Yes, I'm crowdsourcing again. I stopped by my local B&N and nothing was speaking to me. Maybe because Fiction is right next to the children's section and it was
utter chaos in there, as usual, and I lost my mojo. (Seriously, I don't understand why people think it's okay to use the bookstore as an indoor playground / snacking area. I mean, picking out new books with junior is great, but I see people meeting up there for group playdates. *Large* group playdates. Which, I suppose is fine, whatever, but come on, don't let your kids rip the books and spill applesauce all over the carpet. Also? Maybe once in a while
buy something. Despite the crowds, the register is typically line-free.)
Anyway! Where was I? Oh yes, books. I just finished THE RED THREAD by Ann Hood which was about six couples trying to adopt daughters from China and the woman who runs the agency. I enjoyed it. It does, however, violate my friend's
No Dead Babies rule. Still, excellent. I was also carrying around some selected short stories from Raymond Carver in my purse and I finished that up, too.
My daughter is reading THE HUNGER GAMES for the fourth consecutive time. I asked her if she was getting bored of it and she said, "I love it so much I don't want it to end!"
I want to feel that way! You guys are always great with suggestions. What have you read recently that you loved?
22 comments:
Not new releases, but I loved Mary and O'neil and The Summer Guest by Justin Cronin. I also enjoyed Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen and The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield.
A few months back I read "The Meaning of Night" and its sequel "The Glass of Time" by Michael Cox. Awesome, awesome and more awesome. If you like Victorian fiction, you should for sure put both these on your list! It was hard to put either of them down.
xoxo -- Hilary
Thanks, Mary! I'll take a look at those.
Hilary--Interesting! I do want something different. That might be the thing.
Have you read The Hunger Games? If not, I highly recommend it for adults, too! STAY by Allie Larkin is amazing and comes out June 11th (although I'm sure you knew that!). I'm a big Charlaine Harris fan and she just came out with another book in her Sookie Stackhouse series:)
ps- I just signed with Rebecca!
Corinne--I started to read it, but my daughter took it away.
CONGRATS on signing with Rebecca! She's great! Can't wait for Allie's book.
The Tao of Writing and The Tao of Pooh are the two most dog eared books I own. I read, reread and read again. They just make my heart happy.
For cheap entertainment there are The Cat Who books by Lillian Jackson Braun. They are like finger bowls for the Soul. When I'm ready something very heavy or technical, they "cleans the pallet" and are perfect reading for Margarita day at the beach.
When I want to pretend I'm smart and look pretentious I carry around my 5 lb weight "The Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follet. It's a beautifully written book and I LOVE IT. It's just that it takes more concentration than I'm willing to give it. I've been reading it nearly a year. One day I'll quit carrying it and just finish it.
Hope something here strikes your fancy. Happy summer reading!
I'm reading The Believers for book club. It's not warm and fuzzy, but it is interesting and beautifully written. I just got Diamond Ruby, which has been compared to A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and am dying to read it. And I cannot wait for Claire Cook's newest. Hold Love Strong, by Matthew Aaron Goodman, just came out in paperback (we went to high school together. He's amazing! And he does events in NYC.
Did you read The Dissident? It came out a few years ago. I really enjoyed it.
Oh, and I just noticed Corinne's comment! :)
Try the "Irish Country Village" series. By Patrick Taylor. Very fun books that put you right in the middle of country life in Ireland.
I am currently reading 'The Lost Symbol' by Brown. So far so good.
A few of my favorites:
Year of Wonders - Geraldine Brooks
The Sparrow - Mary Doria Russell
Fall on your Knees - Anne Marie MacDonald
One of my favorite books recently is HOW I BECAME A FAMOUS NOVELIST by Steve Hely which is laugh-so-you-won't-cry funny about this crazy business. SO SO SO SO GOOD. I read it twice in a row and I never do that.
THE LAST WILL OF MOIRA LEAHY by Therese Walsh was amazing.
A funny memoir by a writer who lives near me is AT LEAST IN THE CITY SOMEONE WOULD HEAR ME SCREAM by Wade Rouse, about a sophisticated gay urbanite who retreats to the wilds of western Michigan.
I'm appreciate your writing style.Please keep on working hard.^^
MeAgain--Thanks for all your suggestions!
Allie--Great, thanks! You know we have similar tastes in books.
JLC--I think the last Irish book I read was Angela's Ashes. Might be time to visit the mother land again.
Lisa--Thank you! I'm writing all these down.
Kristina--So so so good? That sounds like a winner.
Maybe--Thanks for visiting!
"The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls was amazing, as was "Still Alice" by Lisa Genova.
I don't really think that WE choose the books, usually the books choose us depending of where we are in our lives.
I like to explore the Amazon with Sepulveda (The Old Man Who Read Love Stories), to get lost in the metaphysical with Jostein Gaardner (Cast at the Pyrenees), to be a 90-year-old paedophile with Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Memories of my Melancholy Whores), to hate men with Doris Lessing (the Cleft), to revel in being an outcast with Herman Hesse (Steppenwolf), to cringe at the horrors of war with Kosinski (The Painted Bird)...really, how can one choose? So many brilliant books that one won't manage reading in just one lifetime!
The girl With the Dragon Tattoo series is brilliant yet dark.
The Help by Kathryn Stockett takes place in Mississippi during the early 60's and is believeable and funny
Try book stores at night when the little ones are in bed. Happy reading
I just finished reading Fire: Tales of Elemental Spirits by Robin McKinley and Peter Dickinson. Three of the stories I particularly liked: Hellhound by McKinley, Salamander Man by Dickinson, and First Flight by McKinley. Well worth picking up just for those, especially since First Flight was more of a novelette or novella.
You're the second to mention The Hunger Games today, so I've got to check that out.
I'm reading Anna Quindlen's Every Last One. It's deep and moving and so beautifully written.
I am an absolute fan of travelogues and travel essays. I have just accidentally fallen in love with J. Maarten Troost and his works. I would highly recommend: The Sex Lives of Cannibals, Getting Stoned with Savages, and Lost on Planet China.
Okay, Wendy, I know I'm not really in your wheelhouse here, but if you haven't read any of Robert Caro's work on Lyndon Johnson, you must. Or I will punch you. Figuratively speaking, of course.
Seriously, THE PATH TO POWER (the first book) is more than just a bio of Johnson -- there are two paths to power: Johnson's own rise in politics, as well as his efforts to bring power to the Texas hardscrabble farmers. You'll have a whole new appreciation of how women took care of their families (cooking, cleaning, washing) and why electricity changed their lives for the better (and made the devoted to Johnson).
Nonfiction, and I know, but I'd consider it a beach book! But then, I'm a nonfiction nerd...
If you haven't already you should read 'Wolf Hall' by Hilary Mantel. In fact, everyone should be reading 'Wolf Hall'.
Wow, so many books to tackle! Thanks, everyone. And please don't punch me, Brian--I'll read!
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