Books We Enjoy

[texasgal]

Remi, if after you finish SAHARA you want to read more Cussler, AZTEC GOLD is a good choice.

[Remi]

Thanks Tex! I'm really enjoying Sahara!! It's really up my alley! Scary, suspenseful, funny, smart...it's got everything! I'll be taking you up on your suggestion of Aztec Gold. Thank you!!

I'm really not that shallow (re: Tammy Faye). I just think there's alot to be said for "natural beauty". I saw her on Larry King and she does have an adorable personality! But, I can only listen to her voice for so long. An hour is long enough!

BTW, that comment about the suicidal fish sounds like something my Mother would tell me! And she tickles me to no end!

[texasgal]

Remi, I never thought you shallow at all. I agree Tammy's voice isn't the most pleasant sound in the world to listen to.

Glad to hear you're enjoying Sahara.

Peak, that book may or may not be available in the States, but I know there are quite a few titles devoted to the present state of the English language. There's one titled The Way We Talk Now by Geoffrey Nunberg. Mr. Nunberg is also an NPR commentator about language. A lot of what he says is humorous but true.

[needingthebigO]

I like Tammy Faye now but, I have to admit she was the butt of many jokes when I was younger. I grew to like her when she did that talk show with John Jay. I saw "The Surreal Life" and was impressed at how open minded she seemed to be. I saw that there were things that people did that she didn't approve of, but, she still liked the people. She has a great heart. It's a shame she was dragged down by Jimmy Baker.

That Larry King interview was good. I hate to think that she has cancer. Hasn't she suffered enough? Well, at least she has her faith. It goes a long way in healing.

I'm reading "The Fiery Cross" now. It's the fifth book in the Outlander series.

I find that when I get to the last book in a series, I read much slower. I just hate to come to the end, knowing that the next one has yet to be written. I do the same thing with the Harry Potter books and my Anne McCaffery dragonrider series. Does anyone else do this or is it just me?

Well, at least you guys have given me choices to read when I'm finshed with this one.

[Remi]

Tex~ Is it INCA GOLD you were talking about by Clive Cussler?

[Heathahhh]

needingthebigO said:

I'm going to have to read some Nora Roberts' books. My best friends all love her writing. I noticed that she was one of the authors that recomended "Dragonflies in Amber", one of the Outlander Series.

My mom was just telling me how good the books by Janet Evanovich are. She has a couple of them checked out from the library.

Well, I'm now on "Drums of Autumn", the fourth book in the Oulander series. I've ordered "The Fiery Cross" from the library and should have it by tomorrow.

Heathahh, Welcome back!! Have you read "Lord John and the Private Matter" by Diana Gabaldon? It came out last year. I found it at the library and will read it next.

One thing I've noticed about her novels, is that I laugh while reading her thank yous. You can tell she has a great sense of humor.

When I get through this series, I'll be sure to check out some of the other books and authors recommended here.

Is there a book club in this group and if there is, what are you reading now?

I completely forgot about the Lord John book!! LOL I call it 'the little purple one' because its about a quarter of the size of her others. It's not as good as the other series (even though it has a few of the same characters).
I had heard long long ago that Diana Gabaldon had said that she might might might possibly do a spin off series on Master Raymond after she gets done with the Outlander series. I do hope its true...I think I had heard it would be a little more on the fantasy side...as Master Raymond is hundreds of years old and deals wit the time travel and all his apothecary stuff. I thought that would be kind of a cool idea!



Also...I'm almost positive that Nora Roberts writes also under the name JD Robb (futuristic cop romance). I used to work at a bookstore, and I guess that a lot of the prolific romance writers (mystery as well) are under very strict guidelines for their books. For example...some publishers require that the sex occur by a certain page, there are certain words that can and cannot be used, the girl must be so many years old, the man must be so many years old, setting must be in a certain year or whatever etc etc...So, in order to spice things up a bit and write something different for a change, many of the romance writers write under several different names. Nora/JD is the only one that pops to mind at the moment. I'm pretty sure Janet Evanovich is another pseudonym...but I can't remember of who!

[tequilaroses]

Yep - that's exactly right. Nora Roberts also writes under the name J.D. Robb.

Although I've never read any of her J.D. Robb books, I might eventually (after I read all of her other books).

My best friend reads her J.D. Robb books, and loves them.

[needingthebigO]

I hope she does write a book on Master Raymond, Heather. He's one of my favorite characters. I picture Belle's father in "Beauty and the Beast" when I read his part.

I made the mistake of asking my friends advise on which Nora Roberts book to read first. I am now in posession of several books by her and, also, several books by Karen Robards that she decided I would like. She would have given me more to read but, I had to cut her off. It will take me forever to read all of these!

I have "Sahara" checked out of the library. It's next on my list. The others will just have to wait.

[tequilaroses]

needingthebigO - which Nora Roberts' books do you have? I can maybe give you an opinion of which one to read first (if you haven't started already).

[needingthebigO]

Well, she gave me "The Stanislaski Brothers", "The Stanislaski Sisters", "Concidering Kate", and "Time and Again", plus, six Karen Robards books before I could stop her. I figured ten books, along with the five I have checked out from the library, would take me some time to read.

She had about fifty more of Nora Roberts' books but, since I live only fifteen minutes from her, I decided that I could just trade for these when I'm through with the others.

[Heathahhh]

I used to read a lot of Karen Robards...now I tend to like the ones that aren't so straight romance...
One who is REALLY good in my opinion is Tami Hoag...she used to write straight romance...but then started getting into the mystery-romance genre. THOSE are really good! If you read any of Tami Hoag I would start with Guilty As Sin...they are good!

I've been so tired to read lately...I need to get a move on...you all have given such good suggestions!

Big O...when I think of Master Raymond I think of the little old man (cartoon also) on that STUPID Adam Sandler cartoon...Eight Crazy Nights. He's is actually a lot like Belle's father in B&TB...little, squinty, pudgy. But the Raymond in my mind had greasy stringy long hair and dresses like a friggin hobbit!!

[needingthebigO]

I think Belle's father does resemble a Hobbit. So, Maybe, Ian Holm could play him if they ever make a movie. I never pictured him as irritating as Whitey.

I've slowed down on my reading too. I seem to run in spurts. I'm all set for when the next spurt hits.

[Heathahhh]

me too...its getting colder outside so thats when I tend to want to curl up and read. My gramma gave me "Nights in Rodanthe" by Nicholas Sparks...I'll start that this afternoon...it looks like a quick read. I've never read NS...maybe I'll like it!

[tonks]

I didn´t find another thread about books (probably because it is my first day of real life after five great days at the beach during holidays lol) so I´ll post in here the last book I read. It was "Spanking Shakespeare" ..hilarious!!! the funniest book I´ve read in years. It´s written by Jake Wizner.
There is a chapter in which the main character, Shakespeare Shapiro, a teen, writes about Noah´s ark in the Bible. I swear i laughed until i cried. I won´t spoil the reading but let me give you some lines so you can see.

"And it came to pass that Noah was sitting at his desk proofreading his latest piece of writing.
Honey, tell me how this sounds. ´And Cain knocked his brother, Abel, silly´.
It sounds fine, dear. Now, why don´t you stop working for a while? You´ve been revising that story for days.
I know, I know. I´m just still not satisfied with it.
NOAH
Not now, honey, I´ll lose my train of thought.
I didn´t say anything.
NOAH
Who said that? What do you want?
NOAH, IT IS ME. No, no, that´s not right... NOAH, IT IS I. I hate those damn pronouns.
Oh, Lord, you scared me. I hate when you speak in capital letters"

Then God asks Noah to build an ark and write the story.
"FORTY DAYS? ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND? NOBODY WILL BELIEVE THAT IT RAINED FOR FORTY DAYS.
Well, 20 days certainly isn´t enough to drown the world. Haven´t you ever heard of the willing suspension of disbelief? If you can have characters living 900 years, you can certainly have a flood that lasts forty days.
....Anything else? -asks Noah.
Yeah, the snake is not going"

Then Noah keeps a journal..it is sooooo funny I couldn´t stop laughing. This one is another part of the chapter.
"´And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskins..And the uncircumcised man-child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people´". God put down the manuscript and gave the angel in front of him a contemptuos look. "Disgusting. Absolutely disgusting".
"I´m sorry, sir. I thought you wanted me to tell the writers to add more gratuitous violence"
"Yes, but I didn´t mean messing with people´s genitals".

lol lol lol

[texasgal]

Tonks, there used to be a Book thread here somewhere. Some Wilsonettes tried to start a reading club where we would read the same books and discuss them. It didn't last long though, unfortunately. I suppose it was just too hard to keep it going, and there weren't enough participants. Maybe the books they read didn't appeal to enough people at the right time....

There was another thread where we just mentioned what books we were reading and sort of reviewed them, just as in the Movie Review thread.

But those threads have gotten old and have disappeared, I think.

The Noah passage you quoted reminds me of Bill Cosby's famous routine. Mr. Cosby began his entertainment career not as an actor but as a stand-up comic. He launched his career on The Tonight Show way back in the day when it was hosted by Jack Parr (pre-Johnny Carson). The first thing he did on his first appearance was his Noah routine. It's a classic and was part of his first LP vinyl comedy record.


I wonder if Cosby's Noah routine might be found on youtube.

Since I don't have a lot of time for reading, I'm still reading Pattie Boyd's autobio, Wonderful Tonight. I wrote about this book in another thread recently so I hate to bore readers by repeating what I wrote there. It's a fun read and sort of a trip down Memory Lane - especially for those of us who remember the years she's writing about. She'll mention something, and I'll think: I remember that.

I'd bought two new books to celebrate my new job: Pattie's book and another titled People Of The Book. The author was interviewed on radio, and it sounded so fascinating I just had to get the book. It's sort of a historical mystery, sort of like Da Vinci Code. It's about an ancient document, I think known as "The Sarajevo Haggadah." (A Haggadah is the book Jews read during our Passover seders. It retells the Exodus story and contains the prayers & blessings of the seder and also commentary). The Sarajevo Haggadah has been miraculously preserved from destruction over the centuries, saved by Jews and gentiles alike. The author goes into all kinds of details such as the type of parchment and ink and writing implements used, etc. I love that. I can't wait to start reading it.