Yesterday my boyfriend invited me to his book club meeting which is happening TONIGHT. I haven't even cracked the book open (The Stranger by Albert Camus), but he insisted that I'd be able to finish the 123 pages in time. Today is actually the first day in a couple weeks that I really don't have too much on the agenda. I mean, there's always stuff to do, but nothing very pressing.
So I suppose I could power through the book, but I hate reading in a hurry because there's a good chance I will only absorb about 50 percent of it. And you know how people in book clubs get super analytical about shit and raise obscure points that really don't have anything to do with anything. (Well, I can only assume, but I was an English major so I know what these discussions can be like.) If I glossed over even one paragraph, I'd probably be totally lost!
Plus, I'm not the fastest reader in the world, and I blame that on my kindergarten teacher. I went to a hippie school where we filled our days growing plants, picking berries from a nearby forest and learning how to make homemade ice cream. I am not kidding. I was totally fucked when I got to first grade! Those developmental years are crucial, man!
Plus, starting a new book would mean taking a break from what I'm currently reading: A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton. My bf was like, "You know that's not like a book club type book, right?" Yes, hun, I know. Don't worry, I'm not going to push my guilty pleasure off on anyone else. But I'm getting totally into this murder mystery thing, and lucky me, Sue's written an entire series! B is for Burglar, C is for Corpse...and so on. Geeze, I wish I had thought of that! F is for FIRED: The Unemployment Series. Hey, I like the sound of that!I go through phases, but lately I've been on a reading kick. Last week I finished The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon. Verdict: Two thumbs UP. And before that was After Dark by Haruki Murakami. Verdict: Good, but not amaaazing. I guess Murakami is kind of an "it" author right now, so I basically read the book so I'd be able to chime in on conversations when his name is mentioned. (Um, is that lame?)
An.Y.way. What are you reading right now? Do you have any guilty pleasures when it comes to books? And who is your favorite author? Is is weird that I don't really have one??
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Ok...I'm not just saying this but Janet Evanovich, Stephanie Plum series is LAUGH OUT LOUD, PEE YOURSELF funny.
ReplyDelete"One for the Money" is the first....just a suggestion for next time.:)
It's murder, mystery, romance, comedy
Ellen, its totally not wierd that you don't have a favorite author. I didn't have a favorite author for years once i got too old to read Christopher Pike books. and then I discovered Penny Vincenzi...LOVE HER! she's a british author who writes family sagas, which is right up my alley. i've actually only read three of her books, but i plan on reading more as soon as i finish reading The Art of Loving (nonfiction, Eric Fromm) which i started sometime in 2009 and then my non-single life got complicated, and i put it down and haven't picked up since (now single). I also have the Other Bolyn Girl sitting on my nightstand waiting for me to start it. I'll get around to it, eventually. my sister reads Janet Evonvich books, and they really are LOL funny.
ReplyDeleteI feel like I pretended to read Camus in French once. Or maybe it was Sartre. There is probably a cliff's notes you could read.
ReplyDeleteI am reading "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" (note grammatically, books should be underlined, but there isn't that option on this format) and it is actually pretty good. My guilty pleasure is Phillipa Gregory - an English "Historic Fiction" novelist. It is kinda "Bodice Buster" meets "History treatise". Her most well-known book was "The Other Boleyn Girl".
Ha - Nadette must have been posting hers while I was drafting mine!
ReplyDeleteI LOVED Christopher Pike as a "tween". They would do drugs and have sex. I thought I was being SO BAD by reading those books.
Ellen, you should find a book club that is NOT super analytical! Book Club every month is one of my favorite things - we talk about the book for MAYBE 5 minutes (if that) and then spend the rest of the time laughing and having fun!!
ReplyDeleteGirl with the Dragon Tattoo is a great book- as is the follow up The Girl who Played with Fire. I already pre-ordered the third book int eh series too! Ellen, have you read "I Was Told There'd Be Cake" by Sloane Crosely? Its laugh out loud funny! I think you'd like it!
ellen, i love this post! my friends at work and i always talk about starting a book club that reads non-super lit books. if that even makes sense. things like The Help or Lee Child books (love them) or whatever we want. and then we would just talk about it like a normal conversation, not like "i thought the character development was lacking and it created a gap in the story arc for me" or anything like that. let's do it!
ReplyDeletei just read Mrs. Kimble by Jennifer Haigh and it was great. I love reading!! (sorry, i get excited).
I read the Dragon Tattoo book and couldn't really get into it for some reason, but everyone loves it.
I just finished the Twilight Series and I LOVED it!!! I am still sad that it ended...I can't make myself pick up another book! haha!
ReplyDeleteChelsea Handler's books are definetly my guilty pleasures! I'm reading "My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One Night Stands". It's so ridiculous but so fun to read, love it!
ReplyDeleteOk, at this very moment I am reading the new Babysitter's Club book, The Summer Before. That's embarrassing to admit but I believe in total honest on the Interwebs. I am enjoying it, as its so juvenile that it's a good book for decompressing before sleep. But I swear I usually read grown-up books. I jsut finished Let The Great World Spin by Colum McCann for book club (a beautifully written book, highly recommend) and next to read The Double Bind by Chris Bahjilian or something (the guy who wrote Midwives). Nothing like a great read..
ReplyDeleteI too loved Girl with the Dragon Tattoo! I'm currently reading the second book, The Girl Who Played with Fire. So good! I also really like Augusten Burroughs and thought The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold) was a phenomenal book- one of my favorites for sure. Love this discussion! I'm always looking for new things to read :)
ReplyDeleteI'm a huge book nerd. I probably read a book a week. I actually read too fast! I was reading back to back super serious books (The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, a bunch of William S. Burroughs) so now I'm on book 5 of the Sookie Stackhouse (True Blood) books. I kind of love it. I wanna be in a book club!
ReplyDeletehttp://thenylife.com
I read The Stranger just recently for English. 'Twas odd, but makes for great discussion at a book club. If anything, just start spouting out some nonsense about being disconnected from the world, and the restrictions placed on society by religion. Works everytime. By the way, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo was awful. I really don't see why so many people love it.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read a book in 10 years! Just kidding ;) I haven't found anything interesting enough to read. I'll have to look into those!
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Wow, thanks for all the suggestions, guys! The book club meeting was pretty intense. It definitely had a "Let's see how many ways we can dissect this" thing going on, but I enjoyed it. And GUESS WHAT the next book is: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo!!! I'm going to ignore the hype so hopefully I won't be let down too much. Laurence, did you go into it with high expectations? I realized that there is a TGWTDT movie playing in my neighborhood, too! I'm sooo tempted to see it, but sometimes that can backfire. Maybe I'll wait until I finish the book. After I'm done, I can't wait to try some of the books you recommended. Thanks! :)
ReplyDeleteI don't read at all! I don't really enjoy it. Even if I did, where do you get the time? It has been at least 14 years since I have read a book, and that was only because it was required reading in school. I don't even read magazines. After one article I'm over it.
ReplyDeleteThe "Dragon Tattoo" film playing in your neighborhood is the European film, with English subtitles. They are making a U.S. version to be released in 2012 or something. I
ReplyDeleteI just pre-ordered the DVD of the 2009 version to come to my house in July. Not sure how accurate it is to the book, but after the first 50 pages the book is worth the read.
But those first 50 pages are tough - lots of Swedish names and characters to learn.
SCS
Ellen - I saw the Swedish version of the movie and its good, especially to see the places the book talks about,... but wait to see it after you read the book! There are some tough technical parts of the book that aren't as interesting and I just skimmed, but the mystery part is amazing!
ReplyDeleteOhh, gotcha, Shannon! Geeze, I have a feeling this book is going to be QUITE challenging for me!
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah, Lalla, I probably will read the book first...it's always better that way. But if I put off reading it until the last minute (which is pretty likely to happen), I just might have to see the movie, too! :)
The Master and Margarita. I am almost done. In fact, I can't believe that I'm not at home reading it right now. Anyway, I'll savor the anticipation and finish tonight.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite author is John Updike. It is also my guilty pleasure; God help me if my mother ever really decides to pick up one of his books and reads it. (all wonderful writing, but he doesn't shy away from giving details on the occasion that one of his characters is getting lucky...)