Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Odds and Ends

The weather is crisp and cool here - I just love fall! Unfortunately, the heaters are on full blast at the office so I'm roasting a bit. Ugh.

I finally feel like I'm back. Jet lag has disappeared, tummy has healed, and my mind is now focused. I haven't got back to writing yet because I've got a big move coming up, so I've been busy packing (more on that later). But I have been reading!

I just finished The Book Thief. Rarely have I read a more emotionally-powerful book and a more well-written book. Wow. I was continually blown away by Markus Zusak's writing. To see my review of this brilliant work, you can check out my World War II blog.

Now that I've finished a book, I'm looking for another, so if you have any recommendations, let me know!

19 comments:

  1. I loved The Book Thief, too! It was quite an amazing book and had me captured until the very end.

    Have you read The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield? It's worth reading.

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  2. RT - YES, I read that one, too! LOVED it.

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  3. I read a book last year that another blogger just recently mentioned. The Year of The Fog by Michelle Richmond is a great read. The author uses the tools of time, memory and photography really effectively in telling her story of how several lives change in the matter of seconds.

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  4. Reading Secret Life of Bees next. Have you read it yet?

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  5. Joanne - Hmm, that sounds good. Will have to look for it.

    Angie - No, I haven't, but I've heard good things about it.

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  6. I haven't read, The Book Thief yet, but will have to now that I've read your review on it.

    I recently read, The Secret Life of Bees and it was wonderful, I certainly recommend it.

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  7. Ooh, you've changed your picture. It's lovely.

    I read The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney and absolutely loved it. It's set in Canada in the 1860s and the writing is just wonderful.

    Good luck with the packing!

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  8. Debs - I've heard good things about The Secret Life of Bees. I think I need to put that on my must-read list. :-)

    Shirley - Thanks! I decided to show my "intellectual" side on my pic. ;-)

    Will check out your book recommendation, as well!

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  9. I just read this book. Great one!

    http://www.amazon.com/dp/0818407271/?tag=googhydr-20&hvadid=1714480721&ref=pd_sl_7oqiilxmjm_e

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  10. The Book Thief was a delight!

    I'm just finishing The Bridge of Sighs, by Richard Russo. If you haven't read him, I highly recommend his books--they're wonderful. Nobody's Fool is the funniest, Empire Falls perhaps the best (it won the Pulitzer).

    Glad you're feeling better!

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  11. Glad to see that you are back and feeling better! Right now I am reading some books for authors to put on the blog for them--some I like--others...well.

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  12. Calfee, I'm ordering that book as we speak...LOL.

    Christine - Thanks for the recommendation! Will check him out.

    Terri - I'm so glad my tummy troubles have gone away! :-) I think it's incredibly hard to finish reading a book that you don't like. I'm to the point where if the first few chapters don't hold my interest, I put it down and pick up another one.

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  13. I wanted to read The Book Thief. I think I'll have to add that to my TBR pile...can't wait to hear more on the move!

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  14. Kelly - Definitely read it! It's a fast read, but there is so much to it that it is just mind-blowing.

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  15. Anonymous8:56 AM

    I'm glad you're feeling better. I hate jet lag -- it takes me 3-4 days to get rid of it, coming back from Europe.

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  16. Devon - The jet lag, combined with the tummy troubles, was just really hard to get through. But I finally made it. :-)

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  17. Melissa, have you joined Goodreads.com? It's a great way to rate and review books you've already read (say nothing of simply tracking them!) and also has "book shelves" for book on your to-be-read pile. Let me know if you join and I'll add you to my friend list there.

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  18. Sounds like our weather is similar and I too am LOVING it (though it's cloudy today - oh well).

    Anyway, here's a book you will LOVE:
    Every Secret Thing by Emma Cole
    http://www.emmacole.ca/secret.html

    I reviewed it on my blog while you were away.

    She also writes as Susanna Kearsley.

    Enjoy!

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  19. RT - I haven't joined it yet, but have looked at it.

    Tess - I love cloudy days! Strangely enough, there weren't very many of them when I was in England.

    I'm off to check out that book now...

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