Every few summer I read through Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City series. I was done with all the new books on my night stand so I pulled them out again. I am on the fourth one, Babycakes, and expect to be done by Friday.

There is some sadness, but there is also funny stuff. I have never been to San Fransisco, so this is how I visit.

Lady S, I loved the TALES OF THE CITY series!

Last book I read was “Naked” by Sedaris as the recommendation of another hiker. It was okay, but didn’t live up to the hype with which others have discussed his writing, I thought…

Right now I am reading The Highly Sensitive Person because the psychic recommended it to me, but I don’t relate nearly as well as I had expected to (or she expected me to). Before that, I read The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, and practically DEVOURED it, it was so good. And before that, I read Moose, which I highly recommend.

I have the new Jane Green on deck, BEACH HOUSE, currently I am reading COMFORT FOOD(love it) by Kate Jacobs(loved FRIDAY NIGHT KNITTING CLUB), read MOOSE by Stephanie Klein in one day, Meg Cabot’s QUEEN OF BABBLE series(quick, light and fun)and before that read Jennifer Lancaster’s new paperback which is my favorite of her collection.

I think it’s time I read a real book, what some of you call literature…any suggestions?

Oh wait and I have MY LIFE WITH MY SISTER MADONNA coming to me via Amazon pre-order!

Yea Bethany, My Life with my Sister Madonna penned by her brother Christopher Ciccone, is real Literature. hahahaha

mom

I just read The Last Girls, by Lee Smith, after way too much Jennifer Weiner (thanks, Hil!) and Emily Giffin. Not exactly “literature,” but it had a little more depth. Next up will probably be Lush Life, which I borrowed from my mom, or Specials, the fourth in a trilogy (yes, you read that right) by Scott Westerfeld. The other three were interesting. They are technically YA books, but just enough techno-futuristic to be interesting to older readers. Not that I’m past kids’ books, by the way.

Still looking for exciting ideas, though!

I’m with Mom on Lit crit of Madonna. My current read was ‘Jesse Stuart on Education’ It may well be out of print now, but the Jesse Stuart Foundation may have it on hand. If you don’t know much about him, it’s a good intro into his ideas about life & living & teaching. And he was doing all of this in the mountains of Appalachia often before the electric light even got there. But he lived until 1984, & was fairly influential in teaching circles in KY & TN & Appalachia for awhile before all the ‘assessment testing’ became the rage. And before the Appalachian Commission came into being.

Here’s some links:

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Stuart]

[http://www.answers.com/topic/jesse-stuart]

[http://www.jsfbooks.com/] (Foundation)

That and my usual dozens of blogs. But the Huffington Post much more regularly too. It’s the most successful new media launch in quite sometime. Cheers & Good Luck, ‘VJ’

I am reading EAT PRAY LOVE by Elizabeth Gilbert. Boy, do I identify! She visits/lives in Italy, India and Indonesia. I read Italy and India and I was part way through Indonesia but left the book in my friend’s computer case during our trip to DC. I am also reading WAR AND PEACE - it’s a soap opera! I bought another book while in DC (the name of which I cannot remember at the moment) but it too, is in the computer bag. One of my colleagues left me UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN which is currently sitting on my desk. I read it a few years ago and am trying to decide if it is worth a second round.

I’ve read some fabulous stuff recently:

1. Bright, Shiny Morning (James Frey) — I know, I know, but it’s fiction (like all his others ;-)) and it’s great.

2. The House on Fortune Street (Margot Livesey)

3. The Red Leather Diary (Lily Koppel)

4. The Film Club (David Gilmour)

And I’ve also read some less-than-fabulous stuff:

1. Dear American Airlines (Jonathan Miles) — it started off strong, but maybe I just lost the feeling due to some other things going on

2. When You Are Engulfed in Flames (David Sedaris) — not nearly as good as his other stories

3. A Wolf at the Table (Augusten Burroughs) — I didn’t even finish it, even though I’ve loved his other books. This book was not at all funny, even though he’s made light of his tragic upbringing in previous books.

4. The Garden of Last Days (Andre Dubus) — I loved House of Sand and Fog, but I couldn’t get past the third chapter of this book. Feh.

I loved Tales of The City. I ready them years ago and think I might re-read them. Thanks for the idea Lady S!

Bethany- Let me know if there is anything juicy in the book that I don’t already know!

xx

Sarah- have you been watching his interviews on Perez? sooo juicy. we must video chat later. Are you coming back to the states this summer or not? I can’t remember if elise said you got a tix.

xoxo

Ya’ll should join goodreads.com

I just read Water for Elephants - it was extremely well written.
Love Walked In, by Marisa De Los Santos, was wonderful.

I read Seeing Me Naked on Bethany’s suggestion and I liked it a lot.

I am currently reading Expecting Adam and For Matrimonial Purposes

I picked up The Memory Keeper’s Daughter at the airport on my way to London. (It was a blast.)

I ended up just finishing the Eric Clapton autobiography. Being a rocker from way back, I enjoyed this one very much. Clapton is so quiet that it was good to read about his beginnings, his pining for Pattie Boyd Harrison, and all the heroin and alcohol abuse, and all the albums. It is so nice to see him clean and sober and helping others, with a lovely young family to boot. We got to see him play in Hyde Park (along with John Mayer, Jason Mraz, and Sheryl Crow the same day).

Okay, I am making my way through the Memory Keeper’s Daughter, but it is full of sadness. That doesn’t mean I put it down. I keep picking it up, wondering how/if the twins will reunite.

Just started ‘Little Children,’ by Tom Perrotta. About 100 pages in, but it reminds me of Desperate Housewives, except with toddlers.

Apparently it was also a movie.

Before that, it was ‘Vanishing Acts,’ by Jodi Picoult.

Loved ‘Friday Night Knitting Club,’ so I think I’ll have to check out ‘Comfort Food’ next.

I second Essie’s recommendation of goodreads.com. I joined about 2 weeks ago and am addicted.

Currently, I’m reading THE WORLD WITHOUT US and A WIDOW FOR ONE YEAR. They’re both very good so far.

I started signing up for goodreads.com then got distracted at work and accidentally deleted the email. Thanks again for the reminder of the site!

I just finished History of Love and absolutely loved it - it was beautiful and heartbreaking. I highly recommend it!

I too need to remember to sign up for goodreads.com!

Bringing Down the House by Ben Mezrich — This is the book on which the movie “21″ is based about the MIT students who take various casinos for millions of dollars.

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch with Jeff Zaslow — Pausch is the Carnegie Mellon professor who has terminal pancreatic cancer and did this lecture that you can find easily on the Internet. The book is full of funny, touching stories as well as good advice. I knew Zaslow in college.

The Other Boleyn Girl — Yes, there is a movie based on this book also (starring two Jewish girls, how ironic). Honestly, the book is too much “chick lit,” and I couldn’t get into it. Maybe I know the real history a little too well.

Lots of travel books before we went on vacation, plus the tripadvisor.com and betterbidding.com web pages. (Tripadvisor gives you hotel and restaurant reviews; Betterbidding tells you what hotels Priceline and Hotwire probably give you based on location and star rating.)

reading the ‘united states of arugula’ and breezing through it now that I’ve spent half the week on the subway and planes. next up I have ‘julie and julia’ and I’m pretty sure I’ll be all julia child-ed out when I’m done with both.

History of Love was a FABULOUS book.

I am currently reading through the Tales of the City books (am on the fourth one) and reading a slightly more obscure (it has garnered some critical acclaim of late) “Out Stealing Horses” by Per Pettersen and is a translation of a Norwegian book. It is interesting (in a good way!)

When you are engulfed in flames, David Sedaris. I love reading this book. If it is not as good as his other stories, I can’t wait to read more of him.