Cutting for Stone is one of those books to read slowly, like The English Patient. Then I tried Verghese's others and couldn't get through them--the curse of the best first. Bookstores are my CASA teen's favorite outing site. And on her recommendation, I bought The Boy in the Striped Pajamas at the same time I purchased Verghese's novel. If you haven't read it, do skip the movie and read the book. When we visit bookstores, I always try to buy books that I can pass on to her. Cutting for Stone was on the shelf waiting for her to turn 18. Now that she has, she will have to wait while I reread it.

31 Dec 11 @ 5:36 PM

I think Cutting for Stone grows on you, but it does require a 'suspension of disbelief.' I haven't tried anything else by him.

1 Jan 12 @ 10:31 AM

I thought I'd weigh in on the end of the year book review, just to share some favorites with another group of readers. I have a favorite list of strong women writers who develop compelling backstories for recurring characters who star to lesser or greater degrees in intriguing plot lines. A new acquaintance is Louise Penny who writes the delightful Thre Pines series around Inspector Armand Gamache. For developing a crazy quilt of thoroughly, recognizably human characters, Penny is unmatched. For making those characters flawed and complex and utterly likable, she deserves every accolade. As the author explains on her website, " ... the Chief Inspector Gamache books, while clearly crime fiction, are not in fact about murder or even death. They're really about life. And friendship. About belonging and choices. And how very difficult it can be, how much courage it can take, to be kind." If possible, read the book in the order written. If not possible, travel to the Quebec village of Three Pines and meet folks who will delight your soul and break your heart. A briefer mention, though no less deserving of time and typing, nods to Dana Stabenow and her characterization of the Alaskan widlerness, inhabited by the often surprising always intrepid Kate Shugak, and to Elizabeth George who brings Inspector Lynley back for a seventeenth excursion into the world of Brit mysteries. Be warned: these are writers and characters who will seduce you into wanting more. If you are new to either, there is an impressive backlog of titles to satisfy the appetite. Happy New Year to all-- and good reading!

1 Jan 12 @ 9:19 PM

Being in a book club, one would think I'm an avid reader. Since retiring and getting an e-reader, I do read 3x what I used to read. That being said, the books I read are ones the book club chooses. This is always based on somewhere we will visit, most recently Fairhope, AL. In A Temple of Trees (Suzanne Hunter), fiction, and The Poet of Tolstoy Park (Sonny Brewer) true story somewhat fictionalized, were two of my favorites. (We actually met both of the authors.) If you want to read one of these, I would start with The Poet. . Otherwise, I read was catches my attention or something recommended. I enjoyed The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo series, Water for Elephants, The Help, The Girl from Berlin (bought in Berlin where my daughter lives), and Warhorse by Michael Morpurgo. Morpurgo has written over 100 books for the teen population. As a teacher in England, he read to his students, and wanted stories for them to read. Warhorse is based on an actual horse during the WWII era and is written through the voice of the horse, Joey. Although my mother took us to the library or book mobile every week during the summer, I didn't read as much as my sisters. Knowing now that I was somewhat dyslectic, it makes sense. So, I'm catching up on my teen books. I never liked to analyze books too much, just enjoy them, hence, iffy grades in English in hs and college.

1 Jan 12 @ 9:21 PM

In terms of books I've read this past year--easier for me to list writers whose work rarely fails to draw me in. Anita Bruckner is one of these. I have never been disappointed in her work. Penelope Lively's work has struck out with me a couple of times, but I think HEAT WAVE is as near perfect as a novel can be. I was delighted to discover that John Banville writes mystery under the name Benjamin Black and thoroughly enjoyed the one I managed to find. I found UNBROKEN to be one of the most compelling, heart-breaking and eye-opening books I've read in a long time, and passed it on to people who swore they would pass it on. I tried the new novel by the author of A BEAUTIFUL LINE, whose name escapes me, but couldn't get into it. A BEAUTIFUL LINE is well-written, but after a while I felt I was in BRIDESHEAD REVISITED as written by a lower tier writer. I often return to favorites--Graham Greene, Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, et al. I read a lot of mysteries--after a day of making up stories, whether a play or a novel, I find them pure escapism, particularly writers like T. Jefferson Parker and Lee Child. I always enjoy reading the letters from other people on this list, and thank Elizabeth for keeping this very interesting group going.

4 Jan 12 @ 9:53 AM