Pegggggy

What I'm reading now? See the reading application :


What I last finished:

..Whistling in the Dark.. by Lesley Kagen my sister gave me this one, set in Milwaukee in the 60s. It was sad... and creepy. But cool to read about Samson!
..Water for Elephants.. by Sara Gruen - a good , fast-moving story set in a Circus. I loved Rosie the elephant.
..Zorba the Greek.. by Nikos Kazantzakis - a really interesting book that is keeping my Greece memories alive
..Snow Flower and the Secret Fan.. by Lisa See - for lunchtime book club - didn't like it much at first, the ancient Chinese women taking what they're given is really a downer but it got a lot more interesting and left me with lasting feelings on friendship and redemption
..Shadow of the Wind.. by Carlos Ruiz Zafon - I liked this one a lot, a great dark mystery and love story
..The Victorian Internet.. by Tom Standage Just goes to show ya, none of this social networking is very new!

..Self-Made Man: One woman's journey into Manhood.. by Norah Vincent - for lunchtime book club. I think she was correct about her insights, and it must have been interesting, but it left a bad taste in my mouth and I can't say I really liked it.

..The Photograph.. by Penelope Lively - this was a great book. It really spoke about how you can be close to someone and not know them.

..Upstate.. by Kalisha Buckhanon - for library book club. Intriguing, inspiring, and sad...

..Snow Crash.. by Neal Stephenson. Sci-Fi from 1996, extremely predictive! All this stuff on the metaverse is just like second life, I really wonder how much was based on this book.

.. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.. by JK Rowling. Wonderful stuff, I like the way it was all wrapped up, except I thought the epilogue was unnecessary.

..Eat Pray Love .. by Elizabeth Gilbert. For lunchtime book club. Autobiographical, pretty good stuff. Interesting look into the Ashram/meditation/Sanskrit thing. See my blog entry on it.

..The Wal-Mart Effect.. by Charles Fishman I picked it up from my dad, it is pretty eye-opening about the real cost of the low prices at Wal*Mart.

..The Other Side of You.. by Sally Vickers - for lunchtime book club. Psychological novel, liked it.

..The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down.. by Anne Fadiman. This was really a sad book, a social commentary on the Hmong in our society. I learned a lot reading it, but not sure it was stuff I really wanted to know.

..March.. by Geraldine Brooks. This is one of the best-written books I've ever read. I've always been captivated by the civil war, and the references to "Little Women" really are entertaining, too.

..Mr. Darcy's Daughers.. by Elizabeth Aston For lunchtime book club. Fun romp into Victorian England

..Tortilla Curtain .. by T. Coraghessen Boyle

For library bookclub. I liked the story, but not the portrayal of the women - very 2D.

..Social Intelligence.. by Daniel Goleman

..The Inn at Lake Devine.. by Elinor Lipman - An interesting look at parents and prejudices.

..At Face Value.. by Terry Healey - this guy had a very similar sinus cancer as George did, was a gift from John W. Verrrrry interesting.

..Long Day's Journey Into Night.. by Eugene O'Neill - library book club see blog

..Evidence of things Unseen.. by Marianne Wiggins - lunchtime book club book.

..Empire Falls.. by Richard Russo -- took me awhile to start caring about the characters, but in the end I really liked this book. I keep thinking about the daughter (tick) and the rich old lady.

..Blink.. -- the science of thinking without thinking. Interesting - recommended by my brother-in-law John. Great for poker players!

..Middlesex.. by Jeffrey Eugenides-- for library book club. Umm... hard to categorize. He/she led an interesting life, but hard to relate to.

..The Agony and the Ecstacy.., by Irving Stone -- because I wanted something set in Europe when I was going to Vienna. It was a long read, but I finally finished and really enjoyed it - his passion for his art and his long life and productive old age were very inspiring.

..Ender's Game.. by Orson Scott Card -- We listened to this one in the car on CD, good sci fi!

..Never Let me Go.. by Kazuo Ishiguro -- sci fi for lunchtime book club

..Unless.. by Carol Shields -- intersting to read about a writer writing, and the panhandling daughter was really well done.

..Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.., by Jonathan Foer-- library book club, pretty good and a compelling read, liked it but didn't love it, was a good book group discussion topic.

A sampling of my 5-star books:
..Empire Falls.., by Richard Russo
..Peace Like a River.., by Leif Enger
..Sleeping with Schubert.., by Bonnie Marson
..The Sparrow.., by Mary Doria Russell
..Daughter of Fortune.., by Isabel Allende
..The Red Tent.., by Anita Diamant
..Snow Falling on Cedars.., by David Guterson
..The Shell Seekers.., by Rosamunde Pilcher
..The Clan of the Cave Bear.. (and ALL the sequels), by Jean Auel
..The Mists of Avalon.., by Marion Zimmer Bradley
..Cold Mountain.., by Charles Frazier
..High Fidelity.., by Nick Hornby
..The Prodigal Summer.., by Barbara Kingsolver