Non-Financial Book Club *UPDATE IN OP*

[Deleted]

Mar 29, 2012 10:16:39 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

Memoirs of Geisha is really good if you haven't read that yet anne.

that's on my read list. Also Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.

[bean29]

Grr I was offered the audio version of Hunger games on my kindle last week for about $4.00 but I did not buy it. DD did not like it.

My kids both like the Lorien Legacies series.
I am Number 4, Power of 6 and new book is Rise of Nine - kids have not read it yet. DD is a reader but DS is not at all. He is bugging DD to buy Rise of Nine so he can read it. (DD has a Kindle Fire, so it will be less expensive as an e-book).

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

I tried to get into Girl with a Dragon Tattoo but I couldn't make it thru the first chapter.

Anyone read Stephen Kings 11/23/63?

I haven't read any of his work in years since it feels like he recycles his plots over and over. His latest book though sounds really interesting and I've read a lot of positive reviews. I plan on checking it out from the library eventually.

[Firebird]

Memoirs of Geisha is really good if you haven't read that yet anne.



Movie is very good too. Much better than most renditions.

What would be a fair "read 1st book by" date? I finished the first book last night and started the second this morning, so I'm raring to go but I know people need time to get their hands on copies. What if we say one month? May 1st we can start discussing Book One? Would that be fair enough? (It really is a super-fast read once you start.)

[Firebird]

I tried to get into Girl with a Dragon Tattoo but I couldn't make it thru the first chapter.

I had to struggle - it is VERY, VERY slow in the beginning and the author takes forever to get into the meat of the story, then the action is sort of jumbled in what I perceived to be a strange way throughout the second half of the book. But it was enough to keep me going, and unfortunately like most trilogies you really do need to read the entire first book to have any idea of what's going on in the second book, which is 10x better IMO.

By the way, just in case anyone isn't already aware of this - Girl With A Dragon Tattoo has some very brutal scenes of violence, including three rapes (some involving torture). If you don't think you can handle reading those parts, I wouldn't start because the specifics of the brutality in the first book are crucially important to the plots of the second and third. In other words, you can't just skip the awful parts.

[happyhoix]

Mar 29, 2012 10:22:01 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

I tried to get into Girl with a Dragon Tattoo but I couldn't make it thru the first chapter.

Anyone read Stephen Kings 11/23/63?

I haven't read any of his work in years since it feels like he recycles his plots over and over. His latest book though sounds really interesting and I've read a lot of positive reviews. I plan on checking it out from the library eventually.

That's a book that's coming up within a couple months in our real life book club. I've heard it's different from the usual Stephen Kings in that it is more of a thriller, less horror.

[movingforward]

I think May 1st is a fair date. It is going to be really hard for those of us who finish prior to that to keep our mouths shut though

[Firebird]

That's a book that's coming up within a couple months in our real life book club. I've heard it's different from the usual Stephen Kings in that it is more of a thriller, less horror.

What's the difference? I prefer King books that are dark but not horror, like The Green Mile (one of my favorite movies as well).

[Firebird]

I think May 1st is a fair date. It is going to be really hard for those of us who finish prior to that to keep our mouths shut though

Tell me about it But I don't want to spoil the surprises for anyone. By the way, my guess about the ending was partially right and partially wrong. I can't WAIT to see the movie this weekend.

Anyone who's seen it and read the book - any comments on the adaptation? I heard Collins wrote the screenplay as well, which gives me hope. Usually they're more faithful when the author writes both.

I've also heard Jennifer Lawrence is extraordinary as Katniss.

[Deleted]

I like Stephen King books. I also got into Michael Crighton (sp?) last year. I read Sphere and Andromeda Strain. I've been trying to read Jurassic Park, but I can't get into it too much.

[movingforward]

Mar 29, 2012 10:53:34 GMT -5 @moneyjenny82 said:

I like Stephen King books. I also got into Michael Crighton (sp?) last year. I read Sphere and Andromeda Strain. I've been trying to read Jurassic Park, but I can't get into it too much.

I like Michael Crichton too. Did you ever read A Case of Need? I really liked that one...

[happyhoix]

Mar 29, 2012 10:52:05 GMT -5 Firebird said:

That's a book that's coming up within a couple months in our real life book club. I've heard it's different from the usual Stephen Kings in that it is more of a thriller, less horror.

What's the difference? I prefer King books that are dark but not horror, like The Green Mile (one of my favorite movies as well).

Most of the Stephen King books I've read deal with something supernatural. Salems' lot - vampires. The shining - haunted hotel. The Green Mile had that guy with mystical powers. From what I've heard, 11/23/60 is about the JFK assassination, and there is one supernatural element - the main character time travels back to 1960 - but the rest of the book is him trying to stop JFK's assassination, and that's all non-supernatural suspense.

I love King's horror writing (Salems Lot is maybe my favorite) but my DH won't touch that genre. He said he probably will at least try to read 11/23/60, however, because it doesn't have that supernatural element.

[wvugurl26]

Mar 29, 2012 8:49:03 GMT -5 @pinkcshmere said:

Mar 29, 2012 7:27:56 GMT -5 wvugurl26 said:

A coworker is going to lend me the book. I'll get it on Monday. As predicted he's giving me a hard time about reading it bc my message board is doing it.

Why would he give you a hard time about that?

He's joking but it went along the lines of we say it is really good and you don't read it and then strangers on a message board convince you to read it?

May 1st is fine with me.

[Firebird]

He's joking but it went along the lines of we say it is really good and you don't read it and then strangers on a message board convince you to read it?

If he only knew what else strangers on a message board have convinced you to do!

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

From what I've heard, 11/23/60 is about the JFK assassination, and there is one supernatural element - the main character time travels back to 1960 - but the rest of the book is him trying to stop JFK's assassination, and that's all non-supernatural suspense.

That is what interests me. I like some of his other books and was a huge fan in grade school but after awhile it felt like he was recycling his plot lines.

This one sounds totally different from his usual writing.

I've been thinking about buying it because DH used to be a huge SK fan and said the same thing I did. I think he might like this one.

[happyhoix]

I read the Hunger Games and liked it but wasn't floored by it, not like most of the members of my book club.

Surprisingly, for a book club with mostly middle aged women, our group favorite to date so far is World War Z. Never thought I would want to read a zombie book, but it was excellent.

Guess that's why book clubs are good, it makes you read things you might not normally read.

[movingforward]

If anyone wants to read something really off the wall then read The Resort and The Association by Bentley Little. Talk about weird...

[Firebird]

That is what interests me. I like some of his other books and was a huge fan in grade school but after awhile it felt like he was recycling his plot lines.

Hey, the man's written like 50 books, you'd be recycling at that point too!

[Firebird]

If anyone wants to read something really off the wall then read The Resort and The Association by Bentley Little. Talk about weird...

I like weird. Weird how?

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Hey, the man's written like 50 books, you'd be recycling at that point too

Family Guy made fun of him. He is sitting with his publisher who asks him if he has any ideas for a new book. SK grabs the lamp off his desk and goes "How about a haunted lamp oooh?" and his publisher responds "You aren't even trying anymore are you?"



The other dig I liked is when Family Guy did Misery and SK is the one that hit Brian (who plays the author) while trying to get away from Dean Koontz.

[Firebird]

I could see a haunted lamp being VERY creepy. Ooh, or how about a haunted keyboard?

[movingforward]

Mar 29, 2012 11:14:01 GMT -5 Firebird said:

If anyone wants to read something really off the wall then read The Resort and The Association by Bentley Little. Talk about weird...

I like weird. Weird how?

The Resort starts with a very normal family going on vacation and the hotel is beautiful, etc. Then weird things start happening like people exercising in the nude, huge spiders in the rooms, pools filled with blood, the golf course is dumping ground for the dead, etc. I have to say it kept my interest...

[Gardening Grandma]

Guess that's why book clubs are good, it makes you read things you might not normally read.



That is exactly why I enjoy our book club. While I haven't liked everything I've read, I've been exposed to so many good books that I would not have found on my own. It is also interesting to compare responses......

[Firebird]

The Resort starts with a very normal family going on vacation and the hotel is beautiful, etc. Then weird things start happening like people exercising in the nude, huge spiders in the rooms, pools filled with blood, the golf course is dumping ground for the dead, etc. I have to say it kept my interest...

Niiiiiiiiiice. I might need to read that one.

[wvugurl26]

Mar 29, 2012 11:07:51 GMT -5 Firebird said:

He's joking but it went along the lines of we say it is really good and you don't read it and then strangers on a message board convince you to read it?

If he only knew what else strangers on a message board have convinced you to do!

Lol! I have known some of you for much longer than I've been at this job.

[Firebird]

Lol! I have known some of you for much longer than I've been at this job.

Me too.

[Epiphany]

Mar 29, 2012 10:53:06 GMT -5 Firebird said:

Anyone who's seen it and read the book - any comments on the adaptation? I heard Collins wrote the screenplay as well, which gives me hope. Usually they're more faithful when the author writes both.

I've also heard Jennifer Lawrence is extraordinary as Katniss.

I read the series TWICE because it was so good and saw the movie. The movie is a faithful adaptation but I don't think you get as much character depth from it. Even at 2.5 hours they had to condense parts/days. I also don't like the way they handled giving of the pin that becomes her symbol, I understand why they had to change it from the book but thought they could have done it. Most of the book is Katniss' internal dialog so although Jennifer did a brilliant job, not all of the emotions are captured in film. There were a few other things but over all it was good.

ETA: they left out several sub-characters that add flavor to all three books but I think they did it because of time.

[Firebird]

ETA: they left out several sub-characters that add flavor to all three books but I think they did it because of time.

Who'd they leave out?

Also, is Gale in the movie more than in the book? Since the movie doesn't necessarily need to be limited to Katniss's perspective, if I were directing I would choose to develop his character further on-screen (having him watch the Games and react to what's going on) as a build-up to the later storylines.

I did read in a review (of someone who hadn't read the book) that he didn't understand how the kids were so "okay" with the idea of killing each other and he wondered what sort of society could foster that attitude, a question which is more than adequately addressed in the book. So I'm guessing they had to cut out a lot of the backstory, including perhaps the fact that the kids have grown up watching these Games and knowing that they might one day have to take part in them. But that's the nature of movies vs. books, I guess.

[whoisjohngalt]

FB,
are you going to ask to make this thread a "sticky"? And is there going to be a list of books that people are reading?

Lena

[Epiphany]

They left out Madge and the stylist team except Cinna. Surprisingly no, Gale isn't in it more, they flash back to him a couple times to show him thinking or watching katniss but that's it.

They also left out the couple of more violent scenes to stay within the PG13 rating.

ETA: I did like the control center for controlling the games. Helped the technology make more sense. Seneca Wallace was in it more overall.