Prior Lake American - Books - Comments

Stephen Colbert's new book,

Shawn Hogendorf — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 10:35:54 -0500

Stephen Colbert's new book, "I am America and So Can You!" hit the bookshelves today.

I haven't read it yet, but it is sure to find its way to my bookshelf this week.

Our book club recently read

windyhill — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 11:46:59 -0500

Our book club recently read Shadow divers ; the true adventure of two Americans who risked everything to solve one of the last mysteries of World War II, by Robert Kurson.

It was very well written and you learn a lot about deep sea diving, German U-boats, and how errors in historical documentation can be repeated in subsequent historical accounts.

Maya Angelou has some

Lori Carlson — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 15:39:53 -0500

Maya Angelou has some excellent books that draw from her incredible, and often painful, life experiences. She is a beautiful writer.

I don't know if this will be

Shawn Hogendorf — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 15:23:13 -0500

I don't know if this will be of interest to you, but I love reading autobiographies and one of the best I have read is Chronicles, Volume 1 by Bob Dylan.

Bob Dylan is a lyrical genius. In this book, I learned he is quite the story teller as well.

Any suggestions for a great

Joanna Miller — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 13:04:08 -0500

Any suggestions for a great biography or auto-biography? I naturally gravitate toward fiction, but I'm thinking expanding to non-fiction might prove enlightening. Perhaps my life would go smoothly if I learned tips from world leaders instead of Nancy Drew? Although, she is one of my all-time character idols, no matter what anyone says.

Sometimes, it's hard to sell

Joanna Miller — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 14:37:07 -0600

Sometimes, it's hard to sell the classics. However, my book club was pretty fearless when I suggested we dive into Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina." I read it for a Russian literature class in college and loved it. If you can get passed the fact that it's as thick as a dictionary, it's a juicy romance novel at heart.

Hold your nose if you don't

Mathias Baden — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 16:30:58 -0600

Hold your nose if you don't like this selection:

I suggested "The Old Man and the Sea" by Ernest Hemingway to my mom, who chose it for her book club. The reaction was less than impressive.

Half of the club said they hated it. But the truth is that it is probably one of the best books -- and fastest reads --of all time.

Yes, you do have to read about fishing and Joe DiMaggio. If you're a woman who doesn't like those topics, grin and bear it, realizing that the book is more about life than it is about catching a marlin.

(Mathias Baden is the editor of the Jordan Independent. He can be reached at editor@jordannews.com.)

Dakota County Book Kits --

windyhill — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 11:18:03 -0600

Dakota County Book Kits --

I live in Dakota County and they have a similar program they call a "Book Group in a Bag" kit. They have 10 copies of the book and discussion questions that you can check out for 6 weeks.

The list of available titles is at:

http://www.co.dakota.mn.us/LeisureRecreation/CountyLibraries/BooksReadin...

We are currently reading "Balzac and the little Chinese Seamstress"

I, too, am in a book

Lori Carlson — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 10:19:16 -0600

I, too, am in a book club, and the book we just read for our February meeting is one of the best I've read in a very long time.

It's "The Book Thief" by Marcus Zusak. It's actually categorized as a "teen" book, but with its heavy subject matter (a young girl grows up and has many painful experiences in Nazi Germany) and its nearly 600 pages, it doesn't feel like a teen book!

The writing is dark, thoughtful, beautiful...Zusak has an incredible gift for writing. I HIGHLY recommend this one.

One of my favorite

Shawn Hogendorf — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 00:11:55 -0600

One of my favorite authors is David Sedaris. I am currently reading and enjoying "Me Talk Pretty One Day." He has also written "Barrel Fever" and "Naked," which I have heard are really good.

Another one of my favorite authors is Tom Robbins. My favorite books by him are "Still Life With Woodpecker" and "Jitterbug Perfume."

All of these books are fairly quick, fictional reads. I think these books are humorous, witty and very well written. They may be fun to discuss in a group setting.

My friends and I started a

Joanna Miller — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 16:28:11 -0600

My friends and I started a book club last month.

Our first book was "Bel Canto" by Ann Patchett. It has an opera theme, and the discussion leader invited us over for an Italian dinner and played opera music on meeting night.

For other ideas, I'd suggest looking at the Hennepin County Library's book club kits. The library provides kits of eight books along with discussion questions to check out for a six-week period.

They have a nice selection that may be reserved online: http://www.hclib.org/pub/books/bookclubkit/.

(I called Scott County libraries and unfortunately they said they don't have the capacity to create kits at this time.)

Books

windyhill — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 15:55:02 -0600

I am in a book club and am always looking for ideas on good books to read to suggest to the group.
Have any recommendations?