Jennifer's Books

This blog is a weblog by Jennifer about books she's read, favorite books, books she wants to read. Anything book related! Don't forget to check out "The Last Movie I Saw" on the right hand side.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Luncheon of the Boating Party

I got this in a trade... by Susan Vreeland (author of Girl in Hyacinth Blue)

Instantly recognizable, Auguste Renoir’s masterpiece depicts a gathering of his real friends enjoying a summer Sunday on a cafe terrace along the Seine near Paris. A wealthy painter, an art collector, an Italian journalist, a war hero, a celebrated actress, and Renoir’s future wife, among others, share this moment of la vie moderne, a time when social constraints were loosening and Paris was healing after the Franco-Prussian War. Parisians were bursting with a desire for pleasure and a yearning to create something extraordinary out of life. Renoir shared these urges and took on this most challenging project at a time of personal crises in art and love, all the while facing issues of loyalty and the diverging styles that were tearing apart the Impressionist group. Narrated by Renoir and seven of the models and using settings in Paris and on the Seine, Vreeland illuminates the gusto, hedonism, and art of the era. With a gorgeous palette of vibrant, captivating characters, she paints their lives, loves, losses, and triumphs in a brilliant portrait of her own.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Mooch

I got a BookMooch from a Title 1 school in Alabama looking for books for their library and some classrooms.

How cool!

Monday, April 14, 2008

Box O' Books came!

My box of books from my online friend the bookseller came this weekend!

Astonishing Splashes of Colour
by Clare Morrall

-> Shortlisted for the 2003 Man Booker Prize.
-> Taking its title from a description of Peter Pan's Neverland, Astonishing Splashes of Colour follows the life of Kitty, a woman who, in a sense, has never grown up. As her moods swing dramatically from high to low, they are illuminated by an unusual ability to interpret people and emotions through colour.

Kitty struggles to come to terms with her life, including the loss of her mother, a miscarriage, and an unconventional marriage to her husband, who lives in the apartment next door. And when her father and brothers reveal a family secret long hidden, it overwhelms Kitty's tenuous hold on reality and propels her on an impetuous journey to the brink of madness.

Midnight In Garden of Good & Evil
by J. Berendt
-> Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil: A Savannah Story is a sublime and seductive reading experience. Brilliantly conceived and masterfully written, this enormously engaging portrait of a mostbeguiling Southern city is certain to become a modern classic.

The Giver
by Lois Lowry

-> John Newberry Award Winner

Les Miserables
by Victor Hugo

-> Les Miserables is the great epic masterpiece of the mid-nineteenth century. Begun in 1845, the year Louis Philippe conferred a peerage and a lifetime seat in the Senate upon Victor Hugo, it was completed when the author was living in exile in the Channel Islands.

Rebecca
by Daphne DuMaurier
-> Hitchcock movie made from this book
-> Published in 1938 Rebecca was a spectacular novel. It later became a fabulous movie starring Joan Fontaine and Lawerence Olivier.

Duchess
by Susan Holloway Scott

-> A historical novel based on the life of the lady-in-waiting who helped bring James II to the throne of England.

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Trade books arrived!

I traded 2 books for 2 others.

A Million Little Pieces by James Frey - despite all the controversy I heard this was a great book.
House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus

I sent:
Fair and Tender Ladies by Lee Smith
and
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

Friday, April 04, 2008

Book Club

I had book club last night and we got a review of the book Trespass by Amy Irvine since it was so new only 1 person read it. I have it now on my wishlist it sounds like a good read.

We also discussed Into the Wild by Jon Krakhauer. Some people saw the movie and some people read the book and saw the movie and some just read the book. It was an interesting discussion on the creative license of movies... since some parts were exploded from the notes in the book to something else. Many interpreted Chris MCCandless as a young wild kid who was immortal, impregnable, and invincible! Very good discussion. Another book club member related the store of her brother killed in Iraq who was that same way at that age - nothing could stop him. Although a few said he was a careless, uncaring person and why would he disappear and do that to his family and parents. The rebuttal was that he didn't think that was wrong or that he was doing that.

We also had a brief discussion of a book called The Nine : Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin that someone was reading.

We revisited the Eat, Pray, Love book again it sounds like a love or hate read, some couldn't get past the first 50 pages while others stuck it out and said the end was fun and romantic in Bali and others were disappointed with the ending based on how she started her journey.

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

More books coming...

I just ordered some books from a used bookseller... they should arrive later next week.

I'll post when they arrive.

I got another book mooched -- The Fatherland by Richard Harris, glad I can share it, it's a great read!