Currently Reading: This is a tricky category. Some books I've been reading for years, but I am still reading them!
Villette - Charlotte Bronte
Clash of Kings - GRR Martin
Freedomland - Richard Price
Bleak House - Charles Dickens
Confederates in the Attic - Tony Horwitz
Les liaisons dangerous - Choderlos de Laclos
Becoming Enlightened - HH the Dalai Lama - AUDIO
Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel
Good Omens - Neil Gaiman (gone missing)
Fortress of Solitude - Jonathen Lethem
Classics
Emma - Jane Austen
Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen. My favorite Austen.
Lord of the Flies - Willam Golding - totally overrated.
Hamlet - Williams Shakespeare - totally not overrated
There was a Chick Lit phase, after the PD James phase: (Look for a post on chick lit. Working on it :-)
The Starter Wife - Gigi Levangie Grazer. Ex-wife of Brian Grazer, big producer, you know his name's on all the movies. Sadly ironic, after the book was published, hubby filed for divorce just shy of 10 year anniversary. You know what that means in California.
Maneater - Gigi again. Not nearly as good as the very delicious Starter Wife.
The Carrie Diaries - Candace Bushnell. Carrie in high school! I didn't realize I'd get so emotionally involved in the story.
Summer in the City - Candace Bushnell. Carrie meets Samantha! and Miranda!
Summer Sisters - Judy Blume. Her forte is tot- and teenlit. This book was lame.
Garden Spells - Sarah Addison Allen. Like Practical Magic, but better.
Literary Fiction (meaning it doesn't fit into other categories and are not likely to be found in a grocery store), that tends to be contemporary, but not always:
A Gate at the Stairs - Lorrie Moore
Housekeeping - Marilynne Robinson.
Room - Emma Donoghue. Worth the buzz.
Drown - Junot Diaz. Looking for him to publish more stuff....
The Little Stranger - Sarah Waters. Lingered longer than I expected it to.
The Master and Margarita - Mikhail Bulgakov. One of those books everyone should read.
We Have Always Lived in the Castle - Shirley Jackson. Hee.
A Ship Made of Paper - Scott Spencer. Right up there with Lionel Shriver for writing realistic and gut-wrenching intimate relationships.
Instances of the No. 3 - Salley Vickers. Middle-aged British lady makes buds with dead hubby's mistress. No, really, it's pretty good. Reminds me of Fay Weldon.
The Slap - Christos Tsiolkas. Australian, multi pov, re adult who slaps uberbrat at bbq.
Black and Blue - Anna Quindlen. This sucked. Lifetime movie, anyone?
Mysteries Set in England After dutifully adhering to my Frightening Reading List for 6 months or so, I went off the rails and read nothing by PD James for a few months.
Every mystery/crime book written by PD James.
Quite a few by Martha Grimes.
...in progress....
Villette - Charlotte Bronte
Clash of Kings - GRR Martin
Freedomland - Richard Price
Bleak House - Charles Dickens
Confederates in the Attic - Tony Horwitz
Les liaisons dangerous - Choderlos de Laclos
Becoming Enlightened - HH the Dalai Lama - AUDIO
Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel
Good Omens - Neil Gaiman (gone missing)
Fortress of Solitude - Jonathen Lethem
2011
Classics
Emma - Jane Austen
Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen. My favorite Austen.
Lord of the Flies - Willam Golding - totally overrated.
Hamlet - Williams Shakespeare - totally not overrated
There was a Chick Lit phase, after the PD James phase: (Look for a post on chick lit. Working on it :-)
The Starter Wife - Gigi Levangie Grazer. Ex-wife of Brian Grazer, big producer, you know his name's on all the movies. Sadly ironic, after the book was published, hubby filed for divorce just shy of 10 year anniversary. You know what that means in California.
Maneater - Gigi again. Not nearly as good as the very delicious Starter Wife.
The Carrie Diaries - Candace Bushnell. Carrie in high school! I didn't realize I'd get so emotionally involved in the story.
Summer in the City - Candace Bushnell. Carrie meets Samantha! and Miranda!
Summer Sisters - Judy Blume. Her forte is tot- and teenlit. This book was lame.
Garden Spells - Sarah Addison Allen. Like Practical Magic, but better.
Literary Fiction (meaning it doesn't fit into other categories and are not likely to be found in a grocery store), that tends to be contemporary, but not always:
A Gate at the Stairs - Lorrie Moore
Housekeeping - Marilynne Robinson.
Room - Emma Donoghue. Worth the buzz.
Drown - Junot Diaz. Looking for him to publish more stuff....
The Little Stranger - Sarah Waters. Lingered longer than I expected it to.
The Master and Margarita - Mikhail Bulgakov. One of those books everyone should read.
We Have Always Lived in the Castle - Shirley Jackson. Hee.
A Ship Made of Paper - Scott Spencer. Right up there with Lionel Shriver for writing realistic and gut-wrenching intimate relationships.
Instances of the No. 3 - Salley Vickers. Middle-aged British lady makes buds with dead hubby's mistress. No, really, it's pretty good. Reminds me of Fay Weldon.
The Slap - Christos Tsiolkas. Australian, multi pov, re adult who slaps uberbrat at bbq.
Black and Blue - Anna Quindlen. This sucked. Lifetime movie, anyone?
Mysteries Set in England After dutifully adhering to my Frightening Reading List for 6 months or so, I went off the rails and read nothing by PD James for a few months.
Every mystery/crime book written by PD James.
Quite a few by Martha Grimes.
...in progress....
