Community Chat

[Lila Belle]

I'm reading The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert. So far it's really good.

[SydneyH]

On 7/21/2014 Free2be said:

I was looking for a light-read author to pick up between the heavier books I prefer. I checked out Jodi Picoult because she has so many out there but a lot of the reviews were negative.

Any opinions here on her writing?

Free, I'm reading Nineteen Minutes which is about a teenage school shooter. Picoult takes one issue and explores it from every conceivable angle.

[Lucky Charm]

I found 'The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks' on a discount shelf one afternoon last week.

Read it cover to cover in one sitting, finished around 4 AM.

[Alexia]

I read ""Gone Girl"" and really could not wait till it was over. I kept thinking it would get better and it never did.

[september]

Yes, on the Henrietta Lacks book. A must read.

My favorite two book club books over the last two years ( and there have been some great ones) are:

"Wild" by Cheryl Strayed---True story about a woman who has a lot of trying times in her life, and decides to set out on a solo journey on the Pacific Coast Trail...hiking, camping, etc, even though she has no prior experience. She keeps a journal, and later writes this book.

"The Language of Flowers" by Vanessa Diffenbaugh---fiction, but based on a botanical book by the same name. This is about a girl who is cast out of the foster care system on her 18th birthday, and has to figure out how to survive. She finds a way to do so, by first working for a florist, then starting her own business.

Okay, I said I had 2 books to recommend, but I have a bonus one: "37 Houses" by Anna Vandenbrouke. This is a true story about a family that led a very unstructured life, and moved often. Sometimes they stayed in a house for only a month or two. But the author has vivid memories of all the homes, and she led a tough life, but is a survivor. She lives near me, and came to speak to our book club, after we read her book as our monthly selection.

[Lucky Charm]

I saw 'Wild' and read a few pages. Didn't *Wow* me. That can happen....

Sept.--what struck you about it that was so good?

[Nancy Drew]

On 7/21/2014 september said:

Yes, on the Henrietta Lacks book. A must read.

My favorite two book club books over the last two years ( and there have been some great ones) are:

"Wild" by Cheryl Strayed---True story about a woman who has a lot of trying times in her life, and decides to set out on a solo journey on the Pacific Coast Trail...hiking, camping, etc, even though she has no prior experience. She keeps a journal, and later writes this book.

"The Language of Flowers" by Vanessa Diffenbaugh---fiction, but based on a botanical book by the same name. This is about a girl who is cast out of the foster care system on her 18th birthday, and has to figure out how to survive. She finds a way to do so, by first working for a florist, then starting her own business.

Okay, I said I had 2 books to recommend, but I have a bonus one: "37 Houses" by Anna Vandenbrouke. This is a true story about a family that led a very unstructured life, and moved often. Sometimes they stayed in a house for only a month or two. But the author has vivid memories of all the homes, and she led a tough life, but is a survivor. She lives near me, and came to speak to our book club, after we read her book as our monthly selection.

"Wild" is going to be a movie with Reese Witherspoon staring in it. That book is next on my list.

[Free2be]

Jazz and Syd, thanks for your comments on Picoult's work. I'll look for either of those two books. It was the topical issues of her writing that caught my interest.

[DoneTryin]

Isaac's Storm by Erik Larsen. Compelling true story about a devastating hurricane that hit Galveston, TX at the turn of the 20th century. Larsen also wrote Devil In The White City.

[esmerelda]

On 7/21/2014 VCamp2748 said:

Isaac's Storm by Erik Larsen. Compelling true story about a devastating hurricane that hit Galveston, TX at the turn of the 20th century. Larsen also wrote Devil In The White City.

Isaac's Storm fascinated me! I read it and then listened to it. The story intrigued me before knew there was a book.