Monday, December 31, 2007

beach reader

life repeats itself sometimes, and like last year, i'm seeking some beach entertainment, in the form of a good book. in order to spark ideas and to give before receiving, here are some books i've enjoyed lately:

After This, by Alice McDermott (read this on the beach a year ago--a good, looong, book that performed well in the sand)
Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen (devoured this during a rainy spate in the city)
My Life in France, by Julia Child and Alex Prudhomme (loved this one!)
Prodigal Summer, by Barbara Kingsolver
The Spellman Files, by Lisa Lutz
Hotel of the Saints, by Ursula Hegi
The United States of Arugula, by David Kamp

and now, the questions:
1. has anyone read nick hornby? would i like his stuff?
2. what about Tales of the City, by Armistead Maupin?
3. or joyce carol oates?
4. or anna quindlen?

what has grabbed you lately?

5 comments:

Marianaria Sra. bibliotecaria said...

If you're living in The City, as we say, you should definitely read Tales of the City and all the sequels. I have memories of when the first one appeared as a serial in the Chronicle (as did later ones.) I had my coworkers save all of them when I went on vacation, and it was quite satisfying to read them all in a bunch, without having to wait for the next day (or, even worse, Monday after Friday)to find out what happened next.

I recentely reread them all; for me, they bring back a time that was great fun in the city, even if many were dancing their ways to early deaths.

The latest, Michael Tollvier Lives (2007,) is fairly sad, and much more explicit than the earlier ones.

The films are fairly good too, but I would suggest you view them after the book.

Marianaria Sra. bibliotecaria said...

Back for a second comment: a book that just blew me away was the Piano Tuner by Daniel Mason. The British War Office sends a piano tuner to Burma in 1886 .... His journey by ship, and then his experiences in Burma are like one long revery.

Did you ever read The Sparrow, which you mentioned in last year's post. That's quite good too. It's one of the few novels I have kept.

sarah said...

thanks, marianaria! both tales of the city and the piano tuner await page turning at my local branch. excellent. thanks so much!

Anonymous said...

Hey SWASH-
loved my card! funny you commented on mine. i save each yearly letter in the girls' baby books and enjoy reading over them, reminiscing about the big (and little) events over the past years.
re: books. LOVE Barbara Kingsolver. Poisonwood Bible is my favorite. Joyce Carol Oates-I know I read We Were the Mulvaneys, but it doesn't resonate as a great read for me.
How about Anne Lamotte (sp?).
Enjoy-can't wait to hear about the trip!
pb

sarah said...

hiya pb,

glad you liked it :)

thanks for the recs--i've read the poisonwood bible and haven't read anne lamotte. hmmm. i'll look into it. the library is open for a few hours today, and i plan to start the year off with some stack browsing!