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Post by suzanne on Mar 20, 2008 9:43:49 GMT -5
Hi Mez, When I mentioned Jane Parker I had just started reading The other Boylen Girl. I got her confused with Jayne Seymore. It had been years since I had read about the wives of HenryVII. I thought the book was entertaining. Reminded me of a soap opera in a way.
I just started the new Cara Black. so far it's good.
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Post by GitteK on Mar 20, 2008 13:10:44 GMT -5
cigale - I have read the first book "Murder in Le Marais", and I liked it very much. I have bought all 8 books with amazon.com, and can't wait to start on #2. Maybe the plot was a bit lengthy, but IMO she writes in a very fluid and easily readable style, the dialogue sounds natural and there are some super exciting scenes in the book. Very good filming potential, I think - a bit like the Da Vinci Code. First I need to finish a David Baldacci crime novel ("Simple Genius") - one of those airport-purchases you make, when your flight has been announced delayed for 2 hours......  |
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Post by suzanne on Mar 20, 2008 16:51:18 GMT -5
For me it has helped that I have read the Cara Black books in the order they were writtnen. I feel like I know the characters better. I also think some of the books are better than others. I really did not like the last one as well as the one before, or the newest one.
I tend to get hooked on a writer and read everything they write until I hit a big dud. Example, I used to love to read Paticia Cromwell's books. Then came Sue Grafton and so on. I still like Jonathon Kellerman but I've tired of his wife's novels.
I will continue to follow Amee Leduc as long as she is in Paris.
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Post by suzanne on Mar 20, 2008 17:06:07 GMT -5
I wish we could have a book and DVD exchange club. Think of the money we'd save.
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Post by Darcy on Mar 20, 2008 20:49:05 GMT -5
I received Three Cups of Tea from Amazon today! Someone in my book group recommended it.
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Post by Jody on Mar 21, 2008 4:58:05 GMT -5
We did that on another site I frequented. It worked out pretty well. We listed the books we offered then the first person to leave a PM saying which they wanted . got them.
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Post by cybee on Mar 21, 2008 14:25:40 GMT -5
Speaking (or rather, writing ) of reading, I just read this David Sedaris article in the "New Yorker" entitled "April in Paris". When I saw that title, naturally I dove right into that article as I have such glorious memories myself of "April in Paris". Well, the subject matter/ content was a bit different than I anticipated! (but won't say as you may want to read the article yourself) (It did make me chuckle though!). At anyrate it made me think about one of his book "Me Talk Pretty One Day" wherein he recounts (at least in the second half of his book /per what I know) his times in Paris and mangling the language. I wonder if anyone has read that book and whether it is to be recommended? So sorry, Ray, to hear of your sudden demise!  (how untimely for that murderer to intrude right in the middle of a post!) |
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Post by cigalechanta on Mar 21, 2008 17:06:32 GMT -5
Lol, I read that article this morn. Today, my dog Pastis had the new vet who makes only house calls here and I passed it on to him to his delight.
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Post by Shoesy on Mar 21, 2008 23:55:54 GMT -5
Mimi - When I first saw your post, I misread it to say that Pastis had actually read that article.  O.K., I guess such an achievement is unlikely, but you can never underestimate the intelligence of some animals. ;D |
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Post by Becky (Berkeleytravelers) on Mar 24, 2008 9:51:31 GMT -5
Cybee, "Me Talk Pretty" is high on my list of favorites - laugh out loud funny stuff. I read most of it on a plane and probably really annoyed the people around me, because I couldn't help myself. I don't like all of his work equally, but that's a really good one. You have heard correctly, the second part is in Paris, where he is taking language lessons, but the first part is in a small village in Normandy and also funny - he and his partner were fixing up a cottage, and he was trying to teach himself French in the process (in part through trying to speak with the village's teenage residents).
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Post by framboiseetrose on Mar 24, 2008 16:35:05 GMT -5
Just been transported in different centuries. Finished re-reading The Three Musketeers and Madame Bovary. I had forgotten how Flaubert affects me so I'm going to start on another Dumas.
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Post by cybee on Mar 25, 2008 10:11:20 GMT -5
Merci Becky, on your review of "Me Talk Pretty"! Now I think I will try that on some long flight such as you did (and hopefully will not dismay others around me too much with errant guffaws).
Framboiseetrose, you make me think that next time I am in a masterly reading mode, I should try reading a Dumas ou Flaubert (likely the former). But ah..I already have so many books in my pile...sigh!
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Post by Laidback on Mar 25, 2008 10:29:31 GMT -5
If you are like me you probably read the 3 Musketeers in your youth and have let the memories fade; I re-read it recently on line and enjoyed it more than the 1st time. I recommend it to anyone interested in the St. Germain des Prés neighborhood where they lived. I also discovered that d'Artagnan was a real person and lived on the corner of Rue du Bac and the quai.
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Post by framboiseetrose on Mar 25, 2008 15:05:16 GMT -5
Laidback - I read that, too and he served in the court of Louis XIV. Like you, re-reading the classics is taking me to a different level of enjoyment and understanding. Maybe came from reading them as a second language when I was young - a lot of the nuances just went over my head!
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Post by Anne on Mar 31, 2008 6:30:21 GMT -5
My eldest daughter, who sometimes likes to exercise her English by reading books in English, just bought "Talk to the snail" by Stephen Clarke . Unlike the ".. Merde..." series, this is not a novel but "Ten commandments for understanding the French" (well, eleven actually) . I flicked through it quickly and it is REALLY funny .
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Post by Happygoin on Mar 31, 2008 7:15:50 GMT -5
I'd like to highly recommend Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David (?) Relin. Phread originally mentioned it in another thread on the forum. If there was ever a case to be made for not judging a book by its cover, this may be it. If I had looked at it without Phread's reco, I might never have read it.
It captures you from the first page and opens the reader's eyes to a world most Americans and Europeans know nothing about.
If Greg Mortenson doesn't win a Nobel Peace Prize for his work, there is no justice in this world. If more world politicians adopted his philosophy, I believe there could be peace on earth. Simply an amazing book and a doubly amazing man.
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Post by cigalechanta on Mar 31, 2008 8:51:56 GMT -5
I finished reading Leo Malet's Dynamite Versus Qed.
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Post by MaisonMetz on Apr 7, 2008 18:24:36 GMT -5
Speaking of mysteries set in Paris, I'm in the midst of one by Fred Vargas,* "Wash this Blood Clean From My Hand," translated from the French by Siân Reynolds.
*pseudonym of Frédérique Audoin-Rouzeau
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Post by kenandpaul on Apr 17, 2008 9:26:04 GMT -5
I am hoping someone could tell me the Canadian release date for Helene Berr's journal will be (the English translation).
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Post by annettecinca on Apr 17, 2008 9:32:34 GMT -5
I don't know about the Canadian release date, but it will come out in English in the US about October 2, 2008
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(how untimely for that murderer to intrude right in the middle of a post!)
O.K., I guess such an achievement is unlikely, but you can never underestimate the intelligence of some animals. ;D
Let the riot begin! LOL - 
hahahha