Wednesday, June 25, 2008

a new kind of book club

I would like to start a club.
P.A.U.N.I.B.W.A.O.G.S.
People Against Unnecessary Naughtiness In Books With An Otherwise Good Storyline.
It's very disheartening to try to find a good summer read with
fantastic writing that is not laced with cussing, grisly crime scenes that jolt the brain with their horrificity (I think I made up that word) or just naughtiness in general.
I grow increasingly confused by the book covers when I go to purchase.
Books that don't look naughty...can be.
And for goodness sakes, it is very unnerving.
You used to be able to tell if you were buying a fiery romance novel by the cover.
You know, the women with her lace up shirt falling off of her shoulders
next to the man who has apparently lost his shirt on the high seas
and is left wearing some very inappropriate knickers.
I feel sorry for the men in colonial times who had to wear knickers.
I wore them myself in the 6th grade
and my knee socks rarely stayed tucked in correctly.
But now you can pick up a book with a cover that has a table
with a checkered table cloth on the front and nice blurb on the back
about how a family has come through a hard time by starting their own diner
and lo and behold, you get to page 45 and the next sentence says,
"His eyes glazed over as he looked at her hand on the checkered tablecloth..."
And then you know you are going to have to skip several pages to read on
with the actual story and if you do not turn far enough and begin to read
too soon your eyeballs might be seared out of your head from the content therein.
This all is a very poignant lesson in the phrase,
"Don't judge a book by its cover." Has a deeper wisdom ever been spoken?
I don't think so.
So all this to say...any good books out there you all are reading?
Mysteries? Historical fiction? Thrillers? Heart warming love stories?
Tales of personal triumph? Please enlighten me!
I'm dying for a good summer read, so that I can lay by my pool,
sipping fruity drinks, transported to another world by good literature!
(That would be reading with my feet in the blow up pool as the children
splash me with their water toys, while I am nursing a juice box...
that's why I need to be transported to another world by good literature.)
Here a few of my favorites for your summer read list:
Wish You Well by David Baldacci
Home to Holly Springs by Jan Karon
The Mystery of The Blue Train by Agatha Christie
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D. Schmidt (good young adult read)
The Miracle at Speedy Motors by Alexander McCall Smith
Lucia, Lucia by Adrianna Trigianni
Orchid House by Cindy Maritinusen
A Clearing in the Wild by Jane Kirkpatrick
No Graves as Yet by Anne Perry
My Life as a Doormat (In Three Acts) by Rene Gutteridge
Here's to a great summer of reading, fellow P.A.U.N.I.B.W.A.O.G.S.!


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20 comments:

Meg said...

The No 1 Ladies Detective agency is, by far, the best summer reading ever. I just finished a rather dense but very lovely book called The Fountain Overflows by Rebecca West. I loved it. The James Harriet books are great also.

Kara said...

I am laughing right now because I know that I have absolutely NO suggestions to offer you. I still remember the ONE time we did a book exchange. I gave you my Karen Kingsbury to which you said "Um, no thanks. Predictable. Boring." and you gave me some weird mystery book to which I said, "I got to page 3. No thanks." Ha! We have so many things in common - what's up with the book department?? :-) Maybe some of your other buddies can offer some good suggestions for you! Love ya.

Erica said...

Since all of our books are passed back and forth between the two of us (and mom and jenny) I'm fresh out of ideas too....but I haven't given up hope and am looking. Sign me up for the book club!

FrazzMom said...

I just finished "And Then There Were None" by Agatha Christy and "Miss Invisable" by Laura Jensen Walker. Two very different books and I loved them both!

Unknown said...

You may have already read it, but I am reading "The Shack" by William Young for the 2nd time. Another recent one I've enjoyed is "I Heard That Song Before" by Mary Higgins Clark. When I run out of good summer reads I usually turn once again to Anne of Green Gables. Talk about transporting yourself somewhere else! The only drawback to that one is it makes me wish I was born in a simpler time. :) And I read at least one Nancy Drew book each summer because it brings back my childhood. Good luck finding that perfect summer read! (Also, try the library...if the book is horrible, at least you can return it and try something else!)

Jekissa said...

OK, that last comment was from me. I didn't even know that Michael had a blogger username so I didn't check to make sure I was signed in! He would probably be mortified if anyone thought he read Anne of Green Gables or Nancy Drew!! :P -Jess

Elaine said...

if you like literary humor and wackiness, try the Thursday Next series by jasper fforde. First book is the Eyre Affair. Love them! Most of Adriana Trigani's books are good. Billie Letts is a good author as well, heartwarming but not too sugary. Jodi Picoult is a good author, but you need to be selective-some of her stuff is a bit naughty.

Unknown said...

I love the #1 Ladies Detective series. Just finished Miracle at Speedy Motors on audiobook and finally know how all those names and places are pronounced. It was delightful. The family liked it, too as we listened in the car. No cussing, either.

Here are some of my old fave summer reads: The Brother Cadfael mysteries by Ellis Peters, Wind from the Carolinas, A Town like Alice, Cry the Beloved Country. These aren't novels but great reads: Pursuing Giraffe and Sharansky's Fear no Evil which challenged me spiritually about clinging to truth. Last summer I read Anne Lamott's Traveling Mercies. It's a glimpse at the life of a believer who lives in a leftist worldview very different from my Midwest upbringing. She does cuss fluently.

I'm listening my way through The English American but, sadly, had to turn it off with family in the car. Adult themes inappropriate for my teenagers. Bummer. Great story line as you say. English girl finds American parents who gave her up for adoption. they are in the Deep South and cannot make a proper cup of tea. Laugh out loud funny.

Jane Austen, Agatha Christie, and Baldacci already mentioned I think.

Finally, I will add the Toad Rage series by Morris Gleitzman about Limpy the cane toad. Recommended to us in Australia. They are terrific for young and old. Clever, witty, our whole family loves them.

Leslie said...

Back in the day, you could judge a book by its cover, and I knew not to buy one with a red or purple cover, because whoa nelly! they were steamy. Now you just never know!

~Leslie

Grateful Gramma said...

Try Ruby Among Us by Tina Ann Forkner. Excellent!

Brianna Inman said...

Marley and Me is a cute one.

Oh and your book club name sounds alot like a possible Star Wars character name :)

Beth K said...

I just finished reading two Deeanne Gist novels, The Measure of a Lady and Courting Trouble, and thoroughly enjoyed both. Both historical romantic Christian fiction. I found them to be more engaging and not as predictable as your usual fare in that genre. Have fun finding that perfect summer read!

henryjz said...

I was going to suggest the Mitford books by Jan Karon, but apparently you know about them... Ah, to be Father Tim...

Otherwise, no suggestions. I'm bogged down in some non-fiction heady stuff right now.

If it fits within your comfort level, the Harry Potter books are a good read as is Dan Brown. Erin likes Ted Dekker, if you are into suspense stuff.

ronda said...

My daughter (19 yrs old), mom, sister and several of the ladies in my Bible study group have enjoyed the Yada Yada Prayer group series.
Love your blog!

Josh Herndon said...

David James Duncan's Brother's K is a GREAT book-- it's about 3 brothers. :)

we read it for my 20th Century Early American Literature class- it's the forest gump of books.

you can buy it for less than 2 bucks.
http://product.half.ebay.com/The-Brothers-K_W0QQprZ842008QQtgZinfo

take care!

Lindsey said...

Have you ever read the mystery (highly funny) books by Anne George. They are a series and the first one is Murder on a Girls' Night Out. Here is the link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Murder-Girls-Night-Out-Southern/dp/0380780860/ref=pd_sim_b_1

I have read and re-read and re-read all these novels. These are very "easy" reads and are laugh-out-loud funny.

susanna said...

Keep the book suggestions coming! :) I love it! I will be headed to the library with my list in hand soon!

Anissa said...

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard - one of my favorites!

Cari said...

ok, so far all the books I was going to suggest have already been mentioned...........Karen Kingsbury, "The Shack" I have heard that a book called "Blue Like Jazz" is really good (havent gotten to that one yet) I did just read an autobiography that you might be interested in. By our beloved Growing Pains cutie. "Still Growing" by Kirk Cameron. I LOVE autobiographies!!!! It was good, but..................He kinda likes himself!!!!! Thanks for all your suggestions..........will try some!!!!

emilymr said...

I'm re-reading the Elizabeth Peters mysteries -- Amelia Peabody, archeologist in Egypt. Very funny; I think you'd like them. :) I'm also reading Carole Nelson Douglas' and Laurie King's books -- both are female twists on Sherlock Holmes, and both are excellent writers. And my last historical fiction mystery series (which apparently is all I read anymore) -- Grace Monfredo writes about upstate NY in the mid-19th century -- I really liked these ones. Go lady detectives!! ;)