What are you reading at the moment??

[kevindj]

Sacred & Profane by Faye Kellerman. I'm enjoying it so far - I'm about a quarter of the way through.

[Gaz]

I'm currently reading The Prestige by Christopher Priest. Loved the sound of a twisting tale and, of course, the book will be much better than the film!

[Heidi G]

Finally getting to Candles Burning, as I took a detour along the way with a few other titles.

It's a very, very quirky little book, but I quite like it.  The characters are wonderfully done, even if one or two of the more unpleasant ones (Mama and Mamadee, to be exact) remind me of people I've met!!  And while the plot is sort of meandering along with no clear idea of where it's going to wind up, I'm having fun meandering with it.

Norbs, do you know at about what point Tabitha took over the writing of it?  Because so far it's seamless; I can't tell where one writer ends and the other begins, and I'm a bit over halfway through at the moment.

Ok, here's a little incendary question to throw out.  I was detoured from Candles by my eldest, who thrust his copy of DaVinci code at me and said, "It's not perfect writing, mom, but read it 'cause I want to talk about all the religion stuff with you".  So I read.

I was surprised.  I mean, the prose is a bit clunky, granted (he repeats some basic writing blunders that are subtle but always make me cringe and wonder what else the editors/copy eds were doing when they read those sections; they had to have their minds on something else).  But the religion/symbology stuff was fun, even if the  symbology wasn't accurate (I wouldn't really know; haven't read any of the books that have sprung up explaining all that) and as for mini cliff hanger style chapters leading up to predictable finish, it wasn't too terrible, I thought.  Good beach read.

So, given how much I know you discerning readers on here didn't seem to like it, I have to ask, what major blunder of his am I missing?  Or have my tastes just degraded? 

[SammyK]

Heidi, I liked the DaVinci Code, and I couldn't care less who knows it.

It was a fun read, and I also had many "religion" conversations with my daughter afterwards - and I'm not going to knock anything that prompts that.

The poor kid has a (lapsed) Catholic father who does still have some measure of faith, and me, who thinks it's bull****.  We've always let her try and make her own decisions, and this book seemed to answer some questions for her surprisingly enough.  Good enough for me!

I am finishing up Lisey's Story - which has been superb, and had me blubbing in the bath last night.   Very, very moving.

[Heidi G]

I know what you mean about the conversations, SammyK; my son and I had some interesting ones (by the by, how old is your daughter again?  I'm considering relenting and letting mine read it--she's "pre-teen".  She's already stealing from my bookshelves anyway ).  I believe definitely in God, but not necessarily in organzed religion, as they are two different entities in my mind.  There're too many variations of the same theme out there for me to believe that one religion/sect of a religion has it right and everyone else has it wrong (personal opinion only and can in no way prove it's any more correct than any other opinion on religion!).  This rather distresses several of my adoptive family members, one of whom has told me "That's all the Indian in you coming out, that "naturalistic" philosophy!" (our conversation was a good deal longer and I won't bore you; but I will say she said i was NA before I knew I was; just strange to have that opinion based on my religious philosophy.)

LOL, I got a kick out of that.   

[Killme00]

Or have my tastes just degraded? 

You shouldnt even need to ask that one...duh.....

[norby]

Finally getting to Candles Burning, as I took a detour along the way with a few other titles.

It's a very, very quirky little book, but I quite like it.  The characters are wonderfully done, even if one or two of the more unpleasant ones (Mama and Mamadee, to be exact) remind me of people I've met!!  And while the plot is sort of meandering along with no clear idea of where it's going to wind up, I'm having fun meandering with it.

Norbs, do you know at about what point Tabitha took over the writing of it?  Because so far it's seamless; I can't tell where one writer ends and the other begins, and I'm a bit over halfway through at the moment.
Ok, here's a little incendary question to throw out.  I was detoured from Candles by my eldest, who thrust his copy of DaVinci code at me and said, "It's not perfect writing, mom, but read it 'cause I want to talk about all the religion stuff with you".  So I read.

I was surprised.  I mean, the prose is a bit clunky, granted (he repeats some basic writing blunders that are subtle but always make me cringe and wonder what else the editors/copy eds were doing when they read those sections; they had to have their minds on something else).  But the religion/symbology stuff was fun, even if the  symbology wasn't accurate (I wouldn't really know; haven't read any of the books that have sprung up explaining all that) and as for mini cliff hanger style chapters leading up to predictable finish, it wasn't too terrible, I thought.  Good beach read.

So, given how much I know you discerning readers on here didn't seem to like it, I have to ask, what major blunder of his am I missing?  Or have my tastes just degraded? 

I have no idea what part is Tabitha King writing and what part is the other author.  I've never read anything by him, so I'm not sure about his style.  That was part of what impressed me about the book, there wasn't any "line" or "parts" where you could tell who had written what.  Most of the book reminded me of the book I had read by Tabitha King though.

[Heidi G]

Or have my tastes just degraded? 

Of course not, Heidi, we all know you are the goddess of books

 
(ah, what one can learn from their opponents...)

[Heidi G]

I have no idea what part is Tabitha King writing and what part is the other author.  I've never read anything by him, so I'm not sure about his style.  That was part of what impressed me about the book, there wasn't any "line" or "parts" where you could tell who had written what.  Most of the book reminded me of the book I had read by Tabitha King though.

Yeah, I just finished the book and I do think it is one of her quirkiest (is that a word and do I really care at 3 am?  Nope, I don't.).  Bizarre, but interesting.

Think my favorite line was something along the lines of "Miz Verlow had been in search of reliable plumber ever since she had lost hers due to a freak lightning strike at church picnic."

That's just so Tabitha King.

[SammyK]

Heidi, my daughter will be 14 at the end of November.  She was just approaching 13 when she read the Da Vinci Code - which is an advantage of the simplistic writing - kids can read it too!  I see no reason why your daughter couldn't read it.

[Killme00]

Or have my tastes just degraded? 

Of course not, Heidi, we all know you are the goddess of books

 
(ah, what one can learn from their opponents...)

Well done...but you do realise that you have just admitted learning something for the master...hahahahahaha

[Heidi G]

Or have my tastes just degraded? 

Of course not, Heidi, we all know you are the goddess of books

 
(ah, what one can learn from their opponents...)

Well done...I'm merely a humble pupil, but am glad my little annoying trick was of some service to you.

Yes, one should learn from their students, should not one?

[Heidi G]

Heidi, my daughter will be 14 at the end of November.  She was just approaching 13 when she read the Da Vinci Code - which is an advantage of the simplistic writing - kids can read it too!  I see no reason why your daughter couldn't read it.

Hmm, mine's turning 12 at the end of November.  Sigh. Guess mom needs to quit sheltering her...

[Enuvs]

I've just read I Am Legend too (author Richard Matheson) and was also very impressed. 

I'd heard about it before but was reminded by this thread.  I didn't get my hopes up to high because I wasn't sure if it'd live up to the hype but I'm very pleased it did.

Definitely a good read.

[kevindj]

Recently finished Sacred & Profane by Faye Kellerman. A really good book and so easy to read, generally speaking.

I've moved on to Birdman by Mo Hayder.