USVI-On-Line

When I read Under the Banner of Heaven I thought that those folks don't have family trees, they have family briar patches. I swear it seemed that one lady's daughter became her step-mother. You need a program to keep up with the family members.

JT - You are absolutely correct! It is very interesting to follow the "logic" of some of the beliefs. My husband says he can barely put up with me, plural wives I think would be his worst nightmare

I tried reading Under the Banner of Heaven after it was talked about here. It really bothered me and I couldn't get through it.

The FLDS is very very scary to me for many reasons that I orginally typed up then deleted cuz I went off the handle a bit .

There is not, or at least there shouldn't ever be, A God that would direct these men to do what they did. These men were just plain old crazy egomaniacs.

And that's all I have to say about that.

I recently read Bringing Down the House. Can't remember the author but it is a non-fiction book about the MIT students that worked in teams to count cards in the casinos. While I have no special interest in gambling and/or casinos, I really liked it.

Speaking of plural marriage and briar patches, I recently watched all the Big Love episodes (I am new to Netflix) and there is one scene where a mother explains to her son all the different ways they are related.

PA Girl wrote:I recently read Bringing Down the House. Can't remember the author but it is a non-fiction book about the MIT students that worked in teams to count cards in the casinos. While I have no special interest in gambling and/or casinos, I really liked it.

This was made in to a movie with Kevin Spacey called 21. It's on my Netflix list.

mbw1024 wrote:

PA Girl wrote:I recently read Bringing Down the House. Can't remember the author but it is a non-fiction book about the MIT students that worked in teams to count cards in the casinos. While I have no special interest in gambling and/or casinos, I really liked it.

This was made in to a movie with Kevin Spacey called 21. It's on my Netflix list.

Yes, I want to see that also. Part of the movie was filmed in the building I work in!

If you guys like Bringing Down the House, you may want to check out one of Mezrich's books called "Ugly Americans," about US hedge fund traders in Japan.

I'm saving the new David Sedaris book for my fall trip (it's killing me not to read it). Since I don't read the New Yorker, I think it will be new material for me.

Liamsaunt, have you read anything by Augusten Burroughs? Very similar voice to David Sedaris, but darker. I read "Possible Side Effects" while in Costa Rica and loved it. "Dry" is Burrough's story of his struggle with alcoholism (mostly focusing on a 9-month sober period). Rough reading in parts, but very good.

I just added Ugly Americans to my list as well as 21 to my netflix list.

I read all but the newest Augusten Borroughs books. My best friend read it and said it was too dark and she reads some pretty heavy things.

I liked the Year of Magical Thinking (I may have posted about it before.)

I agree Dry was a bit of a tough read.

Yes, I have read all of Augusten Burroughs' books other than the new one. I do plan to read it, I just have not picked it up yet.

Did you know that his brother recently published a book also? The brother with Aspergers that he talks about in Running With Scissors? I want to read that one too.

I forgot to grab the list of books we read on vacation again. I'll try and remember it tomorrow. I liked most (not all) of what I got through.

Right now I am reading "Truth and Beauty" by Ann Patchett. I loved all of her novels, and saw this memoir of hers on the bargain rack, so I figured "why not?"

My co-worker just finished "A Wolf at the Table" by Burroughs and said it's pretty rough material. Definitely not any kind of vacation read.

The same co-worker is reading "Look Me in the Eye" (the Aspberger's book by his brother Robison) and she says it's pretty good so far.

I needed an escape book so I picked up "An Embarrassment of Mangoes" the other night. Great so far, I'm at the point where they're going from the DR to Puerto Rico. Thanks to everyone who suggested that one.

We should start some sort of book swap on this board!

Liamsaunt,

What did you think of "Truth and Beauty"? It was one of those books that I picked up with absolutely no idea what I was getting into. I generally find that's a good thing. Like sitting down to a great movie without ever having seen one trailer prior. I liked it, but it's certainly a departure from any of her other books.

I just finished Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich.Her books are a good ,funny read. Im finishing Marley and Me,very funny book . I purchased Born On a Blue Day by Daniel Tammet.Thanks to this thread ,I have several books Im going to see if I can find.

Shari, I am not done with it yet, but so far I am enjoying it. I am glad I bought it off the bargain rack though. I don't think it is one of those books that will stick with me.

Here is the list of what I read on vacation:

Kate Atkinson: behind the scenes at the museum and case histories.
I liked case histories more than BTSATM, which took me a while to get into. Neither was a particular favorite.

Indu Sundaresan: Splendor of Silence. Definitely recommend. I liked it as much as the 20th wife.

John Shors: Beneath a Marble Sky. Really loved this book.

Peter Hessler: Oracle Bones. I read this because I was thinking about John's upcoming trip to China. It is fascinating!

Sophie Kinsella: Shopoholic and Baby. Fluffy fluff. I can't remember a thing about it. Except that she has a baby at the end. It might have been twins, I don't remember.

Suzannah Dunn: The 6th Wife. Meh. There are many more books out there on the Tudor folks that are better.

Phillipa Gregory: Wideacre. Yuck, yuck, yuck! I really don't need to read about incest, thankyouverymuch. Apparently this is the first in a three-book series. I won't be reading the other two.

Elizabeth Von Arnim: The Enchanted April. Loved it! So funny and light. A perfect vacation book.

John Grisham: The Appeal. It took until about page 124 before I really got caught up in the story, but once I did, I liked it. I thought is was an interesting idea. I'd actually like to see him write another book about the main character, so I could see how his thinking evolves as he gets more experience on the bench.

Anything by David Baldacci. I am reading Simple Truth right now........love Michelle and Sean as a team

I just read 'the last lecture'. For those of you that have heard about it and may think it is depressing anything but. It really reinforces that when tough times happen we need to keep our spirits up, we need to be surrounded by people that care about us and we need to be able to laugh......

I'm a huge fan of historical books. My all time favorite is Adams by McCollough. Right now I'm reading Ladies of Liberty by Cokie Roberts. She certainly did a lot of homework for this one. I also read her Founding Mothers. Another very good book is Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin.
When I'm not reading novels of this type I tend to read sports books and for summer reading on the beaches in STJ I'll read just about anything I can find at the library.