazon and we're going to watch it this week. We have miles to go before we read as many chapter books as Sweetness and [info]curt_holman , but I understad it's not a race. We'll take our time. The point is the love of the written word and instilling it in children.
 
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Red[info]lemon_says on January 6th, 2009 08:24 pm (UTC)
I am in a very loosely-organized book club that needs to get its ass in gear and meet about the book I picked shortly before my *ahem* flight.

I would totally read the history of candy-making, but I wouldn't inflict it on my book club.
S.[info]travellight on January 6th, 2009 08:52 pm (UTC)
I'd rather read the history of candy making than the book about sheep solving a mystery.
Red[info]lemon_says on January 6th, 2009 08:54 pm (UTC)
Hey, I didn't think the sheep book was bad! You should have lost a turn after that ghastly Anne Tyler one you subjected us to.
S.[info]travellight on January 6th, 2009 08:58 pm (UTC)
Who picks most of the books we read?

Red[info]lemon_says on January 6th, 2009 09:02 pm (UTC)
I don't think anyone has picked most. It's a random assortment, since we make sure everybody gets a pick before someone picks again.
S.[info]travellight on January 6th, 2009 09:05 pm (UTC)
I haven't picked in aeons. Which is just as well, since everybody would rather pluck their nasal hairs than read my picks anyway.
Red[info]lemon_says on January 6th, 2009 09:08 pm (UTC)
Well, no one's picked for months.
S.[info]travellight on January 6th, 2009 09:09 pm (UTC)
Parsing.
mrs__smith: library[info]mrs__smith on January 6th, 2009 10:46 pm (UTC)
I liked the sheep book! So did my mom who borrowed it at Thanksgiving and now she's loaned it to my dad. I don't remember much of it since I've read about a dozen books since I finished that one.
S.[info]travellight on January 6th, 2009 10:50 pm (UTC)
Thought it was a carbuncle on the ass of literature. There. I've discussed it.
mrs__smith: library[info]mrs__smith on January 7th, 2009 02:46 am (UTC)
*snarf*
Friend of Jane[info]whiterabbit25 on January 8th, 2009 03:25 am (UTC)
Okay, what the heck is the "sheep mystery book"? You know I have to read it now or at least go to a store/site and read the writeup. I like ones with cats and dogs solving things ala Rita Mae Brown's Mrs. Murphy series. It's hilarious.

Not sure about sheep though...
mrs__smith: library[info]mrs__smith on January 8th, 2009 07:10 pm (UTC)
http://www.amazon.com/Three-Bags-Full-Sheep-Detective/dp/0767927052/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231441760&sr=8-1

Sheep solve the murder of their shepherd. :) I'd loan you mine but it's in Maine.
S.[info]travellight on January 6th, 2009 08:56 pm (UTC)
I like the idea of bookclubs, but they always seem to wither away for one reason or another.

One notable bookclub experience was one in which one woman always insisted on picking the books and I just don't really want to read the Oprah picks. In another one I never picked anything anybody else really wanted to read so I somehow ended up out of the rotation. My favorite bookclub had my friend Amanda, who was mostly there for the hot cheese appetizers.

Maybe a better idea would be to have a bookclub where everybody comes to discuss what they've read, and brings it with them so that everybody leaves with something new, rather than everybody reads the same thing?
mrs__smith: library[info]mrs__smith on January 6th, 2009 10:42 pm (UTC)
everybody comes to discuss what they've read, and brings it with them so that everybody leaves with something new, rather than everybody reads the same thing?

I like discussing a book that a group has read, but it would also be groovy to incorporate your idea along with it. Sort of a double book group.
S.[info]travellight on January 6th, 2009 10:49 pm (UTC)
I just don't like being told what to read; I never have. I have a problem with authority.

I am happy to tell you about any books I have read, and happy to hear about any you have read, though.
Friend of Jane[info]whiterabbit25 on January 8th, 2009 03:43 am (UTC)
We'd pick books every six months by filling a hat or cup with suggestions and randomly pulling them. Then, it got smaller and we picked amongst ourselves. Unfortunately, after I gave up coordinating (did it 2 friggin' years), we got a new person. Her selections were ALWAYS lonnnngg, ponderous and dull. I think Kafka was in there. Never read K but it didn't sound good at the time. No one said anything but we sort of drifted apart after she took over.

We did have favorite discussion nights when we'd eat out July/December for book breaks. They were fun. We'd also trade books at those dinners. I got some good stuff.
S.[info]travellight on January 7th, 2009 03:45 pm (UTC)
I think a Poe book club could be interesting.
Friend of Jane[info]whiterabbit25 on January 8th, 2009 03:30 am (UTC)
The book club I was in the longest read Poe every Halloween meeting. It was awesome. One year we met on someone's deck (big) where she'd hung one of those outside tents made of black netting. We had a table with H'ween decorations on it with candles, wine and stuffed ravens everywhere. Very atmospheric.

You might like The Pale Blue Eye by Louis Bayard http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0060733985/ref=sib_dp_pop_bc?ie=UTF8&p=S0CI#reader-link

It features a mystery with a young Edgar Allen Poe as one of the investigators.
mrs__smith: library[info]mrs__smith on January 8th, 2009 07:13 pm (UTC)
I love Poe and I LOVE books with historical characters in them.

Friend of Jane[info]whiterabbit25 on January 9th, 2009 05:11 am (UTC)
I thought of you when I replied to Susan above. You'd like this book. I was thinking of it last night and remembering how some of the scenes were close to what Poe would've written.
mrs__smith: library[info]mrs__smith on January 6th, 2009 10:44 pm (UTC)
WFE has been on my shelf ro six months. I was dying to read it and then somebody told me the animal abuse is really graphic so I got scared off. I'm working my way back towards it.

i love discussing books so I always enjoy a good club.
Gossamyrrh[info]gossamyrrh on January 6th, 2009 11:08 pm (UTC)
If your boy likes Harry Potter, he might like Piers Anthony's "Xanth" series. As the series progresses, there are more adult concepts (with ample opportunity for "discussion"), but the first few books are good, clean reads.

My next scheduled read is "Atlas Shrugged" (sorry to use quotes...not sure how to underline in a reply! I'm also planning on re-reading "The Poisonwood Bible" this year.

Girlfreind and I are considering starting a bookclub. Meetings tentavely scheduled for the first Tuesday of every month at a restaurant at 285 and Roswell Road. Nothing is set in stone.
Friend of Jane[info]whiterabbit25 on January 8th, 2009 03:39 am (UTC)
I so miss book club. Not sure if I can fit one more thing in my calendar right now. Not putting you off at all b/c I am very happy to be included! Let me know what shakes out.
Gossamyrrh[info]gossamyrrh on January 6th, 2009 11:35 pm (UTC)
also......
Julie Andres (*the* Julie Andrews!) wrote a book called "Little Bo" about a sailor who adopts a stray kitten. Last time I looked, it had at least one sequel. Very heartwarming! I think it got a Newberry.
Friend of Jane[info]whiterabbit25 on January 8th, 2009 03:31 am (UTC)
Re: also......
I'll have to look for it. Animals are always good reads.
Ami[info]chasingami on January 6th, 2009 11:45 pm (UTC)
Water For Elephants was so extremely good that I read it in one day. It is on the top of my favorites list. I highly recommend it.
Friend of Jane[info]whiterabbit25 on January 8th, 2009 03:33 am (UTC)
Can you comment on any animal abuse in WFE as mentioned above without giving much away? I stopped reading Stephen King one day b/c of something done to a puppy. I'd read him faithfully until that point and then decided it was an unneccesary act. Not squeamish about humans but animals, yeah.
Friend of Jane[info]whiterabbit25 on January 8th, 2009 03:33 am (UTC)
Love your icon (recant)!
Ami[info]chasingami on January 8th, 2009 06:28 pm (UTC)
I honestly don't recall anything extreme at all and I'm VERY sensitive to that kind of matter as well. It's been awhile since I've read it, but nothing sticks out in my memory of being graphic.
magsmom[info]magsmom on January 7th, 2009 12:51 am (UTC)
Read both books. They cannot be comb=pared, but both are great. WFE is a wonderfully written story that is sometimes troubling. I really loved this book.
Great Gatsby is classic American literature. You can read it in an hour and spend months digesting it. Or just read the story on a surface level. It's a good story, but if you look hard enough, every word is significant.
Friend of Jane[info]whiterabbit25 on January 8th, 2009 03:34 am (UTC)
Oooh, if you look hard enough, every word is significant I love those!
martina_d: Contemplation[info]martina_d on January 7th, 2009 02:15 am (UTC)
I only join book clubs for the wine.
woohag[info]woohag on January 7th, 2009 06:42 am (UTC)
...and this is why I lurv you.
Friend of Jane[info]whiterabbit25 on January 8th, 2009 03:35 am (UTC)
Wine is good.
chocolatechipkt[info]chocolatechipkt on January 7th, 2009 03:38 am (UTC)
I'm in a book club now where we're sending the books to each other around the world. People post their reviews/opinions etc after they've received and read the books. Since we're from all over, the selections are not the usual ... which can be fun, though it doesn't guarantee anything of course, lol.

WFE was great, IMO.

Were you looking for new books? If so, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Burrows) is very good, as is The Birth House (Ami McKay).

Hope you don't mind me jumping in. I saw your post through a f-list. :)

-Katie
Friend of Jane[info]whiterabbit25 on January 8th, 2009 03:36 am (UTC)
Not at all, welcome to the discussion. A global book club is intriguing. Wonder if you could work in annual meetups in various parts of the world? Dreaming...

Is the first book you mentioned a mystery? I'll have to look both up. Thx!
woohag: Eyeball[info]woohag on January 7th, 2009 06:42 am (UTC)
The symbolism in The Great Gatsby of the green light = money, that has never left my brain b/c I thought it was SO COOL. It was my first foray into literature symbolism.
Mademoiselle Jumel[info]mlle_jumel on January 8th, 2009 02:43 am (UTC)
I loved water for elephants. I didn't realize it was A Big Deal until AFTER I read it.
Also, it was a NaNoWriMo project.
Friend of Jane[info]whiterabbit25 on January 8th, 2009 03:38 am (UTC)
Yeah, a friend in another state (used to be in our book club) mentioned she was reading it when it first came out. I have had it in the back of my mind, and then saw where it became a big deal.