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09 February, 2006Lunch at the bookstore.
This might sound really nerdy and weird, but I don’t care. You can’t imagine how excited I am that the ladies who run Prince Books (the independent bookstore in downtown Norfolk) know me by name. And noticed that I changed my hair. And were thumbing through the box for my member discount card as I was walking up to the counter.
Today I bought The Time Traveler’s Wife and read the first 42 pages while I ate lunch. I am enthralled. I got this book on recommendation from Miss Genevieve, who is one other person in the world who loves reading just as much as I do. I knew that if no one else understood my little “moment” today, she would.
Other things I have had my nose in lately (excuse the arrows, I’m too lazy to look anywhere other than Amazon):
- Little, Big which is kind of weird, and supposedly is a “masterpiece of modern fantasy” or some such thing and was also recommended by Alicia, whose blog I adore, so I will keep on reading.
- Memoirs of a Geisha, which was the first book I couldn’t put down in a long time. I adored this book and its beautiful imagery.
- Haunted, which was and is thoroughly annoying and BORING, and I’m not going to finish it. Chuck Palahniuk is one of my favorite authors, but he must have been really bored himself when he wrote this or something. I LOVE the review Elizabeth Hand wrote of this book on its’ Amazon page but I wish I would have read her review earlier. A snippet:
It turns out to be an old movie theater, and once they’re inside, they can’t get out, like they’re locked in for three months; and the food is all freeze-dried, not gourmet at all, and everything is pretty disgusting and shabby and meaningless and depressing and disgusting. Did I say that twice? I forget, because this book, it’s kind of repetitive, and it’s also really, really gross.
Yeah, it’s that bad. And really, really gross. Don’t read it. Read Diary or Lullaby or Invisible Monsters instead.Each character in the book tells a short story. Each also tells a poem, which is not such a good idea, as the poems aren’t very good. In Lullaby, Palahniuk’s really creepy novel from 2003, there’s a poem that kills people who hear it, but I don’t think anyone’s going to die reading stuff like this: “The film: a shadow of a reflection of an image of an illusion.”
- How To Be Good was amusing and made me love the characters like any good Nick Hornby book does, but then it ended after only four audio tracks. I realize if I had been reading the actual book instead of listening to a pirated audio book (ha) I might not have been disappointed because I would have realized it was very, very thin, but I had no clue and it was amazingly short. I wanted more, dude. It was sarcastic and dysfunctional and amazing. I wanted more.
- Garlic & Sapphires I have checked out from the library but not yet begun to read.
What are you guys reading?
Comments
I loved loved loved The Time Traveler's wife!! Fabulous book. Good thing you are reading it before the movie comes out, the rights have been bought and I can't say I am thrilled with the choice of actor.
I am now reading The Kite Runner and it is beyond what I thought it would be. Look it up, you won't be disapointed.
I had no idea there was a movie coming out. I think I heard about the Kite Runner on NPR. Is it set in the middle east?
yes, it is set in the middle east :) great read.
What is NPR?
National Public Radio
Amber, I love the blog. It's nice too know that some one else out there is as obsessed with SVU and Stabler as I am ;)
Lately I've been reading Anna Karenina, as well as Plot Against America, a slightly twisted historical fiction. Love it!
How awesome it must be to spend lunchtime like that! I'd be excited for the recognition too!
I just finished the Ruth Reichel book. It's really great. and there are recipes for each chapter.
I also recently finished The Kite Runner (really excellent). it's the Everybody Reads book this year at our local library http://www.multcolib.org/reads/
Margaret Cho's new book is dull and boring.
hurrah for stabler and svu lovers!!!! :o)
I just finished up "The Know It All" and I am now rereading "Lucky" by Alice Sebold since I realized I never finished it. I've heard nothing but great reviews for time travelers wife..I will have to pick that up sometime. ;)
I just finished the first book in the left behind series.
I absolutely ADORE 'The Time Traveler's Wife'. I truly did not want this book to end. I hope someone buys me 'The Three Incestuous Sisters' for my birthday.
I adore Nick Hornby. Is that a good book?
I'm currently reading Thank You for Smoking by Christopher Buckley. It's hysterical political satire.
I'm reading Trading Up by Candace Bushnell because I like to read trash when school is in session.
The Time Traveler's Wife was my favorite novel of 2005. I envy you for being at the beginning. And I love Little, Big, and really enjoyed How To Be Good. (I thought it was Hornby's best - still do, after reading his next, A Long Way Down). I am planning to read 52 books this year. Four down, and lots and lots to go - including short stories, and a new novel by John Crowley.
I loved the time travelers wife. I didn't care too much for haunted either. It was boring, and disgusting. I'm reading a prayer for owen meany by john irving now, which is amazing. I finished the know it all by aj jacobs last week. I love books, I love talking about them. Haha.
I love reading that much too!! ALso, I have been recommending that book to anyone and everyone since I read it last year :D
its my favorite ever.
I have to agree with the other poster that mentioned Time Traveler's Wife as their favorite book of 2005. I just couldn't put it down, I found it captivating and just so...ah...there are no words to describe how the book made me feel.
Oh by the way, I'm also a total reading geek. With school I find it hard to indulge in my favorite past time, so I have to set goals for myself like the "50 Book Challenge".
Currently I am reading The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde. I fell in love with The Eyre Affair and so I'm reading through the Thursday Next adventures. As a book geek, I find all the literature references very amusing.
Oh and thanks for the heads up on Haunted, that was on my list to read, but I am scratching it off after reading the negative comments about it.
time travelers wife?? AWESOME
also try
the lovely bones
running with scissors
dry
Ali- I really liked Lucky... although I cried at the end of the first chapter. It's so graphic. Ugh.
Jess- I'm reading Trading Up too, but I haven't gotten very far. I think her names are so ridiculous haha. Comstock Dibble. Psh. I liked her book Lipstick Jungle. Powerful women and all that.
Elke- That is an amazing goal haha. I love to read but I don't know if I could get through that many.
Karen- I have read The Lovely Bones, and loved it. I will check out those other two. Burroughs, right?
I'm definitely gonna also get The Know It All and The Kite Runner since I've heard so many good things. Thanks for all the ideas, you guys.
I am about the start The Time Travelers Wife-
we are reading it for El Jay bookclub, if you want to join and let us know what you thought.
Have you read The Zanzibar Chest?
Thanks for the book tips! I am a total book worm, and always looking for something new to read. Usually finding it and money are big issues, as our library has a very limited English section. Though I do read books in dutch- it annoys me I can't read them as quickly.
Currently I am re-reading The Hobbit, which I have not read for quite some time, and I am enjoying it, while I try to figure out what else I want to read.
Amber - I haven't read the Zanzibar Chest. Maybe I will add that to my list.
Rachel - I wonder if you could get used books thru Amazon or Ebay, and have them shipped from somewhere near you. I bet that would be a lot cheaper.
I'm a huge fan of Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson.
I just finished the Kite Runner and thought it was okay. Based on all of its acclaim, I was expecting a lot more from the book.
I LOVE Time Traveler's Wife. No one else I've talked to has been equally enthralled. It's now in my top three favorite books. I bawled all thru the last half, but it was a wonderful book. You're going to love it!
