New Book By a Good Friend

[GracefulLion]

A good friend of mine's 3rd novel has just come out.  His name is Vikram Chandra and it is called "Sacred Games."  It is getting amazing press (People, Elle and the Los Angeles Times are the ones I have seen, plus he is climbing up the NY Times bestseller list).  It is in talks to become a major motion picture. 

He is currently on a book tour, though I think it is almost done, and I encourage any of you to read it and would love to hear your thoughts!  Shameless promoting yes, but it is an awesome novel!

[CaratHead]

My husband is an amateur writer...I will mention this one to him.

Thanks!

[DiamondLady]

Well, congrats to your friend!

I've not heard of it, but then I'm not much of a book reader either.
It sounds like he's getting great press about it!

~Rhonda

[webmistress]

I love to read. And I am a writer by trade. An ad writer but even we love to read. Thanks for the suggestion. I'll see if we can read it in book club.

[kleinkath]

Thanks for the recommendation!  I love to read and am always looking for ideas.  I will have to check that one out!

[Snooper]

I love to read. And I am a writer by trade. An ad writer but even we love to read. Thanks for the suggestion. I'll see if we can read it in book club.

Here's an idea... What if we had a book club?

[luvnjewelry]

Book Club? That might take away from my reading time on this forum and another!! LOL! 

I love to read too GL...so I will have to check out your friends book.  The title alone has me intrigued.   Thanks for sharing and I hope it goes well for him!~Ronda

[GracefulLion]

I would do the book club, but I read very slooooooooooowy due to lack of time (currently sucked by work, husband, child, and of course, CDI).  I would do one per month if others wanted to.  This one is HUGE - 900 pages, so that may not even be enough for me.  I am only a little bit into it, though loving it so far.

[Snooper]

Hmmmm this sounds like a poll is in need... I read slow only because I like to read and actually retain what I read.  Usually when I read books, I can recite very descriptive details.

900 pages would take me a while only because I surf this site too much and dang work!

Then we would have to decide what book to read.... But we could decide on that later...

[CaratHead]

Have any of you read any Gerald A. Browne novels?  They are about 10-15 years old, but are all about the diamond trade.  Really interesting...and for you fellow diamond nuts...I think you would love them.

A good one to start is "11 Harrowhouse" or "West 47th Street".  Those two are about diamonds.  He also has a fabulous novel around emeralds "Green Ice" and pearls "18mm Blues".  These are NOT serious fiction...these are fun reads.  You can get 'em used on Amazon for like $1.00.  Highly recommended to you guys.

I actually just finished "Youngblood Hawke" by Herman Wouk...what an incredible book.  About a writer in NY in the 50s.  If you loved War and Remembrance and the Winds of War, you would love this book (it is not war related, however, but the depth of characters is incredible).

Okay...back to diamonds.

[GracefulLion]

OK, I added a poll and voted yes for 1!

[DiamondLady]

Sorry GL, I had to vote no. So we're tied, one for one! lol

I just don't have time to read. Well, maybe I do a little bit, but there's so many other things I'd rather be doing.

~Rhonda

[CaratHead]

I voted NO only because I have so little time, and the books that I read aren't the mainstream "Oprah" books that people like so much.  So, I am not voting against reading...I just want to read the books that I have chosen...next up is Erik Larson's "Thunderstruck".

[Snooper]

I voted yes, and I promise I won't ask you all to read HP!

[Rubymu]

I'm voting yes....but the reality is that i've probably got wildly different tastes to everyone else.  But I'm in if we can read one 'classic' a year....like Austen, or Dickens or Thackery.

I just read (reread) The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kunderra, and I strongly reccommend it to everyone.  It's like christmas cake - it's very thick, dense and full of delicious bits.  And you get full on just a few bites.

[GracefulLion]

First of all, I would be open to Harry Potter (only read the first one, but I enjoyed it) and the classics (it has been a long time).  How many people do we need to make this viable?  5?

[luvnjewelry]

Ruby...you make that sound good enough to eat.   I voted NO too...but that doesn't mean that I won't read anything that you gals have suggested.   I just like to read at my own pace...and I do love to read....when I can get my butt off of these forums!!!!!!!!!!! ~Ronda

[Snooper]

I'd say 5 would be enough for a great discussion.  And I'm all for a slow pace as I would go nuts if I couldn't check this forum:)

I loveeeeeeeee buying books!! And you all know how I am with scratches on my jewelry? You haven't seen my books!! No cracks in the binds... UGH, I need to get this problem fixed huh... 

[kleinkath]

Well, I voted yes!  I need to get back into reading and this would be just the motivation  

[annie1]

I really want to vote yes, but I'm worried that with school and work I'll fall behind! I'm going to give myself another day to decide on my vote.   

[GracefulLion]

We need 1 more yes to be good to go.  All I will say is that I would insist that this would be a no pressure thing.  You get it read, fabulous.  You don't, no biggie.  The point is just to have fun, share and read some great stuff.  Agreed?  BTW, if we start with Vikram's book, which I am committed to and am desperately trying to carve time out to read (though the creation of CDI has made this near impossible) I would say 2 months may be necessary to read it!!

[robin]

I talk about books for a living (I teach college English) :-).  But Ruby-- I'm an Americanist (20th century) by training, but read a lot of 19th century British for fun.  So we can chat anytime! My officemate is a Dickens scholar, too, so I'm reading _The Old Curiosity Shop_ right now, because she just had an article published about that novel.  In grad school, I took a Thackeray/Trollope class with one of the top Thackeray scholars in the world, so I'm game there, too!

--Robin

[Rubymu]

Hey Robin!!  Wow, i'm a huge fan of Thackery...that would have been a great class.  I'm only slighty jealous...... I'm a big fan of 19th C stuff - but i've been delving into more modern things recently...and it's quite fun really.  I've read some Hunter S Thompson and F Scott Fitzgerald...both not in my usual real, but every enjoyable.

My BA is in Eng Lit and Philosophy....not particularly vocational, but very interesting all the same.

[Snooper]

My BA is in Eng Lit and Philosophy....not particularly vocational, but very interesting all the same.

Ruby!! I might have known this but I forgot!!! WOW!!! I could have used you when I took philosophy!!!!!!!!! 

[GracefulLion]

OK!  We have 5.  So, what do we do now?  I guess pick a book.  I really have to commit to reading Vikram's book, which may take me a month or so, between CDI and work ( ).  I do not want to pressure anyone to read that though if they are not interested.  Should we have some suggestions?  Take turns picking?  I think it would be great to rotate between modern and classics.  Thoughts?