I'm a rabid reader so I love this idea - I'm always looking for new books!

I recently read and recommended to my book club "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen. It's about a traveling circus (ala Barnum) during the Great Depression. It has fascinating characters, including an elephant, and is an uplifting read.

Amazon.com: Water for Elephants: A Novel: Sara Gruen: Books

I also wanted to mention a magazine called Bookmarks, which is where I get a lot of ideas of things to read. Most libraries carry it and it has reviews of so many books: new, classics, mystery, sci-fi, children's, non-fiction, etc. It uncovers tons of stuff I NEVER would discover on my own.

Happy reading!

__________________

We just did Water for Elephants as our mommysavers book club book a month or two ago. You'll have to check us out. The book club is a subforum of the entertainment forum. We're just now voting on this month's book. So come and join us!!!

Thanks for the mention of Bookmarks. That sounds like a great tool to check out.

__________________

I enjoyed and recommend Promise Not To Tell by Jennifer McMahon.

Kate returns to her home to care for her mother who has Alzheimers. On the night she arrives a young girl is murdered, and it mirrors the murder of her childhood friend. Her friend's (Del) murderer was never found.

It was a quick read for me. It was part ghost story (Del communicates with friends and family to help solve who the murderer is), part mystery, and also deals with different relationships. The storyline deals with a woman now returning to her childhood home, problems dealing with ther mother that has Alzheimers, and about adolescent friendship.

I'm reading Gentleman and Players (for a book club).
Amazon.com: Gentlemen and Players: A Novel (P.S.): Joanne Harris: Books
It's about privileged young men at St. Oswald's Grammar School for Boys, groomed for success by the eccentric Classics teacher who has been a fixture there for more than thirty years and about the son of the school janitor who is forced to go to the nearby public school but enters the life of St. Oswald's by creating a new identity and by hiding from his neglectful father.

I also like Joanne Harris'
Amazon.com: Five Quarters of the Orange: A Novel (P.S.): Joanne Harris: Books

and

Amazon.com: Chocolat: Joanne Harris: Books

and

Amazon.com: Blackberry Wine: Joanne Harris: Books

__________________

Well I finished You Can Get Arrested For That. I liked his writing style, but they were 2 drunken idiots, and a couple of the laws they tried to break were inappropriate. The oral sex laws, and giving a cigarette to the monkey. Still, there were a few very funny parts. Not really sure if I recommend the book or not.
Now I am off to read Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business- by Neil Postman, The Heart of Anger by Lou Priolo and I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith.
I don't know which one I am reading first. I mentioned I Capture the Castle to my 6th grader, and she has taken it from me, so I don't know when I will get to read that one. It is about a girl who starts journaling to improve her writing skills. She lives in an old English castle.
I guess I will have to start with Amusing Ourselves to Death, since that and the Castle book are both library books.

__________________
I have nothing to declare except my genius."
- Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) upon arriving at U.S. customs 1882

This winter, I read Saving Fish From Drowning, by Amy Tan. I enjoy her story-telling style and her take on people and events. Saving Fish may be of interest to you right now, because it takes place in Myanmar. Amy explains the political climate in Myanmar through the eyes of people on an ill-fated bus tour. I'm now reading her book, The Joy Luck Club. So far, it is very touching.

I have also just read Raising Cain and Reviving Ophelia -- two books explaining boy and girl behavior and how our society affects it. I thought both were very realistic.

MELSB -- My brother just wrote a review about Pollan's book for the Kalamazoo Gazette. Google -- Pollan, Leuty, food, Kalamazoo Gazette.

Marlene

Read the review! Very cool!

I love Amy Tan and I have to say Saving Fish From Drowning is one of my favorite books! I had laugh out loud moments in that book even and I don't always do that!

I'm just finishing up The Road by McCormac I'll have to do a review when I get back from vacation. It's VERY different. I'm hoping for a happy ending, but not seeing one in sight.

__________________

I am reading another book, Deceit by James Siegel. My husband got it on his last trip and it looked pretty good. It is pretty good - not great writing but a good little story. I haven't finished it yet but let me just say that if this story is all about a man's journey into mental illness -- I'm going to be so ticked off!

I'm not sure if he's crazy or there really is something going on here!

While on vacation I finished reading:

The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Amazon.com: The Road (Oprah's Book Club): Cormac McCarthy: Books

This is definitely NOT a book for everyone. I had heard rave reviews about it and knew it was an incredibly popular book, but was surprised by how depressing it was. The book is about a father and son surviving in a postapocalyptic world where everything is ash and there is no food. They walk in the whole book trying to reach the ocean. During their walk, they are near starving, scavaging for food, constantly hiding because most people remaining have turned to cannabalism to survive. So it's page after page of struggling walking, being hungry, hiding, fear, seeing horrible sights (such as a headless baby on a spit someone was cooking).

I know many people who read it find it inspiring and uplifting but I guess I never got that feeling. I kept reading it, hoping for the "happy" part, but it never came at least for me. I told my DH what it was about and he was practically yelling at me telling me to stop reading that junk (obviously I don't listen to him very well) This author is the same one that wrote the book "No Country for Old Men" that the movie by the same name won the academy award last year. I never saw the movie but heard it was very depressing too. It was amazing to feel the love the father had for his son, but I could never get over the feeling of overpowering desperation.

I'd love to hear from others who liked this book so maybe I could get another perspective. Maybe I'm just not deep enough to get it

__________________