Nicole’s Comments (group member since Jun 29, 2010)

Nicole’s comments from the The Complete Idiots Guide to the Ultimate Reading List group.

Ooooh... This is my favorite chapter.

I'm going to go with Drink Before the War by Dennis Lehane

Thanks Rachel :)

I'm always looking for new books to read

I didn't really connect with this story much either. For one, I was kinda bored with the way the book started; it could have been more action-packed, in my opinion. I did, however, enjoy the way in which Mma Ramotswe solved her mysteries, but that was really the only part of the book I enjoyed. I guess I didn't like McCall Smith's writing style either Trisha; it felt like he was deliberately trying to be cunning and it was kinda getting on my nerves. I will be reading the rest of the series, but only because it's impossible for me to start something and not finish it.

I've read most of the books on the list, so I will go with one I haven't read... The Kite Runner.

I am going to try to do better this month than last month!

RED: Red by Ted Dekker
WHITE: White by Ted Dekker
BLUE: Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland *list*

I FINALLY finished this one... took me 4 days longer than expected :-P

Three down, one to go... maybe I can finish most of it by tonight???

CIGURL's July 2011 Reading Challenge
Duration: 07/01/11-07/31/11

Tasks:
To celebrate America's Independence (July 4):
1. RED- Read a book with the color red in the title or author's name OR a book that has a predominately red cover.

2. WHITE- Read a book with the color white in the title or author's name OR a book that has a predominately white cover.

3. BLUE- Read a book with the color blue in the title or author's name OR a book that has a predominately blue cover.

NOTE: If you choose the cover option, you must post a picture of the cover

Levels:
Level One: Read one book from the CIGURL list- 1 book total

Level Two: Read one book from the CIGURL list and one book of choice- 2 books total

Level Three: Read a combination of book(s) from the CIGURL list and book(s) of choice- 3 books total

Good luck!

There are so many good ones in Chapter 2... I'm going to say The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith... I've been wanting to start this series.

1 down, 3 to go for me... I got sidetracked because some of my books on hold at the library finally came in :)

Has anybody finished reading this one yet? I finished it last week and I have to say, I quite enjoyed it... I just wish that it had talked about Lincoln's earlier life more than it did. I remember learning about the Lincoln-Douglas debates in high school and was curious to read about those.

That's the thing about suggesting books you've never read... they seem good in theory, but sometimes it just doesn't pan out.

Chase becomes much more seedy and underhanded (as does his daughter) and when you get to the part with, I think, General McClellan you'll see what I'm talking about.

I totally agree about the different points-of-view, that is definitely one of the best parts of the story.

I'm more than halfway done... I've had a lot of stuff going on so I haven't had the time to sit down and read like I've wanted. So far, I really enjoy it, but it really makes me despise politicians. The only thing that bothers me about it, so far, is that they don't really tell the dates, so it's hard to keep track of how much time has passed.

Yay! June is finally here... can't wait to get started.

So in the introduction to this book, it was mentioned that it was extremely popular in its day (and even compares it to the popularity of The Da Vinci Code, although it does mention this as odd because it does not appeal to such a wide audience). I find this really hard to believe. I literally had to scan through most of this book just to get to the action and the parts where they discuss the differences between heretics and whether or not Jesus laughed were a real struggle. The introduction also mentioned that if you could get through the first 100 pages (which were really difficult, their words, not mine), then the rest of the book would be a breeze. So after 100 pages, I was thinking, this isn't so bad (I've definitely read books that were more difficult, hence the earlier post) and I figured all downhill from here, right? Wrong. It only got worse... so much worse that they would interrupt a really, really good passage with pages upon pages of discourse about laughter that it was hard for me to hang on to the action. In fact, the more I read it, the more I became convinced it was another The House of Leaves... one of those books that people rave and rave about, but turn out to be so difficult to claw your way through that you wonder if they ever read it in the first place. (Really? You never read and you mean to tell me you got through a whole chapter on the science behind echoes and you still liked this book? I doubt it.)

Anyway, enough of my Eco-ing (i.e., going on and on about nothing), what did everyone else think?

Congrats Roseann :)

I know what you mean... I'm literally counting down the days :)

Well I finally finished the challenge... I must say, I picked some rather bad books for this month (this could be why it took me so long). Hopefully, my June Challenge choices will be better.

I'm currently reading this one and I'm not finding it too difficult to get through... sure there are some passages that go on and on, but I just read it and figure that maybe it won't be too important later... it does take a while to really get into the action though. I'm really curious to find out what happens.

Right now, they are stuck in the library (which, by the way sounds fantastic).