Pam’s Comments (group member since Feb 11, 2008)

Pam’s comments from the BookCrazy group.

I haven't got the book yet, so I'll be late. I'm glad the discussion is going though. This way I'll be able to ask questions as I go. If I wait until the end, I'll forget! Sigh. I think it's called "aging".

Shall we use the discussion topics listed in the book?

Lisa, I think we'll be doing two discussions in July -- A Thread of Grace and Atonement. But I don't know if everyone will be reading both books. I've read Grace but won't get to Atonement until later.

Yeah, I think July 1 gives us plenty of time. The books aren't very long.

Lee, I don't know! We have two votes for A Thread of Grace (you and me) and three for Atonement (you, me, and Graceann). Maybe we could read both books?

I read Last Night at the Lobster last month and I'd love to discuss it.

I'd also be up for Atonement and Chronicles of Narnia at some point -- haven't read those books yet.

Lee, I'll be reading A Thread of Grace for sure.

I'm nominating A Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell.

From Bookmarks: "Russell's first foray into historical fiction, after two successful science fiction novels, is brilliant. Her story of Jewish refugees from the Holocaust, and the northern Italian resistance fighters who protect them, is realistic, powerful, and broad in scope."

That sound good to anyone else?

Andi, is Finnegan's Wake the one with pages and pages about breakfast? I've never read Joyce, but his name always pops up when readers talk about "difficult" books.

The second book in Denise Mina's Garnethill trilogy was pretty good. The main character has a slew of problems and issues, and I think she tries to solve other people's problems because hers are just too much to even think about.

I'm also reading Quicksilver, off and on because it's so daunting, and the new one by Rennie Airth, The Blood-Dimmed Tide. Murder in the English countryside in 1932. It's pretty good but there's some padding.

One of my son's friends drew me a picture years ago, when I was a huge horror fan. It showed a bespectacled little boy -- he looked like a young Stephen King -- reading a book and lots of creatures were looking over his shoulder.

I like the idea of a picture. Flying books would be cool!

Snow Angels by Stewart O'Nan -- I think it's excellent. A young woman is murdered early in the book, and O'Nan tells her story from different points of view -- mostly from the POV of a teenager that the woman used to babysit.

My impression of Robertson Davies is that he writes about relationships -- he interjects a lot of personal philosophy (but not in a pedantic way). Most of his characters are university types, at least in the books I've read.

I like historical fiction too. I wouldn't mind reading McCollough's book on John Adams. I'm watching the HBO series about him now.

I wouldn't mind reading The Other Boleyn Girl either. I'd re-read Slammerkin -- loved that book.

How about crime fiction? Detectives and stuff? Richard Price's new book -- Lush Life -- is getting rave reviews.

So far the group is just you and me, Andi.

I'll see if I can drum up some more interest.

I looked at the TBR. I have a lot of Robertson Davies -- have you read him?

Some 19th century stuff:

Balzac -- Cousin Bette and Pere Goriot
Turgenev -- Fathers and Sons
Kate Chopin -- The Awakening
Arne Gorborg -- Weary Men

I also have some Edith Wharton, Evelyn Waugh, Armistead Maupin, Dashiell Hammitt.

A highly-recommended fantasy -- Silverlock by John Meyers Meyers.

A complex horror novel by Peter Straub -- Mr. X

I totally understand if none of these appeal to you. They've been in my TBR for years and there must be a reason I haven't tackled them.

Cool! That makes two of us!

Shall we post some titles from our TBR pile and see if we have anything in common? I'd be okay with buying something new, as long as it's available in paperback.

My bedtime book is Zig-Zag by Ben MacIntyre. It's non-fiction (unusual for me) -- the story of Ed Chapman, a British double agent during WWII.

Chapman's a criminal who is in prison on the island of Jersey when it's occupied by the Germans. He volunteers to spy for the Germans, is trained in France and sent to England on a mission. He immediately turns himself in and becomes a double agent.

His story is just now being told because his files were released by MI5 -- and they're very detailed files.

My other book is Garnethill by Denise Mina -- it's billed as "Scottish noir". A young woman is accused of the murder of her married lover after his body is found in her apartment. It's very gritty, and I'm enjoying it a lot.

Our tastes in books are all over the map, but group reads are a neat way to read outside our comfort zones.

What do you think?