Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

 Ready Player One by Ernest Cline takes place mostly in a virtual reality simulation called the Oasis, while the outside world of 2045 is in a dystopic downward spiral. Five years before the book opens the co-creator of the Oasis, James Halliday, died and upon his death his Oasis avatar, Anorak, announces that he has hidden an Easter Egg inside the Oasis and whoever discovers it (after decoding riddles and completing challenges) will inherit his vast fortune. However, half a decade later and the score board remains unchanged, until Wade Owen Watts (a poor high school senior from Oklahoma, with a depressingly low level avatar) figures out where the first key is. Wade's avatar, Parzival, becomes an instant celebrity, and an instant target. A corrupt corporation is also after Halliday's Easter Egg, and with endless technology and resources Wade finds himself in both virtual world and real world peril. There's battles, sabotage, a love interest, an impressive virtual world, and pretty much all of the 80s, all in one page turning package.

I listened to the audio version of this book and it is one of the best audiobooks I have ever listened to! Wil Wheaton narrates it fantastically. I listen to audiobooks while driving, and there were multiple times I drove around the block or just sat in my parked car to find out what happened next. I know audiobooks aren't for everyone, but if you're ever going to try one this would be a great first.

eBook

Lisa

If you like this:
The Eye of Minds by James Dashner
Insignia by S.J. Kincaid

Cookbook Club - Home Cooking with Trisha Yearwood

In March the Cookbook Club read and cooked from Home Cooking with Trisha Yearwood by Trisha Yearwood. While last month's selection fell a bit flat this one was a hit. Many members said they were planning to buy the book for themselves and one even said it was her favorite so far.

We tried the following recipes:

Magic Lemon Meringue Pie

Country Quiche

 Crockpot Candy

Ty's Thai Salad

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Charleston Cheese Dip

                                  Cockpot Mac & Cheese

                                      Tennesse Jambalaya 

                                      Broccoli Cheese Casserole

Next Book:
Rachael Ray's Book of 10 by Rachael Ray

Copies can be picked up at the "Ask Here" desk.
Next Meeting: Sunday, April 10th at 1:00pm

Big Books

I came across this article today, about massive books are worth the time it takes to read them (that article is clearly just one person's opinion and you can find various lists that are similar, but with different big books). I've read one of the books on that list, Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace.

And it took me over a year to read (actually because of Goodreads, I know I started it in November of 2014 and didn't finish it until January of 2016). I exhausted renewals, returns, and re-check outs on the library copy before finally breaking down and buying a personal copy. Infinite Jest is a book that has footnotes* that are multiple pages long (in small footnote font) and some footnotes even have their own footnotes (I really think Wallace is just messing with the reader at times). However, it's a thoughtful and fascinating look at entertainment and addiction and consumerism (and while the footnotes may drive a reader crazy the amount of detail Wallace put into the back stories of all these characters is amazing) and at the end of the day (or year) I'm glad I took the time to read it. Other big books I'm glad I read** include Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, Ulysses by James Joyce (although, if you want to jump into Joyce maybe just try his short stories, not sure this one is necessary), East of Eden by John Steinbeck. While, I added a few of the books from the article to my to-read list, I need a break before I make another multiple year commitment to one book. What big books have you found to be worth the time investment? Any that you regret (or glad you gave up on)?

Lisa

*The author of the article mentions buying one of the massive books on his Kindle, while this clearly has many pluses in terms of reading a big book (mostly that you can actually carry it around with you) I think it might be difficult for Infinite Jest due to the plethora of footnotes. However, I didn't read it on a Kindle so maybe I'm wrong.

**I kind of want to include the last half of the Harry Potter books in this list because they are long and I love them, but generally these long book lists are full of books that are dense and slow to get through, which Harry Potter is not.