The 2nd reading of the Lord of the Rings was one of the most intensive ones in my life. Other books I just couldn�t stop reading have been "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes, "Consider Phlebas" and "The Player of Games" by Ian M. Banks and Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe - that was a though nut! As you can see, I prefer science fiction - or preferred. At the moment I am in a nostalgic mood, reading old classics (Doyle, Goethe and Joyce).

The Lost World by Michael Crichton. OK I'm revealing my pop culture affinity. It's the followup to Jurassic Park. I would call it a great book or anything, just kind of like watching a movie with a lot of action. Crichton usually throws in one page of deep philosophical thought about the state of the planet and this is my favorite portion of his books.

I am reading Lost World aloud to my kids right now. They are both boys -- 7 and 12. The 12-year-old is a little math and computer geek whose hero is Ian Malcolm. I love Crichton's nerd characters too. I'd like to see Ian and Harry from Sphere meet in a story sometime. Maybe one could fall in love with Karen from Congo. Amy

i couldn't put down Knight IN Shinig Armor by Jude deveraux. I cried like 50 billion times. And I really recommend it.

Winnie the Pooh, definitely. Every time.

Last book I couldn't put down was "Guinevere" by Laurel Phelan. It's not a novel, it's an autobiography.I'd be happy to dicuss it with anyone who has read it.It's fascinating, scary,historically correct,and I would recommend it to anyone.

Beach Music by Pat Conroy was the last book that I couldn't put down. He is such a descriptive writer that I get lost in his world. I actually became part of it. The smells of the South Caroloina coast and the sounds of the Paizza in Rome, ahhhh take me away Conroy! I also have fond memories of reading Pilcher's Shell Seekers. I didn't want the book to end because it was like losing a best friend.

Tell us about Shell Seekers.

"The Mists of Avalon" by Marion Zimmer Bradley. Wonderful book! It gave me an interest in the legends of King Arthur that I never had before. I've tried to find other books on the subject (of which there are plenty), but none came close to captivating me so entirely.

You should try Norma Lorre Goodrich's "King Arthur" (Harper and Row, 1986). It is rather a scholarly book, but not as self-conciously ponderous as most. An enlightening, invigorating read (and it gets to the truth, I believe)...

OK, what I know about King Arthur comes from Monty Python (sorry, Nick), but I can give a thumbnail sketch of the Shell Seekers. Basically it's one of those books that covers two generations and how they reconcile the decisions they make in their lives. It is very charming and has "miniseries" written all over it. There was a sequel, "September", which was more obvious and less charming.

Actually, anymore, I can't put down any books that I take the trouble to read. Doesn't matter what kind, either. I actually read cookbooks cover to cover. So, I have a tendency not to read anymore, as I don't sleep enough as it is. I've always held books, especially fiction, as my reality altering drug of choice. WER

The book I most recently couldn't put down: 'When Things Fall Apart' by Pema Chodron (she spells her name with two dots over each o in her last name). ISBN-1-5-7062-160-8. $18. Shambala Press. It's about finding ways to communicate that lead to openness and true intimacy with others. Pema is at the Campo Abbey in Nova Scotia.

I, too, tend to escape into a book for hours at a time. The one I remember staying up 'til the wee hours to read at one sitting was "My Cousin Rachel," by Daphne DuMaurier. It was worth being a zombie the next day.

quote from Pema Chodron: As human beings, not only do we seek resolution but we also feel that we deserve resolution. However, not only do we not deserve resolution, we suffer from resolution. We donUt deserve resolution; we deserve something better than that. We deserve our birthright, which is the middle way, an open state of mind that can relax with paradox and ambiguity. To the degree that weUve been avoiding uncertainty, weUre naturally going to have withdrawal symptoms -- withdrawal from always thinking that thereUs a problem and that someone, somewhere, needs to fix it. The middle way is wide open, but itUs tough going, because it goes against the grain of an ancient neurotic pattern that we all share. When we feel lonely, when we feel hopeless, what we want to do is move to the right or the left. We donUt want to sit and feel what we feel. We donUt want to go though the detox. Yet the middle way encourages us to do just that. It encourages us to awaken the bravery that exists in everyone without exception, including you and me. Meditation provides a way for us to train in the middle way -- in staying right on the spot. We are encouraged not to judge whatever arises in our mind; in fact, we are encouraged not to even grasp whatever arises in our mind. What we usually call good or bad we simply acknowledge as thinking, without all the usual drama that goes along with right and wrong. We are instructed to let the thoughts come and go as if touching a bubble with a feather. This straightforward discipline prepares us to stop struggling and discover a fresh, unbiased state of being.

Damn, Paul! You really like this quote... 4th post I believe? Just giving you a hard time, I agree with the content completely!

I think what you're seeing is that this topic is linked to other topics in other conferences. There are quite a few linked topics like this. Hey, give me a hard time all you want!

That sounds like an open invitation that I certainly make good on!

Open season, smack me around like a rag doll.

Out here, silence is the dimension in which we float. It billows above us like the sails of galleon earth, ballooning into the outer geography of the Milky Way: it washes us below where the opal runs in luminous veins; it strecthces west as far as the shores of the ice age, with nothing between then and now but powdering rock. Jannette Turner Hospital,,,OYSTER

Thank you for the quote. I enjoy being consumed by words to the point where I can see, smell, taste and hear them.

That was a sensory experience with words, the milky way here last night was like millions of tiny sharp crystals penetrating the night sky above Cedar Creek, the chill air perked up my neurons and reached in and grabbed hold of my synapses. It was a gorgeous night.

Hi. Just wanted to say that I share Kayc's love of the works of Pat Conroy. I did not find BEACH MUSIC to be as devastating as THE PRINCE OF TIDES, but it was equally as mesmerizing. I grew up in the South, and I have encountered no other writer who can so vividly convey the psyche of the Southern Male. It still hurts to read THE PRINCE OF TIDES, but I always feel good about life when I have finished it. By the way, Kayc...I just tried to send you email but got back an unkonwn user error. Charlotte

I agree. Conroy is far and away my favorite contemporary writer (and a great Irishman)- and the only one I connect with, in any fashion (well, besides HST- but that's a diff. kind of connection)...The only problem with Conroy is that he works too damn slow (I've actually gone to the trouble of calling his publisher- you know, to find out what the hang-up is; the wait between The Prince Of Tides and Beach Music seemed interminable!) With the exception of Gatsby, I can't think of any book that begins more beautifully than Tides- simply an extraordinary book...

How very odd to feel green and naive at my age! But who is "HST", Nick? I can't begrudge Conroy the time it takes between books. If they are so painful for us to read, imagine what he must go through to write them! On another topic: I loved the quote from OYSTER, by Jannette Turner Hospital, so I ran off to Amazon to order it. Guess what...it won't even be PUBLISHED until March of 1998!! So fess up, whoever posted that quote. How did you manage to read it?? Charlotte old and green AND jealous! :)

You're right, of course...Writers as fine as Conroy obviously require more time to complete their work (doesn't make the waiting any more bearable, though)... HST is Hunter Thompson (madman, drug addict, and genius- and creator of literature within the guise of "gonzo journalism")... The quote from Oyster was indeed lovely...According to Yahoo, excerpts from Oyster may be found at this address: http://www.thei.aust.com/isite/btl/btlinoysterex.html

Midnight in the Garden of Evil has been attached to my hands for the past few days. I finished it up last night so I can now resume my life. It was an amazing piece of work, diverse & rich with the sights, sounds and history of Savannah. I can still hear "The Lady Chablis" speaking in his/her?? warm southern drawl.

Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil has been attached to my hands for the past few days. I finished it up last night so I can now resume my life. It was an amazing piece of work, diverse & rich with the sights, sounds and history of Savannah. I can still hear "The Lady Chablis" speaking in his/her?? warm southern drawl.

Yikes, no editing time? Sorry about the duplicate post guys! Get rid of #27 for me if you can. Thanks

My all time can't put it down book was 30,000 on the hoof by Zane grey. When i picked it up i thought it was just another western. I didn't know then that his wife had written most of the books. any way It's about a woman who raises 3 sons out in the west. someone drops off [literally]a little girl.she raises her then would war 1 starts and the woman's life falls apart. the book is really about her survival of soul in a time when everyone is dying. boy it was a 5 hanky book.

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I'd like to recommend two books to you all. The author's name is Maria Doria Russell. The first book is The Sparrow, and its sequel, just published this spring, is Children of God. Rich, emotional, beautifully written...I haven't the talent to do just to a review. There are some excellent ones at Amazon.com, however. Has anyone else read these marvelous stories?

Thanks for the recommendations, Charlotte, I have added them to my loooong library list, as usual! Just finished "A Prayer for Owen Meany" by John Irving while on vacation. Terrific! A little long (just shy of 600 pages), but well worth it. The funny thing is I started reading it in New Hampshire, and that's where the story takes place. Kinda funny reading about a place while you're there...

Thanks, Autumn! I had not heard of this book. I haven't read anything by Irving since Garp, so maybe it's about time, eh? I've added your suggestion to my long list. :) Next time you're at the library, see if you can snag a copy of The Perfect storm. Damn, I'm drawing a total blank on the author's name. Sebastian Junger, I think. Something like that. I ought not to be trying to think at this hour. :)

there's good hours for thinking?

yeah. for me, they are between 6 and 10 am. :)

I kinda prefer those for sleepin'...

just like all of Douglas Coupland's other novels, I picked up 'Girlfriend in a Coma' and did not put it down until I had finished (even skipped Ultimate Frisbee practice on Monday for it!) This one tends a bit more toward a surreal side I am less interested in but the charaters are strong (and stay with you forever) and the writing is smooth, dry and witty.

I have never read any of Coupland's books. What is a good one to begin with?

Microserfs was my favorite. But I suppose he is best known for Generation X

Yeah, "Girlfriend" was weird... which is alright by me. The characters are alright, but sometimes, you feel that not only the world in the BOOK undergoes certain events as punishment, to add it all up, but that Coupland actively punishes YOU, the reader, because you're the kind of non-caring bores that'll get all this to happen.

I always hate it when authors try to lecture me, but do it so obvious, even I notice it. It's worse when they have a potentially great story line, very convincing protagonists and it should be a straight win, but they can't resist to make sure you got what kind of miserable miscreant you and your kind are. Now, T.C. Boyle has all the mentioned stuff in his book "The Tortilla Curtain", BUT: He doesn't need to lecture. The desparation his characters suffer - and most remarkably the destruction of conservationist-liberals beliefs - are very much results of the plot, which is extremely believable, but incredible at the same time (only once, when a Mexican talks to another IN SPANISH and uses "inches" as measurement, I wondered if that is an error - doesn't Mexico use the metric system?). This is the curse one in very dark, mean moments would wish to put on to some holier-than-thous with the proper beliefs. All events are rather ordinary, which is what makes this read the cruel horror it is - I felt at times so disgusted, moved and choked, I had to put the book away, so this wasn't actually the book I couldn't put down. It was the book I had to put down. Repeatedly. And pick up again, after about half an hour, until I was through.

I haven't had a truly captivating one all summer. Recently I read My Name is Asher Lev, The Shipping News, and Primal Fear, none of which I disliked or could heartily endorse.

And why couln't you put them down? Kids put glue on the cover?

Oh Autumn! The Shipping News is one of the best books I've read in the last five or six years! I'm surprised that you aren't more enthusiastic about it! I just finished Mother of Pearl, Oprah's summer selection. It was very good, but I managed to put it down now and then. :) The best two books I've read in recent years: The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver The Sparrow (and its sequel, Children of God by Mary Doria Russell

Oh, Charlotte, I loved The Poisonwood Bible! I just couldn't get into Proulx's writing style in Shipping News, it was so clipped and terse. Something about her writing reminded me of Joyce Carol Oates, and the combination did not sit well with me. The best book I've read in the last year is definitely A Prayer for Owen Meany.

Oh, i'm such a fortunate chap! Last week at the Frankfurt Book Fair - supposedly world's greatest, and judging from my sore feet and the complex survival tactics necessary it might be true - I got hold of Edward Bunker's autobiography Mr. Blue. My recommendation (don't know if it's out already - I got a proof print with photocopied cover...!). For the movie lovers, he's the guy who wrote the books Quentin Tarantino made his movies from - Bunker WAS Mr Blue in Reservoir Dogs in real life, and with 17 the youngest inmate in San Quentin. Extremely fascinating read - he is very intelligent and makes a good point. E.g. his "Dog eat dog" describing how thr three-strike rule actually changed criminal's behavior... He is a classic example of a person trained to be criminal by the way the state treated him. (Which is not the classic criminal, I'm not saying this, but his bio is in many parts identical to all those reform school kids, who end on the other side of the law, and live in- and outside of the correction system, never getting a foot into the door of "normal" life. superstar had an article on his books in 1997, and we'll review this one. There even is a chance of an interview ahead...

I love Quentin Tarantino films. I saw Pulp Fiction and From dusk till dawn. Great films! I haven't seen Reservoir Dogs yet, but it seems interesting! Anyone seen it?

I couldn't put down Snow Falling on Cedars byt David Guterson. It's a story about a Japanese American on trial for murder not long after World War II and in a town still dealing with it's feelings about World War II. The book includes romance, mystery and history. I never was sure how it would end, which is one reason I couldn't put it down.

Sounds really good Sheryl. I like mysteries.

It was indeed a fine book. The prose is quite lyrical. I am anxious to read Guterson's latest novel, even though reviews do not compare it favorable with "Cedars". The film adaptation of Snow Falling on Cedars (starring Ethan Hawke) will be out this month.

I noticed Clive Custler has a book with an Atlantis scene, maybe a bestseller, has anyone read this on any of his books?

Thomas "Eddie" Shaw's bio, Black Monk Time - describing lives of ex-GIs who decided to become Germany's wildest Beat band in the mid-60ies. See also the Monks topic in Music Conf for more infos. Anyhow, this book is great. Eddie married soon after leaving the Army, a German girl, and that didn't make the road to stardom less rocky. Both went through interesting times, in the end moving to the States (much against her will) and burying this episode... The story of the monks is one of the grand tales of post WWII music biz. Nothing less.

Little wonder you created a topic for them in Music Conf - you really did enjoy this book!

Oh, and the music is just encroyable! Looking back, you go, yeah, I kinda heard all this somewhere... But they did so much first! And all others were doing stuff like this later, most likely without knowing about the monks... Shows you a lot about the evolution of R'n'R - you can keep a good band down, but not a good sound!

True! And, very interesting. It feeds on itself and manages to grow and mutate as it grows...very much like jazz...

'If this is a man' by Primo Levi. 'Sooner or later in life everyone discovers that perfect happiness is unrealizable, but there are few who pause to consider the antithesis: that perfect unhappiness is equally unattainable. The obstacles preventing the realization of both these extreme states are of the same nature: they derive from our human condition which is opposed to everything infinite. Our ever-insufficient knowledge of the future opposes it: and this is called, in the one instance, hope, and in the other, uncertainty of the following day. The certainty of death opposes it: for it places a limit on every joy, but also on every grief. The inevitable material cares oppose it: for as they poison every lasting happiness, they equally assiduously distract us from our misfortunes and make our consciousness of them intermittent and hence supportable.'

Hi Terry If you are interested Clive Custler wrote a book called Atlantis found I have read it and can tell you its great, but before you read it I suggest getting Sahara by Clive Custler its one of the best books I have ever read.

Hi all One book that I could not put down was the book "Quake", by Albert J Alletzhauser. It is about a massive earthquake in Tokyo and the aftermath. If you like colourful characters, with violence, sex, corruption, heroism and tragedy all in one place, this is for you. It is scary - Tokyo does exist on three tectonic plates and it is expecting a severe earthquake. Corruption does exist in building industries of many countries and some of the darker elements in Japanese society come out. A note of serious warning: NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH. Rob

The book I couldnt put down was Diana Gabaldon's Outlander. Lots of history, adventure, romance, some sci-fi and, of course, lots of Scots. :-) Highly recommend! Excellent read.

Oh my God, that was a page-turner! I just finished her fifth, The Fiery Cross and am still enthralled with Jamie and Claire's adventures.

I've read the Fiery Cross twice now - it's great! and so long!!! :-) According to Diana's web site there's going to be a least 2 more books (yahoo!) taking them up through the American Revolution.

I've read four. I have been avoiding The Fiery Cross because someone told me that Jamie dies in it. I've been in love with Jamie since Outlander, in a virtual way, of course, and I'm just not ready for the pain. :) But I agree...superb books, all.

Why would someone tell you that?!? It ain't so, Charlotte! Get yourself to the library, girl! I'm starting Mistress of Spices by Chitra Divakaruni, one of my favorite contemporary authors. Her novels are set in India and are full of sensory experiences--tastes, smells, images...incredible!

Charlotte! How horrible to think Jamie dead! I can assure you he's alive and well. :-) i've been in 'virtual love' with the man myself since discovering Outlander. I thought one of the most interesting things in Fiery Cross was the way his relationship with Roger developes - and of course his constantly deepening love for Claire (lucky woman!) Autumn, havent read anything by Chitra Divakaruni- will keep an eye out for her books in the future. Meanwhile, i'm dying waiting for Hard Eight to come out. Does anybody else read Janet Evanovich?? The Stephine Plum series is another one that i couldnt put down. Never laughed so hard in my life as i did reading those books -Step and Lulu absolutely kill me. :-)

Hi all Anyone into naval techo-thrillers? I want to recommend the following trio of books, all by Patrick Robinson. Mr Robinson has written Nimitz Class, Kilo Class, USS Seawolf, and HMS Unseen. Nimitz Class is the tale of a nuclear powered aircraft carrier that vanishes in a mysterious nuclear explosion. Ironically it is set in 2002. Kilo Class is about the demise of some submarines that China has ordered to block the Taiwan Strait and the US Navy response. USS Seawolf is a tale of a USN submarine that in Chinese waters that is captured and the rescue of the crew. There is corruption that goes all the way to the Oval Office. Rob

I keep rereading the article in the New Yorker about Leigh Fermor. Probably because it's next to my toilet. from the wikipedia.org Sir Patrick Michael Leigh Fermor, known as 'Paddy', (born 11 February 1915, London) is a British author, scholar and soldier, who played a prominent role behind the lines in the Battle of Crete during World War II. He is famous in the genre of travel literature. Leigh Fermor's father, Sir Lewis, was a distinguished geologist. Shortly after his birth, his mother left to join his father in India, leaving him behind with another family. As a child, Leigh Fermor had problems with academic structure and limitations. As a result, he was sent to a school for difficult children. He was thrown out of his school, The King's School, Canterbury, for holding hands with a local greengrocer's daughter. He carried on educating himself, reading texts on Greek, Latin, Shakespeare and History with the plan for him to get into Sandhurst, the Military Academy.