Unputdownables Book Club discussion

My summer Reads
Already read in June
Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran
The Map of True Places by Brunonia Barry
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Widow of the South by Robert Hicks - audiobook
The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

Remainder of June
Schindler's List by Thomas Keneally - currently reading
Nights of Rain and Stars by Maeve Binchy - currently listening to
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (I have previously read this one and loved it but wanted to do a quick reread for one of my local book clubs)
The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant - audiobook

Have you read 'In the Company of the Courtesan', also by Sarah Dunant? Love that book!

Zoe, I have not but I recently got it in audio from paperbackswap. I will probably get to it sometime this fall.

Planned for July

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Good Night, Mr. Tom by Michelle Magorian
The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons
Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson audiobook
The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham
In the Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje
The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani
War and Remembrance by Herman Wouk
The Touch by Colleen McCullough
Cane River by Lalita Tademy audiobook

Look at you LemonLinda! Wow, I think you might even surpass Zoe with your page total... and she's a fast reader!

Yeah...I'm glad you're not in the Summer Reading Challenge Linda! :)

Can I still join? I would love to.

Of course! Just make sure you list what you've read and your page totals ASAP because it's the first three people to read 3,000 pages who win (and the first 5 who get honorable mention).

http://coconutlibrary.typepad.com/coc...

Just posted over at the blog and if I can use my audiobook from this month I am over 3000.

Cleopatra's Daughter - 431
The Map of True Places - 432
The Time Traveler's Wife - 535
The Hunger Games - 374
The Robe - 528
The Thirteenth Tale - 406
which comes to 2706pp
and if I can use The Widow of the South - 448
that comes to 3154pp

Since the last post I have read:
The Night of Rain and Stars by Maeve Binchy 6/22/10
Schindler’s List by Thomas Keneally 6/24/10)
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins 6/25/10
Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant 6/29/10
Goodnight, Mr. Tom by Michelle Magorian 6/29/10

I am currently reading
The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons
and listening to
Cane River by Lalita Tademy
and loving both of them.

I finished The Bronze Horseman and loved it. Now I will have to read the other two in the series. Really good historical fiction - learned a lot about the siege of Leningrad during WWII as well as life in the Soviet Union under Stalin. Also, it was a great love story - sweet and innocent, hot and steamy all at the same time.

Now I am still listening to Cane River (very good) and reading The Blood of Flowers, a story of a young girl in Persia/Iran in the 17th century who develops an interest in making rugs - something simply unheard of for women. So far is it quite intriguing.

LemonLinda wrote: "I finished The Bronze Horseman and loved it. Now I will have to read the other two in the series. Really good historical fiction - learned a lot about the siege of Leningrad during WWI..."


Sounds interesting... I will have to look into this one.

I finished Cane River and The Blood of Flowers and enjoyed them both. 4 stars for each of them.

Cane River by Lalita Tademy is the fictional account of Ms. Tademy's actual ancestors over 5 generations from the 1830s to the 1930s. Very well done. Gave an in-depth peek into life for former slaves following emancipation and into the era of Jim Crowism in the South.

The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani follows the life of a young girl in Persia/Iran in the 17 century following her father's death through to their dependence on distant relatives, her "temporary marriage contract" and her venture into the male world of rugmaking and rug design. Quite a compelling story.

Now listening to Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson and reading In the Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje. Enjoying the story of the first one, but I am halfway into the second and it just has not yet grabbed me.

LemonLinda, I ordered The Bronze Horseman per your review! Looking forward to it.

Wallace - I hope you enjoy it. I loved it and now have books #2 - Tatiana and Alexander - which will the first thing I delve into after finishing a book challenge I am currently participating in - should be finished mid-August.

I think I just saw Tatiana and Alexander on a table in B&N, is it new to paperback?

I don't think so. Goodreads says that the book was published in 2003 so the paperback probably came out in 2004.

Oh ok, there must be another book with those names in the title. I'll be careful to look for the correct one when I get to that point.

61. Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson - audiobook - 7/13/10 - 3 1/2 stars.

Enjoyed this story set in post WWII Washington state where a Japanese American is accused of a murder. Very believable given the ill feelings against the Japanese during those years.

62. In the Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje - 7/14/10 - 2 1/2 stars.

This is the first book in quite a while that I did not really enjoy but this was so hard to follow and at times even confusing. Although there were beautifully written passages, I would not recommend this one.

63. The Touch by Colleen McCullough - 7/17/10 - 4 stars.

Really good historical fiction. Set in Australia from 1870 to 1900. Rebellious Scotsman flees his native country and strikes gold in Australia after traveling the world. Builds a worldwide empire with unlikely partners and has a most unusual family life.

64. The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott - 7/21/10 4 stars.

Another really good historical fiction based on one fictional summer when she was in her early 20s and fell in love. Especially good for Alcott fans.


65. The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham - 7/22/10 - 3 stars.

Young immature English woman flits through beaus and finally in desparation marries a diplomat whom she does not love and is bored with. They go to Hong Kong for his work where she meets and falls for another diplomat. He finds out and is furious whisking her away to inland China where there is a major cholera epidemic.

I've hear The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott is good. I love LMA, but is it a really good read or just interesting?

Wallace, I really enjoyed it. It was a really good story based on who the author thought Louisa would be. There were definite similarities between Louisa and Jo from Little Women.

Good to know, thanks!

66. War and Remembrance by Herman Wouk - 7/31/10 - 5 stars

An overall comprehensive look at WWII - the Pacific, the European front, the Russian front, the Holocaust, diplomacy between DC, London and Moscow and even the German view from the writings of a fictional German general. Told through the eyes of the Henry family (a military family) and their loved ones, friends, professional acquaintances and adversaries. Highly recommend.

67. The October Horse by Colleen McCullough (auciobook version) 8/02/10 - 4 stars.

Julius Caesar in his prime - his relationship with Cleopatra - the beginnings and evolution of the plot to kill him - his relationships with his relatives - his death - the rivalry between Mark Anthony and Octavius to succeed him - what happens to the liberators (those who plotted to kill Caesar - and then the ascension of Octavian who would become Augustus Caesar as the rightful heir of Julius. Nicely done. A great mix of fact and fiction.

Wow - haven't posted in a while

68. The World According to Garp by John Irving - 8/06/10 - 3 stars.
Good book but was a bit bizarre in places - very creative but it just did not grab me like so many of the books I have read this year.

69. Citizen Washington by William Martin - 8/11/10 - 4 stars.
Really good historical fiction. Followed the father of our nation from his early days as a surveyor through the French and Indian War, the Revolutionary War, the growing pains of a nation and coming together as the first president through to his death.

70. Tatiana and Alexander by Paullina Simons - 8/18/10 - 5 stars.
The sequel to The Bronze Horseman - continues the really good historical grounding in WWII with Tatiana in NYC and Alexander stuck in Russia leading a band of prisoner soldiers.

71. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See on 8/22/10. 5 stars.
Loved the story, the friendship.

I loved Snow Flower too. I really like Lisa See, I think she does a great job creating the characters.

72. I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak on 8/24/10. 5 stars.
Loved this book. Such an inspiring message. Makes you want to do good things for others. And small things brighten the spirit many times just as much as the larger things. Highly recommend - a really good quick read.

73. The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes by Diane Chamberlain on 8/26/10. Also 5 stars.

A fabulous thrill ride though manipulation, kidnapping, death and assumption of a new identity. Quick and easy read. Easily done in a couple of days.

74. Night by Elie Wiesel on 8/27/10. Also 5 stars.

The ultimate and very personal tale of horror about the treatment of his family and his people during WWII from his family's denial of potenital danger, to being rounded up and transported to the camps, to separation from his mother and sister and a total dependence on his father and determination to stay close by with his father. From work in the camps, to horrific living conditions and inadequate food supply to the even greater horrors at the end of the war trying to keep the "prisoners" from their liberators. All of this is told with such depth of feeling. I did the audio of this and it was a fabulous narrator. i would highly recommend. And it is also such a quick little read - definitely heavy reading - but only 120 pages or 4 hours for the unabridged audio.

75. The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen on 8/29/10. 4 stars

Very typical of an Allen book - a little food, a little magic, a little romance and a lot of fun.

76. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins on 9/02/10. 4 stars.

An exciting end to the series. Not quite as good as the first two but nonetheless an exciting end.