Books on the Nightstand discussion

DECEMBER!!! The last chance to reach our reading goals.

I'm actively working on four (two books and two audios).

I'm past the halfway point and enjoying immensely The Goldfinch. I'm also loving Another Life: A Memoir of Other People, a behind the scenes of book publishing by Michael Korda.

In the car, I'm listening to Fannie Flagg's Can't Wait to Get to Heaven and on my iPad I listen to Here Comes Trouble by Michael Moore.

I started The Kitchen Daughter a couple of days ago

I'm still savoring (and loving) . It is absolutely amazing and immersive! I don't want it to end, as I'll likely have to wait another decade for an equally intriguing Tartt novel!
Happy reading all!

I finished the audio version of The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunionwhile snuggled in bed this morning. A very enjoyable listen.

Today I will start audio version of Tenth of December.

On my Kindle I am reading Canada, which seems to be a compelling read, but I have not had the time to read much of yet.

Happy December and Happy Reading everyone!!

I'm reading The White Dog Fell From The Sky and & Sons...
But HELP BOTNS pals. , I need a couple of short book suggestions to make my challenge any "can't put it down " ideas? Thanks so much and I hope everyone had a great Turkey day.

nancy wrote: "I'm reading The White Dog Fell From The Sky and & Sons...
But HELP BOTNS pals. , I need a couple of short book suggestions to make my challenge any "can't put it down " ideas? Thanks so much and I..."

Have you read any or all of Mitch Albom's books? I know I have a special connection with those books, but I always whiz through them and there relatively thin.

Tuesdays With Morrie

The Five People You Meet in Heaven

For One More Day

Have a Little Faith: a True Story

The Time Keeper

and newly out The First Phone Call from Heaven

Or, in honor of the season if you haven't read A Christmas Carol it is very slim and you can think of the Muppets and Gonzo as Charles Dickens as you read it.

Have you read The Hunger Games Trilogy Boxset? Wow!

nancy wrote: "I'm reading The White Dog Fell From The Sky and & Sons...
But HELP BOTNS pals. , I need a couple of short book suggestions to make my challenge any "can't put it down " ideas? Thanks so much and I..."

Have you read Wonder by R.J. Palacio? It is a beautiful read, and you could get through it very quickly.

Good luck meeting your challenge goal!!!

nancy wrote: "I'm reading The White Dog Fell From The Sky and & Sons...
But HELP BOTNS pals. , I need a couple of short book suggestions to make my challenge any "can't put it down " ideas? Thanks so much and I..."

Okay, I've perused your list and see you didn't think as much of The Hunger Games as I did, but I see a glaring omission.

You have not read Wonder . You must read this book. It is mandatory in this group! ;)

You can always resort to graphic novels - The Arrival is highly recommended by more than me.

Shannon wrote: "nancy wrote: "I'm reading The White Dog Fell From The Sky and & Sons...
But HELP BOTNS pals. , I need a couple of short book suggestions to make my challenge any "can't put it down " ideas? Thanks..."

Geniuses think alike! :D

Linda wrote: "Shannon wrote: "nancy wrote: "I'm reading The White Dog Fell From The Sky and & Sons...
But HELP BOTNS pals. , I need a couple of short book suggestions to make my challenge any "can't put it down..."

Ha! Yes we do! Such a great suggestion : )

Linda wrote: "nancy wrote: "I'm reading The White Dog Fell From The Sky and & Sons...
But HELP BOTNS pals. , I need a couple of short book suggestions to make my challenge any "can't put it down " ideas? Thanks..."

Thanks linda..it's on mr REAL nightstand..next up.
My secret Santa gave to me last year.

I'm dividing my time between and

All great.

I am reading The Songs of Willow Frost: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... and the audio version of Don Quixote: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1....

I just started, Bellman & Black, I hope I like it as much as I liked, The Thirteenth Tale :)

I'm reading The House Girl.

Ronny wrote: "I just started, Bellman & Black, I hope I like it as much as I liked, The Thirteenth Tale :)"

next on my list, my book group has picked this!

I just finished and I enjoyed it a lot. I gave it 4 stars although in truth, closer to 3.5. The plot wasn't overly unique but I enjoy a good detective story and I liked the characters.

To comment on something above, yes! You must read . It is really one of the best books I have read in the past few years.

I'm still savoring Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner and just started Snow Hunters on audio by Paul Yoon, which made for a delightful hour+ commute this morning. It's just lovely.

For Hanukkah, I received The Luminaries, Rebecca Solnit's The Faraway Nearby and Karen Joy Fowler's We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves. They've all been added to the nightstand, on top of Billy Flynn's Long Halftime Walk, which was already there.

Should be a pretty great reading month!

@ nancy

Some good short reads are:

We the Animals,The Buddha in the Attic,Home,A Monster Calls,The One and Only Ivan and, of course, Wonder. I hope you reach your reading goal.

Started another book until one arrives in the mail….

As is my usual custom, I am reading one fiction book and one nonfiction. My fiction read is The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis and my nonfiction selection is The Perfect Mile: Three Athletes, One Goal, and Less Than Four Minutes to Achieve It by Neal Bascomb. I'm enjoying them both, but the Bascomb book has the edge.

Shannon wrote: "You have not read Wonder . You must read this book. It is mandatory in this group! ;)


Nope, I don't do YA anymore. Sorry, I know a lot of people like this book, but I have to filter somehow and I tend to be left wanting a higher percentage of time with YA. Life's too short!

Ronny wrote: "I just started, Bellman & Black, I hope I like it as much as I liked, The Thirteenth Tale :)"

You have to let me know what you think. I finished yesterday.

Picked up Tampa (finally!) last night and it seems like a quick read! Then, I will read my book group's December read The Complete Stories of Truman Capote. Really we are only reading the 3 holiday stories, but I'm just going to read them all since I have it.

Oldest TBR (2012): Cuba Diaries: An American Housewife in Havana
Oldest TBR on my bookshelf: Let the Great World Spin at last!
Published in 2013: The Twelve, though hesitant because I didn't love The Passage.
Randoms:The Girl in the Polka Dot Dress and An American Tragedy

Finally, I will be finishing up my year, as is my tradition with Best Food Writing 2013.

Listening on Audible: One Summer: America, 1927

Just started
The Golem and the Jinni

We Are Water

Bellman & Black: A Ghost Story

Deb wrote: "Just started
The Golem and the Jinni

We Are Water

[bookcover:Bellman & Black: A Ghos..."



Can't wait to hear what you think of We Are Water!

Reading like a crazy woman for my local book group (My Beloved World, The Paris Wife, Moveable Feast ) and for the historical fiction MOOC (Fever, Ghost Bride). I usually don't read so much fiction at one time. Feel like I'm missing my vegetables (non-fiction).

Cindy wrote: "Reading like a crazy woman for my local book group (My Beloved World, The Paris Wife, Moveable Feast ) and for the historical fiction MOOC (Fever, Ghost Bride). I usually don't read so much fictio..."

LOL! Love it, Cindy!

Ronny wrote: "I just started, Bellman & Black, I hope I like it as much as I liked, The Thirteenth Tale :)"

Ronny wrote: "I just started, Bellman & Black, I hope I like it as much as I liked, The Thirteenth Tale :)"

Ronny, I didn't find Bellman and Black as compelling as The Thirteenth Tale. Was a little disappointed actually. I read the first 50 pgs, had better books on my shelf, so.......I hope you like it!

Had this book: "Bones" by Jonathan Kellerman for the longest and now I finally have the chance to read it...

Picked up listening to The Secrets of the FBI again. My husband and I had been listening to it on a trip we took earlier this year and we were more than halfway through it, but the trip ended and the audio had to be returned.

Trying to get some of the books on my "reading" list back to active status.

I've tried to read that FBI book twice, but somehow can never get into it and return it to the library. He has a CIA one as well, same thing. Perhaps I'm just not that interested. I did enjoy an audiobook about the NSA last year though by James Bamford. .

Victoria wrote: "I've tried to read that FBI book twice, but somehow can never get into it and return it to the library. He has a CIA one as well, same thing. Perhaps I'm just not that interested. I did enjoy an a..."

Victoria, Just before I originally started this I had finished reading a book by a retired-FBI agent that dovetails very nicely with this one. My husband has listened to the one he wrote about the Secret Service and really liked that one, too.

Didn't know where to post this, so I picked here:

Amazon has the following for $2.99 each, kindle version, today only. Great deals.

Thanks for the kindle tip, Victoria. I made myself pick only one and I chose Goldfinch.

Grrrr all these daily Kindle deals for books I already have.

Victoria wrote: "Didn't know where to post this, so I picked here:

Amazon has the following for $2.99 each, kindle version, today only. Great deals.


[bookcover:The Goldfinch|17333223..."

Victoria, I saw this deal, just by chance, yesterday too. I scooped them all up. Will you tell us if you see it again. I don't see one for today. I thought is said something like they'd do it every day for 12 days.

Oh how I hate typing on this laptop! OK try again. I am now reading two on the Kindle. One thanks to a discussion on BOTNS.Life After Lifeand Strong Poison.Also listening to Hatching Twitter: A True Story of Money, Power, Friendship, and Betrayalcertainly an entertaining read with a very talented narrator. December is such a tough time to read so I am keeping any reading devise on my bed for quick access.

Michele wrote: "Victoria wrote: "Didn't know where to post this, so I picked here:

Amazon has the following for $2.99 each, kindle version, today only. Great deals.


[bookcover:The G..."

I saw another offer this morning, I think they are calling it "countdown" in the title. Today's were all for food/cookbooks and I didn't pay that much attention. It's the same, 3 different books being offered.

Michele wrote: "Victoria wrote: "Didn't know where to post this, so I picked here:

Amazon has the following for $2.99 each, kindle version, today only. Great deals.


[bookcover:The G..."

Amazon has a daily deal every day. You can even get an email of what the daily deal is. Or you can click on the top right hand side of the kindle books page to see what is available for that day. They also have a group of books offered at $3.99 or less for the month. That changes the first day of the month.

I've just started Dan Brown's Inferno. It's a page-turner so it won't take me long to read.

Apparently the Kindle deal now is some graphic novels for $2.99, not sure where those cookbooks I saw went. The only place I've been seeing this publicized is on Twitter and Facebook (I am subscribed to all their emails and know about the regular daily deals, but these seem to be different and I haven't received any emails about them, so maybe it required a new sign up). I misspoke before too, it's called 12 Days of Deals. But further down the page there is a countdown thing with $.99 Sci-fi/fantasy books and some discounted Literature & Fiction titles.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html...

Amy wrote: "Shannon wrote: "You have not read Wonder . You must read this book. It is mandatory in this group! ;)


Nope, I don't do YA anymore. Sorry, I know a lot of people like this book, but I have to filt..."

I'm with you, Amy. YA tends to leave me craving something more literary. Although, I'm committed to finishing The Hunger Games series once and for all.

Finished The House Girl. interesting story, but I was left feeling that the ending was rushed or somehow incomplete. I am now reading The Goldfinch and cant keep my hands off of it. what a book!

I've been on a run of great audiobooks, the latest of which was The Martian by Andy Weir. I can't say enough about the experience of listening to this book. Give yourself an early Christmas gift and get this on audio! LOVED IT!

The Lowlands

Amy wrote: "Shannon wrote: "You have not read Wonder . You must read this book. It is mandatory in this group! ;)

Nope, I don't do YA anymore. Sorry, I know a lot of people like this book, but I have to filt..."

Amy, I get what you're saying -- but I also think WONDER surpasses the category. Also, it's a quick read -- 2 hours tops.

See this article about WONDER in today's Wall Street Journal: http://stream.wsj.com/story/latest-he...

Because I didn't want to be too overbearing (although I often am anyway!), I didn't further push the point on Wonder, but I agree with Ann wholeheartedly! I'm not sure if I gave it 5 stars or not in Goodreads, but as the year winds down, I'm starting to think it was the best book I read this year. I'm going to go check out that article right now, too!

Agree with the two posts above about Wonder. It is so far beyond YA. I've bought copies for several people and have insisted my adult children read it. A really great book with a really inspiring message.

Ann wrote: "Amy wrote: "Shannon wrote: "You have not read Wonder . You must read this book. It is mandatory in this group! ;)

Nope, I don't do YA anymore. Sorry, I know a lot of people like this book, but I h..."

Thank you so much for posting the link to the article....so interesting and attitude changing!