Question for Kat: What do you enjoy reading?

[Linda Cannon-Mott]

Welcome back Kat! I look forward to getting to know you better. What kind of books do you enjoy reading?

Linda

[Kat]

Hi Linda, nice to meet you!

My love of reading is well across the border of normalcy and probably hovers near the ridiculous mark. (I'm sure I'm in good company here on that front!) I'm always amazed at my co-workers who "catch" me reading in the break room and are astounded. "You're reading AGAIN??!!"  I simply can't understand anyone NOT wanting to read.

My tastes change over the years.  For a long time I was into mysteries, detective novels, horror, and true crime.  Favorite authors were Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Ann Rule, and James Patterson's Alex Cross books.

For the last few years I've been leaning toward chick lit.  Favorite authors...Elizabeth Berg, Anita Shreve, Jodi Picoult and on the lighter end of the scale, Emily Giffen, Jennifer Weiner, and Lauren Weisberger.

One love that never changes: all things Jane Austen

Books I never read: Harlequin-type romances...no bodice-rippers for me.

How about you?  What are some of your favorite books and authors?

Kat

[Leslie]

Okay, Kat so tell me...

I sometimes feel like Anita Shreve is a sort of schizophrenic writer (and I don't mean that in a bad way). She has some books that people love and others that they hate...and then, vice versa. I loved her books like The Weight of Water and all the others that followed that story arc (can't think of the titles right now). Didn't like the others that much. Your opinion?

I have two Shreve samples on my Kindle right now....Testimony and Body Surfing. I haven't read either one but from the descriptions, they sound very different. Have you read either?

L

[sjc]

KAT:  In case you miss my reply to your previous post regarding your eye/Kindle problem....I too, suffer from headaches/migraine...eye pain (from the migraines):  Here is my reply just in case you missed it...(good luck).

Kat:  I am a long time migraine sufferer.  Light flash can trigger these things as can the need for glasses.  Investigate the situation by keeping a journal (including foods).  Write down when this occurs:  do you wake up with it?  go to bed with it?  does it dissipate or become worse?  Is it just a headache or full blown migraine?  Does darkness help?  Are noises/sound magnified?  Is it accompanied by dizziness/vertigo?

Try 2 days NO kindle; two days Kindle; compare.

Then take your notes to your doctor.

I was treated for migraine/vertigo; spent tons of money and came up with the "self-diagnosis" after keeping a very strict and detailed journal...I am highly allergic to (and LOVE them)...onions.  They trigger migraines.  I would be bed-ridden for 3 days at a time...with light sensitivity and vomiting. It can be anything from a food item; to an eye problem and you're linking it to the Kindle because that is the latest point at which you noticed the symptoms; and associated it with the Kindle.  Unfortunately, you can't be too sure that it isn't.

Keep a journal and visit your doctor.   P.S. my son's (age 18) allergies have been off the wall this week; they were so bad today I called the city and said pleeeeeease come pick up my yard waste!!

[sjc]

Kat:  I noticed your reply about the allergies.  I will repeat a part of my earlier post:  P.S. my son's (age 18) allergies have been off the wall this week; they were so bad today I called the city and said pleeeeeease come pick up my yard waste!!

[Linda Cannon-Mott]

We have a lot in common with reading peference Kat. No Harlequin romance for me & I've never read Giffen, Weisner, or Weinberger but have read all the other autors. I love Anita Shreve, James Patterson, Dean Koontz, etc. I also enjoy Stuart Wood and have tried some new author's since having my Kindle. Can't recall tha author but the book is "All The Pretty Girls", great mystery and I have her second book 14 to read. A Thousand Splendid Suns is an amazing book, I couldn't put it down.

Linda

[sjc]

Kat:  I am 3/4 of the way through Pride and Prejudice for the third time.  I love the classics; always have always will.

[Kat]

SJC, Pride and Prejudice is probably my all-time favorite book, or at least it's tied with Jane Eyre.  The classics are the only books I read more than once.

LOL, Leslie...I am a one book at a time girl and Testimony is the one book I've downloaded! I just checked my bookshelves. I thought I had Body Surfing, but don't. So, no, I haven't read either of those yet.  My feelings on Anita Shreve are the same as on Jodi Picoult. Both are amazing writers with the ability to write something so different in subject and theme from their previous work that they do seem kind of "schizophrenic". But that says a lot about their talent as writers. Their work is so unpredictable. Some I love, others I'm not wild about, but it says a lot that even the ones I don't care for as much still keep me riveted. A few of their books have left me feeling vaguely disturbed long after I'd finished them, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It's better than a book that doesn't make you feel or think at all.

Kat

[sjc]

The only other book that I ever read twice (besides the classics which I read over and over and never tire of) is: the Thorn-birds.  Not for the love stuff but, for the beginning when Meggie is a little girl and the author describes her relationship with her brothers and her first day at school. How her oldest brother is so protective of her and she is so innocent that she speaks her mind to the sister and gets a thrashing.  I just loved her purity and her forthrightness.  The book is so descriptive and she is so humble yet strong-willed; it just moved me. 

[Betsy the Quilter]

I love mysteries and thrillers.  I just discovered that 3 or 4 of the classic 87th Precinct police novels by Ed McBain are $1.25 or less.  I'm going to snap those babies up!  Cheap thrills!

Betsy

[KarenB]

Kat: I've been reading some chick lit type books lately. here's a few authors you might sample and see if you like their stuff...
Meg Cabot's Heather Wells series (chick lit/mystery)
Shanna Swendson Enchanted Inc. series (Enchanted Inc., Once upon Stillettos, Damsel Under Stress and the newest one, Don't Hex with Texas--I think). This series has a lot of magical elements in it but you might enjoy it.

KarenB

[RovingSoul]

Mine name being Kat, everyone talking to this other Kat is causing me some confusion. It's like "Kat? As, in me?? People are posting entire threads dedicated to asking little old me a question?!" And then, disappointment.

[Kat]

Awww, don't be disappointed, Kat.  I'm brand new here.  I'll always be "the other Kat". 

Thanks for the recommendations, Karen.  I'll give some of those a try.


Kat

[Meemo]

I love mysteries and thrillers.  I just discovered that 3 or 4 of the classic 87th Precinct police novels by Ed McBain are $1.25 or less.  I'm going to snap those babies up!  Cheap thrills!

Betsy

I'm a mystery lover too (should've named my Kindle Nancy Drew) - and I noticed the Ed McBains - Raymond Chandler too.  I'm almost afraid NOT to get them - they could disappear from the Kindle book section.  But I told myself no more buying for awhile...