I need the incredible intelligence of the people on this blog. I have not had much time to read a book this summer. However with an extra long weekend ahead of me, not to mention two ten hour road trips, I want to have something to read. I am anxiously awaiting the new Dan Brown book, but until I can get a copy I need something to assuage my literary longing. What do you recommend? I am an eclectic reader. I read everything from thrillers to romance to the occasional classic. I would love some input. Thanks for your help. Have a great day.
HCM
Melanie
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I've been enjoying some biographies/survivor stories recently. One is Crazy For The Storm, written by the survivor of an airplane crash when he was 11 but written 27 years later. It was mesmerizing and told how the skills his father taught him helped him survive the crash when everyone did not.
ReplyDeleteAnother was In An Instant, the story written by Lee and Bob Woodruff. He is with ABC and was critically injured while covering the war in Iraq. The story was written by both of them and it told of the impact of that incident on their family and how they got through it.
I kind of got tired of fiction so decided to take a break. I'm now reading a book about the Duchess of Windsor. It's over 900 pages so that one is going to take a while to finish.
Sheri
A book I just can't recommend enough is The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. It is finally out in paperback, but has been and still is at the top of the bestseller list since it came out more than a year ago. It is told in letters, but is so full of life and action, that you forget that (for those of you that don't care for epistolary novels, you will still like this one, I promise).
ReplyDeleteIt takes place on the island of Guernsey where a popular English WWII girl reporter is sent to report on how the islanders are rebuilding their lives after the German occupation. It has plenty of flashbacks about the goings on (resistance activities) of the literary society, as well as tons of humor, comedy and blooming romances.
It is a quick read, very entertaining, and is one of the few books that I've ever seen that consistently gets 5 stars from all readers.
I am the queen of fluff books. When I find the time to read, I usually reach for a "chick lit" non masterpiece. Since my real life is so busy and frantic, I truly enjoy an easy read when I have the time. For your long journey, I will recommend the Shopoholic series by Sophie Kinsella.
ReplyDeleteConfessions of a Shopaholic
Shopaholic Takes Manhattan
Shopaholic Ties the Knot
Shopaholic & Sister
Shopaholic @ Baby
She's written other novels as well. She's British and writes exactly as she would speak so it's probably a nightmare for all the literary elites on this board but I truly enjoyed them. I just love British humour!!
Hmm, what to reid, now that there's no more Reid to keep us entertained? Sigh.
ReplyDeleteFor a good spy/international intrigue novel, try The Charm School by Nelson DeMille. (Warning, there's some pretty gory stuff in one section, which kinda turned my stomach. The on-the-edge-of-your-seat suspense makes it all worth it, though!)
I also loved A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. I had trouble getting into his other books, but I really loved the way Irving developed the character of Owen. Everyone should have a friend like that! Also, I grew up in New England, and I think the book does a good job of capturing the feel of the place.
I just finished Barbara Kingsolver's The Bean Trees. Good vacation reading. I smiled and shed a few tears over it.
Keep the ideas coming, folks! It seems that many of us have similar taste in movies, and I'd imagine we do in books, too.
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAck! Editing comments doesn't seem to work the way editing posts does. Sorry about that.
ReplyDeleteHere's what I meant to say...
I just remembered another one! A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. Hilarious. I read this over the course of several treadmill workouts, and I'm sure that more than one fellow YMCA member must have thought I was off my rocker. I couldn't keep from laughing out loud in places.
And another one! Totally different genre. It's entitled Gig: Americans Talk About Their Jobs, by John Bowe, et al. Easily readable in little chunks, and very eye-opening. It offers insiders' views of workplaces and mindsets that many of us will never encounter personally.
Melanie,
ReplyDeleteI will be thinking of you and sending good thoughts that you find the perfect situation for you and your family. I really empathize, as you know I have been down to the wire in my search for employment/income of late. My new job is going well so far and I am so grateful and relieved. I know it will all come together for you too.
For your reading pleasure: One of my favorites in the last few years, is The Crimson Petal and The White, by Michael Faber. It's set in Victorian London, written like a Dickens or Wilkie Colins, but is contemporary. The heroine is a prostitute, but there's not a lot of sex in the book. It's more about the contradictions of the era: the public proper persona, versus the dark underside of society. Great characters and you feel you are in that world with all your senses. I absolutely loved this book!
Remmi, I just finished A Prayer for Owen Meany and enjoyed it also. I have liked some of John Irving's others. Have you read The Fourth Hand? I enjoyed Barbara Kingsolver's Poisonwood Bible and would recommend that one too. Will have to find the one you mentioned.
I joined a book club last fall and it's been wonderful. We don't all read the same book every month, but meet and share what we've been reading and take turns doing short reviews. Twice a year we do a group read. The last one was The Glass Castle, by Jeanette Walls. I think someone mentioned this book on another thread somewhere here. It's a quick, easy read and if you want to feel grateful for what you have, this is the book. It is autobiographical and contemporary. Tells the story of an American woman who grew up in a very eccentric family in extreme poverty and how she overcomes it. It will make you angry and frustrated and in the end uplifted I think.
For October, I will be reading Enchanted April, which is also one to add to our list of movies. I adore the film and am looking forward to the book.
Happy travels, both literally and literary!
Ann
Nadya - I just purchased "Guernsey" and am glad to hear you enjoyed it. I read a review in our local paper and when I saw it in our local Costco I had to pick it up. Now I just have to finish that 900 page book.
ReplyDeleteFinally have some free time to answer with some more suggestions. I looked over my Amazon library to find out what I’ve been reading this year. Jim got me a Kindle for my birthday last year, because we were both tired of carrying around my ten ton bags of books all over the place. I always have at least 3 books going at once, because at different times I’m in the mood for different types of reading. The Kindle holds 200 books at once in my purse! Yay! And Amazon keeps a virtual library of all my books on their website, so it’s easy to check.
ReplyDeleteFirst, one of the most phenomenal books I have ever read in my life, definitely on my top 10 list, was already mentioned : Barbara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible. It truly deserved the Pulitzer, the kudos, Oprah’s reading choice, and being required in many AP classes across the country.
It is not a romance. It is the story of a Christian missionary family from Georgia that moves to the Congo in the 50’s, thinking they’re going to bring light and joy into the lives of all “those poor backwards people”. I think you can see where this is going.
But it is really the story of the 4 very, very unique daughters, with each daughter taking turns to narrate in her own voice what she sees happening around her and what she thinks of it. The language is sheer poetry, the images unparalleled in modern literature (not even Marquez writes more beautifully), and the perfect technique involved in the individual narrative voices are upheld as a masterwork of all fiction anytime, anywhere.
Most of all, you fall in love with Africa, even though the picture painted can be cruel, horrifying, desperate, and traumatic. It is not easy to get through the painful parts, but the reward is amazing. You will know that you have just touched greatness, not only in literature but in the spirits of the people in this book for whom you grow to care so very much. They will forever more be a part of you.
Note: After reading, one finds out that the book rings so true, because Kingsolver actually spent part of her childhood living in the Congo.
Another couple of novels I really enjoyed:
ReplyDeleteRevolutionary Road: Emotional devastation told in a very bare, minimalist, Hemingway style. It is so concise and unemotional in the telling that it cuts even deeper than if it had been written dramatically. Fantastic piece of art, and pretty quick reading. It is a social commentary taking place right after WWII, about the loss of soul created by Suburbia. Written in '61, I believe, it is scary how the revolutionary indictment by the author has come all too true.
American Wife: a thinly veiled "biography" of Laura Bush, I found it fascinating to read what one author imagined (albeit based on much research into the real person)as the true woman; thoughts, wishes , and dreams that may lie behind Laura's perfect demeanor and porcelain face. It also tries to explain W and why on earth she stayed married to him. Remember that this is fiction, so it is not to be taken literally. But it was VERY well written and highly entertaining.
Then for my favorite escapist literature; a combination of mystery and historical romance. Carrie Bebris' series where Mr and Mrs Darcy are very clever detectives, meeting characters from Austen's other works; especially North by Northanger (the plot is a partial play on Hitchcock).
ReplyDeleteDeanna Raybourne's series starting with Silent in the Grave, then Silent in the Sanctuary...Superb Victorian murder mystery romances.
Tasha Alexander's Regency times murder mystery romance series starting with: And Only to Deceive and then , A Poisoned Season.
And my favorite of that type, just published this year, called the Magicians and Mrs. Quent by Galen Beckett. It starts out as an Austen-type novel set in some fantasy futuristic world that nevertheless resembles the early 19th century on our planet, turns into a Jane Eyre type story with all the gothic underpinnings, then adds a few sprinkles of A Tale of Two Cities, plus a lot of magic, and having to save the world kind of story. It is absolutely fascinating...and although it sounds like it would be hard to follow, it isn't. The author has kept everything streamlined and easy to understand. I guarantee, you will never find a more original story, even though it combines elements of so many other famous ones. This was probably my favorite read this year for sheer enjoyment.
If you can't wait for Dan Brown's new novel, try Daughter of God, by Lewis Perdue. Many people find this book way superior to Brown's works, but the plotlines are similar, and I really enjoyed it.
I actually read more non-fiction than fiction, but almost all of those books are related to ed therapy, and how to work with children that for one reason or another aren't learning the "normal" way. But a really good and funny nonfiction book is Kingsolver's book from last year; Animal, Vegetable, Mineral. She and her family move to Appalachia and swear to only eat food they've grown themselves for a whole year. Some of the situations are hilarious, but the theme itself is of course about our need to get away from Agribusiness...for more on that topic, read the Omnivore's Dilemma.
Hope that helps :-)
Hugs,
Nadya
Oooh, you guys, my favourite topic: books! I wish I could spend more time here and react to all you've said but my work awaits me and panic is starting to set in as the new school year is around the corner and I am increasing my teaching load from 40% to 80% (and heavy lit courses to boot). So I mustn't tarry here too long -- just long enough to deposit a list of books I've enjoyed or am currently enjoying.
ReplyDelete1. The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perrotta
2. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
3. The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt
4. Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
5. Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire by Rafe Esquith
6. The Hills of Tuscany by Ferenc Mate
7. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
8. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
9. Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende
10. A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
11. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
12. A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle
13. The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
14. Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
15. Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry
16. The Tortilla Curtain by T. C. Boyle
17. Open House by Elizabeth Berg
18. A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon
19. Can you hear the nightbird call by Anita Rau Badami
20. How to kill your husband (and other handy household hints) by Kathy Lette
21. Bitter Sweets by Roop Farouki
22. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson
23. The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs
24. Rachel's Holiday by Marian Keyes
25. Small is the new Big by Seth Godin
26. Dropped Threads (anthology of womens' short stories) edited by Carol Shields
27. If Today be Sweet by Thrity Umrigar
28. Brick Lane by Monica Ali
29. Twilight by Stephenie Myer (pushed by my daughter who devoured all 4 books in the series!)
30. Q & A (aka Slumdog Millionaire) by Vikas Swarup
31. The Culture Code by Clotaire Rapaille
32. The Ten Year Nap by Meg Wolitzer
33. Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
34. My Life In France by Julia Child and Alex Prudhomme
35. The Flying Troutmans by Miriam Toews
Oh, and Remmi: I consider myself an intelligent person and I LOVED the Sophie Kinsella "shopaholic" novels -- great fun and you're right, British humour is hilarious!
ReplyDeleteNever apologize for what you love to read, I say.
M.
Thank you, thank you, THANK. YOU! I've been dragging myself through a rather slow-like-a-Southern-drawl-but-not-nearly-as-charming novel. After your posts, I reserved six-SIX-books from the library.
ReplyDeleteI. love. reading. I guess it also makes sense that I love Reid. Though currently Scott Speedman is edging him out. Did I just say that? ;)
LOL yes you did Leen!!! Marianna so nice to see you back!! Thank goodness this list will remain alive for us to check back time and again.
ReplyDeleteI also read almost anything and everything. Nadya you have me wanting to read The Poisonwood Bible and Marianna your list is incredible!!
Two of my favs and I have many many are the Ken Follett novels Pillars of the Earth and World Without End. Almost everyone that reads them are amazed that you can be so drawn into a story about a stone mason from the 14th century building a cathedral. World Without End is a continuation of the family 200 years later. Very rich reading.
But if you want base fun reading you can't go wrong with any of the Nelson DeMille novels. He has one character John Corey that is quite fun to read. Actually back in 2001 after my husband passed away my concentration level was pretty low - I could barely read a magazine article. Took me a while and late in August of 2001 I picked up Lion's Game by Nelson Demille. I was doing rather well reading it slowly and by September 10th I was reading the chapter about how The Lion (a middle eastern terrorist) is flying a fully loaded 747 into the middle of New York City. Of course realizing the next day that the book had come to life shook me to my core. It took me months before I could pick it up and read again.
Oh! My Gosh, Joanne! How awful! I'm so sorry you had to experience that as if you were experiencing your own deja vu.
ReplyDeleteI knew about that book and another like it...and the accusation has been floated that those two authors probably gave the terrorists the idea in the first place (not intentionally, of course), down to even the minute details of how to carry it out. I know both authors have been hit pretty hard personally, feeling guilty about just trying to write a good story.
There you get into the ethical question of where do our responsibilities begin and end as an author. Is it alright to make just anything up in the name of entertainment, if that idea could later be used to hurt someone?
My daughter has a series of 3 or 4 required courses at university for her major (Molecular Biology...involving bio-tech and/or medical research) that are just about ethics as a scientist. When is it right to invent something? When does the good for society outweigh the bad? What are our human values that guide us?
I know as a teacher this is a question posed every day in one way or another.
Everyone, I must say your book lists and recommendations are astounding! I keep nodding my head and saying, oh yeah, that was a good one and this was a good one, too. But I especially have to second Joanne's recommendation of The Pillars of the Earth.
OH MY GOSH! AWESOME!
A funny aside about that book. While I was reading it, I was enthralled, totally immersing myself in the 12th century to the point where I didn't even know where I was, what my name was, what time it was. I knew nothing but the fact that I, my very self, was back in the 12th century with all that wonderful caravan of people, moving with them through the tapestry of their lives. In the meanwhile...
Jim was deep in The Omnivore's Dilemma. That book shook and shocked Jim to his very core. Every page had a new set of awful, important facts he had to share with me. "Nadya, listen to this!" "You have to hear this!" I would fuzzily (is that a word?), pull myself up through what felt like a looong, looong tunnel, through the centuries, to finally, many moments later, arrive back in the 21st century to hear Jim's sharing. I ended up never having to read Omnivore...because I knew what was written on every single page. And Jim had to do recompense by reading Pillars....which he loved as much as I had. (pssst...I was also kinda naughty and couldn't help teasing Jim a few times while he was reading Pillars, deep in the 12th century himself at this point, by insisting on sharing what was going on in my new book...which was , I believe The Poisonwood Bible...which Jim found he had to read as well and loves with a passion.) So all is good :-)