I read Ernest Hemingway's classic book The Sun Also Rises as a book club read. It is Hemingway's homage to what has become known as The Lost Generation, and is a classic example of his sparse writing style.

Reading this, I felt like I was completing an assignment for high school. It was good for me to have read it, although I didn't particulary enjoy it or attach to any of its hard-drinking, unlikable characters. I am now more familiar with Hemingway's style, and I now appreciate how he introduced America to The Running of the Bulls at Pamplona. But like a foul-tasting medicine, The Sun Also Rises felt to me like an obligation, as opposed to reading for pleasure. Although I'm glad to have added to my knowledge base, I was not enamored of this book or its characters.

It's officially the new year so I thought I would check in and see how everyone is doing down the home stretch. Did you read all five? Did the holidays throw a wrench into your reading plans? Did you cave in and buy new books?

Let me know how you are doing. Also, we will be pulling the name for the winner of the prize on the 15th so make sure you leave a link for your review .

And... coming on the 15th...the new and improved book club. We have our first selection ready to go so tell your friends, spread the word and stop by for all the info starting on the 15th. C'mon, it'll be fun!

I read Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert as a book club read. It's author Elizabeth Gilbert's autobiographical story about her year-long travels to Italy, India and Bali following her divorce and the breakup of a subsequent romance. Ms. Gilbert's goals on this trip were to find pleasure, inner peace, and a way to balance the two in her life.

This was an interested read. What was more interesting was the number of people who came up to me to talk about the book - apparently this was featured on Oprah, so a lot of people are reading it.

As someone on Weight Watchers, Ms. Gilbert's Italian gluttony was sometimes hard for me to read (how does one person eat two pizzas at dinner? I'm GLAD she gained 23 pounds in four months!), but in general I found her adventures and insights to be interesting.

I also liked Ms. Gilbert's descriptions of visiting a place for several months, rather than as a tourist. On our last trip to Bermuda my hubby and I discussed living there for six months at some point after retirement, so I appreciate the concept of loving a place enough to want to visit there substantially, but not necessarily wanting to live there permanently.

In any event, Eat, Pray, Love is an interesting account of one person's adventures in life - her physical life and her inner life as well. It's a good read and it's one that will make you think.

I had read Antoine de Saint-Exupery's The Little Prince (aka Le Petit Prince) several times, in English as well as in its original French. The other day, I felt like reading it again.

For the uninitiated, The Little Prince is the story of an aviator whose plane breaks down in the Sahara. While repairing the plane, the aviator meets a young but wise person who has come to earth from Asteroid B-612. Through the little prince's stories about his travels throughout the universe, the aviator is reminded about the essential truths of the world that are known by youngsters and forgotten by grown-ups.

I enjoyed revisiting de Saint-Exupery's classic tale. The story was, obviously, familiar, but it was was a different experience reading the story as an adult (and the mother of almost grown children). It is important to be reminded that "it is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."

The Little Prince is a sweet and touching story. It is worth reading, or re-reading, in order to remember the things that grown-ups cannot remember.

I just read John Irving's My Movie Business: A behind-the-scenes look at the making of the Academy Award-winning film The Cider House Rules. This is Irving's recounting of the 14-year process of getting his controversial (due to its abortion politics) 1985 novel made into a movie.

This is a book for John Irving fans. It's at his best when it's most personal; when Irving discusses his personal politics and his family background. It's at its worst when it gets into the nuts-and-bolts aspects of movie making, because Irving's calling is as a novelist, and his dislike of the movie business is palpable. The book is also somewhat incomplete because it was written prior to the movie's release; a postscript about the film's release, reception, reviews and awards would have made this a more fulfilling reading experience.

There is one quote from the book, though, that resonates strongly with me -

Let religious zealots practice their religion, but let them keep their religion to themselves. Religious freedom should work two ways: we should be free to practice the religion of our choice, but we must also be free from having someone else's religion practiced on us.

John Irving fans will enjoy this glimpse of the man behind so many provocative novels, and his recounting of the process of getting one of those novels put onto the silver screen.

I was looking for something on BarnesandNoble.com recently when I noticed An Innocent, a Broad by Ann Leary. I knew Ann Leary and her husband, Denis, shortly before Denis hit it big because we lived in the same building on the Upper West Side. Ann and I bonded because we were both mothers of preemies, but while my daughter was five weeks premature, her son Jack was three months early. An Innocent, a Broad is her recollection of Jack's premature birth in London.

I enjoyed this book, and I'm reasonably sure I would have enjoyed it even if I hadn't previously known the author. Ann tells her story with both humor and the neurotic emotions that are a part of first time parenthood. This is a human story, and an entertaining one. And while the author is self-deprecating, Ann's humor and intelligence are evident in the writing. I found this to be an enjoyable read, and one that I recommend.

When Christ and His Saints Slept: In this book, set in England and Normandy in the early 12th century, Penman immerses the reader in the lives of Maude and Stephen as they struggle for the crown of England. Through her extensive research into the time period and into the lives of the subjects of her book Penman is able to make this time period come alive for the reader. She winds the facts with more intimate details supplied by her knowledge of the era of the book and her own imagination. This book is a fairly easy read for anyone with any interest in the time period and a good introduction into what proper historical fiction can be. There will be no bodice ripping just historical facts brought to intimate life by a true master of the craft.

I give this book an even four star **** rating. It is not my favorite book by the author but it is certainly worth the read.

I read Hanif Kureishi's book The Buddha of Suburbia for a book club that I'm going to be checking out next month.

This is the story of Karim, the child of a Hindi Muslim father and a working class English mother who grows up in South London in the late 60's and early 70's. The novel chronicles Karim's parents, friends, relatives, and other significant people in his life and their relations and interrelations.

I do like books that make you think, and The Buddha of Suburbia certainly makes you do that - it chronicles and interesting and historic time period, and also discusses class and culture issues from an interesting perspective. However, I didn't find this to be a satisfying read. Karim is not a likable protagonist. I don't mind characters who are flawed, but there is nobody in this book with whom I'd care to empathize. It will make you think, but it won't make you feel anything, as Karim dispassionately relates the events in his life. Thus, although this is an interesting book and a fascinating timepiece, The Buddha of Suburbia did not engage me the way that it should have.

It's time to start putting together the new version of the book group and first things first, we are going to need some suggestions for books to read.

In the past we have read:
The Red Tent: A Novel
Middlesex: A Novel
THE HISTORIAN A Novel by Elizabeth Kostova
Twilight Collector's Edition (The Twilight Saga)
The Book Thief
The Memory Keeper's Daughter
The Thirteenth Tale: A Novel

Not a bad list of books! This time we are going to alternate between a well-loved classic or re-read and something new to most every other month. So let's start thinking of books we may want to read.

Rules are simple for this book group. Just post in the comments when we announce the book (or any time after) and let us know that you are reading along. Then post in the comments on the discussion. We usually give a month's notice on the book and the discussion is left open indefinitely for more questions, opinions, comments, etc. See? No pressure to finish, bake brownies and show up at a meeting. (Although brownies are always welcome!)

I would also welcome volunteers to run the discussion especially on months when we are choosing a classic or favorite re-read.

Suggestions for books new or old? Leave 'em in the comments.

And while you're popping by, make sure to take a look at all the great reviews that are rolling in from the From the Stacks Challenge!

If you haven't signed up, just head to this entry and join in. There's no such thing as too late and it's a lot of fun.

Here's the form for posting the links to reviews. Remember there are a few fun prizes in the works for people who complete the challenge and for a few great reviews so have at it. Get reading and writing!

Thanks for joining in and make sure to spread the word. It would be great to have as many people as the last two years.

Please enter the name of the book and author in the first space and the static url in the second. If you have any questions

Well....this blog is kind of like a shelf of favorite books that has sat too long collecting dust. Things around here have been crazy. And I lost my reading mojo for a while there. I started knitting as well and since I can't do both at the same time--or thought I couldn't--the books just sat.

And, to top it all off, the challenge didn't get started. I'm not sure who is still out there but let's start off with two things.

First off, I'm looking for one or two new reviewers for the site. My good friend posting as In Repair has been shouldering most of the reviews for quite some time. Thank goodness for that since I have been a slacker. I would like to keep things hopping here and provide a good resource for people looking for reviews and recommendations. I am also going to start adding ratings to the categories so that you can search by rating. Bear with me, I'm working it out.

Next, let's throw the From the Stacks Challenge back out there. This time I am adding an addendum for classics and favorites. So in addition to reading books that you have been meaning to read that haven't been read, books that you have been meaning to reread will count this year.

From the Stacks Challenge 08
The basic rules are the same:

If you are anything like me your stack of purchased to-be-read books is teetering over. So for this challenge we would be reading 5 books that we have already purchased, have been meaning to get to, have been sitting on the nightstand and haven't read before. No going out and buying new books. No getting sidetracked by the lure of the holiday bookstore displays.

The bonus would be that we would finally get to some of those titles (you know you picked them for a reason!) and we wouldn't be spending any extra money over the holidays.

The time frame would be Nov. 1st until Jan. 30 and there will be some small, fun prizes awarded to random participants and/or those with clever review posts.

What do you think? Sound good? Just sign up and spread the word. Please post your list of books on your blog. If you don't have a blog or just want to share, you can post them in the comments here. Thanks!

C'mon! It's fun and we got a lot of reading from the TBR pile done last year. Plus, it saves money heading into the holiday season. So, who's in?

(Trying out a new auto-link widget. Just enter your name and your blog in the form and you'll be added to the list. This way we'll have a great list of readers and readers' blogs to wander through! Don't forget to either leave your list in the comments so it's easy for everyone to see or post your list on your site. Hopefully this will run smoothly!)

(If you don't see the autolink entry form here please go to the main page and scroll down until you see it. Thanks!)

Everyone I know has read The Friday Night Knitting Club so I added it to my list of TBR books and there it sat for a while. I thought reading? Yes. Knitting? Yes. Should be a good mix.

While I liked the characters--Georgia, Anita, Dakota--well-enough, the story always felt formulaic. They had everyone covered from all races, genders, socio-economic backgrounds. They had a crisis and a conflict. But it all seemed as if it were just plugged into a "mad lib" for novels. Theme? Knitting. Location? NY.

I never really connected with any of the characters because they were all too cliched. And while I finished the book, I wouldn't have cared if I didn't. I wouldn't have run out and replaced my copy if it had become strayed or stolen and what kind of recommendation is that for a book?

The ending left me angry. She chose the "tug at your heart strings" ending for the "mad libs" novel. Once you saw it coming, you had no doubt about what you were supposed to feel. She laid it all out for you. I like books that make me think about what I should feel. Make me, perhaps, question what I feel and why I feel it. This one didn't do that.

So as a bit of light reading, I guess. There's some knitting thrown in there but even that feels like it was looked up on wikipedia. Not one I would highly recommend.

** - Not terrible but hardly a page turner and definitely not a re-read.