Hello all!

I'm really excited to join this group! I just graduated from Physician Assistant school so I finally have time to do my "pleasure" reading since I have my life back! Any and all recommendations are welcome.

The first book I've delved into is: In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson.

He is absolutely hysterical for anyone who has never read him.

50 Book Challenge

1. Down Under by Bill Bryson
2. When You Are Engulfed In Flames by David Sedaris
3. The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
4. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
5. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
6. Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
7. Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer
8. New Moon by Stephanie Meyer
9. Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer
10. Rant by Chuck Palahniuk
11. Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
12. My Horizontal Life by Chelsea Handler
13. A Charmed Life: Growing up in Macbeth's Castle by Liza Campbell
14. The Shack by William P. Young
15. Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
16. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
17. Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
18. Girls' Poker Night by Jill A. Davis

Message edited by its author, Nov 9, 2009, 9:18am.

Welcome to the group! I finished school in April and I can relate to the newfound freedom, it's a great thing :)

I haven't read any Bill Bryson yet but I have a few of his books on the TBR. Anyway, good luck with your challenge and happy reading!

Okay so I ordered a book for my fiance but I can't help but start it myself.

Dan Brown's new book: The Lost Symbol. I've loved his others and can't wait to start this one!

Anyone else read it yet?

I'm reading it right now...so far so good, though not quite as fast paced as Angels & Demons.

Message edited by its author, Sep 21, 2009, 7:07pm.

I have so many books to choose from and I have no idea where to start. I'm putting The Lost Symbol on hold because my fiance picked it up (it actually was one of his birthday presents) so I think I'm going to pick up David Sedaris' book "When You Are Engulfed in Flames." I bought it when I was doing a lot of flying and read a few stories out of it and am excited to read the rest. From what I read his stories were really funny. I haven't read anything else by him...any recommendations for further reading?

Message edited by its author, Oct 4, 2009, 10:44am.

So I was going to try and do this challenge between now and the end of the year but I realized that 1) I probably wouldn't make it and 2) I've read a decent number of books so far this year so why not go ahead and count them, even if it was before I joined LT. So here is an updated list of what I've read since January 09. This way I can start the challenge anew with the new year.

I just finished Interpreter of Maladies and I can't believe I let this book sit on my shelf for so long. I absolutely loved these stories. Many of them were heartbreaking and some made me smile, but I got something out of each one and enjoyed all of them! Highly recommend this book!

Interpreter of Maladies is one of my favorite collection of short stories. Wasn't it amazing how every story involved Indians/India and yet there was so much variation in the stories. Welcome to LT and the 50-book challenge. I read When You're Engulfed in Flame a few months ago and didn't think it was half as good as Naked, but I still love his humor and have read all his books. Still, I would say read that title first. Happy reading!

Message edited by its author, Oct 21, 2009, 5:19am.

I can't remember the last time I read an Agatha Christie novel...years and years ago. I really enjoyed And Then There Were None. It was a very quick, easy read with a great twist at the end. I'm not much of a mystery reader and the reason I read this one was because it's been sitting on my bookshelf for years, but I was not disappointed!

Jess, what did you think of "In Cold BLood" I keep meaning to get to it. And I read And then there were none this year too- and it sat on my book shelf forever, but i really liked it and will probably pick up soe more christie in order to finish this challenge- they go so quick.

I loved In Cold Blood. It is one of my favorite books. Capote did an amazing job of telling the story without disrespecting the Clutter family. He takes you inside the killers' minds and tells you how it all happened through their eyes. It really shows how things can get out of hand so quickly. I highly recommend it! Let me know what you think when you finally get to it.

I just finished Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier. I've had this book sitting on my bookshelf, like most of my other books, for quite awhile and just now got around to reading it. I'm sorry I waited so long because this book was wonderful. It's based in Civil War time in the western mountains of North Carolina. Inman was injured in the war and escapes from a hospital to walk home to Cold Mountain where Ada, the love of his life, is waiting. Ada is a southern belle from Charleston, SC who moves to Cold Mountain with her father Monroe. While Inman is away at war, Monroe dies and Ada is left with a farm and no knowledge of how to run it. The chapters alternate between Inman's journey home and Ada's struggles with the land. It is an amazing story and incredibly well written. I loved this book!

And to any who read this...I don't consider myself a very good book reviewer so I apologize in advance if I did an atrocious job. This book is wonderful and I highly recommend it!

Nice synopsis, jessuncw! I loved both the book and the movie--and the music from the movie too! Isn't that sort of thrilling when you love a book that you didn't expect to? What else in on your tbr bookshelf?

Thanks bonnie! I haven't seen the movie but I am definitely interested in it now. Too many books are on my TBR shelf. I'm trying to read through all the books I own before I go out and buy more. Let's see...I have: A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson, The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier, Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, Testimony by Anita Shreve, Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein, Count of Monte Cristo, Crime and Punishment, She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb, Gone With the Wind, Still Alice by Lisa Genova, Girls Poker Night by Jill A. Davis, Hound of the Baskervilles.

I always have trouble picking out my next reads...any recommendations?????

That's a good variety; it depends on what you're in the mood for. I enjoyed Girl with a Pearl Earring but don't anything about The Lady and the Unicorn. I read Still Alice in an evening just a week or so ago and really loved it--but then I can really relate because I've always been so forgetful. She's Come Undone is the only Wally Lamb book I've really liked. Anita Shreve's books are always easy reads. You've got some real classics there: Count of Mone Cristo, Hounds of the Baskervilles, Heart of Darkness, and (Yikes!) Crime and Punishment. And then some "chick lit" with Girl's Poker Night. You really have it all covered! Is Heinlein science fiction? I liked Bryson's book about traveling along the Appalachian Trail, but have heard mixed reviews about the rest of his books, so can't give any advice there. OK, I've delayed long enough. I vote for Still Alice.

eta: Congratulations on your recent graduation. I used to be a medical assistant, then managed a surgeon's office. (This was before kids.) I really liked that last job because I got to do everything. I would have so liked to be a Physician's Assistant, but they didn't have that position 30+ years ago.

Message edited by its author, Nov 4, 2009, 10:47pm.

Jess, I want to know what you think of She's come Undone when you read it! I saw bonniebooks really liked it, but one of my friends quit halfway through...

I'll second the recommendation for Still Alice, it's one of my favourites of this year so far!

She's Come Undone has been getting mixed reviews since it came out but I remember really liking it.

Bonnie: thank you! PA school was by far the toughest thing I've ever done, but well worth it. You can always go back to school for PA :) I had a few classmates who had children and families and I really don't know how they did it...they get the utmost respect from me.

Andrea: I will let you know how She's Come Undone turns out. I plan on reading all of the books on my bookshelf before buying new ones, and I think that list is about 12 long. So it will fit in there somewhere :)

Space: I remember reading your review for Still Alice and it is definitely on the top of my tbr pile.

So after all of that...I've decided to read Girls' Poker Night. I need an easy, quick, chick lit book after Cold Mountain. Once I'm done with that I will move on to Still Alice.

Thanks ladies!

So after all of that discussion and debating about what next book to read, I went with Girls' Poker Night. It was a quick, easy chick-lit read (which is what I was going for), but in the end I was disappointed. I found myself laughing because I've had some of the same thoughts as Ruby, but I also found that I wanted to shake her by her shoulders and tell her to get on with her life and quit whining. Ruby has this problem: she doesn't know how to be happy, and she doesn't want to put in the effort to be happy. Maybe it's because I don't understand this concept, but I found it irritating. Oh well, it only took up a few hours of my life. Now on to Still Alice.

Well, those books are quite the bookends, aren't they? I felt really anxious after reading Still Alice since I'm so forgetful already, but I guess the lesson there is to appreciate more of what you have and live the life you have left!

P.S. Eta: Maybe Ruby should read Still Alice? ;-)

Message edited by its author, Nov 9, 2009, 1:20pm.