This is off topic, but I was wondering if we could share some of our NON lyme reading materials, fav books, etc. I am very picky about what I read, and I just finished 3 fantastic books. I have picked up and put down 10 books since then. I need some GOOD books.
Here are my last three, no authors, sorry, can't remember.
-Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight (about white family growing up in Rodesia, Africa...wonderful memoir) -My Life in Orange (memoir about a boy who grew up on Rashnishpuram ashram communes in India, England and in Oregon. The guru with the 98 rolls royces. It was great to see a kid's perspective on communal life. Very funny and wry) -The Sex Lives of Cannibals (now my favorite book for the year...so funny about american couple who goes to a pacific atoll to do development aid work, the writer is hysterical!)
Anyone else have suggestions? Trails
Posted by trailsgrl (Member # 7285) on :
I was gonna do that cave, but seems like no one ever goes to off-topic. ??? Trails Posted by arg82 (Member # 161) on :
Well, I don't read that much because my brain is just too mushy most of the time. But I can make a few suggestions.
If you're interested in a fun book without much need for a lot of serious concentration, I highly recommend all the Harry Potter books. I've read the first five and the sixth one comes out very very soon (July 16th, to be exact)!! I'm going on vacation for a few weeks and I'm bringing the first five with me to re-read them before the sixth one comes out. Very good books for taking your mind off things.
I also highly recommend "Girl Interrupted". Very good book and also a good one to get lost in.
And the two Bridget Jones books ("Bridget Jones' Diary" and "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason") are both excellent, mostly chick books but very very funny because it's really easy to relate to the things she talks about.
I also recommend John Grisham books, especially "The Rainmaker". That's about an insurance company denying coverage for a bone marrow transplant for a boy with leukemia - very good therapy for Lymies who have frustrating insurance companies.
So, those are my suggestions. I'm interested in hearing what other people like!
[This message has been edited by arg82 (edited 10 June 2005).]
Posted by Aniek (Member # 5374) on :
Reading! I miss the reading I was able to do before law school. Here are some of the better ones:
"An Anthropologist on Mars" by Oliver Sacks - stories of people Dr. Sacks worked with who had various neurological disorders. If you don't think your symptoms are neurological just read this book.
"Running with Scissors" by Auguesten Burroughs - a memoire of a childhood far from normal
"The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" by Mark Haddon - absolutely fabulous mystery novel about the murder of a dog narrated by an austistic teenager
My all time favorites, if you haven't read them then find time this summer:
"Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens
"A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" by James Joyce
"The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde - perfect book to read in one sitting with fabulous cup of tea.
Posted by trailsgrl (Member # 7285) on :
Great!...already writing some of these down. Cant read while taking mepron/zith due to MASSIVE dizziness, but now that I am taking a break, I thought I would get GOING!
From the list so far, some of your favs are mine too!
Harry Potter books, yes agreed Annie! I actually read them to myself and then (since I dont have kids) I read them out loud to my partner. We really like to read to eachother at night. other books we have read to eachother: The Wind in the Willows (one of my favs) Winnie the Pooh His Dark Materials Trilogy (fantastic!) The Poisonwood Bible (ranks close to #1 alltimers)
Other books you guys mentioned that I also like are: -The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nite -Girl Interupted
Anyone read the ones I just finished?
I am gonna get that scissors one and the oliver sacks one too. (saw him speak her a when I had lyme in 2001)
Thanks so MUCH! Cant wait! Trails
Posted by valymemom (Member # 7076) on :
I always get around to novels long after they are popular but......
I loved Life of Pi and Middlesex
The children's stories by Madeleine L'Engle are favorites.
Always nearby when searching for God.... C.S. Lewis or Thomas Merton
Posted by minoucat (Member # 5175) on :
Cave -- I read Tea with the Black Dragon!
I can't remember it, but I know I enjoyed it...
I've recently gotten hooked on Arturo P�rez-Reverte -- part history, part mystery, a little dark, and very European. I always feel as if I've been somewhere else entirely when I read his stuff. (This has become a primary requirement for any reading material. I'm focusing on not being here now, for now.) I particularly enjoyed The Flanders Panel and The Fencing Master.
Anyone else get A Common Reader book catalogue? It's a treasure in itself, and I've gotten wonderful, unusual book recommendations from them. Also at http://www.commonreader.com/
Posted by trueblue (Member # 7348) on :
I'd like to third "the curious incident of the dog in the nighttime" by Mark Haddon and second the Madeline L'engle.
Also The Callahan's series ( the first is Callahan's crosstime saloon" by Spider Robinson. He punny and insightful and all a round enjoyable. I prefer these to his SF.
Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series. The first is "the Eyre Affair". The main character is a literary detective for a specail ops agency in an alternate 1980's great fun once you get past the very begining. Also pun intensive.
One more than I'll stop Janet Evanovitch's Number series, "One for the money" "Two for the dough"... These are fast and laugh out laoud funny. You find your self starting a littel giggle and then just erupting at some point.
Another one more "Angus Thongs and Full- Frontal Snogging" confessions of Georgia Nicholson. aslo a beginning of a series written as a diary of a 14 year old girl in england. (It comes with glossary to englich slang.)Quick reading and makes you laugh out loud. The author is Louise Rennison. Funny stuff and being 14 again is hysterical. also a start of a series. i'm waiting for the library to get the newest in this series right now. They are something you can read while your concentration is low, also. hahahahaha
Posted by yankee in black (Member # 4309) on :
Hello,
I'm in a book club which is part of a local chapter of a "University Womens Club" group
Which just means we all went to University, and enjoy reading books---and discussing them as such. And drinking cheap wine( not,me!) while we discuss them. (Pretty self-explanitory, huh?)
I don't participate in the section commitee---so I can't take any credit for the choices--which have all been "Wonderful", but I can share some that come to mind as being good....
The Ginger Tree, By Oswald Wynd
The Lady and The Unicorn, By Tracy Chevalier
Falling Leaves, By Adeline Yen Mah
The Corrections, By Jonathan Franzen
The Red Tent---I can't recall the author( A lyme moment)
Memories of a Geisha--can't remember that writers' name either
Onward.......
Midwives, By Chris Bohjalian
One Thousand White Women, By Jim Fergus
A few more.......
The Pilots Wife--author unremembered
All he Ever Wanted.....I believe that this book, and "The Pilots Wife", have the same author.
Attonement, By Ian Mc Kweon--I am a fan of anything Ian writes
Henceforth,
Saturday Morning, By Ian Mc Kweon( I think I have his last name spelled correctly--not quite sure, though)
And since I have always had/have a "Dark" sense of humor.........This is an old book--but I still find this ole' gal quite **dry** and comical
"The Fran Lebowitz Reader", By Fran Lebowitz
Other "dry satires" by Ms. Fran:
"Metropolitian Life"
"Social Studies"
If you have a weak, over-active bladder due to Lyme---you could be in trouble while reading Ms. Frans books!! ( Enough Said!)
I also enjoyed reading the Life of Pi--which was mentioned by another poster on this thread.
Like everyone esle with Lyme---the eyesite thing is a big problem for me----so The book club works out well for me, where it's o.k if you don't finish the book---since someone every month reviews the book selection at the meeting (They do such a good job, you could skip reading the book, and just attend to hear the review)
[This message has been edited by yankee in black (edited 11 June 2005).]
Posted by valymemom (Member # 7076) on :
This is a wonderful thread.....before heading to the local used bookstore this morning with some DVDs to exchange for credit I made a list of books you all recommended.
Thanks!
(A great way to locate a good story/literature is to read your kids' school's library lists).
Posted by minoucat (Member # 5175) on :
Bet you haven't read Archie and Mehitable by Don Sanchez? I'll have to re-read it, been so long. Why does it stick in my mind so much?
Cave--
hush your mouth of course i read it do you think im a heathen question mark
i sent a copy to my niece for her birthday and she loved it too exclamation point
we have some peculiarities as a family but we have great humor genes
just as soon as the uplifters get a country reformed it slips into a nose dive
if you get gloomy just take an hour off and sit and think how much better this world is than hell of course it won t cheer you up much if you expect to go there
if monkey glands did restore your youth what would you do with it question mark just what you did before interrogation point
yes i thought so exclamation point
-------------------
I also just finished Betty McDonald's "The Plague and I". It's a great read (she's very funny), and the parallels between TB in the '30s and LD, and the treatment quandaries, are intriguing.
And for those of you who love truly offbeat SF at it's best in exploring the possible combinations of human societies, "Courtship Rite" by Donald Kingsbury. You'll love it or hate it.
[This message has been edited by minoucat (edited 11 June 2005).]
It's book tracking site. Books are released in the wild and tracked. You can release your own books, try and hunt other people's and some of the members will trade.
(The above mention of media mail reminded me.)
This is what I've been doing as a hobby. The whole concept appeals to me and I've left 65 books in the wild, so far.
I've really been having a blast! It's almost like being Santa and reverse shoplifting in one. Take a look, it's free and they don't track you or release your information, if you sign up. (And you don't have to sign up to hunt books and take a look around.)
Posted by janet thomas (Member # 7122) on :
James Herriot was a vet in england around the time of WWI- he later wrote 4 books of short stories about life as a vet. he found humor everywhere, , very feel good stories that often make me laugh.
All creatures great and small ..............wise and wonderful .......................... the lord god made them all.
janet
Posted by minoucat (Member # 5175) on :
Just brought this up because I finished the delightful "A short history of tractors in Ukrainian" -- a novel by Marina Lewycka, set in the UK.
Posted by Larkspur (Member # 5131) on :
What a great thread! My all time favorite right now:
A Fine Balance by Rohintin Mistry
Posted by trails (Member # 1620) on :
up for summer reading lists THIS year.
One new suggestion from me:
"The spirit moves you and you fall down" by Ann Fadiman
I havent been able to read anything but lyme stuff in a while....everything else bores me.
Posted by Andie333 (Member # 7370) on :
I'm so glad this post got bumped back to the top; I missed it on the first round.
Since I've come late to the party, I'll add my vote for Archy and Mehitable. Also L'Engle. Trails, I laughed a lot reading Sex Lives of Cannibals and was glad for the first time since being dx that I wasn't following my dream of going off to an island somewhere.
Don't Lets Go sounds wonderful, and in that vein, I'd like to quickly digress and suggest a movie called Nowhere in Africa. Really wonderful.
I enjoyed Curious Incident a lot, as well as the Red Tent and almost anything by Fran Lebowitz. She is wry is a way that resonates with me.
I'm currently reading Gideon by Marilynne Robinson. Her writing in an earlier novel, Housekeeping, knocked my socks off. This is proving a bit slower but really rich.
The Kite Runner, I thought was good, but the ending disappointed me.
I've started the Doris Kearns Goodwin book about Lincoln, but it's tough for me to even hold it, and I'm not sure I have the stamina to actually finish it.
Because I can't get too serious, I keep an ongoing "summer" reading list (especially nice in the winter).
I have a weakness for detective novels and mysteries. For me, reading Harlan Coban is like eating chocolate -- very fun and a little addictive. I also like Lee Child.
I didn't enjoy history in high school and college...it seemed so fragmented. This book provided more of a background for WHY certain things happened.
Carol
Posted by treepatrol (Member # 4117) on :
The bible
Posted by Carol B (Member # 9110) on :
Can't believe nobody has mentioned:
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
Quote from back of book "The tale of one motherless daughter's discovery of what family really means-and the strange and wondrous places we find love" Washington Post
Lymenet seems like a strange and wondrous place where we find love !
Carol in MD
Posted by char (Member # 8315) on :
I am prompted to share my latest Border's experience. Kids and I go every Monday after dr. appt.
So I find this book: Lifetime Reading Guide. I was SO excited. I love to read and I love the classics.
I start with Lolita, oops! First sentence tells me this is going to not only steamy, but perverted. OK.
Next is Beckett. I start the first short story in the collection. 2nd paragraph we learn that the protagonist is sitting in his rocking chair. Tied to chair with 7 scarves. Naked. Because it pleasures him. I laugh and close the book. Let's try again. Oh! The phone rings. He is completely vexed how will he get to it? This reminded me of how I feel about the phone when insanely fatigued. So I found myself completely relating to this gentleman (?).
My teens died laughing about this 2nd story and were like poor mommy has had a bad reading night. Win some you lose some.
Looking forward to check out all these suggestions. You'd better not let me down with any "funny stuff".
Char
Posted by Nebula2005 (Member # 8244) on :
What an excellent thread!
I love to read, and when you're too sick to go anywhere, you can go anywhere in a book.
I love Harry Potter. I've read them all twice.
Elizabeth George. Her new one is very good.
I just finished Isabel's Daughter by Judith Ryan Hendricks. Bread Alone was good, too.
For overlooked but fun classics--The Woman in White and The Moonstone by Wilke Collins.
Heaven Lake by John Dalton.
Life Isn't All Ha Ha Hee Hee by Meera Syal.
The Best Awful by Carrie Fisher.
Edward Wright--Clean's Moon and While I Disappear.
Anything by Amy Tan.
James Doss's mysteries. Ursula K. LeGuin's SF. Other authors--Carol Goodman, Andrea Barrett, Sharyn McCrumb, AND Nevada Barr.
Seven Types of Ambiguity by Elliot Perlman--very clever.
One thing I learned when I used to work in a library, was even among friends, we all like different things.
It sure is fun to have some recommendations to start with. Thanks!
Posted by Nebula2005 (Member # 8244) on :
P.S.
Alexander McCall Smith's books about the ladies' detective agency in Botswana. Very happy but real.
Posted by hopeful123 (Member # 3244) on :
ann patchett - the magician's assistant and the patron saint of liars and a memoir i can't remember the name of.
zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance - a little too long, but easy to skim the stuff you're not interested in.
loved the life of pi - read it last summer
that's all folks\
Posted by Ann-OH (Member # 2020) on :
I just re-read "A Confederacy of Dunces" a pulitzer prize winner by John Kennedy Toole. A hilarious look at N'Orlins and its characters long before the flood.
I think someone is finally making a movie of it. I would love to see Oliver Platt play the lead.
Also just read Edwidge Danticat's "The Farming of Bones." I love anything she writes. So painful and beautiful.
Also John Berendt's "The City of Falling Angels" about all the social and political and cultural goings-on in Venice related to the burning of the Opera house. Fascinating! (He wrote "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" which put Savannah on the map again.)
Am reading "Mother Nature: A History of Mothers, Infants, and Natural Selection" recommended by daughter-in-law who is an Ob/Gyn.
Also starting Ian McEwan's "Saturday"
Earlier in my Lyme adventure, I had almost two years of being unable to read anything beyond the newspaper, and that was an effort.
Reading is such a joy now! Ann - OH
Posted by jggrl (Member # 9470) on :
hmmmm...there's so many.
like so many have said before Harry Potter ROCKS
I love CS Lewis and even though lots of people consider it a children's series I really reccommend reading ALL of 'The Chronicles of Narnia'--when you put it all together there's so much symbolism it's overwhelming.
I also like:
'The Blue Sword' and 'The Hero and the Crown' my Robin McKinley
'Beauty' by Robin McKinley
'The Dark is Rising' series (i can't remember the author but I'll get back on and list in when i can)
'Tuesdays with Morrie' (once again can't recall author)
The books above are all relatively easy reads. The following are ones that I also love, but have a hard time getting through now that my brain is so foggy all the time.
