Summer Reading

[BookSaver]

We haven't had a book thread in a while.

What are you currently reading?

Do you have recommendations for adults or children?

[BookSaver]

I'm reading for fun this summer.

I'm almost finished with the Flynn Brothers trilogy by Heather Graham. They are murder mysteries with supernatural elements. The first is Deadly Night which involves a serial killer and ghosts. The second is Deadly Harvest with a serial killer and a psychic. The third is Deadly Gift with an Irish banshee. (Hmm I just realized that I read them out of order. Oh well, obviously doesn't matter.) Fairly easy to read, suspenseful without graphic violence.

Next I'll be starting Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Classic Regency Romance - Now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem! I am a bigtime Pride & Prejudice fan, own different versions of the book (a large size with illustrations, a pocket edition, a version with Jane Austen's original spelling, etc.) and have seen all of the film versions (favorite = the A&E miniseries with Colin Firth). I picked up this book at the library and the first sentence made me laugh.

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains." OK, I admit that if you don't know the original, that's probably not very funny, but it gave me the giggles. It looks like the author uses the Jane Austen almost word for word, but every now and then inserts zombie action and made Elizabeth Bennet trained in the art of deadly combat. Total farce and I'm looking forward to it.

Then, of course, I'll watch Colin Firth again.

[Harriet]

Hi, BookSaver!

Your love of Austen is something you have in common with helia and my dd29. Colin Firth was brilliant as the widowed father in Nanny McPhee, btw.

Dd10 managed to get both her dad and her mom into the regional library today, hunting for summer reading choices. We wanted classics that are recommended for rising 6th graders but not much above, so that she could have fun with it - there are so many younger-reader classics she hasn't had a chance to read yet and plenty of time in the future for "older" books. She came home with:

The Borrowers by Mary Norton
Rascal by Sterling North and
The Magician's Nephew, first in C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia series

She placed on hold
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, which should be available within a few days, and
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle, for which she is 9th in line.

I'm hoping that as she becomes traveling companion to my mom and myself during this summer, she'll at least have something worthwhile to occupy time in offices. Really don't know if she can read in a car - her older sister gets carsick if she tries it! Hmmm ... ...Should children read in cars?

Dd10 says to mention her new favorite non-classic book for children, recommended to her by her teacher, is The Thing About Georgie by Lisa Graff.

[lucylee]

I just completed The Shell Seekers, and look forward to reading more by Rosamunde Pilcher (sp?)

Am now almost finished with The Education of Little Tree, by Forrest Carter. Very good! (However, reviews on this book are mixed.)

Next is possibly Salem Falls, by Jodi Picoult, but I may not bother with that one. I checked it out at the library b/c I got interested in Picoult after reading about her in newspaper article about upcoming movie, My Sister's Keeper. That sounds too depressing to me, however, and this book may be also.
I am a little more interested in escaping from the crises of everyday life, you know, in my pleasure reading, so may just return to Rosamunde Pilcher. I enjoy visiting a different place, if not a different time, such as the trip to England that The Shell Seekers provided.

[helia]

Wow! Harriet, you have quite the memory - I must have mentioned here somewhere that I'm a Jane Austen fan!

Bookie, that first line made me giggle too! Fun possibilities. .

I have one more chapter to read in Uncle Tom's Cabin. Awesome book!! Characters seem a bit caricatured to me but are all based on real people, apparently. She wisely and intelligently brings out how the north AND the south were both responsible for slavery; it was not just a southern issue.

Just finished My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok. Excellent book! Not great if you like tidy happy endings, but I'm (usually) fine with loose and/or unhappy endings. Must be my past habit of watching European films. . . LOL! There is a sequel apparently. It's about a Hasidic Jewish boy who is an artistic prodigy and how he struggles to live in the world of his faith community as well as the world of art.

I need to read next: Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons. I have it on hold at the library. We will discuss this book, as well as Asher Lev, at our regular book club meeting in 3 weeks. I'll let you know how it is after I've read it.

There are many other books on my to read list this summer, but I'll spare you right now.

Hmm.... I'm not doing well with kids and reading this summer. Well, I think ds has a supply of Orson Scott Card books; he just re-read the Tolkien trilogy for the 3rd time; he is averaging once every 3.5 years. He learned one of the elven languages, the simple one, his last go around with the books but never touched the more difficult one - or maybe there is more than one of the more difficult sort. He also re-read the Harry Potter series. Yes, it is only mid-June and he still has 9 weeks of vacation. . . He needs to finish Asimov's foundation series. Maybe I'd like to reread that as well!

I'd love book recommendations for dd11 and dd13. They both tend to re-read and re-read books they read years ago. I guess ds has just done the same thing. The girls are both a bit picky, though. Dd13 won't read anything with romance (she won't touch Jane Austen) or that is highly science fiction/fantasy-ish. Dd11's reading tastes are strongly toward historical fiction, although, she surprised us all by enjoying the Chronicles of Narnia. --I just thought of a historical fiction book that dd13 read years ago that dd11 might enjoy. If I went through dd13's book shelves, I might find some books for dd11.

I guess dd11's book club is reading The Rats of NIMH so that is one book I can get her started on.

Those are some great children's books, Harriet!! I think I tried A Wrinkle in Time with dd11, and it didn't take. . . I'm curious if your dd10 will like it better. Dd13 also didn't like it. I loved it as a kid. It was one of my favorite books! Ds loved it too and read most of the series when younger! I'll check out the teacher recommendation too. I don't know if my kids have read The Phantom Toll Booth.

[Nancy]

Last weekend I read Mary Tyler Moore's book
Growing Up Again
this week
I've started the new
Debbie Macomber book a novel Summer On Blossom Street.
Both are great reads.

[Harmony]

Sure takes me back to see others reading ones I enjoyed. Remember reading The Borrowers when I was in grade school. What was the little girl's name, ariel or something like that, such sweet stories and I thought there were several books of them. Also The Chronicles of Narnia which DD got us interested in when her teacher started reading the Lion Witch & the Wardrobe to them in class. DD read a chapter to us every night after dinner.

Sadly, my DD's did not grow up to be readers like I was. I don't understand what makes some kids grow up to love reading and some not. I tend to read in spurts and have not read anything in a while and I'm missing it a bit. The last 2 books I got out were modern economic/political books and the reading was slow and I did not enjoy it. I have a good grasp on vocabulary and these books had so many words I didn't know!

Jane Austin, Sense & Sensibility, I read a few years back. That was hers, right? Every once in a while I'll go back and read one of the Anne of Green Gables, I think the first one is the best, and I should have outgrown - but... I must find time to get to the library. I have a little book I write down titles and authors I want to read, my lists are getting long.

[Emptynester]

Hmmmm - which of the 3 books I have going should I talk about? I, too, have been reading Debbie Macomber, one series about being in the Navy - i.e. Navy Wife, Navy Husband, Navy Baby. Another the series on Angels and the Cedar Cove series.

BTW - I haven't given this url out in a bit. ww2.kdl.org/libcat/WhatsNextNEW.asp This will take you to a website from the Kent District Library. You put in the author's name and if they have written a series it will give you the order.

I cut and paste to a Word document and then have a list when I'm looking in used bookstores to fill out a series.

I am also reading a James Doss series. Charlie Moon is a Southern Ute rancher/private investigator. His Aunt is a shaman and it is a old meets new in solving mysteries. Very light reading and very funny. I sometimes wake DH by laughing out loud at night. But I can't help it - Aunt Daisy is a hoot and always gets her way!!

[Cowinkie]

Some of what I've read this summer in no particular order...

God's Promises for Your Every Need... King James version
The Emperor of Ocean Park, Stephen L. Carter
Say Goodbye, Lisa Gardner
Quiet Strength, Tony Dungy
You Can Run But You Cant Hide, Duane "Dog" Chapman
THe Whole Truth, David Baldacci
I have several more that I've finished sitting in my night stand, but those are in another room.

I've read all the classics mentioned on this list. Loved them all. Another is Forever Amber which was written and then banned in the 1940's. My grandmother gave it to me to read while in my teens, not in HS though cause of content, read it in my 20's, read it when I first moved here 9 years ago, and then just reread it again. Sort of like Gone With The Wind. Its about a girl living in the English Court during one of the kings. I've always been fascinated with the life, and last year I discovered my Great grandparents 6 generations back did the same. No wonder I am so drawn to it.

http://www.amazon.com/Forever-Amber-Kat ... 749&sr=8-1

Last summer I read Phillippa Gregory's series. http://www.amazon.com/Other-Boleyn-Girl ... 039&sr=1-3

If you're into that type of reading, you can't beat Victoria Holt/Jean Plaidy. I've read many of her books over the years. I'm getting ready to reread Mary Stewart's The Crystal Cave series. Haven't read her in 35 years.
http://www.amazon.com/Crystal-Cave-Arth ... 0449911616

[Cowinkie]

Whats the one book you read as a kid and still sticks in your mind? For me its The Lions Paw. Books have always been adventures for me. I love getting lost in them. I began reading in 3rd grade and was spending many of an afternoon in our town library. That was back when you had a paper library card and the librarian would use an ink stamp to mark it.

One of my fondest memories is when I knew the "Book Fair" was coming to town. I would save money from my allowance in anticipation of that day. Back then books cost 25 -35 cents. I usually had $2.00 - 2.50 saved and the hardest part was deciding which book to read after I had bought them all. As students, we also got the Weekly Reader in class, and we could purchase books from it. That is how I came across the Lion's Paw.

I don't remember much about the book, only that there were children and a shell involved in the story. However the book stayed in my memory. I've looked for the book over the years, and discovered that Amazon carried it. It was out of print. Purchase price? $325. A bit out of my reach. Imagine my delight to discover it has been reprinted. I just gave myself a gift. The book is $19.95 and I should get it by Wed. Wanna bet what I'll be doing that day?

http://www.amazon.com/Lions-Paw-Robb-Wh ... _rhf_p_t_1