Great Reading

I think of the Beach House as being engaging reading for men and women, whereas Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas may appeal more to women (my hunch only). Memoirs of a Geisha was also written by a man and it's amazing how he seems to get into the Geisha's mind and see the world and tell the story from her perspective.

You are so right! BTW I so understood Memoirs of a Geisha because we had just returned from Japan when I read it. If you observe men "working" until 10 PM at night, all of the sexy 20-something women who accompany them for dinner, and you know (as the book indicates) that the wives are home taking care of the home and kids, clueless about whatever is going on in town, you really get it.

My absolute favorite book? G?del, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid that discusses the links between math (G?del), art (Escher), and music (Bach). HEAVY reading, but awesome, IMHO.

This book may have already been discussed before, but I don't recall it.

I am talking about the book "The Sunday Wife," by Cassandra King.
It is supposed to take place in the Panhandle. Has anyone read it?


Beach Runner: Your quote below reminds me of an online friend of mine (American) who lives and works in Tokyo. She can hear her townhouse neighbors at night: the husband beats his wife. But police do not handle domestic disturbances there. My friend can't speak Japanese, she has been unsure what to do, but thinks she will take over a plate of cookies and give the wife the number of the local women's shelter just to perhaps be the impetus for the wife to get some kind of assistance.
If you observe men "working" until 10 PM at night, all of the sexy 20-something women who accompany them for dinner, and you know (as the book indicates) that the wives are home taking care of the home and kids, clueless about whatever is going on in town, you really get it.

I bought "The Sunday Wife"... will be reading it down there! 24 days to go!

I read the Sunday Wife. It's good, not great. But it's special because it takes place in the area, and Grayton Beach plays a central role in the book now and then. It's worth reading because of that.

I read the Sunday Wife. It's good, not great. But it's special because it takes place in the area, and Grayton Beach plays a central role in the book now and then. It's worth reading because of that.

I just can't get into it. I keep falling asleep.

I also read the Sunday Wife. Thought it was a good beach read too. Loved the references to Grayton. Now, I'm reading "Handling Sin" by Michael Malone. I'm not too far into it yet and it's reeeeeeeeeaaaalllly thick. Started it on vacation and haven't had much time to read since returning.

I recommended Cassandra King's "The Sunday Wife" on this Board some weeks back. I enjoyed this book, although it doesn't require much thinking. Particularly liked that it was set in Grayton Beach and Pt. Washington. When I first realized it was about a minister's wife, I had second thoughts about reading it. Not exactly my cup of tea, nor is most light fiction. But it was a good story about the standard that the wives of religious men are held to and I thought her experiences with female friendships were very poignant. A nice little love affair, a la Anne Rivers Siddons, thrown in for good measure. If you like Pat Conroy ("Prince of Tides" and others), you may enjoy this book because there is definitely a similarity in their use of words. King is the wife of Pat Conroy.

Thanks for the suggestions. A few good books I have read lately...Wicked, the story of the Wicked Witch of West from the Wizard of Oz. Not light hearted but interesting and rather dense. The Emporer of Ocean Park...murder mystery and really good. Don't Stop the Carnival by Herman Wouk. For pure fluff, The Shopaholic series is fun and I just read The Devil Wears Prada. Aside from eating great foods and star watching, reading at the beach is a favorite activity. Enjoy!

Thanks for the headsup for The Sunday Wife.

Reading a book which is not all that profound might be a good choice for me these days. We have six weeks to sell our house, find a place to live in PSJ, then get down to Port St Joe.

Right now I am rereading Empire of the Sun by J. G. Ballard, a sort of fictionalized memoir of his experiences as a young boy, separated from his parents, trying to survive, stay alive, at a Japanese internment camp in China during WWII. Ballard is a good writer and his descriptions are beautiful, horrific, fascinating and sobering all at the same time.

Just out of curiousity, how many writers do we have on this board?

Just out of curiousity, how many writers do we have on this board?

Frustrated or genuine? ;-)

Right now I am rereading Empire of the Sun by J. G. Ballard, a sort of fictionalized memoir of his experiences as a young boy, separated from his parents, trying to survive, stay alive, at a Japanese internment camp in China during WWII. Ballard is a good writer and his descriptions are beautiful, horrific, fascinating and sobering all at the same time.

I really like the movie by Spielberg. Starring Batman Begins' Christian Bale in a great performance as the young boy Jim.




If you like that you might also like the grittier novel by James Clavell, "King Rat" - about the brutality of prison camp life in Japanese-occupied, World War II Malaya. The King, an American corporal, seeks to dominate both captives and captors by his courage, profound insight into human frailties, and pragmatic American business techniques in a class-ridden society where Japanese and British actions are bound by bankrupt codes of "honor."

For light but not-to-fast engaging beach reading, I really liked James Patterson's The Beach House about a brother trying to find out how his younger brother was murdered in the Hamptons and the very clever and sometimes funny ways he solves the mystery. I'm not generally a mystery reader, but I really liked this one. Read it in about a week at the beach (mostly in the early mornings).

A few of my favorites:

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. She has a new one out called Mermaid Chair (or something like it) but I haven't yet read it.

Hotel Pastis by Peter Mayle.

There are really good synopisises (is that right?) of the books on www.amazon.com. Reviews, too.

I loved the Red Tent. We listened to it on the way back from the beach. I like gripping human dramas like that.

A few of my favorites:

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. She has a new one out called Mermaid Chair (or something like it) but I haven't yet read it.

I read both of these & thought they were excellent. Also liked the Mermaid Chair but didn't think it was as good as Secret Life of Bees.

I really like the movie by Spielberg. Starring Batman Begins' Christian Bale in a great performance as the young boy Jim.




If you like that you might also like the grittier novel by James Clavell, "King Rat" - about the brutality of prison camp life in Japanese-occupied, World War II Malaya. The King, an American corporal, seeks to dominate both captives and captors by his courage, profound insight into human frailties, and pragmatic American business techniques in a class-ridden society where Japanese and British actions are bound by bankrupt codes of "honor."

Kurt
I read 'King Rat' years ago and maybe should reread it. (I reread stuff all the time.) I loved the movie of 'Empire of the Sun' and own it--the commentary on the other side of the DVD, all about the history of Shanghai and the making of the film, is fascinating. Back then, Christian Bale already had that special something as an actor.


iwishiwasthere
I very much enjoyed Wicked, read it years ago and have tickets to the musical.

shakennotstirred
Agree about not liking The Mermaid Chair as much as The Secret Life of Bees.
That was a hard act to follow though.

Anyone like the author Alice Hoffman? She does a lot of magical realism type stuff. I go up and down with her work but very much enjoyed her latest:
Blackbird House, about a house on Cape Cod and its many different inhabitants over the generations.

Anyone like the author Alice Hoffman? She does a lot of magical realism type stuff. I go up and down with her work but very much enjoyed her latest:
Blackbird House, about a house on Cape Cod and its many different inhabitants over the generations.

I have not read Blackbird House but will check it out. I read "The Ice Queen" by the same author & it was decent - very unusual - about a woman who was struck by lightning & how the experience improves her life. I think this is her latest book - released this Spring.

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult was awesome but sad. A story of a 13 year old girl who was conceived to use as a genetic match for her terminally ill sister. She sues her parents so that they stop using her for spare parts.

I have not read Blackbird House but will check it out. I read "The Ice Queen" by the same author & it was decent - very unusual - about a woman who was struck by lightning & how the experience improves her life. I think this is her latest book - released this Spring.

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult was awesome but sad. A story of a 13 year old girl who was conceived to use as a genetic match for her terminally ill sister. She sues her parents so that they stop using her for spare parts.

Shaken
You're right--The Ice Queen, which I knew of but had forgotten all about, must indeed be Hoffman's latest, and this confuses me a bit because Blackbird House is still in hardcover, but BH is a smallish book, a sort of collection of intertwined short stories, maybe it came out shortly before or after.

Have heard of 'My Sister's Keeper' and it sounds good, if depressing.

Have also been reading John Irving's latest, Until I Find You, but it is rough going for me, awfully long. I keep putting it down and reaching for something else.
I love thick rambling books but this one is a bit of a slog, the characters just don't grab me and the editing could have been more finely honed. I do love Irving's use of italics though.

New Carl Hiaasen out Sept 13- another "kid" book (but "Hoot" was awesome for grownups too!). Anyway- this one is called "Flush", and is about a nasty casino boat owner who is dumping his toilet tanks into the ocean every night. (kinda like someone in Gulf Trace with the septic tanks?) In typical Hiaasen fashion, the bad guy will get a really bad (but funny) end. Set in the middle Keys.

Of course his wicked (and smartass!) columns can be read online from the Miami Herald's website.