What book are you currently reading?

[Joe]

I'm currently into Christopher Paolini's Inheritance, the last book in the Dragonrider series. So far I'm enjoying it.
And the idea of an IHD Book Club is interesting.

[CebuShan]

I always have a book with me just in case I get stuck waiting somewhere. I love the idea of an IHD Book Club!   

[paris]

It is the beginning of the month; a good time to start a book club.   Anyone have a good suggestion for our first book?   Give ourselfs until the beginning of July to read it.  Figure out a good day to start the discussion.  Maybe run the discussion for a week and then start another book?
Anyone ever been the leader of a book club?    Any ideas on how to start this?   Any ideas for a book choice.      It will be fun. 

[billybags]

CebuShan, Have you tried a Kindle yet? I am so sold on it, can fit in my handbag and I take it every where. Wonderful for those hospital visits.

[Cordelia]

Oh cool idea!         

I'm reading Fifty Shades Of Grey right now.

I'm excited getting into the series!  It's a romance/erotica series.

[Kitty Cat]

Cordelia,

50 Shades is absolutely awesome! Really good story line. I recently finished the trilogy and really liked it the whole way through.

[cassandra]

Okay, I'll try 50 shades of grey by E.L.James soon.
Just finishing 'Wreckage' by David Baldacci. So relaxing

[Cordelia]

Hi Kitty and Cas,

I'm SO enjoying this book, I can't put it down LOL LOL         

Oh, I can't wait to read more of the books. I heard there are 3, is there a possibility there could ever be more?

Cas, It's really good, its the kind of book that's hard to put down once you start.         

[MooseMom]

I've just finished two books, one being "The Emperor of Maladies"; it is written by an oncologist and is a history of cancer and the treatment(s) of this disease.  It was fascinating, it really was.  It gave some insight into the historical reasons for why there is so much "publiciity" about fighting cancer as opposed to most other illnesses (like ESRD).

I've also finished "Unstrange Minds", written by a man with a PhD in cultural anthropology whose eldest daughter is autistic.  So, he decided to write a book about how different societies around the world view and treat (or ignore) autism, and why.  He mentions some of the pioneers in autism research such as Lorna Wing (who I actually have met in England), and it makes me see how very lucky my son is for being autistic in the UK as opposed to being autistic in someplace like South Korea.  He also talks in depth about how in the 60s here in the US, the concept of "refrigerator mothers" came into vogue.  My husband's younger brother was only 3 or 4 years old when he was struck by a high fever which rendered him autistic; he is non-verbal.  Since this happened back in the 60s, his mother was labelled as one of the infamous "refrigerator mothers" and, I kid you not, this unhinged her forever.  It was striking to see how much blame historically is left at the feet of mothers while fathers are left out of the equation altogether.

I now think I am ready for some good fiction!

[Cordelia]

Sounds like they are really good books, MM!

I should really check the Unstrange Minds one out......I was reading one of Jenny McCarthy books before I got into my most recent fiction, 50 Shades.

Have you read any of her books about her son who has Autism?

[lainiepop]

at the moment i'm working my way through kathy reichs crime books (on which tv show Bones Was based)  & also the most recent in the True Blood Series. Haven't read much yet as Couldn't concentrate in hospital! x

[Cordelia]

I watch the show, True Blood, however I never got into the books.

[lainiepop]

Cordelia I read the books first before the show was around, I prefer the books the show's a bit over the top!x

[Kitty Cat]

Hi Cordelia,

I don't know if there would be any other Shades books. I would like that, but everything was kind of explained out by the time you finish book 3. I know if the author does decide to do more, I'll be there waiting!! 

[Cordelia]

Hi lainiepop, I'm wondering about the books then, are they 'very' different from the tv show then?

Kittycat, there are 3 Shades books for sure though, right?  When I asked at the bookstore, the lady told me it was a series of 3 so far. But that the 2nd and 3rd books weren't 'in' yet, but to keep calling in for the everyday if I wanted them.

[lainiepop]

Hmm yes quite different the show Is Loosely based on the books but show has more sex blood & guts & Storyline isn't as believable. also read that authors other Series, the Harper Connelly mysteries they were good x

[Poppylicious]

Am I missing something?  Everybody I know seems to be reading Fifty Shades of Grey and I don't know anything about it!

I'm reading The Serious Kiss.  It's not serious, and there's very little kissing in it (it's a book aimed at teen girls.) I promise that I will start reading grown up stuff again soon.

 

[Cordelia]

LOL Lainiepop, I want the Sex and the Blood! LOL LOL                   So you're saying there isn't as much sex and blood in the books?

Poppy, You're missing out bigtime on the Shades' books! LOL               It's soooooo good!         

[MooseMom]

Cordelia, I find Jenny McCarthy really offputting.  I think she has done a real disservice to parents who have autistic children.  I lived in the UK when all of the fraudulent "research" about the link between autism and vaccinations began to float around as it was a British researcher who started it all, and Jenny McCarthy keeps on harping about autism in ways that don't seem to have any real scientific foundation.

Having said that, though, each child with autism is really quite unique.  They all have the triad of impairments, but those are manifested differently in every child.  Whenever I hear her interviewed, I can't help but think she believes that all autistic children are like her son and that what works for him will surely work for everyone else.  I appreciate her good intentions, and I appreciate that she knows more about her son and his needs than anyone else, but when I hear her, she just annoys me, so no, I have not read any of her books.  I suspect that her experiences have no similarities to my own.

Is there anything in her books that you have found useful for your own son?

[Cordelia]

Hi MM,
I just started reading the one of her books called, "Mother Warriors"   I have never read any of hers before and thought, what the heck LOL I'm always looking for new/different books to read while on dialsis at my unit. I get so bored watching tv, nothing better than reading so I saw one at the local libray here on one of the 'recommended reading " shelves and thought I'd give it a whirlwind of a try.....

Like you, I don't agree with the whole 'vaccinations' causing Autism, but I enjoy reading about her experiences.  I don't agree with everything, she says, either.

My daughters had the same vaccinations like my son, who is Autisitc and they are not Autistic, so I don't exactly believe the vaccinations causing it.

I really enjoyed reading in this book one of her run-ins with Barbara Walters, that was really interesting.

As far as anything helpful, no, I haven't read anything yet. She mentioned about diet, but I would like to read more of her books to see if she goes into it in more detail in one of her other books. 

You are right about each child being unique, I totally agree with you!       

[MooseMom]

Oooh Cordelia, tell me more about her run in with Barbara Walters!

There is too much anectodal evidence regarding children who seem to change overnight after having vaccinations, so I would not be surprised if certain children do have a reaction to the shots.  A lot of these children seem to also have GI difficulties.  I don't think autism is caused by one thing.  There was no sudden change in behaviour in my son after getting his MMR, nor has there ever been any stomach or bowel problems.  To be honest, I believe my reduced kidney function played a part.  I didn't know I had fsgs until six months after I had him.  I don't know which came first, the pregnancy or the fsgs, but the timing of everything just strongly suggests that undiagnosed impaired renal function maybe affected his brain development.  I'll never know.  I did contact one of the posh universities in the UK who were investigating causes of autism, and they did tell me that maternal renal insufficiency was something they were looking at.  That doesn't mean anything, but no one has ever flatly denied that there was a cause and affect.

[kitkatz]

I just finished Fifty Degrees Below Zero.
Now I am reading Anne Rice- Road to Caana

[Kitty Cat]

Hi Cordelia,

There are definitely 3 books in the series. I got all 3 at the same time from Amazon, which was good because as soon as you finish 1, you really dive headfirst into the next one.

Poppy, there's a lot of hype about the books, but they are so worth reading. I am normally into historical/family stories, but these really grabbed my attention. Plus, I usually read 2 different books at a time, when reading 50 shades, I couldn't...I wanted all my attention into these! lol 

[Poppylicious]

Ah, I found a thread on another forum about the Shades trilogy ... apparently they're just Twilight for grown-ups so they're full of sex?  Started off as Twilight fan-fic?  I love Twilight, but might give Shades a miss (at least until the hype has died down) ...

 

[Cordelia]

LOL Kittycat, I'm the same as you, I'm usually reading two books too! LOL  But, with Shades, also, I kind of put the other book on the back burner     

Poppy, I don't view Shades as an adult version of Twilight. Personally, I can't stand the Twilight Series at all.  LOL         

MM, Barbara Walters got quite upset with Jenny McCarthy right before an interview on The View. Jenny was in shock that someone she so highly regarded  in Journalism, would be "so vicious", as she called it.  Apparently Barbara did not read her book by the sounds of it and there were some pretty attacking commets on Barbara's behalf.   It wasn't a very long chapter from what she wrote, but it was pretty interesting LOL

Jenny apparently likes Oprah a lot better.