Yes, but can he dance?

Many of you know that I don't watch television. As in, "we finally have cable but I still don't now how to turn on the television set." I watch television series DVDs when I can get them from the library and I occasionally watch hulu.

Even though I, according to one family member, live under a rock, I've heard of the television show House, MD. Hugh Laurie is a well-known television actor. He was also the voice of Dr. Cockroach in Monsters vs Aliens.

What I did not know, and what you may not know either, is that Hugh Laurie is a novelist. I checked his book out of the library and absolutely fell. in. love. It is an incredibly witty spy novel; every minute I spent not finishing that book was pure torture. Over 95% of the books that I read are audiobooks. This book was actually made of paper. If I had my choice, this would have been available on audio book, with Hugh Laurie reading it himself. Even without getting my own way, I enjoyed my time immeasurably.


I've heard rumors that Mr. Laurie has a forthcoming book. Please, oh please, let them be true!

You've gotta play to win

Mark Lipinski's Quilter's Home magazine recently mentioned the book Lottery by Patricia Wood. I finished reading it last weekend and loved it! There were shades of Forrest Gump, but it definitely had something original to say. Perry L. Crandall is my new hero.

Run and get this book. And while you are at it, pick up Mark Lipinski's Quilter's Home, too.

Better than Chess

I pride myself on being in the know about the latest books. I was tickled to discover a brand new book*.... Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. I am absolutely hooked and can't wait to read others in the series.

____________

This book was published when I was in the tenth grade.

And the award goes to........

Despite the record-breakingly long title, When You Need a Lift But Don't Want to Eat Chocolate, Pay a Shrink, or Drink a Bottle of Gin by Joy Behar was a fun book to read in small chunks. I wondered, though, when wouldn't someone want to eat chocolate? I also thought about what I do when I need a lift.

My lift: pull out all my scraps of fabric, cut them into useable sizes, and start piecing a scrap quilt.

What do you do?

Extreme Reading

I'll have to admit it..... I really enjoy Vince Flynn novels. Most of time when I read, I really want to escape and get caught up in a good tale. It helps to keep me working. Really deep and heavy books are definitely worth reading, but during a busy work season (almost done!!!), I need something much lighter.

Extreme Measures by Vince Flynn was something lighter. It was definitely a book with a (pointed?) point and dealt with a very serious subject matter (terrorism), but it didn't make the reader work too hard to find it.

Need something heavier? Read Dennis Lehane. I'm chugging through his latest now. He's always worth the effort, but for me effort is definitely required.

Getting smarter as I'm getting older

I've been trying to read John LeCarre novels since I was in high school. I always get most of the way through and realize that I have absolutely no idea what is happening. I have a mental picture of him sitting at his typewriter/computer, typing away. There's a speech balloon over his head that reads "There, that was complicated. I am smart; people are sheep. They only wish they were bright enough to understand my very clever books." Every time a new book comes out, I dutifully get it out of the library. Hope springs eternal.

Drumroll, please.......

I actually finished a John LeCarre novel AND I understood what was happening. So maybe he writes for the over-40 crowd? I'm not 40 yet, but if you round.......

Notice I didn't say that I liked A Most Wanted Man. I'm mostly meh about the book, but terribly impressed that I was smart enough to finish it.

So how about you? Are you smarter than me? Than John LeCarre? Than a Fifth Grader?

Unexpected Grace

So there's this author named Richard Paul Evans and he's written a whole bunch of books that have sold really well. I somehow had the impression that they weren't my type of books.

Since I'm still in the Christmas Quilt Countdown, I have a stack of books on CD from the library. Grace by Richard Paul Evans was on the top of the stack. I expected light and fluffy. It had much more to it than I expected and I think I enjoyed the tale. I got over five hours of quilting done, too!

I will probably read more of his books, but are they all this deliberately emotional?

I'm in desperate need of another Sookie Stackhouse book or three. That would help the quilt stack go down, I'm certain.

Dear Ms. Harris,
Please write faster.
Sincerely,
A desperate reader

By the time you read this post....

... you may already have seen The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. I haven't*. I have, however, read the book.

Due to the setting I didn't expect it to be exactly uplifting so the beauty of this book caught me off guard. I was riveted and had to read on and on, until the end when I asked my family to finish the book for me and give me the short version of what happened. They refused and I persevered.

It's difficult to love a book with such a harsh subject matter, but it was well-treated and beautifully written. If you get the chance to listen to the cd, there's a great interview with the author on the last disc. I highly recommend listening to it.

______
* I am unable to watch movies about this subject. War movies, yes; movies about the Holocaust, never.

I don't like English Breakfast, either

Confession time.... I am not in love with Sex and the City. I saw parts of a few episodes and discovered that they were not exactly my cup of tea.

I did, however, read One Fifth Avenue by Candace Bushnell and am mostly neutral about it. Positive: it resolved well. Negative: one of the characters often referred to Sex in the City. Isn't that like having two imaginary friends who start talking about you behind your back? It just felt a little off to me.

Because one can never have too many vampires

When planning my recent trips I prepared folders of hotel reservations, directions to quilt shows and quilt shops, airline reservations, local attractions and addresses of local restaurants. I also went to the library and checked out all of the Sookie Stackhouse novels in paperback.

That series by Charlaine Harris is like candy. I kept a book tucked into my purse at all times and instead of dining alone, I dined with Miss Stackhouse. Argue with me if you must, but after reading all of her eight books in a short time, I decided she should definitely stay with Bill.

I read on Ms. Harris' blog that her books were made into a series on HBO. True Blood. Even though we recently subscribed to cable television, we did not subscribe to HBO. But, good news! I spend a lot of time in hotels and hotels usually have HBO, do they not? I looked online and saw that the series is aired at 9pm on Sundays. I made a mental note to turn on the television in hotels on Sunday nights. Since it was a mental note and not an actual note on actual paper filed in my oh-so-organized travel files, do you think I remembered to tune in? I forgot the first Sunday night. And the next. I remembered the following one, but that hotel did not have HBO. What the heck?!?!?!? And the Sunday night I spent in Houston? Once again I forgot.

I will have to wait to see Sookie on dvd. I'm not terribly interested in watching the series. (Reference Dexter and Edward). I am just astonished by the casting choice of Anna Paquin. I liked her somewhat in The Piano, but have pretty much hated her in every role since then. I think I just wanted to see her try to be Sookie for 2 minutes so I could continue hating her, this time for mis-representing my beloved dining companion.

Has anyone actually succeeded in watching the show? Should I stop fretting about seeing the show and continue hating her now? Or might I be pleasantly surprised when I finally watch the dvds?

Oh, Edward

I have to admit it... I was suckered into reading Twilight. Pages turned and then I had to read another. Then another. Then I had to wait a long time to read the last. I finished just in time to see the movie trailers FOR A MOVIE I SHALL NOT SEE! No offense to anyone who is excited about the movie, but Cedric is not my Edward.

After I saw the disappointing trailers, I read another Stephenie Meyer novel, The Host. It was nice and long.

Any rumors of another Stephenie Meyer novel?

PSA

If you ever fly cross-country, take more than one book with you. If you choose not to take this advice, you will only be able to read 190 pages on the way to Utah and have to save the other 190 pages for the flight home.

Another hint -- if you only take one book, make sure it isn't Sinner by Ted Dekker. In a word.... meh.

You meet the neatest people

when you blog.

I posted about a Jodi Picoult book a few weeks ago and Kelly Simmons left a comment. Kelly suggested that I read her book, Standing Still. Ever the obedient one, I did just that. I started it while working in Philadelphia last weekend and finished it at home. As in, I started reading it the minute my eyes opened and was late for church because I couldn't not finish it.

This is a book that made me go "hmmmmmmmmmmm". Have you heard the description of an iceberg where 90% of the ice is below the surface of the water? Well, 90% of the story took place outside of the book. I think I really, really like that.

For other obedient ones just waiting for instructions....... GO READ THIS BOOK!

Deal Maker

I have a crush on a man named Myron. I just finished reading Deal Breaker by Harlan Coben and am shocked that I haven't heard of this book before; it was fantastic. I was in suspense until almost the end, but the wit and style carried me through the book easily. Please oh please let there be another book featuring Myron Bolitar and Co.

To Dexter or not to Dexter, that is the question

I've seen the Dexter dvds at the library and been sorely tempted to watch them. I absolutely ADORE the Dexter books. If you haven't heard of them, Dexter is a serial killer. And the good guy. Yeah, I know it's strange. The books are very, very dark but somehow funny and I completely get that.

I went to Showtime's website and watched trailers for Dexter and I had serious issues...... that wasn't MY Dexter. Does that ever happen to you? I've had a picture of Dexter in my head since I read the first book a few years ago. The tv-Dexter didn't match my mental picture and I'm afraid that watching the show will ruin my crush on book-Dexter.

I'm stumped. And going to read the Dexter books. Yet again.

The Picoult Plunge

Do you read Jodi Picoult's books? I do....... sometimes.

I read The Tenth Circle about two years ago. It really got to me. Difficult subject matter, difficult resolution. It took me nearly a year to work up the courage to read another one of her books. That time I chose Nineteen Minutes. It didn't rock me like The Tenth Circle did, but I didn't want to rush right out and read another one of her books, either. I was able to figure out the ending of the book, too, and that's a huge turn-off for me.

Last week I took the Picoult Plunge and read The Plain Truth. It was somewhat predictable, but I mostly enjoyed the journey.

Which book of hers should I read next? You can tell me now, but it may take up to a year for me to be willing to crack the spine.

Another good book

I have a very weird system for picking books to read. Sometimes it's everything by an author. Sometimes it's what I've seen others read in airports. And sometimes I pick audiobooks based on who the reader is.

Scott Brick is one of my favorites. I requested a whole bunch of books that he's read and found some very enjoyable ones. "City of the Sun" by David Levien is one of those. I started listening with absolutely no pre-conceived ideas and this book blew me away.

Gritty might be a good description. Moving would be another. Tragic. Compelling. I finished listening to this book in my garage after listening to the last CD while driving and arriving home before it was over. I couldn't stand the thought of turning it off long enough to walk upstairs and put it in the CD player in my office.

So, not for the faint of heart (sensitive subject matter), but absolutely compelling. Read it!

I'm not dead yet!

Things just got a bit crazy. Sorry.

I'll post now, though, if that's ok.
__________

My daughter and I went to the University of Maryland this weekend. I really, really liked the school, but it's not completely about me, I guess. We had to be there at 10am Friday. In case you are new, we live in New York. I love waking at 4am in order to cross the George Washington Bridge before rush hour. Yay! I also love construction traffic, weekend traffic, and all other forms of traffic. We hit them all.

To pass the time, we listened to "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption" by Stephen King. I was shocked to discover that I have never read it before. I've read most of his works (except The Dark Tower series. I don't like them). I rarely read books after I've seen the movie; it's such a set-up for disappointment. I took the risk since my daughter and I both love the movie. The book was read by someone who wasn't Morgan Freeman but who sounded shockingly like Morgan Freeman anyway. We pointed out places where the screenplay differed from the book, but thankfully they were few. All movies that are based on books should at least resemble the books they were based on, don't you think? It's tragic how many don't.

Stephen King outdid himself in this novella. The last line is now one of my favorites: "I hope."

Book List

The Moon in the Mango Tree by Pamela Binnings Ewen. I read most of this book from Salt Lake City to JFK. It was a direct flight so I didn't get to finish. This book was for my book club at church. The club met for dinner and had a phone interview with the author. I missed it because it was my husband's birthday, but I did get to read the book. It's one of the better books from my club, but it seemed a little disjointed. Usually 'Christian' fiction hammers you over the head (and I don't like that), but this one seemed to almost miss the point. It's a fictionalized account of the author's grandmother's time in Siam and Europe during the Roaring Twenties. Overall, it was somewhat better than meh, but if you are only going to read one book this year, pick another book.

Eye of the World by Robert Jordan. This is the first book in a long series of fantasy quest books. My husband is reading the series and I thought I'd join in the fun. The book was fairly good, but seemed scattered. Maybe it was me, but several times things seemed to happen out of order. A character recovered, only to get sick a few pages later. Someone else wore a new scarf only to receive the scarf as a gift afterwards. Otherwise, interesting story and I will read the second one.
The Crime Writer by Gregg Hurwitz. I will have a tough time conveying how much I enjoyed this book. I read a lot. A LOT. I have a nasty habit, though, of figuring out the book early on and then despising myself for wasting time finishing it. Whereas I did plot out the ending, it was only one of many endings I devised and I was pleasantly carried through the ending, eager to find the resolution. I've never read Hurwitz before, but I will definitely read him again. Trivia: he is Robert Blake's son-in-law.

This book list is incredibly short. Two words explain this: Project Runway. Yes. We finally got cable.

Reading is FUN

damental. Does anyone else remember that old commercial? RIF. I remember, and I also remember how to read. Here are some of the books I've finished lately.

Lady of Desire by Gaelen Foley. Read from JFK to Dulles to Salt Lake City. I was friends with the author in junior high and high school. We lost touch when I moved away after graduation. Last year I happened on her name on the NY Times Bestseller list and then purchased all of her books. They rock! OK, so they are Regency-era steamy romance novels, but they are good Regency-era steamy romance novels. I read one each time I fly. If her books were available on audio, I'd be finished with them all by now. As it stands, they are a nice treat when I travel. Like chocolate.

L.A. Outlaws by T. Jefferson Parker. I listened to this one while driving to and from western Pennsylvania. I really enjoyed it, but I'm meh about the ending. The more I think about the ending, the more I like it. I guess the fact that I'm still thinking about the ending shows it was better than meh after all.

Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause. Teenage werewolf books? Bring them on! My daughter read it and really enjoyed it, but part way through I had to IM my daughter with a "we need to chat" message. Words every 17-year-old loves to hear from her mother, I'm sure. I needed to chat about finishing the book. Some situations in books and movies make me very uncomfortable and I have to stop reading/watching. I was hitting that point in this book, but my daughter assured me it was OK to continue. She was right. Does anyone else have problems like that? No? Just me? Thought so. Oh, and my daughter told me under no circumstances should I watch the movie of the same name. Apparently it's stinky.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. This is probably the best book I've read this year. It was written for young adults but it's obvious that the author respects his audience and wrote for them something that is real and desperate and hopeful and lasting. You should check out this little book. Run to your local library. Now. I'll wait.

Are you back from the library? Good. Now I can explain by my booklist is so short this week. I worked an absolutely insane number of hours last week and even so didn't finish many audiobooks. That is likely explained by the fact that I watched listened to seasons 1-4 of NYPD Blue while I worked. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed that show when it was on TV. When oh when will they release season 5?