What to read - what to read

Can't decide what to read next. Spent 2 hours at Borders yesterday just walking around and looking at the NY Times Bestseller list. I hate that it's always the same authors. Where are all the NEW authors??? Any suggestions for new books??? Anyone??

Tonight on PBS - Little Women Louisa May Alcott

One of my favorite childhood books was Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I'm sorry, but not one of the movies could even compare to this beautiful story of sisters. This is a story that everyone, at any age, would love. I remember reading it 2x when I was around 10. I absolutely recommend it. Tonight on PBS on American Masters is Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women. I am in Northwest Indiana Central Standard time so please check your listings! Hope you enjoy it as much as I'm sure I will. I'll post tomorrow about it.

Julia Alvarez's Saving The World

There it is. My new book selection by Latina author, Julia Alvarez. In Saving The World, Julia Alvarez tells 2 different stories. The book starts with Alma Huebner, an author who receives a call from a former lover of her husbands. Alma receives some devastating news. Alma is also working on a novel about renowned Spaniard, Francisco Xavier Balmis. who in 1803 undertook to vaccinate the populations of Spain's American colonies against the smallpox under the ruling of the King. This part of the story, which is woven among Alma's story is told through the eyes of Isabel Sendales y Gomez, director of an orphan house. Francisco and Isabel meet when he comes in search of boys to carry the live vaccine overseas. I am on page 40 of the book and am already hooked.

Julia Alvarez has written other books. Most familiar is the movie made "In The Time of the Butterflies" and "How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents", among others. She just recently started her own website. www.juliaalvarez.com

I would love to discuss this book with someone!

FINISHED my book!!!!

Just now, 6:24pm CST, finished In the Woods by Tana French. Overall, I give it a 8-1/2 out of 10. I don't want to give away the ending, so I must say I am a little disappointed. I feel somewhat jipped. The story was good. I cannot say the ending was boring. The last 100 pages totally kept me enthralled and I didn't want to put the book down. That's a good thing. Would I recommend it? Yes, I think if you like mysteries, police stories, you'll like it. The main character was interesting and complex. You'll love and hate some characters which I always like in stories. At the end, I don't know if I liked the main character, but I think that's what made the book good.

Okay, now what to read next. My next post will be the answer!!!

Self Help Book on my nighstand

I am currently reading Marianne Williamson's

Enchanted Love The Mystical Power of Intimate Relationships

. I absolutely love it. If you enjoyed

A Woman's Worth

then you'll love this book. I am going through some challenging times and this book has brought me back. I highly recommend it to those Marianne Williamson fans. Anyone else reading it or read it??

In the Woods........

Okay, on page 325 of 429, just over 100 pages to go. This is my last day on this book. HELP!!! I shouldn't say that because I liked it, I just miss the beautiful writing of Carlos!!!!! I'm so excited to pick my next book I just want this one done. H E L P !!!!!!

Favorite Book

I was just at one of my resale ships the other day and I love going through the books in resale shops. It made me think though. How many GREAT books are out there that I don't even know exist. What's your favorite book? Tell me why? I am big on picking books up where the cover catches my eye. Any book that has a book like cover on it, I'm a sucker for. For instance, the 13th Tale, Shadow Of the Wind. They both have dust jackets that are a book cover. I don't know why I always fall for those books or is it that they just catch my fancy. Please tell me what you favorite book is!

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

Okay, I finished the book last night. I couldn't put it down. Like I stated before, the first 200 pages or so gives you the entire background and history of Edgar and his parents. Once you reach a certain point, the story just takes off from there. Those first 200 pages, I kept thinking, there has to be more to this. Rest assured, there was. There were nights I was so tired, but I couldn't put the book down. I literally fell asleep with it on my lap, not because it was boring, but because I refused to put it down when I felt tired. I don't want to spoil the ending, but it was a surprise. I love the way I knew Edgar so well because of all the background information. I also loved the characters. I hated some and loved some. There was a part in there which was a little out there (when Edgar had the dogs do a trick with a syringe), but overall, I would recommend it, especially to a dog lover. This is a great story about a boy and his love of his dog(s) coupled with suspense and surprised. This is sure to be a keeper for some of you!

Books to Re-read

Everyone asks me why I collect my favorite books? They ask if I've ever re-read any and I always say "no". I always thought it was because when you read a book, it becomes part of your life. I read Stephen King a lot when I was a teenager and not so much now, but my favorite book was Pet Semetary. I remember reading it all day! Anyway, Stephen King wrote a comment/review on the back of a book I was reading and he said something to the effect of he hardly ever re-reads a book because there are too many books and so little time. I thought - "exactly!" Now I think, I have them for my kids. I want them to have something to remember me by and that is my books. I feel like they are part of me. I have my favorites which I've been collecting in hard cover and I enjoy that. I love to know that maybe one day my daughter will be sitting in her home and reading something I did also.

Harry Potter Half Blood Prince

Just got back from seeing the Half Blood Prince and loved it. I read the Harry Potter books when book 7 was published and loved it. I am still in amazement of how many books she wrote and how they really got so much better and in depth the later you got into the series. I thought the movie was well made and it was almost 3 hours long. It made me want to read the book again. I love that the characters all stayed. Have you seen it? Join the talk on my blog. Please! I love to read and would love to talk with other readers!

Why do I love reading so much?

I love a great book. Do I ever re-read a book? Not that I can remember. Do I own my favorite books? Absolutely! It's part of me once I've read it. It is part of my life. I admire writer's so much. The years these people put into their works. I mean it's their life. The dedication it must take to write a book. I just saw a special on Primetime with Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling and she said how she's just enjoying her family life now. Not having to deal with deadlines. She said for 10 years, she's been under pressure to produce book after book. I saw the part where she finished the book on TV with the reporter doing the story and I felt this exuberance thinking, my gosh, she just finished book #7 of her series! What a feeling that must be to know you're done.

I know a lot of people who are buying that Kindle and part of me wants to get it (if I could afford one), but mostly I feel like Carrie in the Sex In the City movie where she's lying in bed with Big and he says "I think you are the only person left in NY who takes books out of the library" or something like that. Carrie goes on to say she loves the smell of the books. I totally understood that. Nothing can replace the feel of the book in your hands. Or how many times do you read and read and then close your book for the night and look to see how far you are from the top of the book? I don't know, it's just not the same with an electronic book. What do I love about it, the built in dictionary. I love my bookshelf or should I say 5 bookshelves! I had my husband build a whole wall with shelves to hold all of my books! Is anyone out there understanding what I'm saying about this??

Carlos Ruiz Zafon's The Angels Game

Okay, I just finished Carlos Ruiz Zafon's The Angel's Game and loved it. Did I like it better than The Shadow of the Wind? No, but it was definitely a keeper. I must admit that there were parts in this book that I actually cried in and was actually a little scared. I was reading it alone while everyone was out.

I waited in anticipation for his follow-up to The Shadow of the wind. I wanted a signed copy so I pre-ordered it from England from a signing he was doing at Hatchard's. I loved getting it in the mail and unwrapping it. Hatchard's did such a lovely job! It was better than Christmas gifts! Wait, it was like Christmas. Is anyone out there reading it or did you read it? Please blog me. I would love to get a great discussion started.