oh elle, i read lighter stuff all the time, just not much fiction lately. but i'm not above a good drugstore novel. not at all! jodie, east of eden is MUCH more fun and more readable than grapes of wrath!

I just finished "The Lost Symbol" by Dan Brown. It was good, but I liked "The Da Vinci Code" and "Angels and Demons" more. Also reading "Nice Girls Don't Date Dead Men" by Molly Harper. It's the second in her three book series. It's fun, quick, light reading. And for those of you who appreciate the fun, quick, light reads, I highly recommend the Stepahanie Plum seires by Janet Evanovich.

diane, scan down. elle is a member here from new jersey who just asked if anyone is a stephanie plum person. you and elle will like each other! ....i LOVE the title "nice girls don't dead dead men"!!! LOLOLOL!!

Elle, I love Stephanie Plum. And so the question I pose to you is, Morelli or Ranger? Read the "Nice Girls" series by Molly Harper. It's similar to Plum but with a twist.

This discussion group is super cool! Thanks for inviting me to join Lisa!!! I usually read mystery of the world kind of stuff.... Like right now I'm reading "Children Of The Law Of One", so it's fun to hear about fun books! :0) Anyone have a recommendation for something happy, with a good ending, that will just make you smile? I need to read one of those kind of books right now.

hi, lex! so glad you're back! there's more happening on wiffle every day...yahooey! i have to put my thinking cap on for the happy ending book. in the meantime hopefully someone here will have a good suggestion. there are alot of readers on here it seems! i'll be back!

If i were to actually admit to what i was currently reading, i would get run out of here. lol

let me just experiment with a few questions...would it belong on the extraordinary group or would i need to start a "special" group....like an adult section? or please don't tell me you're reading how to make bombs or something gross like that!!! ;-))

THANKS LISA..... GLAD TO BE BACK!!! :0)

loxo/brandy...do you know lex? (alexis vear)? she's a great singer down in atlanta. she just sang at old smith's last night....she appears to read real books too! ;-)

I SANG AT SMITH'S 3 WEEKS AGO, I SANG AND TRIED TO PLAY GUITAR AT EDDIES LAST NIGHT!!! :0) HI LOXO AND BRANDY!:0) NICE TO MEET YOU!!

oh sorry! i screwed that up!!!! you played last night...! you're just being hard on yourself!!! my head is in the clouds today. sorry, lex!

Wonderful to meet you. The name is VERY familiar.. I have not been out in some time to see alot of live music, but hopefully sometime soon.

Ok , so currently i am reading 'Taxonomy of the vascular plants' by George H Lawrence.. and Playboy from April 1985 (for the Wayne Gretzy article). lol

Loxo......Tracheophyta or Spermatophyta? Are you trying to figure out what to plant in your garden? and Lisa..... With all the people you meet and know.... it's just an honor you knew I was even singing!!!

Pteridophytes, mostly.. i just have a few odds and ends back behind the house.. as fas as the garden, i have a few thngs already in the ground.. broccoli, a few tyose of lettuces, sweet peas- just your run of the mill cool weather veggies.

So, LOXO, how's the plant book? My SIL is an entomologist working in the land care field and he might like it. I'm always looking for good reading material for b'day and Christmas gifts.

Oh, and "... Playboy from April 1985 (for the Wayne Gretzy article). "?
Isn't that what they ALL say?!?

And Diane - definitely Morelli! Ranger scares me. I live in NJ, very near the 'Burg! I keep looking, but can't seem to find either guy (although I SWEAR I saw Grandma Mazur in the Acme last week...)

its pretty good, if you like DRY textbooks, which i do.. im a geek, what can i say. An entomologist, eh? What is her specialty? I dont have a degree, but i know spiders.. VERY well.
Yes, yes... i know.. thats what they all say about the Playboy, or any other adult reading material.. but.. its 1985!!! if i wanted p0rn, i could do much better than that!

gardens and spiders and porn, oh my!!!

Wow, that really makes me look.. umm.. bad..? Male..? something?? lol

VERY male, but that's okay! As for the entomologist, despite his name being Shannon (I keep telling him to be glad his parents didn't find the Liffey romantic!!), it's my son-in-law and I'm not sure of his specialty.

Elle, that's funny. I think Grandma Mazur's everywhere. I love asking women who read Plum, Morelli or Ranger. I asked a friend in her sixties who she preferred and she replied, "I think I'd have to do 'em both."

And I have a friend who is a marginally watered down version of Lula.

A guy named Shannon....?? Hey.. i am a guy named Brandy. Seriously.

Sorry - never saw the last replies...

Diane, Janet Evanovich did a book signing in Trentona few years ago and they had a look-alike contest. The only woman who "was" Grandma Mazur was hysterical. She had a huge tote bag and when she saw the guy who "was" Morelli (a guy who just happened to accompany his girlfriend there and had no CLUE as to what was going on when she entered him in the contest on the spot) she dug deep in her tote, pulled out a pair of handcuffs and handcuffed herself to the poor guy. We laughed our a**es off! ~ When Sheree was up one time, I took her to all the real spots that they mention in the books! If you ever coem to Trenton, I'll take you on my Plum Tour!!

Brandy? For REAL? Shan would love you! Do you have trouble using a credit card? People are always accusing him of using his mother's or girlfriend's card and then he has to show his drivers license.

And Susie - is that Charles de Lint? My friend LOVES his work and she just recently got to meet him!

Nothing like coming late to the party!!! Just finished "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver. Not entirely sure how I feel about it - coming from the Southern Baptist south I felt like I knew the characters. And wasn't comfortable with them as a result. But hearing the story from so many perspectives was probably what kept me going back for more.
For those who haven't read it (and with apologies to those who have): it's the story of a Georgia missionary family in Africa. Dad is a minister and firm on the ground of "my God is the ONLY god" with a wife and four daughter who really don't agree with his approach but must bend to his authority.

Now I'm on to "Time Is A River" by Mary Alice Monroe. First of her books I've read and while I'm not real jazzed about her style, the story so far has kept me interested.
Breast cancer victim catches her husband in bed with a woman who still has her breasts and retreats to a cabin in the mountains to regain her life. Fly-fishing plays a big part in the story and I think that was the lure (pun intended) for me.

mornin' sheree! oh the party is ongoing, so jump in whenever you want and as often as you want! i'm going to have to read the poisonwood bible, since everyone keeps telling me i have to. thanks for the synopsis. i like to know what a book is about before i jump in there. ....as for "time is a river"...fly fishing? well, what's a good book without a good metaphor, right?

WD - My youngest daughter is finishing her PhD in English (creative writing, poetry, etc) and had a reading list last summer that I would NEVER have managed (couple hundred books in three months) so she's been offering suggestions. She reminded me about Alice Walker and Langston Hughes - two writers I loved in school - but also introduced me to Gloria Naylor. I'll be picking up "Mama Day" next trip to the bookstore.

I have a three chapter rule for books. If I'm not hooked by the third chapter I won't finish the book so I usually give it away at that point. TPB did manage to hold my interest to the end even if I did get the willies now and then reading it!!

sheree, i have to be hooked too. alot of people have to finish a book no matter what. not me! i'm either into it or onto the next one. i LOVE alice walker. obviously "the color purple" is terrific, but she has some of the best short stories. i consistently love her work. and langston hughes...well he's just one of america's best!

I'm just joining the group. Yeah, I'm a little slow.....but I haven't had the internet beyond my phone so I guess I have an excuse.

I just finished reading The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis. It's Book One of the Narnia Chronicles. I didn't realize that there was a book before LW&W but I was wrong. This one talks about the beginning of Narnia, the actual creation of it, how people from our world found it, and how people were able to return. It's not the heaviest read but if you like the Narnia series and missed it like I did, go get it.

I'm not sure what's next.

c.s. lewis is one of those great writers who has the great narnia series AND all the non fiction stuff exploring the great questions of the universe. i like to dig out "the problem with pain" (i think that's the title)every now and then. the lion , the witch, and the wardrobe is one of my all time fave stories. good choice of an author. i have to check out the magician's nephew!

really late on this one, but C.S. Lewis is one of my faves...Till We Have Faces is probably my favorite...it's his version of Cupid and Psyche....right now i am reading "A Three Dog Life" by Abigail Thomas.

And my favorite one of the Narnia series is The Silver Chair...but all of them are great!

And Langston Hughes is awesome...I went to a reading of Langston Hughes years ago...Danny Glover did the reading and as you can imagine it was amazing!

sue i can't even imagine how great it was to hear langston hughes being read by danny glover. that's just too good! i wonder if there is a clip of that on youtube...i'm going to look. what is a "a three dog life" about??

It's a memoir by Abigail Thomas whose husband was severely injured in an accident and her coping with his condition and building a new life. It's very good and very touching.

getting caught up here by the way...love the Stephanie Plum series. And definitely Ranger!!!! Lula is my favorite character...cracks me up.

I do have to say i don't like the "in between" ones with Diesel, etc. My sister does and is reading Plum Spooky right now.

i'm getting the best ideas here for reading and music, and i just wish i had more time to read novels. what is better than losing yourself in a great story? Lula sounds like fun as does this stephanie plum series. warn me if something is dense reading or not. the last book i picked up was so dense it wore me out. what an anti intellectual thing to say, but when i'm looking to just lose myself, i don't want to have to keep rereading the paragraph to be sure i understood it, ya know?

definitely not dense reading...this series is a fun read. i don't remember it ever taking me more than a day to read one of her books.

is anybody else on here a fan of andre dubois' short stories???

I'm reading "Cold Pizza for Breakfast," Christine Lavin's new autobiography. Wonderful book, packed with great stories about musicians!

paul, how can i be so blind that i didn't even know it was out there!!! she is on my page, and i didn't even see her promote it. she was saying "my book", but i thought she was talking about something else. thank you so much for this!!! i can't wait to read it! who does she talk about? excuse me, whom.

The question is: who (or whom) doesn't she talk about! There are references to almost every major folksinger I can think of and a lot of rock artists. The introductory chapter is about her opening for Joan Rivers and how everything goes wrong. Checking the index, there are plenty of references to Janis Ian, who published her own musical autobiography last year. There are similarities between Ian's and Lavin's accounts, particular in that both autobiographies are very direct and honest, never sidestepping the painful moments (as well as the funny moments).

Christine has a great list of recommended songs at the back of her autobiography. One of them is Stephen DiJoseph's rendition of Scarborough Fair. Congratulations to Stephen!

get OUTTA HERE??? really, paul??? i can't wait to tell stephen this!!! you're just a wealth of info today!!! ;-))))

Stephen's recording of "Scarborough Fair" is listed on Page 379, Column 2 of Christine's book, in Appendix 2, "1000 Terrific Recordings I have Played on the Radio."

The list is in alphabetical order according to last name or band name, and includes "A Day in the Life" by The Beatles, "Like a Rolling Stone," by Bob Dylan, etc. Isn't that amazing!

wow...woohoo...man..gosh...geez..let's see...OMG!!!! that is ...like...I...I'm VERY honored/happy to hear THAT!!!!!! Thank you Paul...how do I get a copy?

Here's a link to order a copy of Christine Lavin's book:

Cold Pizza for Breakfast

i told ya he'd be excited, paul! i called him the minute you posted. but this link also says a pre-order. how did you get an actual copy???? this is so exciting!!! btw, paul, i'm watching the discovery channel about the big bang and all that. i'm trying to understand anti matter!

Although the link says "pre-order" the copies are already available. It takes about a week.

In publishing, copies are usually printed at least a month before the offiicial publication date to generate advanced "buzz."

Interesting to hear about the astronomy show on the Discovery Channel.

I just wanted to throw out something I found. In a way it's light reading, but it has a lot of great references in it and it makes you think (if you think like I do....which can be scary).

It's called Here, There Be Dragons by James A. Owen. It's the first in a fantasy fiction series called The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica. When I find a book like this I get through it no time. It's 326 pages and I read it in 2 days.

I'm getting #2 and #3 tomorrow. They're actually listed as teen fiction at the library. It amazes me sometimes what they put in that category. Some of the best fiction I've read has been in that section. This series is about travelling to the lands of Lilliput, Styx, Asmund and more. Characters from our "fiction" are real in a world that is a part of ours, yet different and unreachable by most. I won't say too much so I don't give things away. But when you read it and get to the end it's one of those "wow" moments. If you believe that things beyond normal could exist, it makes a lot of sense.

OK, I've babbled enough. It's a good read if you're into that sort of thing. If not, carry on.

thanks for posting this, barry! it's weird that you said this, because although i don't know this particular book, i always like to check out the adolescent section at the library when i'm there. there are some great books there like you said. and they go under the radar for sure! in my little library they stick some of the best movies over there too. so it'll be fun to check this out. thanks!

I'm reading non-fiction because I'm sloooooooooowly working my way back toward writing fiction myself. I've tried reading novels but I just can't get into them! That's a sad thing for someone who wants to escape into an imaginary world every once in a while.

Recent non-fiction included Malcolm Gladwell's "Blink" about "thinking without thinking and Atul Gawande's "The Checklist Manifesto." I just got two more books, including Daniel Pink's "Drive" about what motivates us. If I can find my copy of "The Artist's Way," that may join my stack of books, again.