The biggie for the summer was Harry Potter! :) Wow, wow, wow!!

I am currently reading Suite Francaise (hard to get through) and am really into The Constant Princess by Phillipa Gregory. She writes really excellent Tudor era fiction and I love that era! This one is about Katherine of Aragon and her rise to Queen. Very good so far!

I didn't read too much this summer. Shame on me!

The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns...oh, and I can't remember what else LOL!

I've read The Kite Runner and thought it was a very powerful book. I recently downloaded A Thousand Splendid Suns but haven't started it yet.

I'm too busy writing to read. But for sheer fun, I recommend anything by Kinky Friedman.

Currently:
"Narcissus in Chains," by Laurell K Hamilton. Trashy vampire porn, but much fun.
"The Bedroom Secrets of The Master Chefs" by Irvine Welsh. If you liked "Trainspotting"....
And "Just an Ordinary Day," Shirley Jackson. Short storys of great power.

I love Shirley Jackson. The Haunting of Hill House and The Lottery are classics. Often made into movies but never as scary as the books.

Has anyone read Blindsight by (Somebody) Watts? I heard it's the best sci-fi of the year but I don't have it yet.

I can't read much anymore, other than magazines, catalogues or the news paper. I get through three or four pages of anything and fall asleep! The last Harry Potter book I have I have only gotten through about 100 pages. Dennis thought I was sick the first weekend I had it. He kept coming in the living room and I was fast asleep, lol!

The Kite Runner. yes..powerful. sad. amazing.
The Secret Lives of Bees.
The Mermaid Chair.

I just don't really know quite what to think of either of the last two....couldn't put them down, however..... very thought provoking. ...at least to me....... lots of questions. I really want to know what others might think of those last two................

Just finished The Kite Runner and am starting on A Thousand Splendid Suns. The Kite Runner really affected me. Excellent book even if I did have disturbing dreams a couple of nights while reading it. My son was in Kabul with the Air Force and he said he saw things that were out of a nightmare.

I also recently read "Levi's Will" by Dale Cramer. Another profound read about the Amish.

I read the Secret Lives of Bees a few years ago. Another great read. I was disappointed with the Mermaid Chair.

Betsy

I'm reading "The Working Life" for school. More interesting than I thought it would be.

I have to sit up when I read or I will be put to sleep. LOL

Tropcialfreak

I just started reading "Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life" by Dr. Wayne Dyer. I don't usually read self-help books and I'm taking this one slowly, in shorts chapters. So far I'm impressed with the message and with the way it's delivered.
I started it because I have a good friend who is struggling with anger issues and her struggle reminds me so much of my mother's constant dissatisfaction with almost everything during her last years. But as I paged through it, I found one statement after another that I thought I could use in my own life. It's not about dealing with anger or dissatisfaction - I guess I would have to say it's about finding a good balance in your life and being aware of the choices you constantly make throughout a day.

It's even helped me make a real start on changing what I eat! I hadn't thought of it as dieting, but I've lost 8 pounds in 2 weeks!

Hi
Haven't been able to read for a long time due to cattaracts But finally got through "A short history of time" and "All creation in 12 chapters" by Hawkings
I'm now looking for "Quantum mechanics for dummies"lol
A really fascinating one to me was the forensic reconstruction of the face of King Tut.looked good for being 3400 years old .lol. All done with tomography!!
But no eye ,hair ,or complexion color but it MAY be possible to add that if DNA sequencing works!! There is some hint that his hair MIGHT have been red!!
really blows me away though who's around to argue with the results?? lol gary

Just finished "The Ruins" by Scott Smith. I see it's on your list Kate! Yikes!!! What a page turner.

Finished "A Thousand Splendid Suns" last weekend. I thought "The Kite Runner" was the best book I've read in a decade or so but "A Thousand Splendid Suns" was just as good if not better. Khaled Hosseini is a superb storyteller and I am looking forward to reading more by him.

Betsy

Agree with Ricky - too busy writing the stories to go along with the photography line of our new business and writing for diabetic magazines, etc. Read a lot of magazines and am currently rereading The Purpose Driven Life. Need a lot of imspiration at this point in my life and a lot of direction and guidance. Linda

Has anyone read the "Clan of the Cave Bear"?
Hear it might be right up my alley as I like the history of plants as to their uses in cultures from medicinal to social.
Tempted to get "The Ruins" and "Levi's Will".
How is "The Secret Lives of Bees"? Like "Botany of Desire"?

Tropicalfreak

I read Clan of the Cave Bear years ago and loved it. There are two sequels that weren't quite as good but I read them too. I think there's recently been a 4th book but I don't recall that for certain.

The Ruins was too predictable to be really good. It's a quick read - perfect for a long plane flight - but I don't think it was written by a plant person. I was disappointed.

I still have Secret Life of Bees but haven't started it.

I am currently on The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood and loving it. I don't know exactly where this is going and how the stories will come together in the end (although I'm sure they will) but her use of words and phrases is amazing.

Clan of the Cave Bear - by Jean Auel. There have been 5 books thus far (the first published in 1980), a sixth is in the works. If you get hooked on the "Earth Children" series, beware. There were 12 years between books 4 and 5 and it's only been 5 years since book 5.

I have read each book as they were released and enjoyed them all, though they were hard reading due to the detail she puts into her books. There are references to the plants, but IMO, most of her story is about the development of man.

I've got "Eldest" (Paolini) to read now, but have to wait until I have time to re-read "Eragon" to get into it.

When the last "Harry Potter" book came out, I spent to preceding week avoiding newspapers and the internet. I spent the time re-reading all the prior books so I would be back up to speed with the characters.

Also just finished "Under Orders" by Dick Francis - I sure missed his books those five years he didn't publish anything. I will miss him when he is gone as much as I miss reading anything new from Dame Agatha.

I recently got all the old James Herriot books (country veterinarian) and will be re-reading them. I am also considering getting all the Agatha Christie's for re-reads. I read those back in junior high and high school, so it's been a few years - I just MAY have forgotten some of the plot lines!

Have been reading the old Carla Neggers books, I just found her a few years ago and have a few to catch up with.

One of my new favorite authors is Nevada Barr - her books center on a Nat'l Park Ranger and each book is set in a different park. Her fifteenth and latest book was derailed by Katrina, the publishers are talking mid-2008 for publication. She does murder mysteries and does a lot of research into her settings and gives a lot of backstory on each park. There was one set in the Dry Tortugas - I just might have to get down there to see the place myself! We did get up to Acadia this year - after reading her book on that park, I just had to go!

I have always been an avid reader, as many as 300 books a year - unfortunately, the internet keeps me away from books too much. I need to do some habit changing...

I have just finished 'The Creek" by JT Glisson. It's a memoir of his life as a boy at Cross Creek (Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings). They lived at Cross Creek at the same time. I found it fascinating to read about a Florida cracker's life.

If you have any suggestion for books set in Florida, go ahead and tell me, pleeeease!

I have read everything by Carl Hiaasen and several mystery novels by Glynn Marsh Alam. Her main character is a female diver in the northern Florida's springs.

I loved "More than Petticoats... Remarkable Florida Women."
It's the bios of strong Florida pioneer women.(and how they survived without AC)
I also enjoyed Richard Peck's books. "A Long Way from Chicago" and "A Year Down Under." They're kids books really, but the last chapter will make you cry.
I read "My Antonia" because I'm part Czech.
I sense a pattern here. I like to read period pieces.

Florah, have you read anything by Connie May Fowler? She is a Florida native and it seems that most of her books are set in Florida. I think you would enjoy her stories. I've read "Remembering Blue", "Before Women Had Wings" and "Sugar Cage". I especially enjoyed Remembering Blue, but the others were very good too. She has a few newer books out but I haven't read them yet.
~Betsy

For something totally different try "Tatham Mound" by Piers Anthony. He is a sci fi / fantasy author (remember the "Ahnoid Svartzenegger" movie "Total Recall"?), but this novel is set in North Fl and is about the Indians there before and during the arrival of the white man. I found it totally absorbing.

Anita

Stuart Woods is a popular thriller or detective writer who lives in Key West. He has a number of recurring heros/heroines. A number of these books are set on the east central coast of Florida, with Chief of Police Holly Barker as the protagonist. I like his novels set in Florida. I don't care as much for a lot of his other novels.

I recently read "The Devil in the White City", about the Columbian Exhibition in Chicago. It was very good.

I went to the library and got Stuart Woods' 'Orchid Blues', set in Florida. It's a good enough thriller, but has a lot of redundant dialog and its setting is not very convincing.

However, I also picked up Connie May Fowler's 'The Problem with Murmur Lee', an absolutely delightful novel. I am only at the beginning of Chaper 3 and I have already fallen in love with this novel.

It starts on a Floridian River. Fawnridge, the style of this chapter is magic realism. :-) The second chapter is set in Boston where the first person narrator is a transplanted Floridian. Since one of my friends is exactly such a southerner whose first 'Yankee experience' was in Boston, the descriptions ring true and hilarious at the same time.

In a earlier thread of this kind, I was inspired to read two non-fiction books, both fascinating! 'The Orchid Thief' and 'The Botany of Desire'.

All my thanks to the persons who recommended those books.

By the way, 'The Kite Runner' is great!

Just finished another 'Fannie Flagg' book...Welcome to the World, Baby Girl. Interesting ...I'm still looking for more of the 'southern' authors....having been raised north of the Mason/Dixon, it's sure interesting to hear some of the 'inside' takes on some things!!!!

The best book that I have read in a long time is "Snow Falling on Cedars". It's fiction that I believe is beautifully written.

Possible Side Effects By Augusten Burroughs

Now I gotta read more of his. A fun read. : )

Cliff

In case anyone missed the PBS special The Botany of Desire which premiered Wednesday, October 28, 2009, you can still watch the entire program online. It's incredible. Book turned documentary.

BOTANY OF DESIRE is a documentary which tells the utterly original story of everyday plants and the way they have domesticated humankind. An interpretation of the relationship between plants and people. This two-hour documentary explores plant evolution and takes viewers from the potato fields of Peru and Idaho, the apple forests of Kazakhstan, and the tulip markets of Amsterdam.

View online in it's entirety: here

This is another related program by the same presenter on LINK TV (a cable access channel) which is timely:

Deep Agriculture
Traditional methods of agriculture in most developed nations have long ignored environmental concerns. Factors such as soil erosion, water shortage and the impact of chemicals on bio-systems have been overlooked in favour of massive crop yields and cheaper food. But what impact does this have on our health and our environment?

View online in it's entirety: here

__________________________

Sit down with a cup of tea or coffee and witness the evolution of an Organic Kitchen Garden.

I recently read "The Glass Castle"
A Memoir
by Jeannette Walls

On my way up to Michigan I listened to "Sharing Good Times" by President Jimmy Carter read by author.

On my way home I listened to "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" and of course stopped in Savannah for pralines!

I started reading "People With Dirty Hands: The Passion for Gardening" by Robin Chotzinoff

I have too many books and not enough time!
Kat

I have a few pages left of "World Made By Hand", by James Kunstler and will read "The Long Emergency" by the same author next.

Here is a link that might be useful: World Made By Hand

"The Selfish Gene" by Richard Dawkins. Excellent book although it took me a while to get through it. Skimming doesn't work on scientific books lol.

Really interesting theory on how genes control the world and that our human bodies were designed as vehicles for genes. In other words we are the car and they are the driver. Explains a lot.

I read about 3-4 books a week but they are light fare. This book took me a month to complete Next is Dawkins "The Blind Watchmaker".

Denise

Most recently...Pillars of the Earth by Ken Folliet. It's long but a very fast read! Perfect for sitting out doors in the garden while the dog romps :>

Nine Dragons, new one by Michael Connelly, was good. Breathless, new one by Dean Koontz, was very disappointing. I hope he's not getting like so many other writers and just churning out a book for the sake of the contract.
Picking up Glenn Beck's Arguing With Idiots today from the library and also, Strange Brew, a collection of stories by Jim Butcher(Dresden Files) and others.
Julie