bookworms unite!

[atlanticflyer]

nothing wrong with reading the summer away Harmony, I do the same myself. I have read the Guensey literary society..., great book! Waldon and other classical authors were wordy because this is the age before the photograph (or before the popularity of photos) with no instant visuals they had to be descriptive. Daily Life on the Old Colonial Frontier would be an awesome book!

[lucylee]

I'd like to read your recommended books, too, Harmony.
I think I am currently trying to scare myself to death. I am reading a Patricia Cornwell novel, Traces. It is the first of her Kay Scarpetta (sp?) novels that I have ever read, and I have read that they are pretty gory & graphic. And it is. Yes. In case you have never heard of these novels, Scarpetta is a CSI-type, forensic scientist/doctor/investigator. I became intrigued with the story immediately, so now I can't put it down. The main plotline of this one has to do with the mysterious death of a young teenage girl, found dead in her bed, no obvious causes. BUT... there is a obviously a very sick serial killer on the loose, plus a stalker of some type, whom I think is a different person from the serial killer, and I have no idea how they are going to tie into the teenager's case.

Except for cleaning ds's room -- which does not look decorator-showroom ready by any means, even now, b/c things are still in boxes all around the perimeter of the room -- but except for that not-so-small accomplishment -- I have done nothing but read all summer, either! I enjoyed Laura Bush's memoir/autobiography, just finished it, and started this novel last night.

I agree totally about the older writers being too wordy, and my students would heartily agree. However, I continue to assign Great Expectations to my advanced students, b/c I think they need the challenge. Maybe I'm too old-fashioned, but it won't kill them.

Cowinkie -- I seem to remember reading that Kathryn Stockett was so nervous (I think simply b/c of the fear of sharing her writing with her classmates) that she literally threw up upon entering the classroom for her first day of class in Creative Writing @ the University of Alabama. But somehow she made herself go back the second day and stuck with it. Certainly turned out well for her, huh? I must try to keep that in my mind when my stomach starts churning!

[atlanticflyer]

lucylee the classics are not to be missed as they are historically significant literature, you just have to know how to read them in the context and not everyone has the background. now when it comes to poetry, yuck. ilove the older stuff but the stuff today is beyond me

[Harmony]

I liked Great Expectations. Good old Pip! 461 pages of very small print. Was the only Dickens book I liked, hated the others. I just do not have enough years left to read all that I want to.

[atlanticflyer]

lol don't start War and Peace, Harmony, it is over 100o pages

[lucylee]

I posted in PWYC about this, but thought I'd mention it here where there's more "focus" on books.
What about the Jaycee Dugar book? (A Stolen Life)
I sorta on the fence about reading it -- I'm fascinated with the inspiration of her survival, and terrified of the nightmares her horrible memories will give me.
How crazy is that??? SHE survived the actual experience, and I'm afraid to even READ about it!
Let me know as soon as anyone here reads it!

[atlanticflyer]

who is she lucylee? is she one of the Dugars that had all those kids?

[atlanticflyer]

okay just googled it, i will pass on that one, i don't need to read all the horrible details

[lucylee]

That's what I'm thinking, Aflyer... her story IS amazing, but I'm just afraid the details will get trapped in my brain, and I'd still be thinking of it long after I finished the book. I think her interview w/Dianne Sawyer is supposed to be rebroadcast Sat. night, though, and I think I will tape it. There's no way she is going to get TOO detailed in primetime tv, I think, so I'll watch that and then decide about the book. (The interview was first aired last Sunday, but somewhere -- can't remember where now -- I think I saw that it was going to be rerun Sat.)

[atlanticflyer]

that may be the best idea lucylee, maybe that is what I will do too