Here are the books on my nightstand right now. … I love to talk about books! Drop me a line if you’ve read any of these and want to chat about any of them. I’d love to hear from you!
- Midsummer Moon — Laura Kinsdale. Love Laura Kinsdale!!! This woman writes beautiful sentences! I also love her tortured heroes. Although in this book (Merlin and Ransom Falconer), the heroine is actually more interesting.
- The Story of Edgar Sawtelle — David Wroblewski. Next book club book. Looking forward to starting this one.
- Outliers — Malcolm Gladwell. Had enough conversations with my brother-in-law about this book that he brought it for me to borrow.
- Jeff Herman’s Guide to Book Publisheres, Editors, and Literary Agents (2009 Edition) — Huge. Intimidating. But must read.
So far read in 2009:
- To Kill a Mockingbird — Harper Lee. Looooved it. Absolutely. I’ve never met anyone who didn’t love this book. Atticus Finch is an amazing character, and hearing the story told from the perspective of his little girl, Scout, is a treat. This book is all about integrity — and how much courage it takes to have it.
- Holly — Jude Deveraux. Okay, I finally finished this one. I’m usually a Jude Deveraux fan, but this one was just so-so.
- I Was Told There’d Be Cake — Sloane Crosley. These were really funny essays about being a young single woman in NYC. It got a lot of criticism about her seemingly-conjured-up complaints (about a life that, truly, isn’t much to complain about. She’s very young, and seems to have led a rather priveleged life in NYC.). But I still enjoyed it. Writing humor is hard, but Crosley makes it look easy. And I laughed out loud several times — I would definitely re-read these essays for a quick pick-me-up, so this book will probably reside on my nightstand.
- Things That Make Us [Sic] — Martha Brockenbrough. Funny book on grammar. I recommend if you’re a grammar nerd like me.
- The Namesake — Jhumpa Lahiri. Beautiful, beautiful language — I love Lahiri’s lyrical style. But I never liked the protagonist — I found myself feeling rather irritated with him — so the plot started to feel a little long to me. I will definitely read more Lahiri, though. I’ll follow a great writer to the ends of the earth. …
- Glitter Baby — Susan Elizabeth Phillips. Early work of SEP. Not my fave, but it was fun to see her writing in the “early days.” Missing the quirky humor that came to mark her later work, so she may not have been as comfortable with it here.
- Outlander — Diana Gabaldon. Whew! What a great book. This a Romancelandia classic — always somewhere in the Top 10 of the “Top 100 Romances” list — and now I see why. It’s a historical time-travel, set in the early 1700s in Scotland, and Gabaldon shares a lot of fun historical elements about that time period. The characters are so well drawn – we really “get” Clare, and we truly fall in love with Jamie, with his Scottish Highlander brutality that softens when it comes to loving Clare. It’s verra sexy. … I look forward to reading the next in the series, and Gabaldon has the sixth (or is it 7th?) coming out this fall 2009.
- What I Did for Love – Susan Elizabeth Phillips. This is her latest release, following the re-release of “Glitter Baby” (and with an appearance by some of “Glitter Baby”s characters). I wasn’t quite as fond of this one (felt the same way about “Glitter”). It’s a theme she’s mentioned in the past that she likes — Hollywood, actors, child actors, paparazzi, etc. — and it might be lovely to some, but just isn’t a theme I’m interested in. I had a hard time liking this particular hero and caring much about the heroine. But I love SEP’s writing style, so I had fun reading it anyway. …
- Hell-Heaven — Jhumpa Lahiri. A short story from DailyLit (you can download for free here. DailyLit has other writers you can purchase, but they offered Pulitzer-Prize winner Lahiri for free, which I snapped up, being a fan and all.) As usual, Lahiri told this tale beautifully — I love her way with words.
- Blogging for Dummies (2nd Edition) — Susannah Gardner, Shane Birley. OUTSTANDING book to help you if you’re just getting started blogging. It’s basic enough to be easy to follow but with loads and loads of excellent “hot tips” and so many examples of good blogs that I’ll be researching them all year! For those of you just getting going, you must read this book!
- Much Ado About You /Kiss Me, Annabel/ The Taming of the Duke – Eloisa James. I read these stories in rapid succession. They’re a series about the Essex sisters: Tess, Annabel and Imogen. I couldn’t find the fourth book, which is about the fourth sister Josie, in time, so I ended up getting distracted and reading a different James book from a different series, but I’ll probably go back and read Josie’s story at some point becuase these were all really cute. They sort of reminded me of “Little Women” … only a bit sexier, and about how they fall in love! Enjoying Eloisa James’ style immensely. Here’s an interesting article about her here in USA Today. I really like her website, too, which is here.
- Enchanting Pleasures — Eloisa James. Started this one when I couldn’t find the fourth in the series above, and … I think I liked it even better! This story about “Gabby” and Quill was really cute, and is also part of a series — but it’s an older series, so the other two books are part of a rerelease. Of course, now I’ll have to go track those other two down!
My bedroom bookcase: I didn't even squeeze in the last messy shelf!
January 26, 2009 at 11:00 pm
Change of Heart-Jodi Picoult. Kept me glued. A complex tale of loss, redemption and justice against the back drop of religious belief and the death penalty. Waiting on my nightstand is, The Tenth Circle.
January 27, 2009 at 3:54 am
Thanks for sharing, Sharon! Let me know how you like The Tenth Circle. You know, I’ve never read Jodi Picoult, but a lot of people have recommended. Have you read most of her books?
February 3, 2009 at 2:47 pm
I discovered Jodi Picoult a little late in the game and then went back and read everything (thrift shops are great resources for older books). I think what I love most about her writing is her character development — lots of gray — her characters are flawed, even the ones you love. The other thing I love is nothing is really like it seems — just like life.
February 4, 2009 at 4:19 am
Dixie — Yes, I have a feeling that’s exactly what I’ll be doing — discovering her “late” in the game, and then going back and reading everything! I tend to latch on to authors that way: if I like them, I’ll read everything on their backlist. So which one would be a good one to start with?
May 6, 2009 at 3:44 am
Lavender Morning – the new Jude Deveraux was actually pretty good. I haven’t liked her past few books as well as all the beginning stuff (the Velvet series, Twin of Ice/Fire, Sweet Liar, Remembrance – I cried so hard when I read this book) – but it was getting back to the stuff I loved, so I would recommend it!
May 19, 2009 at 3:50 am
KristiBug — Thanks for this recommendation of the new Jude Deveraux. (Plus I’ll have to write down some of those others!) I liked A Knight in Shining Armor. Thought it was very sweet…
May 22, 2009 at 6:55 pm
Reading GLITTER BABY now. I’m still reading but it’s a bit odd to me.
May 22, 2009 at 11:21 pm
Crystal — I had the same reaction about GLITTER BABY. You can tell it was written years and years ago, huh? Sort of dated, plus it doesn’t have her usual humor. But I enjoyed it for the fact that it gave a cool glimpse into SEP’s growth and change as a writer. It made me feel it’s “okay” to grow and change! : )
June 21, 2009 at 4:51 pm
Laurie, I loved the Gabaldon series and my favorite is Butterfly in Amber. I think that’s actually the second book but it’s my favorite.
June 21, 2009 at 11:41 pm
I’m like Laurie. Once I read and enjoy a book, I’ll go out to find and read all the other books by that author. I loved Judith McNaught, and I’m wondering why she hasn’t written anything in years. I miss her stories. I’ve read most of Maive Binchy’s books, LaVerle Spencers, Catherine Anderson, Julie Garwood, Mary Balogh,Jude Deveraux, Stella Cameron, Kinsale, Klepas,Howard, Landis, Woodweiss, Williamson, Johnson, and who hasn’t read a few or all of Nora Roberts? I liked her “Born in Fire” series. But,…..the BEST books have been the Galbaldon books. I’ve read all six, and will anxiously be waiting for the next one. Has anyone read the book she wrote about John Gray?? I just love the historical romance books, whether it’s castles, the “ton” or western. (“Cherish” was my favorite western.)
I also find time to read other genres, N. Demille’s thrillers, Ken Follet, Jane Auel series, John Jakes, Michener, and Conn Iggulden’s Julius Ceasar series. Those were really good. Oh and I loved “The Other Boleyn Girl”. I just finished “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” book. Which I liked also. So I read “all over the place”. The author that always piques my interest but have never read is Jodi Piccoult. Can anyone suggest the best of hers to start with? Many (many)years ago, I started with Danielle Steele, but after a while they seem “okay” for me.
Has anyone read a book that someone kept recommending, and you felt like you’d pacify that person and read it, only to find out it really was a good book? That’s how the Iggulden series were.
Okay, don’t want to rattle on about books, but I just love to read and share !!!!
October 19, 2009 at 4:26 pm
I’ve had you bookmarked for several months on my must read blog list and my illness and subsequent journey into the depths of my soul have kept me from doing anything outside of that for quite some time. I am off this week for yet another surgery and have devoted the entire week to napping, blogging, and reading. I am already enjoying your blog immensely and just have to say that I love your bookshelf. I began blogging this year after being diagnosed with breast cancer. I have found it very therapeutic to hang all my laundry out on the line, yet, I have been finding some things with WordPress that have bugged me. So, I started another blog at Blogger and bought the book Bloggin for Dummies. I agree. Some really neat stuff in there. Maybe I will pull that back out and surf some of those blogs this week as well. I have recently bought Twitter for Dummies. I guess as much of a techy as I would love to be, i must just be a dummy? Anyway, just thought I’d pop in while I have some down time and let you know I’ll be following along more avidly and have just added you on Twitter–although I’m not very good at it. Would love some feedback or lessons if you feel so inclined–screenname is cjheald and my blog is http://www.specificallyspeaking.wordpress.com
I’m looking forward to getting to know more about the writing process through you.
October 21, 2009 at 4:21 pm
Hi, Christina! So sorry to hear about your recent journey with breast cancer. (Set you up with those folks on Twitter because I’m on there all the time with them for work, and I’ve come to really like them — helpful, inspirational women.) Anyway, glad you like blogging! I really love it, too. I checked out your blog — I’ll have to set aside some time when I can spend more time there reading everything! Looks good! I do social media for a living now, so I might put some more tutorials up here, but for now I have a couple of Twitter tutorials here on the blog (search for “Twitter 101″ in my search bar beneath the Recent Comments). Let’s stay in touch!