Thursday, May 29, 2008

The Witching Hour by Anne Rice

I am finally done with this book! It seems like it took me forever to finish. It is almost 1000 pages...which is a long book but still I can't believe I have been reading it all month!

I wish I could say that it was worth all the time I invested in reading it, but the book turned out to be just okay. It wasn't bad but it wasn't great either. The teaser on the front says, "Unfolds like a poisonous lotus blossom redolent with luxurious evil...Her best novel yet." (Rita Mae Brown The Los Angeles Times). Doesn't that make it sound sumptuous and deliciously scary?

It was definitely classic Anne Rice, dark, strange, sensual...but mostly dark. I expected to be reading with heart pounding, wanting to know what was coming next and a little afraid to turn the page. It wasn't like that at all. It sort of read like a history book particularly in the middle when she outlines the lineage of the Mayfair family. Plus, there were no surprises, beginning to end it was very predictable. I do love her writing style though, that alone made it worth finishing. She has a way of describing things that transports you into the story which is always a good thing.

The story is about a family of witches (one generation to the next) who are influenced by an evil spirit named Lasher. Once all of the history is out of the way, the story continues in present day with the most powerful witch in the lineage (who has just learned about her heritage) and her husband in the Mayfair house in New Orleans. The story is sultry and dark and wicked but not scary. There are two more books in the trilogy Lasher and Taltos. I can't say that I am in a huge hurry to press on... maybe in a couple of months... or next year... or sometime.

What are you all reading? Give us your opinion and review!

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Water for Elephants


I loved this book! Loved, loved, loved it!

When someone asks me, "What is the book about?" I find it very hard to describe and it always comes out as a jumble of information like, "well, it's about a circus in the 1930's and there is this old guy, but he was young when he was with the circus, and there is an equestrian star named Marlena that he loves, oh, and an elephant, and they traveled by train and it was just really good." I will do my best not to do that here.

It is told by a 90ish year old man who is in a nursing home remembering his time as a young man traveling with the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. It is a revealing look at circus life in the 1930's. It is a whole other world with its own set of rules and a strange hierarchy that existed among but separate from regular society.

It is so much more than that though! The narrator is a veterinarian for the circus but he works for a ruthless, abusive man for whom animals, and people for that matter, are a source of income and little more. And then there is Rosie, the elephant, I think I cared for her more than any other character in the novel.

This novel is passionate and interesting. I truly couldn't put it down. I did not realize that the book was written by a woman until about halfway through. I love it when I can't tell if the author is man, woman, young or old. I am always happy and a little awed when an author can pull off a truly believable character. The main character, who is a teenage girl, in "Gloria" by Keith Maillard is a good example, if I didn't know it was written by a man I would have sworn it was written by a woman. The same goes for the main character in "Whistling in the Dark" by Lesley Kagen, I never once doubted that I was hearing the voice of a ten year old, yet obviously the author was older.

I won't give it away the ending but a twist near the end makes this book worth the read and it ends nicely too. If you have read it too, tell us what you think. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it!

Monday, May 19, 2008

A Food Memoir and an American Classic











I took my daughters, Katie (13) and Annie (5) to the library after school today. Katie has to read "Jacob have I Loved" by Katherine Paterson. She planned to finish "My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Picoult. I was sitting outside with Steve when Katie came out. I knew she was near the end so when I saw her I asked,
"Did you finish it?"
As soon as she came under the light and I saw her face, she didn't need to answer. Her green eyes were glowing with tears, and her face was swollen with emotion. Silently she stepped into my arms and wept. Ah....that is how readers are created. Or it could backfire on me, and she can decide reading is too emotional and not worth it. She may decide if tears are to be shed it will be over Urban Outfitters selling high-waisted shorts, not some imaginary sickly girls.

While we were at the library, I looked for a Hawaiian cookbook, but instead checked out Faulkner's "The Sound and the Fury" and the food memoir, "Tender at the Bone" by Ruth Reichl, because that's almost the same as a Hawaiian cookbook right?

I read about "Tender at the Bone" in a book on food writing. Doesn't the name invoke all sorts of wonderful painful things? Ruth Reichl is the restaurant critic for The New York Times. I am looking forward to reading it.
And Faulkner. My first Faulkner. I am as excited as any other type of virgin. I am thinking all sorts of things. Will I be able to handle it? Will it be too much for me? Will I understand what it means? I can't wait. Does anyone else have experience with Faulkner? Adria mentioned "As I Lay Dying" in her post.


I picked up Joan Didion's "The Year of Magical Thinking" the other day. Has anyone read that? I would like to see it be a book club pick. Tell me what you think about these three books.





Disco, I have never read anything about the Romanovs, but "The Kitchen Boy" looks good. My taste tends to run more towards books about Rasputin then the Romanovs, but I would read this one.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Disco's Weekend Read


Ok, bookies...this is my first post so I can't wait to hit the 'publish post' button to see what this looks like (it's the little things that make me excited). The Kitchen Boy, A Novel of the Last Tsar was my weekend read. By weekend read, I mean that the thickness of the book is that of, Of Mice and Men, less than 250 pages. Since I'm new to the group, I don't know if this book has already been hit upon or not. If so, nevermind. If not, check this one out. We are taught that Tsars are bad and democracy is good, but The Kitchen Boy personalizes the Romanov family through the eyes of the family kitchen boy, Leonka, who is witness to the last days of the Romanovs during the Russian Revolution at the hands of the Bolsheviks.
This is what bn.com has to say:
Writer Robert Alexander, a fluent Russian speaker who studied in Leningrad, became fascinated with an obscure reference in the Empress Alexandra's personal journal shortly before her death, noting that their kitchen boy had been sent away. This brief reference from a forgotten 1918 diary took root in Alexander's imagination and, after much research, blossomed as his new novel The Kitchen Boy. This intriguing work of speculative historical fiction re-creates the last days of the tsar through the eyes of the young Leonka, who recalls how he secretly returned to the Siberian house that served as the Romanovs' prison and witnessed their execution.
But of course there are twists & turns...did he or didn't he, is he or isn't he? The epilogue satisfies any questions. Now, I'm ready for more about the Romanovs. Any suggestions?

Friday, May 16, 2008

Nothing Profound.....

I've got absolutely NOTHING! Profound or otherwise. Just wanted to say hi to my Bookies! I had another menapausal loss of brain cells and forgot that we have camping reservations for the weekend we decided to have our next meeting. I'll comment here before I go, so you won't even get a chance to miss me! Sorry about the brain damage. I'll be thinking of you!

Save me a pink paper umbrella. I'm sure there will be plenty!

Love Q!

Check out the recipes link!

I finally linked the recipes from our meetings to this site! Check it out (link is top left on this blog) and let me know what you think.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

What are "Rant" and "As I Lay Dying" About?

According to BN.com:

Rant: An Oral Biography of Buster Casey

“Like most people I didn’t meet Rant Casey until after he was dead. That’s how it works for most celebrities: After they croak, their circle of friends just explodes.…”
Rant is the mind-bending new novel from Chuck Palahniuk, the literary provocateur responsible for such books as the generation-defining classic Fight Club and the pedal-to-the-metal horrorfest Haunted. It takes the form of an oral history of one Buster “Rant” Casey, who may or may not be the most efficient serial killer of our time.

“What ‘Typhoid Mary’ Mallon was to typhoid, what Gaetan Dugas was to AIDS, and Liu Jian-lun was to SARS, Buster Casey would become for rabies.”

A high school rebel who always wins (and a childhood murderer?), Rant Casey escapes from his small hometown of Middleton for the big city. He becomes the leader of an urban demolition derby called Party Crashing. On appointed nights participants recognize one another by such designated car markings as “Just Married” toothpaste graffiti and then stalk and crash into each other. Rant Casey will die a spectacular highway death, after which his friends gather testimony needed to build an oral history of his short, violent life. Their collected anecdotes explore the possibility that his saliva caused a silent urban plague of rabies and that he found a way to escape the prison house of linear time.…

“The future you have, tomorrow, won’t be the same future you had, yesterday.”
—Rant Casey

Expect hilarity, horror, and blazing insight into the desperate andsurreal contemporary human condition as only Chuck Palahniuk can deliver it. He's the postmillennial Jonathan Swift, the visionary to watch to learn what's —uh-oh—coming next.


As I Lay Dying
At the heart of this 1930 novel is the Bundren family's bizarre journey to Jefferson to bury Addie, their wife and mother. Faulkner lets each family member—including Addie—and others along the way tell their private responses to Addie's life.

I'm surrounded by new reading material!!




So I went to Barnes & Noble today to stock up on the next few months' titles for Book Club. While there, I was drawn to a couple others ... thinking, in my giddy stupor, I might actually have time to read them at some point. I hope I do. I'd love your feedback on either or both!




The first one is simply one I've always wanted to read. "As I Lay Dying" by Faulkner. It wasn't required reading in my school system, although I believe it's on my daughter's list of optional reading in her advanced Language Arts. She gets points for reading beyond the required books, then taking (and passing) evaluations on that book. She most recently read, "East of Eden," one of my personal favorites!


The second is one that just caught my eye, and after reading the excerpt as well as the first page I thought it might be something I'd like. "Rant," by Chuck Palahniuk. I'd love to know if anyone has read this; if not, I will certainly give a review after I finish it! Which, based on my schedule lately, could be sometime in 2010. Book Club selections get first dibs. :)


Good Night Nobody


I just finished "Good Night Nobody" by Jennifer Weiner. I read "Good in Bed" and "In Her Shoes" by the same author a few years ago, and enjoyed them, the former more than the latter. I can see the appeal of this book, but I didn't love it. It was, in the words of Randy Jackson, "Just A'ight".

It followed the formula of a so-called "Cozy Mystery" by avoiding gory descriptions of the crime scene, employing a female amateur sleuth who is just trying to fit solving a murder in around heating up fish sticks for her kids, and setting in it amongst everyday characters. It is a formula that I like, under the right circumstances. This one was a little too gamy, and aggressive to fit comfortably into the category. I didn't find the lead character particularly likable, although she was definitely believable. Weiner deserves points for capturing the angst of mothers who don't feel like they are making the Stepford grade. I would have enjoyed the book more if it questioned the husband's ethics, and the feasibility of marriage under the circumstances, rather than a murder mystery.

Did any one else read this book? What did you think?

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Future book selection idea?

"The Secret Life of Bees" ... I've read this before, and enjoyed it very much. Anyone else read this one yet? I'd love to read it again and "dig into" it more thoroughly. Of course, being from VA I tend to gravitate toward books focused on the South. What do you guys think about setting this title aside for a future month's selection?

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Do You Want To Be An Author?


If you are interested in being an author on this site please e-mail me at 4kids4fun@verizon.net.

To My Authors...

I love that you have all signed up to be authors on the site. You are so special! Being an Author means that you can post directly to the page just like I can. When you sign into the site, click "New Post" and write about whatever you want, then click "Post". See, it's really easy! I love the comments, and I realize you all won't always have profound things to write about but post on the main site if you can. Then people won't have to listen to me all the time! ~wink~

Laurie,

I almost missed your comment on the Welcome message. That would be a perfect opportunity to ask others about The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula LeGuin. No, I have not heard of it but it sounds interesting. What do the rest of you think? We have been talking about adding more genres to our repetoire... this might be a good choice for science fiction.


From BN.com:

The Left Hand of Darkness explores the themes of sexual identity, incest, xenophobia, fidelity, and betrayal in a tale of an Earth ambassador, Genly Ai, who is sent to the planet of Gethen, whose inhabitants are androgynous. Through his relationship with a native, Estraven, Ai gains understanding both of the consequences of his fixed sexual orientation and of Gethenian life. As in many of her works, Le Guin incorporates a social message in her science fiction tale. Scholes feels that "the great power of the book comes from the way it interweaves all its levels and combines all its voices and values into an ordered, balanced, whole."

Thursday, May 8, 2008

The May Meeting, and other stuff...


I am so excited about the May meeting! I hope husbands will feel comfortable coming.

I noticed there was a movie about Daphne Du Maurier on TV the other day. I will check and see if they replay it. If you haven't read Rebbecca yet though, then don't watch it. There may be spoilers.

I am doing a lot of reading for work so I am only slowly working through "The Birth House". I am enjoying it very much.

What should be next on my list? Is there any chance we would pick "Something Wicked this Way Comes" for book club or should I read it on my own?

Do you read "lighter" books in the summer months? Somehow it seems like less of a sin to read my silly caterer/murder mystery books in the summer by the pool. I can't picture breaking out one the Russians, (Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov) in warm mild weather, although Nabokov's "Lolita" is perfectly acceptable. Maybe because it is set in America in the summertime instead of Russia in the perennial winter. I realize as I am writing this how much I am looking forward to the Twinkies of the literary world. I think Mary Higgins Clark has a new book out. Hmmm....

Monday, May 5, 2008

The Unchosen Ones



or...Books Currently Making Their Way

Through the Underground Book Club

The Witch of Cologne by Tobsha Learner

We did it in April! We don't always hit the nail on the head in Book Club but everything about April's Book Club Meeting was right. The food was amazing. We went with a Jewish/German food theme and ended up with Brisket, Potato Latkes with applesauce and sour cream, Challah, Spiced Red Wine, Roast Beef Sandwiches on Rye, Manichewitz (Kosher Blackberry Wine) and of course, German Chocolate Cake and Coconut Macaroons for dessert.

The book was generally well-liked and we had some great conversations about the historical content of the book. About halfway through the book I worried that we had chosen a glorified Historical Romance novel and if the main characters road off into the sunset at the end, I was going to be very disappointed. Thankfully the author was brave enough to write a real, believable ending. My only complaint was that the ending was a bit abrupt and the author left some loose ends, which is always irritating. Otherwise, I thought this was a very worthwhile read.

One of the goals of Book Club is to read things that we might not normally read on our own. We talked about branching farther out to include science fiction, mysteries, biographies and possibly more classics (we read about three classics per year). Anyone have any ideas or suggestions?

Friday, May 2, 2008

Welcome!

Books are the bees which carry the quickening pollen from one to another mind. ~James Russell Lowell

My name is Burpykitty. Welcome to my online Book Club! I have my regular girls that I meet with once a month (you'll meet some of them soon, I am sure as I have invited them to post here as well)and I invite anyone who wants to give their opinion and/or perspective to join us here at Of Books and Women.

Let me tell you a little about our Book Club. We have been meeting once a month since January 2006. If you look at the books listed to the left of this post you will find all of the books we have read and met about in the past 2-1/2 years. In the beginning we were letting each member choose a book and host that month. We found that this was not a good strategy because we all like each other and if one of us hated the book we felt we couldn't really be honest. In our new system, we choose books 3 months at a time and it is a democracy. We each bring ideas for books and we vote for the top three. This strategy has worked out much better. We have a different hostess each month and we always have a food theme (potluck) that coincides with the book. Let me tell you, we have had some of the most amazing meals doing it this way! Later, as we begin to review books, I will be posting the food theme and recipes for your enjoyment also.

I hope you will join us and let us know what you are reading too! We also have what I like to call the Underground Book Club. These are the books that seem to make their way around Book Club anyway, even if they haven't officially been chosen by the gals.

Also, COMING SOON I will be adding a link to another blog where I will list and review children's books. I pre-read a great deal of my children's books and I think it is important to be up to date on what children like to read. So, be looking for that soon.

Welcome! Welcome! Welcome!