I wandered into the international press store at the airport after leaving Bill. They had a wonderful selection of the latest English novels. I picked up Oracle Night by Paul Auster. So far it's intriguing enough, mostly because half of the story is occuring in page long parenthetical footnotes. That's a device I've not seen in an actual fiction story before. Another book that looked interesting, but I didn't pick up was The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom. It's essentially a Christmas Carol/Wonderful Life kind of story. Finally, in the mass-market-formulaic-thriller category, there was Split Second by David Baldacci.
I couldn't justify spending 34Euro on three books (at once) today though, esp. since I'm in the middle of reading Round Ireland with a Fridge by Tony Hawks, a German children's book, and I just borrowed an audio book from Stefan (auf Deutsch). So I just bought the one. I'll get around to the others, or not, later.
P.S. I've linked to both Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com above for one simple reason - the cover of the book. The cover of the book shown on the respective website is what I saw in the bookstore and, imho, the cover I link to is better than the cover of the same book on the other side of the pond.
Posted by Jinglelady at October 2, 2004 08:43 PM | Reading | TrackBackIf you liked that Mitch Albom book, also try Tuesdays with Morrie: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/076790592X/ref=pd_sim_books_2/102-9728693-0022554?v=glance&s=books
It's a bit more sports-oriented, but it's more about going through life with an older mentor. Billy Crystal recently made it into a movie, if I do recall.
Posted by: Amanda at October 3, 2004 04:15 AMBrett's mom here. Five people you meet in Heaven is a good read. Short but good. Another to read before you come home for Christmas is Skipping Christmas by John Grisham(sp) You'll be laughing out loud!!! It's a short read too. They are releasing it in movie at Thanksgiving here,starring Tim Allen & Jamie Lee Curtis. Brett & I are definately going to that one!!!
Posted by: Brett at October 3, 2004 04:59 PMAmanda - I'll definitely check it out.
Brett's Mom - Thanks for the second on the book. Now I really have to search it out. Too bad the local bookstores around here don't have big comfy chairs, or I'd read it in the store. :) As for Skipping Christmas, I think I read that one already. Yep, just checked it out on Amazon and I've def read it, but I don't remember the meat of the story. Hmm....guess a re-read is in order.
Posted by: Anna at October 3, 2004 08:56 PMHi! I'm a new (and addicted) reader of your blog. I read "Five People..." and, honestly, hated it. It was a very shallow book, like a wine that wasn't allowed to age. No depth at all. I felt like the author was under pressure to put out a book and he wrote this up while watching Seinfeld reruns late at night. It really was terrible.
I read "Round Ireland with a Fridge" and enjoyed it. I read it while on a train ride through Canada a few years ago. It gave me a lot of good laughs. Wait 'til you get to the part where he's in the doghouse. One of my favorite parts.
I'll keep checking in on you. Have a good day!
Posted by: JP at October 7, 2004 06:55 AMHi JP! I love hearing from my readers, especially new ones. And ones that say they're "addicted" to my blog. That is very flattering!
I finished "Round Ireland with a Fridge" last night. The dog house bit was funny. I can't beleive they actually did that. I was starting to think the fridge was the one who had sex - the blurb said one had sex without the other knowing and I starting thinking it was referring to them not being able to determine if the fridge was female or male. LOL.
You should definitely drop back by and leave more comments! :)
Posted by: Anna at October 7, 2004 10:30 PM