Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

If you haven't already seen the ads, PBS is airing productions of all of Jane Austen's novels on Masterpiece Theatre on Sunday nights. You'll have to check your local PBS station for times. It inspired me to read the rest of her novels--something I'd like to finish in 2008. I have "Mansfield Park" and "Emma" left now.

"Northanger Abbey" was the first novel that Jane wrote although I think it was published posthumously. It is a fun tale of Catherine Morland and how she falls in love with Henry Tilney. Of course Catherine is from a "lower" middle class family and has hardly any fortune and Henry is very well off, indeed! Catherine is very obssessed with the gothic novels of the era (think "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley) and has a very over-active imagination. It almost ruins her changes with Henry, but alas it all works out in the end.

This book was definitely the most light-hearted of the Austen novels that I have read so far. Definitely worth the time though to read it.

The PBS version of this very fun--so if you missed it, I'm sure it will be out on DVD any day now. The gal who plays Isabella Thorpe was also in the Keira Knightly version of "Pride & Prejudice"--she played Kitty Bennett. (Thanks Jennie for that little fact!)

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

This is the book that Nancy chose for our next book club meeting. I read it when it was first out in paperback so maybe in 2003 sometime. I had forgotten a lot of the plot and all I could remember was that it ended up being Pi and the tiger, Richard Parker on the lifeboat.

I won't go into great detail on the plot just in case someone from book club actually reads my blog and hasn't finished it yet. But, basically Pi and his family are going from India to Canada along with several animals from their zoo on a large ship. The ship sinks and Pi is the only human survivor. He ends up on the lifeboat with a hyena, zebra, orangutan and a Bengal tiger. You can imagine what happens.

The writing style is easy to follow, but some people might find it hard to get going in the book. It was a quick read and interesting, but be prepared for some gory scenes and honest detail about how Pi survives for over 5 months at sea.

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Happy New Year fellow readers!

I recently read "Love in the Time of Cholera" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez for my book club. I didn't finish it, but was filled in by Cynthia in my book club on the ending. This is currently the Oprah Book club selection. I have no idea why! The writing is all prose--not a lot of dialogue. This book has been translated from Spanish into English so we all wondered if there wasn't anything lost in translation. Apparently there wasn't. The plot didn't move forward in the middle of the book and the only reason I kept reading was for book club. The characters didn't have a lot of depth in my opinion--the main male character, Florentino was a pervert and obsessed with sex. He was promiscuous which all of us had a hard time with and when he finally ended back up with the woman he's loved for over 54 years, he complains about them both smelling "old." I didn't think this was a romantic story at all. Overall, I could have lived without reading this book.

I would not recommend that any of you read this book. I'm hoping that the reason Marquez won the Nobel prize is based on his other works.

"Book of the Dead" by Patricia Cornwell

The Kay Scarpettas series is one of the most interesting I've read. She is a medical examiner/forensic investigator. This latest book takes place in Charleston, SC. If you've read the previous books, you will appreciate the twist of events that takes place with Scarpetta, Marino and the other characters. I won't give anything away in my blog, but I was shocked at where Cornwell took this book. There's a big cliff-hanger at the end too so I guess we'll all just have to wait and see what comes from her next book.

Now back to the Boleyn Inheritance...

The next book for my book club is "Love in the Time of Cholera."

Books and holidays

I finished "Lipstick Jungle" during my week off from work last week. It was a really fun read. I got sucked in right way and really enjoyed the story about three successful women and what it takes to stay on top of their game. I enjoyed this book by Candace Bushnell much more than "Trading Up."

I started reading "The Female Brain" recommended by Amy in my book club. Sorry Amy, but I just can't get past the second chapter. I think there are tons of differences between men and women and this book explores those differences by explaining what's happening hormonally in the female brain. there are huge generalizations in this book. I'm just not into it right now.

So on to "The Boleyn Inheritance" the sequel to "The Other Boleyn Girl" and I've decided that I need LIGHT reading this month! Have a good weekend everyone!

Lipstick Jungle By Candace Bushnell

I started Lipstick Jungle on Sunday. It's a bit like Sex and the City without the sex. It's fun and just what I need this week since I'm off work.

I have HUGE pile of books to get through. Here are some of them:
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
Wuthering Heights by Bronte
Wings of the Dove by Henry James
In A Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson
My Antonia by Willa Cather
Jane and the Stillroom Maid
The Painted House by John Grisham

and more....can you tell I've been wanting to catch up on reading the classics?

Have a very Happy Thanksgiving! I'm very thankful for books and stimulating conversation around books! :)

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

What does your name mean to you? How does it define who you are?

For Gogol Ganguli his name is significant. He should have originally been named by his grandmother but unfortunately the letter never arrived from India to his parents in Boston. So his father chooses Gogol. Gogol doesn't like being named Gogol--it's different. When he's older he changes his legal name to Nikhil which confuses his family, his friends and the ones who know him by Gogol. He doesn't learn the significance of his name until he's older from his father. He's known that he was named after Nikolai Gogol, but wasn't sure why. Guess you'll have to read it to figure it out.

The book was easy to read--Lahiri has a way with words. She won the Pulitzer for "Interpreter of Maladies", a great collection of short stories. I really enjoyed her writing and can't wait to see what she brings us next.

One thing I didn't know was that Indian food is all eaten without silverware. I didn't know that at all. I guess the only Indian restaurant I've been to served food with utensils. maybe it wasn't truly authentic after all. :)