A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion Hobbies, Crafts and Creativity A Good Read?

Quite a while back we had a thread about books we were reading, but I wasn't able to find it, so I thought I'd start a different one.

Recently I bought Maxi the best book which he simply adores recommended to me by Jenn/hisgal2. "The Dangerous Book For Boys" by Hal Ugglden and Conn Ugglden is chock full of information any boy would adore.

Today my kidney doctor told me he is reading "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak which was written for young adults. I searched for it on-line, wondering about it for Maxi because the story takes place in a milieu he would enjoy. It won many awards when it was published in 2003 and is about children in Nazi Germany. The story is told (with some humor) from the point of view of the Grim Reaper. My doc said it is beautifully written.

Last week I read a really good Robert Ludlow novel "The Bancroft Strategy". That was a good read.

So what about you or your kids? What are y'all reading?



Merme

I found "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak while I was out today. I am reading it now before I give it to Maxi this weekend. It is good so far.



Merme

The Book Theif sound like a book my son would also enjoy. he likes history and if it has humor as well, that is a big plus!

I'll tell you a great book for young boys! last summer I read "Hatchet" to the kidos. By Gary Paulsen. it is a nail bitter childrens novel about a boy (13-14yrs old) plane crashed alone in the canadian woods with nothing more than a hatchet.

right now, I'm reading "The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane" to the kids.
they both (girl 9, boy 12) love the story! whereas the "Hatchet" only the preteen boy enjoyed.

I will look for "The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane" for Maxi's summer reading list. I also want to review the suggested reading list in "The Dangerous Book for Boys". He has read several of the things listed there already, but I want to eyeball it again.


Merme

The Book Thief was awesome! Maxi is engrossed in reading it now and I've recommended it to several of my friends who are avid readers.


Merme

I am reading two series right now. I've been know to read up to 3 books at time. The girls have me reading the Pretties series by Scott Westerfield. Ashley has read them all but me and Mandy are reading them now. She gets the books for both of us from her school library, she's a T.A. so she can check out whatever books she wants. That way we don't have to wait for it to come in at the public library and we can read them at the same time. I'm a book ahead of her though, she needs to catch up. The other series I've been working on is Ann Rice's vampire series. I think I'm on number 5, can't remember. I love her vampire books.

Cheryl I read all of Ann Rice's vampire books as they came out. I usually do not read vampire stories, but I thought hers were good.

Right now I am finishing "The Smoke Jumpers" by Nicholas Evans, the author who wrote "The Horse Whisperer". I didn't much like Smoke Jumpers because 1) that was only a brief part of the novel and 2) the rest was predictable. Still, I will look for Horse Whisperer because I've heard good things of it.



Merme

My mom gave me a book called Gentlemen and Players, forget who it's by but I looked up some reviews of it and it's supposed to be good. My mom said she didn't "get" it and was hoping I would. I'm pretty picky about vampire books. Most of them are so much the same with too much romance and not enough intellect. Ann Rices' books are different. But then again I also did enjoy reading the twilight series.

One of the books I bought for Maxi this Easter is "Into Thin Air", a book about the Everest disaster in 1996. I was looking for true-life adventures for him.

However, now that I've read most of this book myself, I think I am going to hold it back from him for a few years. Instead, I think I will steer him toward accounts of successful mountaineering. This one can wait until he's older.

It is a good read, though.

Cheryl I have not yet read Gentlemen & Players, though I know quite a bit about it. The unusual title, by the way, is based on an old style of cricket in which "Gentlemen" (who were amatuers) played against "Players" (who were professionals). I think the author was trying to make a connection between the events at the school with the way players can be expected to react in a game.

Anyway, I'd be interested in knowing what you think of this when you read it.


Merme

I am reading "Angels & Demons" by Dan Brown, author of The DaVinci Code. Although he wrote Angels & Demons second, it is acutally written as a prequel to DaVinci. Dan sure spins a good tale.


Merme

For those of you who enjoy spooky books, I recommend Lost Boy Lost Girl by Peter Straub. It is very well written and I enjoyed it although I do not usually like spooky books. The ending was fascinating, too.



Merme

Hi, its me, MAXI. I could not login today.

I just bought two books by Michael Scott. "The Alchemyst" and "The Magician". They are both in a series "The Secrets of The Immortal Nicholas Hamel."

I have started The Alchemyst. It is good so far. Any kid would probably like it.


MAXI

I have read a few novels by Elizabeth George. If any of you like more modern English mysteries, you would probably enjoy her.

Merme

Haven't read Gentlemen and Players yet. Believe it or not I did know what that stood for. It was explained in one of the reviews I read. I keep wanting to read other things that sound more interesting to me at the moment. I'm reading my first Clive Barker book. I'm kind of into creepy right now. My reading moods change often. One book that I do want to read that I think sounds really interesting is Comrade Lost and Found. It's about a girl who lived in china during the cold war years and how she turned in her friend for wanting to escape to the americas. Years later she feels bad for what she did and tries to find the girl she had turned in. It's a true story.

Am I imagining it, or was there a discussion somewhere about the Twilight books? My daughter is packing up for college right now, and gave me the first book - said it was very poorly written but that she laughed a lot because of how poorly it was written.

I'm not sure if I want to read it - I'm not really into vampires at all.
What did any of you think about it if you read it?

lynne, there was several discussions. i haven't read them, not my thing, but loz loved them, as did cricket (i think) and several others. maybe cricket will poke her nose in and comment. i think hisgal2 was also one of those reading them. not sure who else.

did I hear my name?
yes, I read all four of the twilight books. I thought they were well written, but I'm not really what I'd considered a 'reader'? I stick to stephen king and dean koonts pretty much exclusivly. and mainly only read a book or two over the winter months. so what do I know? a friend talked me into just trying the first twilight book. I got hooked. the first book almost lost me in the middle (during the meadow scene) for me it went on and on and on. I almost stopped reading it altogther, but once I got past that part it was good again. the last two books are much better than the first two. after reading all of them, I felt she was holding back on the first two.

I am now reading Ursula K. Le Guin's, "The left Hand of Darkness". It is Sci-Fi and was recommended by two Astonomer friends at Oxford University in London. It is a terrific read. It is about Earth's first contact with a new planet inhabited by native Humans, who due to their peculiar circumstances have NO idea of the existence of other stars, planets, or the universe. They live on a planet of eternal Winter. The are exactly like us, EXCEPT, there are no males or no females. Each person is BOTH! Every human on this planet can be a biological mother or biological father or can be both at different times in their life. These people are astounded at the notion that a person can be permanently one sex or the other. NEVERTHELESS, it is NOT a pornographic or sexual novel in nature. It just raises questions about what really constitutes a gender role. A very interesting examination. This book was written in 1969.

that does sound pretty interesting, thorn! reminds me of a series of books my son read...and I read a few also. they were about different societies that lived in colonies. some had no choices. job, carrer, spouse was given to them-easy paved road. another society took in rejects from the above 'perfect' society. for instance if someone broke an arm and couldn't perform their duties, or couldn't follow the 'rules'. they were outcast to a society that paired people up according to their 'disabilities'. blind man with a deaf woman....an orphan child with a crippled woman. they are 'childrens novels' but raised lots of interesting questions about morals and choices.

anyway, plant. I think the twilight books are worth trying. and they are not all 'vampire' stuff. not enough vampire stuff in them if you ask me, but I like to read about the bazare. it's also a book about choices, and right and wrong, and making the best. at times it's a bit mushy romancy, but if you can make it through to the last two books there is more action and substance in those.

I read the twilight books and enjoyed them for the most part. Then I got my step-daughters to read them and they became obsessed. I pay more attention to the story and if the story is good enough the writing doesn't have to be spectacular. At least, that's my opinion.

I just finished reading, Under the Banner of Heaven. A true story of a couple of mormon fundamentalists who received a commandment from god to kill their brothers wife and baby. Creepy, but good. Now I'm reading a book called, Side Effects: A Prosecutor, a Whistleblower, and Bestselling Antidepressant on Trial. Also a true story about how makers of some antidepressants kept hidden negative side effects that they knew of so that they could sell more. My next book is called, My Lobotomy. Also a true story, about a man who at the age of 12 was given an ice pick lobotomy because his step-mother convinced his father and a psychiatrist that he needed one. See a pattern? My mood lately is true stories.

Thorn, there was a Star Trek Next Generation episode with a similar story line to the book you described ... "The Left Hand Of Darkness". It was very touching and memorable.

Right now Maxi and I are reading Victor Hugo's Les Miserables.... he is manfully wading through all 1400 pages of it just because he loves the story so well! (I think it is dry and tend to skim).


Merme

Maxi and I are both reading To Kill A Mockingbird. Actually, I think this is my 3rd or 4th time reading it, but it is so beautifully written, I don't mind.

Since I also gave him the original version of Phantom Of The Opera for his birthday, we'll be reading that soon as well.


Merme

Try Tanith Lee's, "Red As Blood" a TWISTED retelling of Classic Fairy Tales. Beautifully written. and very much more real to life than the original these will both Creep and enthrall you, this book poses the Question, "What if Snow White was TRULY evil and her Stepmother was righteous and saintly and out to destroy the evil Snow White?" What was the connection between Red Riding Hood and the wolf? Is beauty really in the eye of the beholder?

I'd recommend "Alice and Wonderland" and Grymmes Fairy Tales to anyone, child or adult. Same for Tom Sawyer, and about a thousand other novels, but those in particular stand out as monumental clasics to me.

I agree, Pep, Tom Sawyer is always a good read, as is Alice. Along those lines, Maxi and I recently read Call Of the Wild by Jack London.



Merme

Not along the same lines, but I picked up a book at the library last week - the cover is so nice and bright and cheerful. It's what they call a "chic-lit" - The Hot House Flower and the Nine Plants of Desire.

It's a very easy read, teaches a bit about some tropical plants, and takes my mind off, you know?

Lynne that book sounds as if it might be fun.

And I'm all for anything that takes the mind off!

I like your signature line decorations, by the way.

Merme

I agree with Merme--so much so that I have ordered said book at my library. I checked today and it is not in yet---

I finally finished My Lobotomy. It was a heartbreaking but fascinating story. Took me forever to finish it though, the writing style wasn't very riveting. Still, I would recommend it. I'm now reading the second Gears of War book. Yes, books based off of a video game but the writer is very talented and I've seen the video games played and the books are more entertaining than you'd think. After this book I may start to work on some classics that I've never read and would like to. My first classic that I want to read is Jane Eyre. I also have some Jane Austen books in my wishlist that I would like to read.

How does one have time to read?????/

Computer has so many topics here.

dodge

Cheryl, I just read the synopsis of this and I'm going to recommend it to my book club.

That sounds like something Maxi might enjoy. I'm thinking if Santa Claus is coming....

And Cheryl you can never go wrong with Jane Eyre!

Merme

Which one Sheri? My Lobotomy? I think it would make a great book club book. He also did a NPR show that you could probably find and listen to on the net somewhere, not sure about that though as I haven't looked it up myself. The book has a lot more information though.

My nephrologist gave me 24 Agatha Christie books which I have not read since I was young. I am having a blast revisiting old favorite tales. He also gave Maxi a couple dozen books of interest to young men. So we are both very fattened and content!



Merme

I'm thinking of asking Santa to bring Maxi three books about King Arthur... The Once & Future King by TH White; The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley; and Le Morte D'Arthur by Thomas Mallory.

We love the Arthurian legends in our family and I think he'd be pleased with these books.


Merme

dOES WILD WILLY PLAY SANTA???????

I WANT A NEW CAMERA SANTA.. SO I CAN GET A ZOOM LENS TO GO WITH MY PERSONALITY.
DODGE

Maxi's book order arrived the other day. They are beautiful editions and I think he is going to be happy with Santa for remembering his love of King Arthur!


Merme

Yes, My Lobotomy. I actually did hear him on NPR. What a story.

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