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Books; a new thread on which I talk about something else
Topic Started: Mar 24 2013, 04:38 AM (1,590 Views)
RHowell Mar 24 2013, 04:38 AM Post #1
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 I'm going to walk to Barnes and Noble today and need book suggestions!

As my "payback" for running to florida for several weekends to ride the new horse to make up for a year of not showing, my hubby is now off for a week if wind surfing and I am "home alone" with the baby. This means YAY I get to read! My hubby likes to watch TV in the evenings and I'm not capable of reading with distraction going on, so my reading is slow when he's around.

On my trips to FL I got these books read, if it helps prime the pump for what I might like to read:

Night Circus (thought was weird but could muddle through--was interested about half way in)
The Twentieth Wife (really enjoyed)
Priceless (I don't normally read non-fiction but reading about art crimes was a GREAT read)

I don't read anything like Grisham.

Suggestions of something to pick up?
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Bearhunter Mar 24 2013, 05:45 AM Post #2
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 Here are a couple that I read recently really liked.

The Fault of Our Stars by John Green
Those That Save Us by Jenna Blum

Both tend to be heavy but couldn't put either down!
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Reynard Ridge Mar 24 2013, 07:25 AM Post #3
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 Are you on Goodreads, RH? I find that an excellent place to pick up 'suggestions.' It's a social media site, so you link your friends, and their reviews and books they have read pop up in your email. I find about half the books I read through goodreads, and the other half on NPRs book sight. I have a tendency to read some odd things (for example, I adored Night Circus, and just finished Cormac McCarthy's the Road and really 'enjoyed' it, to the extend anyone really enjoys dystopic fiction), but I'll try to suggest more mainstream literature.

Have you read The Art of Racing in the Rain? Told through the eyes of a dog. Slightly flawed story, but brilliantly written from the dogs perspective. And if the ending does not have you weeping buckets, you might be a cyborg.

The Hare with the Amber Eyes is an astonished work of non-fiction; quietly brilliant. I wrote a 'book review' about it on my travel blog. It's a book that is set mostly in Vienna, though, so the fact that I have devoured it might have something to do with the fact that I run past the Palais Ephrussi every morning. It's a book that I cannot put down, over and over again.

http://blithetraveler.typepad.com/the_blithe_traveler/2012/07/hare-with-the-amber-eyes-book-review.html


Shadow of the Wind was a fabulous read, but I'll post my goodreads review. It was a tough one: "This book was right on the edge of "too hard for me to read." Of course, I listened to it as an audio book, so perhaps I should say "too complex for me to comprehend while listening." The language was gorgeous, though, so I stuck it out and was rewarded by at least 95% understanding of the plot by the end of the book. I'll call that a win. James Joyce is way over my head, and this is just a few centimeters over it, if you'd like a relative measure.

I don't read "mystery books" as a rule, but was drawn to this one because reviews for it were mostly excellent. It is a translation from Spanish, which makes the beauty of the language in English all the more astonishing. The 'mystery' is not a plot device, but a tangled web of multi-generational relationships that is slowly unwoven.

I'd recommend this book to friends who love language. The story was also reasonably compelling, although, as I have said, not always easy to follow. The author even kindly pops in a few "recaps" along the way - I found these even hard to follow. But that is my problem; not one created by the author."

People of the Book and Year of Wonders are both by Geraldine Brooks. They are vastly different books, but both very interesting historical fiction. Year of Wonder is the story of a plague village in England in the 1600s and People of the Book tracks and ancient Jewish text through through its hundreds of years of history. Really interesting reading in both cases, and well researched, so reasonably accurate in detail.

And, if you like Harry Potter, read the Bartemeous trilogy (there are four books, I only wish there were more). Brilliant story, fabulously flawed characters, believable and a weeper at the end. It's for a slightly older reader than HP, so more sophisticated, and very appropriate for an adult with a taste for magical characters.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartimaeus_Sequence
Edited by Reynard Ridge, Mar 24 2013, 07:25 AM.
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BABYGREENTB Mar 24 2013, 07:29 AM Post #4
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 Have you read The Paris Wife yet? I loved that one - it's about Hemingway's first wife.

I really like historical fiction, so have been trying to get through Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall & A Place of Greater Safety. Both are very good but seriously dense writing (dense as in thick, not unintelligent).

All God's Creatures was another good one.
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Indy Mar 24 2013, 07:42 AM Post #5
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 Wonder by RJ Palacio is one of the best books I've read in a very long time

I just finished Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh and really loved it.
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gunnar Mar 24 2013, 07:56 AM Post #6
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 I don't read much these days but I did read the book about Harry Deleyer and Snowman.. The eighty dollar champion. Loved it. I can send it to you if you would like!
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Eleanor Mar 24 2013, 08:23 AM Post #7
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Off visiting Candy Cave, be right back.
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 You guys do some heavy reading. I mainly stick to romance books. The type that I can set down and go get things done and not feel like I am missing anything if I am not reading. If I didn't I would be reading all the time. It also make for cheap reading as you can get them for next to nothing second hand.
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ShadowMare Mar 24 2013, 09:11 AM Post #8
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 If you like historical novels (with accurate research behind them) try anything by James Clavell (all about Asian histories) or Ken Follett. I like both authors...great story tellers, interesting characters in these novels, and with good research supporting the stories.
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Kassandra Mar 24 2013, 09:15 AM Post #9
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 I really liked the Tana French murder series. It wasn't something I would pick (a friend sent me the first one) but I ended up loving them
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/in-the-woods-tana-french/1100315218?ean=9780143113492
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RHowell Mar 24 2013, 01:04 PM Post #10
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gunnar
Mar 24 2013, 07:56 AM
I don't read much these days but I did read the book about Harry Deleyer and Snowman.. The eighty dollar champion. Loved it. I can send it to you if you would like!
Read it and LOVED it. It's now on loan to my non-horsey sister! Thanks for your kind offer!
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retired4now Mar 24 2013, 06:29 PM Post #11
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 Unsaid by Neil Abramson... Beautiful book. Must read for those of us who have loved and had to say goodbye...
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desilu Mar 24 2013, 06:39 PM Post #12
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Magical Leopluridon
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 I really enjoyed:

The President's Club

It's not a book I would normally have picked up but read a review and ended up getting it from the library. One of the best reads I've had in a long time.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks was also fascinating and one I was surprised I liked as much as I did.
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FlashGordon Mar 24 2013, 06:42 PM Post #13
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 I LOVE Barbara Kingsolver and have read The Bean Trees, Pigs in Heaven, and Animal Dreams over and over. Also Chris Bohjalian.
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Ride'emCO Mar 24 2013, 06:43 PM Post #14
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Off visiting Candy Cave, be right back.
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 The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

You'll love it.
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Kikki Mar 24 2013, 10:08 PM Post #15
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 I really liked The Fault in Our Stars. I not long ago I read Unwind and the other in that trilogy (the name escapes me). They were good, strange, and a nice level of dark. Other than that I seem to be reading a lot of Holocaust books and erotic novels. I'm not sure why. I need to break this latest trend and try something new!
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