In reply to Mawzi, I miss my book discussion group and have to rely on books on CD. If she or anyone would like, maybe there would be interest in an online discussion of what we are reading. I have a CD book subscription too. It would be a big morale builder to me . Maybe we could exchange lists or suggestions of single good books or authors to read. My DH asks over and over what I am listening to and everyday he is surprised at what is usually a continuation of next disc. No future for book discussion there. Just an idea.
I love the idea of talking about books, especially what we are reading when we aren't locked into Alzheimer's books.
I'm currently reading Stephenie Meyer's series that starts with TWILIGHT. It is about "teen aged" vampires. My daughter brought me the first two books in the series. She is reading book 3 now, and book 4 comes out around Christmas. This was originally published as YA, but it isn't what I would have thought of as YA when I read that kind of book in Jr. High. Very well written. Fun to read. NOT horror. These are "romantic" vampires.
I enjoy romance, SF, mystery (some of the time at least), history and historical novels. What are you interested in.
I recently read "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch to my husband & we loved it "together"...we laughed, cried and just really enjoyed it "in the moment". We have also read some of "The Reagan Diaries" together. I have heard that it is on CD and that the person doing the "reading" is very very good to listen to. Sandy306, whether you are a Reagan fan or not, I've heard it is wonderful to listen to...it might be something both you & your husband can listen to together. I'm going to try to check it out @ our local library. I'm sure there are others there too. With this heat (100+ lately) it's best to just stay indoors & "reading" is a good thing :)
I like all kinds- romance, mystery -- especially the gentler kind where it is solved by reasoning and interviewing the local people, historical novels, Regency period in 1800's, lighter biographies, current literature. Not much for courtroom dramas and hard boiled detectives. Enjoy character development as well as plot. Love anything by Alexander McCall Smith, Jennifer Crusie, Elizabeth Berg, Sandra Dallas, Jane Austen, partial to books set in 1940's telling of what it was like on homefront. Like British detectives especially. It is wonderful to hear of a good series. Have never read about romantic vampires- will try Twilight and hope to go through all 4. I like fun and romance.
So glad you would like to talk about what we are reading. Thanks for replying.
I read every chance I get! I'm a fan of Julie Garwood, Dan Brown, Catherine Coulter, Iris Johansen, Amanda Quick, Sherrilyn Kennyon, Jude Deveraux, Michael Crichton (sp), John Grisham, Laurell Hamilton, Linda Lael Miller, - I could go on and on. Our house looks like a library! I love mysteries, good romance books (especially those with humor), science fiction, political intrigue, and my daughter has me reading her vampire books - right now I'm reading a series by Kresley Cole. I've just bought Nora Roberts latest book. You all get me started on books, and I'll bore you to death! I LOVE them! They are my escape.
Sign me up! I'm a book a day person on vacation, and getting that way at home since being homebound. I have a zillion books on tape and CD that I entertain myself with when driving or walking...too bad I can't share..I'd love to. I read just about anything, but lately have gravitated toward humorous things. I guess too much is depressing around here, and I don't need to read about sad stuff.I just found a new author that had me laughing out loud. Kristin Higgins, and she's written very few books, rather similar to Jennifer Cruisie originals without all the overt sex.
There is an existing topic for book discussions, but they were all Alzheimer books. I am going to edit the title of this one to say NON ALZHEIMER books. Escapism books. Post your suggestions here, and you can use the Amazon search box on the bottom right hand side of the website - under the google and Amazon ads- to find and purchase whatever interests you. If you are going to buy the books anyway, please consider buying them through this website, as it helps keep the site operating. :)
Try Anne Stuart, Mariah Stewart, Brenda Novak. Lisa Jackson is one of my favorites- edge of your seat mystery with romance and sex thrown in. Irish Johansen and Kay Hooper. Kay Hooper has great paranormal mysteries. Nora Roberts is the best. I love her magical books - the Donovan series was great. I loved the Key series and the vampire series - forgot the name of that one. Occasionally, I'll read a "deep" book, but they're usually depressing, and who needs that? Last summer, I was tutoring a high school student who was doing a paper on The Scarlet Letter - I had to read the &*%^# book all over again. That was enough "deep" for me for awhile.
Reading is my escape. I am in the middle of Catherine Coulter's new book "Tailspin". Don't want to put it down. If you like a little humor try Janet Evanvich's Stephanie Plum series. Sometimes you just have to laugh out loud. Also read Nora Roberts and Danielle Steel. Always enjoy a good mystery.
Sandy306 - Have you read Ellis Peters' - Cadfael series? Wonderful British mysteries set in the Middle Ages. also - Dorothy Dunnett - The Lymond Chronicles and the Niccolo Rising series - fabulous sagas, very erudite, very engrossing. Also Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series - I skip through some of the battle scenes, but otherwise - wonderful!
I canceled my TV - tired of paying $60 month for worthless trash. Now I rent my worthless trash from Netflix. Two series I like a lot - The Wire, and Big Love - both from HBO.
This is really a GOOD idea. How do we converse about the book? On one of these sites? Someone just come up with a title and author and count me in. I'll make a suggestion later. I'd love to be able to do that with you folks. It sounds like a whole lot of fun.
Who's bringing the cookies? I'll supply coffee/tea/lemonade. (smile)
It's exciting to be thinking about being part of a group that can cope with ill spouses yet still be ready to have fun and read something. Mawzy, you mentioned reading books first. Why don't you start with a suggestion? Later maybe we could take turns. I'll read anything, but it has to be available on CD as my chemical sensitivity includes the print on books. Even ebooks are out for me.
It is a joy to read all the good suggestions of books and to know what others are reading now. Lots of great suggestions and new to me authors. Love your enthusiasm.
Start a new discussion with the title of the book you want to discuss. For example, title the discussion - "High Noon by Nora Roberts- Anyone want to discuss?" That way, anyone can jump in on any book that is named in a discussion.
I would go the "category route", but unfortunately, I have tried that a few times, and no one pays any attention to the categories and posts any subject under any category - it's a confusing mess, so I gave up on that.
Joan-you're right=we do go way off target-but it's fun. I think it gives me more relief than anything else could. Gallows humor is the best. We do care so much about each other.
High noon by Nora Roberts sounds ok to me. How about the rest of you. I'm sure it's available on CD. Also Large Print. Probably available on Amazon OR your local library.
One group that I know of follows the NY Best Seller List. That way we could keep current. I find I get really behind on what all is going on in the world if I don't make a concentrated effort.
So, shall we start with High Noon? And, do you guys want to discuss it chapter by chapter or read the whole thing and then discuss it?
This can be a whole lot of fun.
Joang--can we do this on this site like we do these topics? The other one I belong to has its own blog and the questions are printed out and each person responds to them but there is no real dialog going on now. (It's a non-fiction book). I think a fiction would be more fun.
High Noon by Nora Roberts sounds just fine. The in-person group I belonged to read the whole book before discussing it but it need not be that way. Also it made it interesting if not everybody liked the book. Got lively discussions that way. And I remember not liking one book, but after the discussion I thought it was a good book after all.
Definitely read the whole book before discussing. I'll start the topic now, and anyone who has read it can jump in. And anyone can start a topic on a different book.
I haven't read much fiction for years. Elizabeth Peters' stories, Amanda Cross, the old reliable mystery writers, Diana Johnson, Eleanor Lipitt, David Lodge, Stephen Frey, Ian Pears - well, maybe I do read more than I think! -but when I got my little iTouch, which has a free Kindle application, meaning I can get everything Amazon has for the Kindle,to read on IT. I love it! and read Ian Pears' latest on it, and Julia Child's My Life in France. Those I paid for. There are many others free or almost so, including an enormous collection of mysteries, the complete works of Jane Austen, and the complete works of Shakespeare. Which fit handily into a corner of this tiny thing which is about the size of two credit cards!
There was a free fantasy book that looked appealing, "His Majesty's Dragon" by Naomi Novik. I got it, and just finished it. I must say, I really enjoyed it. I tend to not be very interested in fantasy or sci-fi but this just hit me right. Such a nice dragon! Have any of you read it? It's the Temeraire series - the first book. Great escapism!
I just ordered a Kindle. I can hardly wait for it to come. Someone asked what led me to order it. I really don't know. I was the first thing I can think of that I have really wanted in years. Anyone else have one?
briegull, I like mysteries too but haven't read some of the authors you mentioned. Thanks for the suggestions. I'll check them out.
Those aren't all mystery writers. Diana Johnson is hysterically funny, American-in-Paris stories, (Le Divorce, Le Mariage) I meant Eleanor LIPMAN. Lodge is social satire as is Stephen Fry (yes, Jeeves). Hard to get theirs in the US; I used to pick them up at Heathrow. Pears art-history-mystery stories are great fun, esp. if you like Italy or France. The last one is more in-depth than those, though.
The iTouch is surprisiingly versatile. It doesn't have a cell phone or camera or phone contract. It does have wifi, though, and you can listen to audio books or music with it, I have a bird-call application; it has a paint program that's neat, recipes from Whole Foods or Epicurious, a mosquito repeller (sound!) of unknown worth; and many good games. It shows, in the Kindle app, what is essentially a newspaper-column wide 3" high text; you get used to reading it very quickly. Great in bed!
If anybody likes to read a whole series of books about one main character, I would recommend the Mrs. Pollifax mysteries by Dorothy Gilman. Mrs. Pollifax is a sweet little gray-haired widow who volunteers at the hospital and raises flowers, and on the side takes karate classes and does “little” jobs for the CIA. (The first book in the series is “The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax.) After the loss of her husband, she is determined to make a successful life for herself, and she does.
For me, these books are the equivalent of the story of the little engine that could: “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can”. They encourage me to think that it is always possible to change my life, and create a new life for myself. I really do hope that that’s true.
By the way, I found these books about 20 years ago, long before AD appeared on the scene, and I loved them just as much way back then.
One of my favorite new authors is Roxana Robinson. I loved both "Bel Canto" and "Cost." Serious but insightful. If this author were to write a story about someone dealing with an AD spouse, everybody would know just what it feels like.
Sorry, but I'm assuming that "escapist" does not necessarily have to mean really light reading? I can escape better into one of these wonderful books than into something "hilarious."
I have just received a copy to Margaret Atwood's "The Year of the Flood" to review. Has anybody read it? Most of her books have been great. I think I have them all.
Someone mentioned enjoying The Wire on HBO (great series). If you like that, read The Corner by David Simon, who wrote/directed The Wire. It's in the same vein--great characters you will never forget. Paints an unflattering portrait of Baltimore City (my hometown), but some critics compared The Wire to Shakespeare or Dickens.
Seems to me I've mentioned this before, I love all the humorous books by David Sedaris.
AD caregiving has really cut into my reading time--only get to read a few fiction books a year. Perhaps later on, when we have to stay home more, I can resume.
Those who said they wanted escapist, humorous, adventurous books may enjoy the "Dortmunder" series by Donald Westlake. The first one in the series is "The Hot Rock," in which you are introduced to his gang of lovable schlemiel crooks doing a caper. There are about a dozen more in that series. Warning: he also writes very dark books -- avoid "The Ax" and "The Hook" unless you want something depressing.
If I had to pick the greatest genius "mystery" writer of our time, it would be Westlake.
I have to admit, I don't read much anymore, usually only when I'm getting the car serviced, visiting John, a moment here and there when there's nothing much else to do. BUT, when I DO read, it's usually a Clive Cussler thriller or a Dean Koontz horror novel. I've read most every one they've produced.
I love the Stephanie Plum books by Janet Evanovich. Just got her newest one from the library today. I also like F. Paul Wilson, Dean Koontz, J.A. Konrath, among others. I like books that don't require deep thought right now :)
Book exchange- I read voraciously, and wondered if anyone is interested in swapping books...They can be sent via media mail, and only costs under $2.00. To start, these are the books I just read: (if anyone is interested, just email me.) Daniel X- James Patterson Quickie- James Patterson Smoke Screen - Sandra Brown Tailspin - Catherine Coulter Foreign Body- Robin Cook
I'm in the middle of "People of the book" and I'm loving it. i always like books that have a historical tone, like this one is about a book historian, and flashes back to what was happneing to the book. The book is a haggadah, the book used at the passover Seder.I didn't make it sound great, but it's a pageturner.
I recently had to read the latest John Irving "Last Night at Twisted River" to review it. It was typical Irving and I usually enjoy him but this one was just too long and twisted. Maybe I was too distracted but Irving just went on being Irving for too long. My favorite Irving was "Widow for One Year." If I am widowed I will definitely reread it.
I had just finished reviewing that and they sent me another big thick book: "New York" by Edward Rutherfurd. He also wrote a popular book called "London" (which I have not read). This is a very complete history of New York told through the experiences of a series of fictional characters. So far, very enjoyable and luckily they are giving me plenty of time to finish it so I don't feel rushed.
I had to interrupt my reading of "Elanor Rigby" by Coupland which I was really enjoying.
Marsh, they were just talking about that book on our local stations here. The third anniversary just happened. The Amish families went out of their way to be kind to that man's widow and her three small children who were, in their opinion, innocent victims. There were collections taken for the children who were hurt, and the Amish families insisted that the widow and her children receive a share because they were hurting financially.
And I am currently reading The Stand with one of the groups on GoodReads. I'm really enjoying GoodReads. It gives me the book talk, about books I really want to read and not the New York Times Book Review stuff.