Books

[steph0313]

Hi everyone,

I am an avid reader and constantly looking for something new to escape into.

I don't have anything going at the moment, so I am currently reading the 880 page thread on TWOP on the Rockstar show.

Does anyone have any great books to recommend.

Last fabulous read I had was THE TIME TRAVELERS WIFE.

Desperate for something new.

[sparkysdream]

I love Alice Munro (try Open Secrets, Love of a Good Woman), otherwise I'll read just about anything. Currently reading The Sunday Philosophy Club & Poe's Cat. I always have at least 2 books, one for the train, one for home.
If you've not read Nick Hornby's Long Way Down, you must....and I know what at least one of the characters will look like in your mind...

[nicolehrb]

Have you ever read anything by Sidney Sheldon? His books imo are awesome and they have a little bit of everything (romance, drama, etc) rolled into one. I love all his books BUT Master of the game is my all time favorite.

[wildfire]

Hello steph0313,

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is a very good book. Another great book is My Sister's Keeper written by Jodi Picoult.

Enjoy...

[keysunset]

I'm supposed to be reading The Kite Runner for my book club group that meets on the third Thursday. Haven't started it yet but glad to hear it is a good book. A book I enjoyed earlier this year was The Straight Man by (I think) Richard Russo. I thought it was hilarious and laughed out loud, really, during quite a bit of it.

[penny74]

I love Richard Russo. Empire Falls is a good one. The thing with Russo, though, is that many of his novels have such similar characters and themes that you get a vague sense that you have read the book already. It does practically guarantee that if you like one of his books, you'll probably like the rest!

Thanks for the recommendations everyone. I have been on the lookout for some good new books.

[julianah]

I've made notes on some of the titles and authors in this thread. I'm always on the hunt for a good read.

Here are some of my favourites:

Fiction:
"London Fields" and "The Information" - Martin Amis
"A Prayer for Owen Meany" - John Irving
"Martin Sloane" - Michael Redhill
"The Tin Drum" - Gunther Grass
"Rules of Attraction" - Bret Easton Ellis
"Barney's Version" - Mordecai Richler
"Set This House On Fire" - William Styron
John Cheever's Complete Short Stories (perfect in an overnight bag because you can open it on any page and enjoy a quick read; no need for a bookmark.)

Fun chick-lit:
anything by Marian Keyes -- "Last Chance Saloon" is hilarious
anything by Lisa Jewell

Thriller/Mystery:
anything (and everything) by Elizabeth George, Ian Rankin, Kathy Reichs and Patricia Cornwell

Non-Fiction:
Oliver Sacks' books are fascinating ("An Anthropologist on Mars" is my favourite)
"This Year in Jerusalem" by Mordecai Richler

Best for reading in the tub:
Jane magazine

Best for reading on the can:
People magazine

OMG, holy long list. Who do I think I am... Oprah?

That reminds me -- favourite Oprah Book Club books -- "The Pilot's Wife" and "The Weight of Water" - Anita Shreve

I look forward to hearing more recommendations from everyone.

P.S. Thanks for the Nick Hornby recommendation, sparkysdream. I really enjoy him. I haven't read that one; I'm putting it on the top of my list.

[Trees]

Here is another one to add to your Oprah list. "A Million Pieces" I just caught the end of the show and it looks like a "Have To Read" book. ;D The whole show, I understand, was about the book! Author, I forget his name (age, ugh )


Thanks everyone for the selection. It's rainy season here right now on the West Coast. Great for curling up with a good book by the warmth of a warm fire. Sure wish Marty was with me to curl up with

[Robin]

Everyone was talking about "The Di Vinci Code" by Dan Brown and I figured I'm about the last person to read it, but I finally did and I really liked it. I've just started on his other book "Angels and Demons." (I realized after I started the Di Vinci code that I was reading the books in the wrong order, but that wouldn't the the first time I've done that ;D) The movie version of The Di Vinci Code with Tom Hanks is going to be out the summer of '06.

I need to stop reading books to find out what all the "hype" is about.....I did that with Harry Potter and now I'm a 30ish person hooked on reading them!!!!! Oh the shame !

And if you've never read "Lord of the Rings" please do!!! There's so much more in the books than in the movies (but that's always the case it seems!)

[julianah]

robin said:

Everyone was talking about "The Di Vinci Code" by Dan Brown and I figured I'm about the last person to read it, but I finally did and I really liked it. I've just started on his other book "Angels and Demons." (I realized after I started the Di Vinci code that I was reading the books in the wrong order, but that wouldn't the the first time I've done that ;D) The movie version of The Di Vinci Code with Tom Hanks is going to be out the summer of '06.

I need to stop reading books to find out what all the "hype" is about.....I did that with Harry Potter and now I'm a 30ish person hooked on reading them!!!!! Oh the shame !

And if you've never read "Lord of the Rings" please do!!! There's so much more in the books than in the movies (but that's always the case it seems!)

LOL! I'm a 35 year-old hooked on Harry Potter. My 11 year-old niece passes them along to me after she's finished reading them. Whenever she has a new one on the go, I nag her to hurry up.

I think I'm one of the only people in the universe who hasn't read the Da Vinci Code. Three of my co-workers are reading Angels & Demons right now (they read Da Vinci Code first, like you).

[mizzymc]

trees said:

Here is another one to add to your Oprah list. "A Million Pieces" I just caught the end of the show and it looks like a "Have To Read" book. ;D The whole show, I understand, was about the book! Author, I forget his name (age, ugh )


Thanks everyone for the selection. It's rainy season here right now on the West Coast. Great for curling up with a good book by the warmth of a warm fire.

Sure wish Marty was with me to curl up with

I'm reading this now! Not very far into it yet....

[mizzymc]

My fave book of recent years is "A Heartbreakign Work of Staggering Genius" by Dave Eggers. It is an auto-biographical novel. Eggers can tell you the most profoundly sad and disturbing thing, and make you chuckle while you read it. Quite brilliant.

[Trees]

mizzymc said:

trees said:

Here is another one to add to your Oprah list. "A Million Pieces" I just caught the end of the show and it looks like a "Have To Read" book. ;D The whole show, I understand, was about the book! Author, I forget his name (age, ugh )


Thanks everyone for the selection. It's rainy season here right now on the West Coast. Great for curling up with a good book by the warmth of a warm fire.

Sure wish Marty was with me to curl up with

I'm reading this now! Not very far into it yet....

I'll Bookmark this topic ;D Don't want to miss you review

[Cindy]

Has anyone recommended "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West " yet by Gregory Maguire? I just started that recently and really like it. It really is kind of an allegory about our modern times. It has satirical elements too--and I love good satire.

[gaia]

Robin and Julianah: you two are not alone, am another 30-ish hooked on Harry Potter. Yes, have also read LOTR. Some books I've enjoyed are:
- the Adrian Mole series
- Bridget Jones
- sci-fantasy like Piers Anthony's the Incarnations of Immortality
- Graham Greene's The Power and the Glory
- Tuesdays with Morrie

The Da Vinci Code has been sitting on my shelf for a year now...somehow I haven't buckled down to reading it. Anyone with a Cliff Notes version?

[treebee]

Another adult hooked on Harry Potter and Lemony Snicket, too! They are hilarious I love young adult fiction--if you do, too, you should read Holes by Louis Sachar, you will not be disappointed.

I posted this on the hammer board but here it is...

Gonzalez & Daughter Trucking Co. (funny and sad) --Maria Amparo Escandon
Drop City--TC Boyle (saw him at a reading and he is groovy)
Shadow of the Wind--Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Time Traveler's Wife--Jeffrey Eugenides
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time -- Mark Haddon (interesting portrayal of a boy with autism)
A Confederacy of Dunces-- John Kennedy Toole (the most hysterical book I have ever read in my life)

And almost all the books by Gregory Maguire but best are Wicked and Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister. Totally agree with, Cindy.

When I just want to read a trashy mystery I love Jonathan Kellerman, Michael Connelly, Peri O'Shaunessy, and Jeffery Deaver.

[chk]

Hey Cindy,
Yeah I read Wicked -- in fact, I was just e-mailing my sister so we could decide whether or not to get tix for the musical when we're in Chicago to see you know who. I found the whole idea of Wicked (the other point of view) really interesting - in the end I don't know how much I liked the book, but I couldn't stop thinking about it. ;D
My book group also is a third Thursday thing. This month is Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks. It's historical fiction that takes place during the Plague. So far so good.
I tend to read mostly non-fiction. My fave in that genre is Erik Larsen's Devil in the White City, about the Chicago World's Fair and a serial killer. Unbelievable, unforgettable read -- and it has influenced my choice of hotel in Chi-town!

[polarfan]

I just finished "The Glass Castle" by Jeanette Walls it was very sad, but I couldn't put it down. I actually was crying at the end and that hasn't happened since "Charlotte's Web". I also highly recommend the Harry Potter Books, and I also finished a great bio on Jim Morrison by Stephen Davis...

[radioclash]

I am a big Harry Potter fan, too. The books are superb and are real page-turners.

Has anyone read "A Good Year" by Peter Mayle? That one's being made into a movie, and I can't decide if I want to read it pre or post seeing the film.

I'm also wondering about another book that's recently been turned into a movie - "The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio" by Terry Ryan.