WHAT ARE Y OU READING? 4/6

JOLENE: Sorry to hear about your grandmother's demise.  This is the first I heard about it.  I'm glad you enjoyed CHARLEY'S WEB.  It probably was a good diversion.  I agree with you that it is probably now my favorite Fielding.  I just had to pass your comments on to Joy Fielding.  I also told her about the other positive reviews on this board.  I think you will enjoy MAD RIVER ROAD, though the entire story is more intense than the ending.  You will want to shout at the protagonist, too.   C3CLARK:  I am so glad you are enjoying WHISPERS AND LIES.  Trust me, it only gets better.  You will wonder more and more about what is happening to the protagonist and why she "leads with her chin."  As Jolene said, you want to shout into the book "WHY ARE YOU DOING SUCH STUPID THINGS?"  And you wonder why she encounters so many difficulties since renting out her mother's cottage.  Some people get impatient with the happenings, but the author is leading you to a good conclusion.  The protagonist in MAD RIVER ROAD is REALLY stupid and reckless and you want to throttle her.  Fielding's heroines are not necessarily likable, but they are REAL.  BUBUNNY:  Thanks for the explanation of THE HEART-SHAPED BOX.  One of these days, I'll look into it.  Tomorrow begins my Tues.-Thurs. trek to the triplets.  Mary Kay

JOLENE:  I just noticed IMMEDIATE FAMILY is on your TBR list.  I am enjoying Goudge's THE SECOND SILENCE.  However, I think Fielding's dialogues and characters are more realistic/credible.  I would be tempted to order the forementioned were it not for the fact that today I ordered TEA ROSE and intend to later borrow its sequel, WINTER ROSE.  Therefore, I am overloaded in the TBR department.  Mary Kay

Waterlilly....I also read THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE and thoroughly enjoyed it.  It does jump some, but once I learned what was happening, I could follow it better.

Well, I gave up on the library and bought THE WEDNESDAY LETTERS by jason Wright.  O my goodness!  It was simply fantastic.  I read it all in one day.  It was wonderful and I've already started telling people about it.  Thank you soooooooo much for recommending it.  Two thumbs way up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now, I start reading Spanish projects.  They are all due this Friday, so my life will get busy this week.

Micki

Good morning readers.    Didn't get much reading done last night, I'm about 125 pages into MAD RIVER ROAD.   Didn't want to put it down, but I needed sleep  LOL   

Arthricia:

As Jolene said, you want to shout into the book "WHY ARE YOU DOING SUCH STUPID THINGS?" ...   The protagonist in MAD RIVER ROAD is REALLY stupid and reckless and you want to throttle her. 

You got that right, Mary Kay!   Only 1/4 into the book and she's already had 2 close calls and several red warning flags WAVING at her, and still she tra-la-las along!    LOL     Thank you for passing the message along, I keep meaning to email her, but then get sidetracked with something else    :)    Fantastic author and she just keeps getting stronger and stronger with each book.     Thank you so much

Got a great score on ebay last night, PLAY DEAD hardcover by David Rosenfelt, shipped, for under $7.   I love his books and that one was in short supply for some reason, my library never got it, I couldn't find it at bookstores.    The paperback will be coming out shortly, but I'd rather get the hardcover then donate it to the library.    They take paperback donations, but obviously they don't last as long.  

:)
Jolene

I finished COMPULSION by Jonathan Kellerman last night. This is a fast moving novel with many twists and turns. Always like his writing.

 Have started STRANGERS IN DEATH by J. D. Robb.  It is in large print so will go very fast.

Nice sunny day here in W PA.  Supposed to get up to 70.

Margaret

I did it again!  I should be on the road to Wayne so I can help change the little dollies before they have lunch and nap, but I signed onto this thread!  There was JOLENE, my reading soul mate, saying she got PLAY DEAD.  Oh, my!  You are in for a treat.  I think it was Rosenfelt's best.  Have you read all the preceding ones?  As you know, I also wrote to him.  His replies are very humorous.  He said this was supposed to be his last Andy Carpenter novel, but he has to bring him back by popular demand.  He credits the dog aspect of these books for making him so popular.  Also, his characters are SO-O funny.  Rosenfelt also said he was writing a book this year that would be out of the series.  MARGARET:  Nice to hear from you.  Weather here is surprisingly cold.  How was the Christening?  Mary Kay

LOL Mary Kay!   Sorry to delay your trip   :)   You make me smile, thank you!   Yes, I've read all the preceeding books and was pretty upset when the library said they couldn't get the newest one in.     I searched high and low, then gave up, figuring I would just wait for the paperback.    Last night I was poking around ebay for some other books the library hasn't gotten, and there it was!      Very excited.    I like the dog, but I just find Andy to be a very likeable character himself.   :)  Will be on the lookout for the new book too, normally amazon alerts me if there's something coming out from authors on my wish list/purchase list.   Have a wonderful day with the babies!

Waving to Margaret and everyone who check in later, I need to go get some laundry folded    :)

Jolene - Sorry to hear about your grandmother.  I must have missed it on another thread.

Mary Kay - The Christening is not until next Sunday.

It is so nice here this morning.  People out without coats on.  Makes one feel like Spring has finally arrived.

emr:

Amy, I will have to check out THE FOUNTAINHEAD. I read ATLAS SHRUGGED by Ayn Rand about 10-12 years ago and enjoyed it, although it took a long time to get through. That is one big honking book, and I get the feeling that she did not get edited much. Her philosophy is interesting and, on one level, practical, but when you carry it to its logical conclusion, there is no compassion there.

Hey Emr!  ATLAS SHRUGGED is definitely harsh.  Her harshest book in my opinion.  THE FOUNTAINHEAD deals more with personal issues of sticking to you beliefs instead of "selling your soul" to be the best, the richest, the most popular. 

Have you read ANTHEM?  It's short enough to probably be considered a novella, about a 100 pages.  It's about our society thousands of years after a nuclear war where everything is regulated by the government (who are called the Ancients).  All individuality is outlawed, including the words I and ME, and all technology is banned.  The main character discovers electricity and love and fights for personal freedom.  It's an excellent book!

Grammy WV, definitely give THE FOUNTAINHEAD a try.  It is a honking big book, but it flows well.  It's one of those books that is so vivid, I can see it in my mind as an old black and white movie as I'm reading

Sorry, that should have read "a hundred years after nuclear war" . . . not thousands.

Good morning everyone.    Stayed up to finish MAD RIVER ROAD last night.   It was good, didn't want to put it down.     The twist was great, the ending was a little abrupt after all the build up, like a few of you said.    Still a great read.   I've got to work on my library book pile a little before PLAY DEAD gets here.

Margaret, thank you, I appreciate it.

Waving to all, I'm off to my parents today after Jake gets out of school.

Well, I broke down last night and called the library and put holds on three of Joy F. books, ( I had told myself I could not get any more books from library until I read a few of the hundreds in my basement stacked so high) but oh well you have to do what you have to do!!  The lady at the library said "Oh my that Charleys Web is so good you will love it". In the meantime I am reading the G book from Sue Grafton, can't remember the name but it is good as usual.  Hope everyone has a great book and I hope I hear from the library real soon!

Pigy

Jolene, so sorry to hear about your grandmother.  ((Hugs))

DH picked up a book on clearance and after finishing it, insisted that I read it. So, last night I read it. It is a small book and an easy read and I couldn't put it down. It is THE CHRISTMAS BUS by Melody Carlson. A truly heartwarming, funny book. If you get a chance, do read it.

"It's only two weeks before Christmas, and Edith Ryan is disappointed to learn that none of her children are coming home for the holidays. Her large house, which doubles as The Shepherd's Inn the rest of the year, will feel so empty without them. And it's too late to open the inn for Christmas reservations - surely everyone else has their plans made by now. In a town where Christmas is a way of life all year long, going through the holidays alone is just about enough to bring her to tears.

Suddenly, Edith knows what she has to do - she'll invite strangers to book those rooms usually reserved for family during the week of Christmas. When the guest list shapes up to include a cantankerous old woman and a mysterious young couple with a broken-down hippie bus and a baby on the way, Edith wonders if she made the right choice. Will it blow up in her face? Or could she be entertaining angels unaware?" 

Bumping this up so other readers can find us.  THE CHRISTMAS BUS sounds like a very good llittle book. 

It is a little rainey here in WPA this morning but the sun is  trying to peek out.  
My dafadils are blooming.  Only takes a couple of warm to make things pop.

Margaret

I finished SIMPLE GENIUS by Baldacci.  Very exciting and fast-paced.  In fact, this is the type of book that you need to just keep reading because if you stop in between times you begin to think about how preposterous some of this seems!  I don't know, maybe I'm just naieve.  It was good to read about Sean and Michelle again. 

Now I have started MANHUNT, the 12-day Chase for Lincoln's Killer, by James L. Swanson.  Very detailed, but gripping account of the assassination and the aftermath.  It grabs you right away with the feeling that you are actually there witnessing everything.

Oh, JOLENE, you mentioned a couple of weeks ago about how THE MIST was your favorite Stephen King story.  So I hunted it up in our personal library.  I can see how it would make a great movie.  Will have to check into that.  Thanks for the idea!

Sharon