You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion

Tell us what books you have just purchased.

Just bought these ebooks on special from Amazon...

Jkmays wrote: "Just bought these ebooks on special from Amazon...[bookcover:The Stranger Beside Me: Ted Bundy The Shocking Ins..."

Albright's book is fantastic!

Glad to hear that Chrissie...every time I think I have read enough WWII books, I see another one that I just have to read.

Judy, I am not sure what a memoir is...autobiographical but just for a period of your life? Not sure...but yes I think I like them. LOved . Decision points is good even if Pres. Bush was not your favorite I think.
I list all my reads here just so I remember what I read. Terrible, right??

Barefoot Contessa Foolproof: Recipes You Can Trust
by Ina Garten
a great addition to my Eatyourbooks.com library.

lightning deal today woo hoo it was just $4.99+s/h can't wait to get it next week. 

Shirley, did you get the Ina Garten book through the 12 days, 12 deals sale from Amazon.com? I missed the first three days. I'm going to have to check out tomorrow's deal. Sorry I missed the Gone Girl on Monday for $2.99.

Jkmays wrote: "Glad to hear that Chrissie...every time I think I have read enough WWII books, I see another one that I just have to read.

Judy, I am not sure what a memoir is...autobiographical but just for a pe..."

I would like to bring The Forgotten Highlander: My Incredible Story Of Survival During The War In The Far East to your attention. It is even much better than Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption, and has a similar theme.

After you have read Albright's book, another winner is Under a Cruel Star: A Life in Prague, 1941-1968.

I am a nut for holocaust books too. I say - no more - but then there is one that also begs to be read.

Awww I'm not allowed to buy any books this month since it's coming up to Christmas...I'm jealous of all of you!!!

I got The Age of Miracles and Mahu in the mail the other day. Looking forward to both a lot (Mahu has been highly recommended as a modern "cozy" on Hawaii and with gay clubs. Awesome!)

Thanks, Chrissie, I made a note of those and will check them out!

I received a pile of books that were all just monthly reads for book clubs The Windup Girland A Christmas Carol to name a couple... Then my wife who is gettiing me a kindle for Christmas saw them and now I'm in trouble.

Travis of NNY wrote: "I received a pile of books that were all just monthly reads for book clubs The Windup Girland A Christmas Carol to name a couple... Then my wife who is gettiing me a kindle for Christmas saw them a..."

Point out that sometimes real books are cheaper than ebooks. And you can't decorate with ebooks. So you are helping...

P.S. Welcome! We should note we don't guarantee domestic harmony with our group membership, unless the spouse 1. love books or 2. is in this group :P

Jkmays, you are welcome.

I already had a stack of 12 unread books laying around. None of tjem fit in with any themes and a couple turned out very difficult and therefore very slow to read setting me behind schedule. Our problem is my office has to be turned into the new babies roomso space for books is now an issue. My other child is 2 so we also are at the everything must be at least 4 ft off the ground stage.

12! Luxury! I have a bookshelf! Heh

I completely appreciate the child vs space issue though. I used to joke at my old work that I couldn't have children as I didn't have the space in my house. I had a woman take me aside and make sure I knew that wasn't how contraception worked. Slightly awkward conversation to have when you have been at a workplace for 3 weeks...

Rusalka, you gotta be kidding! Was the woman that dense?

Chrissie wrote: "Rusalka, you gotta be kidding! Was the woman that dense?"

Lol Must have been! It took a lot of effort to explain calmly and rationally that while I was appreciative of her concern no, I was not in fact stupid and that I was in fact trying to be humorous with elements of sarcasm and absurdity.

I, unsurprisingly, quit after another 3 weeks as while I may not have been stupid, others may have been.

Rusalka, unbelievable! Good you got out of there.

About buying books: I really am trying to read all the ones I have accumulated before I buy more. I do let myself buy audiobooks though. With the coupon system at Audible that lets me get two a month. I am not letting them pile ups as I have with paper books.

Seriously, there is something magical about buying a book and reading it immediately right when you most want to grab it. I have some books piled up that I cannot for the life of me figure out why I bought them.

We had Borders in town which forced our smaller book stored out of business then Borders closed a yearlater. We have no bookstore and I can't get past my germiphobeness to go to the library which leaves Amazon.
Every time i try to checkout Amazon recommends another book and another book and I get carried away sometimes.

Travis, you are in the right place amongst others who share your addiction. :)

Rusalka, I'm still laughing!! BIG hahahahah

Roz wrote: "Shirley, did you get the Ina Garten book through the 12 days, 12 deals sale from Amazon.com? I missed the first three days. I'm going to have to check out tomorrow's deal. Sorry I missed the Gone G..."

No but I am sure glad it was posted on Facebook so I could grab it.

Chrissie wrote: "Rusalka, unbelievable! Good you got out of there.

About buying books: I really am trying to read all the ones I have accumulated before I buy more. I do let myself buy audiobooks though. With the ..."

I am doing the Goodreads Choice Awards Challenge 2009-2012 and found I have 120 books so that should help me make progress.

Travis of NNY wrote: "We had Borders in town which forced our smaller book stored out of business then Borders closed a yearlater. We have no bookstore and I can't get past my germiphobeness to go to the library which..."

Be sure some of these are ones you will read to those wonderful new babies. Sorry this will become a new buying resource. :)

Shirley, I am quite proud of myself. I had more than 100 books sitting on my wooden shelves when the year started, now I am at about 50. Something like that. I will read all of them, or most of them. I have a couple that I think ughhhh, why did I get them!

What is the Goodreads Choice Awards Challenge 2009-2012? I don't understand. I know what is sitting on my shelf. I see them. Before I had books piled up behind other books. Now I have empty spaces visible. :0)

Shirley wrote: "Travis of NNY wrote: "We had Borders in town which forced our smaller book stored out of business then Borders closed a yearlater. We have no bookstore and I can't get past my germiphobeness to g..."

I have a goodreads childrens shelf to get recommendations on new ones because kids like to finish one and say read it again. We have a mess of kid books but they seem to like one at a time and read it 30 times in a row so they get alot of book gifts. The excitement of it being a gift allows us to read a new one once in a while main thing is keep them interested in reading.

Travis of NNY wrote: "I already had a stack of 12 unread books laying around. None of tjem fit in with any themes and a couple turned out very difficult and therefore very slow to read setting me behind schedule. Our pr..."

Travis, I would not count on the 4 ft off of the ground rule too long. If there is a stool, box, chair, toy container or drawer to stand on, or shelf to climb on kids will manage to get at what they can reach - even if they don't want it. Between 2 and 3 kids become the most amazing monkies.

Chrissie wrote: "Shirley, I am quite proud of myself. I had more than 100 books sitting on my wooden shelves when the year started, now I am at about 50. Something like that. I will read all of them, or most of the..."

Second Chance Challenges Group
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...

I like them because they are open end challenges and really great imo.

I have just bought Astray Emma Donoghue.

I have pre-ordered The Burgess Boys Elizabeth Strout,Life After Life Kate Atkinson, and The Woman Upstairs Claire Messud.

I have also bought Four Fires , The Potato Factory , and April Fool's Day all by Bryce Courtenay.

I bought In the Time of the Butterflies ,How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents both books by Julia Alvarez, and These Things Hidden , One Breath Away both books by Heather Gudenkauf. I bought Moloka'i Alan Brennert.

I recently bought Hercule Poirot's Christmas Agatha Christie, The End of Your Life Book Club Will Schwalbe, Southern Cakes: Sweet and Irresistible Recipes for Everyday Celebrations Nancie McDermott, and Vintage Cakes: 65 Recipes for Bundt, Spiral, Roll, Layer, Upside-Down, and Ice-Box Cakes Julie Richardson.

Audible has me this month for sure

Dec 3 day one
State of Wonder
Divergent
The Fallen Angel




Dec 5 day two

The Round House



Dec 6 day three

Tom Clancy Presents: Act of Valor
The Notebook
The Grapes of Wrath

Thanks for the recommendation for Alvarez, Judy. It is good to know you enjoy her writing because I have not read her work before. I was just taking a leap of faith buying her books. I may read one or both of her books for the toppler. They have such beautiful covers that I could use one of them for "All Wrapped Up." I love strong females and fiction based on history, so I can learn something when I read.

Shirley, I also love Steinbeck and am eager to discover how you feel about The Grapes of Wrath. I am also a huge Louise Erdrich fan. I have The Round House, but I am saving it until the beginning of 2013 for a challenge for another group. I will want to hear what you think about it. I have read many of her books, but The Plague of Doves is one of my favorites. I hope this new one will be just as great. BTW I love the 12 days of Christmas motif you have going here. What could be better than to receive books on the 12 days of Christmas!! ; )

Judy wrote: "Connie, I am a huge Julia Alvarez fan. I love her poetry even more than her fiction and that is saying alot because I loved In the Time of the Butterflies. It was a nice compliment of the history o..."

Audible is making available a few (sometimes just one)at reduced pricing each day at 9 a.m. ... began Dec 3.

Connie wrote: "Thanks for the recommendation for Alvarez, Judy. It is good to know you enjoy her writing because I have not read her work before. I was just taking a leap of faith buying her books. I may read on..."

I watched The Dust Bowl on PBS over the week end so of course I was primed to purchase his book.

How awful to find out we actually caused it by disturbing the buffalo grass and now we are depleting the aqua-fir.

I have this one on my TBR list. The PBS Public Brodcast Station, here in Portland, Oregon showed the Ken Burns documentry about the dust bowl last month on TV. It was amazing!

It wasn't just disturbing the buffalo grass, it was all of the terrible farming techniques and how MUCH land was under cultivation due to the demand for wheat just after the war. And after the drought started, and the price of wheat fell out the bottom, farmers were still trying to till up more land and plant more wheat to make up for how much less money they were making. And then the wind started blowing the blowing the dirt and stripping the topsoil off of the fields.

I like to tell a bit of the story to entice others to read more. I couldn't tell it as eloquently as Ken Burns did. There were so many elements as there always are to disasters.

Oh, yes, I have The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl on my tbr also. I have not seen the Ken Burns documentary yet. I hope I catch it soon.

Chrissie, I have added The Forgotten Highlander: My Incredible Story Of Survival During The War In The Far East Alistair Urquhartto my tbr. Thanks for the rec!

Connie, you will surely enjoy the book by Urquharrto.

As a farmer you all have "forced " me to add this dust bowl book to my tbr. Looks great thanks

lol Travis. We twisted your arm in horrible ways *wink*

Due to the Book Depository having a bargin every hour sale today, I bought The Slap for $5 (which is unheard of in Aus). I don't expect to like it as I have watched half of it on tv and it seems to have the most unlikeable characters in lit, to rival The Corrections in fact which is my low mark for books. However as I have been umming and ahhhing it for a few years and it just ranked on the "Top 10 Aussie Books you Must Read before you die" blah blah, I bought it. The End.

Rusalka wrote: "lol Travis. We twisted your arm in horrible ways *wink*

Due to the Book Depository having a bargin every hour sale today, I bought The Slap for $5 (which is unheard of in Aus). I don't expect to ..."

I bought The Slap a few months ago because it was cheap too! Not sure when, or even if I will read it, but I couldn't pass up a cheapie!

Kat wrote: "I bought The Slap a few months ago because it was cheap too! Not sure when, or even if I will read it, but I couldn't pass up a cheapie! "

Exactly!

Russalka and Kat, I personally and getting a little irritated how companies are pushing us into grabbing a good deal, it just means they are getting us often to buy what we wouldn't have bought. This means we don't get to the books we really want to read!

I think we all have ADSS (Attention Deficit.... ooooooh, Something Shiny!)

Audible does that for me with their constant sales. I have a $10 coupon there so do I put it towards one of the books on my wishlist and get something I really want, or try to get as many cheap books as possible to make the coupon worthwhile?

Today's haul at Audible

Neverwhere

Caleb's Crossing

Promise Not to Tell

Judy wrote: "Shirley, I'm currently listening to my first Brooks and love it. "

I understand she is well worth reading.

Bought . I read the first in the series, and was able to get this on in a lightning deal on Amazon.

I just picked up The Gunslinger on an impulse buy while shopping for an extension cord. I thought I had read it when it first came out, but I recall that the book I read was more along the lines of dragons and wizards - touted to be his first foray into that type of fantasy. Now, I'm wondering if it was The Eyes of the Dragon. Who knows with my memory! It will still seem like a book I had never read before.

Darren is taking me to the library book sale at my local branch at the library today....hopefully I can find some gems and post about them later. I've been going through withdrawal from not purchasing any books lately.

Enjoy, Kimberly!