Book discussion on Austenland

I'm glad to hear you all pretty much enjoyed this book. I think all of has a little bit of romance in ourselves and sometimes our books are an escape into that romance world. I, myself have fallen into all of the remakes and similar stories of Pride and Prejudice.
Just a couple of questions for you to answer or just think about.
Who did you think she would end up with, Martin or Mr. Nobley?
Did you have a hard time figuring out what was their play acting world and what was reality (especially in regards to their feelings)?
Please feel free to leave additional comments or ask any questions!

Blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking

by Malcolm Gladwell

"I believe . . . that the task of making sense of ourselves and our behavior requires that we acknowledge there can be as much value in the blink of an eye as in months of rational analysis."

Are you interested in how the mind works? Do you ever wonder why people do what they do? Do you like reading short case studies of interesting historical events? Do you have to make quick decisions under pressure? Are you interested in music, art, politics, or psychology? If your answer is yes to any of the above, this book is for you!

This book was recommended to me by one of my professors in my MSW program. I have been wanting to read it since then and just barely picked it up from the library. Because I had high expectations, I was worried that I would be let down. I am happy to report that I was not!

This book is well organized as the author takes you through various case studies and research experiments. The logic was easy of me to follow and his style of writing kept me entertained. More than once I stopped in the middle of a chapter to write down a term, person, or website to look up online. This is a book I could enjoy reading over and over again. Indeed, for me to fully grasp the concepts, I plan to re-read it when I have more time to ponder the ideas and someone to discuss it with. This would make an excellent choice for a book club.

Another Great Fantasy Series

This fantasy series by Maria V. Snyder is fabulous; I finished the last book of three this weekend. The second book is called Magic Study and the third book is called Fire Study. For all those romantics out there, you will appreciate the romance. For all those adventure folks out there, you will appreciate the constant conflict and action. I liked Poison Study by far the best out of the three books and since I loved it so much I was compelled to quickly read the other two. The final book, Fire Study, was a little complicated and left a few questions...but maybe that means there will be a companion series in the future. I certainly hope so.

I tried to upload the other two books but it was taking too long. You can search for them on the web, however.

Book for May: The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

I have chosen The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls as the book for May. It is a memoir about growing up with eccentric parents which causes the family to be poverty stricken and homeless, at times. You will be surprised about how non-depressing her tale is. Enjoy!

Wicked Lovely

Wicked Lovely is a young adult fantasy written by Melissa Marr. It is about a human girl who can see the faires (faeries) who live in our world. I think Amazon recommended it to me because I bought the Twilight series. Anyway, this book was so fun to read! The end was a little predictable but with some unexpected twists. At first it was hard to get into because nothing is explained as unfamiliar terms are used. However, that seemed to keep me reading just because I wanted to figure it out. I found myself thinking about this book as I was ironing, doing dishes, and even falling asleep. I also found it amusing that the author was voted by her highschool classmates as the most likely to end up in jail.