Book Rec

[Penny4]

I just thought I would sharea book rec with you...

I finished reading "Wild" by CHeryl Strayed. It is a memoir of the author's hike on part of the Pacific Crest Trail when she was in her 20's. As someone who has never camped a day in my life, I was fascinated by her story. It's partially about her hike and partially about trying to find herself, to use a cliche.

Very good read!

Anybody reading anything interesting?

[malkin]

Slogging through The end of illness.

I don't recommend it. Preachy, common sense; early to bed early to rise, in the future we'll read your DNA and you'll be healthy; we'll be wealthy, and no one will be wise.

[lph]

Malkin, you crack me up. On a regular basis. Thanks!

I'm reading The Hunger Games. Hadn't expected to be, but I'm hooked.

[Dogmama]

I'm reading In One Person by John Irving. About a boy struggling with his sexual identity in a small town. Classic John Irving - if you like him, you'll like this book.

Read Calico Joe by John Grisham. Entertaining & quick read, if not somewhat predictable.

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson - one of my new favorites. About a widower who deals with his inflexibility around life issues. Could not put it down.

[indysteel]

Just finishing Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. It's a mystery/thriller. It held my attention, but it's not exactly high art. Also recently finished Jill Homer's Be Brave, Be Strong about her 2009 race of the Tour Divide. I enjoyed that immensely, and it's only $2.99 on Kindle. I'm slowly working on Bleak House and another book called Turn Right at Matchu Picchu by Mark Adams. Richard Ford's Canada and the last one Dogmama mentioned, Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, are on my short list.

[Over50Newbie]

Just finished "Killing Lincoln" by Bill O'Reilly. It was so good that I read it in one sitting. A fascinating book about a truly horrible tragedy in America. I highly recommend it!

[Irulan]

I'm working on 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson, and Animal, Vegetable Mineral by Barabara Kingsolver.

The Wild is on my book group list, but I'm not excited about it. One, a review I read likened it to Eat Pray Love except the author didn't have a contract to write it before she set out, unlike the EPL gal, and two, I have consistently been rather disgusted with tales of people who set out in the woods without knowing what they are getting into; ( as in, how stupid can you be) so yes, I'm being closed minded about it. :)

[sookiesue]

Love John Irving! I was going to recommend In One Person, too! My favorite Irving is Prayer for Owen Meany, close second is Cider House Rules.

[indysteel]

Love John Irving! I was going to recommend In One Person, too! My favorite Irving is Prayer for Owen Meany, close second is Cider House Rules.

Prayer for Owen Meany is one of my favorite books. I've lost track of how many times I've read it, and the ending still gets me every time.

[Catrin]

Lately I've been reading far more than watching TV or Netflix, and I do enjoy good mysteries. I've been enjoying some of the Pitt series by Anne Perry. Perhaps not high literature, but enjoyable. I've heard about "Wild" at a book club I attend occasionally, it is one of the books suggested for next year.

I love "Bleak House" though it is quite bleak, Indy thanks for the recommendation for Jill Horner's book. I need to get away from my period piece/mystery run. I've also been reading "Mapheads" by Ken Jennings, a wonderful book on maps and those of us who love them and the different perspective they can provide.

For some reason I've not read John Irving, will add "In One Person" to my list.

[indysteel]

Thus far, I've not found Bleak House to be any more bleak than the average book that I've read. Maybe most of what I read is depressing; I don't know.

[Crankin]

I've hardly been reading, which is unusual. By the time I get home, and do my notes, I'm tired. But, I did read that book about the Olympic track cyclists, Gold. It was not that good. The writing seemed amateurish, even though the author (whose name escapes me now) had a huge best seller before. The ending was predictable, too.
It was the first book I read on a Kindle and I did not enjoy it. I had an actual physical feeling of wanting to turn paper pages and I couldn't read as many pages at a time; it was like when i tried to read research articles for school on line. I ended up getting a laser printer and printing them out! I know this shows my age, but it's a real, weird physical feeling I got when I was reading. I will probably download a couple of books to read while I'm away, but I will not make it a regular habit. I experience the same feeling when my morning paper doesn't arrive early enough for me to read and I read it on the I Pad. It feels like I'm reading some pop culture article on the Yahoo home page, instead of the Boston Globe.
Any recs for good historical fiction?

[Irulan]

I love well written and researched historical fiction. Not, bodice ripper historical fiction, if you know what I mean. Someone I know actually said that Outlander was historical fiction and I just about barfed. It's time travel romance disguised as historical. Not that I didn't enjoy the first few of that series, it's just NOT historical fiction. Sorry.

Sharon Kay Penman writes about Medieval England and I love her books.
The Welsh trilogy, Here be Dragons, Falls the Shadow, and The Reckoning, is fabulous. Her series on Henry II is also very good, and her take on Elanor of Aquitane. http://www.sharonkaypenman.com/penman_bibliography.htm

For adventurous historical, you can't beat Bernard Cornwell. He's covered the Napoleonic Wars with the Sharpe series , King Alfred the Great with his Lords of the North series, and he's also done some great books on the Civil War. The Sharpe series is cut of the same cloth as the Patrick Obrien/Jack Aubrey stuff, so it's adventure tales with a lot of historical basis and detail. ( And Sean Bean played him in the BBC series, what's not to love about that?)

I've also really enjoyed the Thomas Shardlake mysteries set in the time of Henry VIII, by C J Sansom. This is literary mystery, not the usual fluff of many mystery series. It's pretty deep stuff, and very authentic to the period.

I could not get into Phillipa Gregory at all. I read one of them, and it seem so contrived I had to toss it. It may have been one of her true fiction and not the bios she's known for.

Wilbur Smith is another author I like. He writes about Africa, primarily South Africa, from about the 17th century on. The history is told through the Ballentyne Family, from the earliest settlement by Dutch to the end of Apathied. His really "famous" book ( ie, supermarket bestseller) "River God" is not his best work.

Hope you find something you like! I love reading on my Nook and iPad.

Who is on Goodreads?

[OakLeaf]

I just finished "The Weird Sisters" by Eleanor Brown and just loved it. It's about three adult sisters, daughters of a pedantic Shakespeare professor (hence the title), each with a crisis of her own, and an ailing stay-at-home mom, learning to find how they each fit into the family as adults.

It's totally NOT about my sisters and me, but there are enough parallels (probably common to any family of three sisters and a mother and father who've stayed married) that it was extra engaging to me - but I think any woman with a sister would find some home truth in this novel.

The conceit of the book is that it's narrated by the sisters collectively as a sort of Greek chorus. Each individual gets to speak in her own voice, but the whole history of their growing up together is always present. It doesn't necessarily sound like it would work, but it does.

[Catrin]

Irulan - I agree the Penman books are pretty good and I also have enjoyed the Shardlake series. I've not read anything by Bernard Cornwell yet though I have seen part of the Sharpe series - I will have to add him to my list.

It is nice to see what everyone is reading. I finally joined Good Reads the other day and am figuring out how it works. I read mainly classics and fiction - especially historical fiction, mysteries, fantasy/speculative/science fiction.

[Crankin]

Oak, Weird Sisters sounds like something I would like.
Ha, Irulan, I am not into bodice ripping, fantasy, mystery, or series for that matter. I've read a lot of historical fiction about Ann Bolyn, etc., that era. I also have read quite a few books about the Inquisition, which sounds horrible (it is), but I learned a lot about Conversos, or the "secret" Jews, and many of their descendants who now live in New Mexico. Fascinating.

[Dogmama]

Has anybody read this? I understand it's quite erotic. Amazon readers give it mixed reviews but I think it's been on a best seller's list. Friends of mine are raving about it.

[skhill]

I recently finished "Blackout" and "All Clear" by Connie Willis. Time traveling historians, marooned in WWII England. Enjoyed the books greatly, and they've sent me scurrying to read up on WWII. Any recommendations?

I've also been re-reading the Dorothy Sayers mysteries lately, especially when my brain is mush from the summer heat.

[Irulan]

Has anybody read this? I understand it's quite erotic. Amazon readers give it mixed reviews but I think it's been on a best seller's list. Friends of mine are raving about it.

Which, 50 shades of grey? I think i will pass.

[indysteel]

Which, 50 shades of grey? I think i will pass.

Me, too. No judgment against anybody who had enjoyed it; just not my thing.

[Irulan]

Oak, Weird Sisters sounds like something I would like.
Ha, Irulan, I am not into bodice ripping, fantasy, mystery, or series for that matter. I've read a lot of historical fiction about Ann Bolyn, etc., that era. I also have read quite a few books about the Inquisition, which sounds horrible (it is), but I learned a lot about Conversos, or the "secret" Jews, and many of their descendants who now live in New Mexico. Fascinating.

Do you have some author recommendations?

[Irulan]

Has anybody read this? I understand it's quite erotic. Amazon readers give it mixed reviews but I think it's been on a best seller's list. Friends of mine are raving about it.

If you want erotic, go with the original classic, Fanny Hill.

[OakLeaf]

Has it really been a generation since the last kinky mommy-porn sensation (i.e. Anne Rice's Sleeping Beauty series)?

I'm really old. Sigh.

[sookiesue]

Prayer for Owen Meany is one of my favorite books. I've lost track of how many times I've read it, and the ending still gets me every time.

Me too! In fact, I think I'll start re-reading it again tonight. It's been a couple of years. I'm looking forward to bedtime now!

[Melalvai]

I love well written and researched historical fiction.
Me too, and I will check into some of those that you mentioned. I liked the one Penman I read, I'll have to get more.

You might like Miriam Grace Monfredo. Mysteries set in woman's suffrage pre-Civil War. The first one, a win for the suffragists in New York legislation turned out to be the key to the murder mystery. How cool is that?

50 Shades of Grey
I haven't read it but the amazon reviews were hilarious.

[Crankin]

I can't remember the name of the book I read that I loved so much about a female character in the Inquisition. I had read a review of it and miraculously found it at the library a couple of years ago. But, the one I am going to get for vacation is called By Fire, By Water, author's last name is Kaplan.

[limewave]

50 Shades . . .

Read half of the first book to see what the big deal was. Nothing more than poorly written erotic fiction. This is a very accurate review (http://www.amazon.com/review/R2JF7E91JJVHAT/ref=cm_cr_dp_title?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B007J4T2G8&nodeID=133140011&store=digital-text).

Moved on to poorly written suspense fiction. Reading "Don't Know Jack: The Hunt for Reacher" by Diane Capri. Yup, a new series based on Lee Child's wandering character. Actually, I don't think its that poorly written. I'll probably finish it up tonight.

[indysteel]

OMG; that review of 50 Shades of Grey is a riot. Thanks for the link, LW!

[Dogmama]

Limewave - I downloaded a sample onto my kindle awhile back and thought the writing was extremely amateurish too. Just seemed like something on the BS list should be better quality but maybe not.

BS = best seller or ...? ;)

[emily_in_nc]

Re: 50 Shades of Gray



I haven't read it but the amazon reviews were hilarious.

I totally agree! Much better than the book, from what I gathered. :D

[malkin]

Earlier this year I read Jill Bolte Taylor's My Stroke of Insight.
Accessable, quick read, non-fiction, brain scientist describes her experience having a stroke.

She spoke at a conference I attended. Wow!

[Catrin]

Just started reading "Dreaming the Eagle" by Manda Scott. I think this will be a good book. It is the first volume in a trilogy based on the life of Boudica. It will be interesting to see if this is more fantasy or historic fiction, but I think it will be enjoyable either way.

Summary from Goodreads:

Boudica means Bringer of Victory (from the early Celtic word “boudeg”). She is the last defender of the Celtic culture in Britain; the only woman openly to lead her warriors into battle and to stand successfully against the might of Imperial Rome -- and triumph.

[Veronica]

I'm currently reading Annals of the Former World. The author followed different geologists around for about 20 years. Fascinating if you're into geology. It's not like a textbook - more like a memoir.

I finished Desert Solitaire earlier this week. I've also read two collections of short stories. One just called Stories and edited by Neil Gaiman. The other Songs of Love and Death edited by George R.R.Martin. Both were quite good.

I've read "countless" kid novels this summer too.

Veronica

[Jo-n-NY]

I've read "countless" kid novels this summer too.

Veronica

I know you are a teacher, but I really like that idea. I am sure there are some good kids novels that adults would enjoy also.

[Veronica]

For "kid" stuff, I've read a lot of Wendy Mass this summer. She's an author I somehow missed for a long time.

Gennifer Choldenko is another good author. She wrote Al Capone Does My Shirts. A great book set on Alcatraz when it was still a prison. The main character is dealing with issues brought on by having a mentally impaired older sister. One of my students gave me another book of hers - No Passengers Beyond This Point. It's about 3 siblings who need to work together to survive. There's a bit more to it than that. :D

Ingrid Law's Savvy and follow up Scumble are very good.

Veronica

[Veronica]

Oh, I forgot, this year's Newberry Winner is really funny. It's Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos.

My students thought it was hysterical, but I had to make them promise to never say "Cheezus Crust" at school.

Kathi Applet - not sure of the spelling - wrote The Underneath - somewhat disturbing, but compelling. Too disturbing to do as a read aloud and I read The Graveyard Book as a read loud. The Underneath is a very intricate story, really sort of 3 stories that come together. She also wrote Keeper which my students loved.

The Graveyard Book is by Neil Gaiman - creepy, but not as disturbing. It starts off with the main character's family being murdered.

I'm always on the hunt for potential new read alouds. Plus it's kind of fun to leave a book on a kid's desk with a note saying they might like it.


Veronica

[indysteel]

For "kid" stuff, I've read a lot of Wendy Mass this summer. She's an author I somehow missed for a long time.

Gennifer Choldenko is another good author. She wrote Al Capone Does My Shirts. A great book set on Alcatraz when it was still a prison. The main character is dealing with issues brought on by having a mentally impaired older sister. One of my students gave me another book of hers - No Passengers Beyond This Point. It's about 3 siblings who need to work together to survive. There's a bit more to it than that. :D

Ingrid Law's Savvy and follow up Scumble are very good.

Veronica

I got an Amazon email yesterday--based on my past purchases I guess-- alerting me to Rebecca Stead's new book. It's called Liar & Spy. Have you read it yet? I liked her When You Reach Me, which you recommended to me a while ago.

[Veronica]

Nope, haven't read that one yet. I'll have to add it to my list. :p

Veronica

[GLC1968]

I love well written and researched historical fiction. Not, bodice ripper historical fiction, if you know what I mean. Someone I know actually said that Outlander was historical fiction and I just about barfed. It's time travel romance disguised as historical. Not that I didn't enjoy the first few of that series, it's just NOT historical fiction. Sorry.

Sharon Kay Penman writes about Medieval England and I love her books.
The Welsh trilogy, Here be Dragons, Falls the Shadow, and The Reckoning, is fabulous. Her series on Henry II is also very good, and her take on Elanor of Aquitane. http://www.sharonkaypenman.com/penman_bibliography.htm

For adventurous historical, you can't beat Bernard Cornwell. He's covered the Napoleonic Wars with the Sharpe series , King Alfred the Great with his Lords of the North series, and he's also done some great books on the Civil War. The Sharpe series is cut of the same cloth as the Patrick Obrien/Jack Aubrey stuff, so it's adventure tales with a lot of historical basis and detail. ( And Sean Bean played him in the BBC series, what's not to love about that?)

I've also really enjoyed the Thomas Shardlake mysteries set in the time of Henry VIII, by C J Sansom. This is literary mystery, not the usual fluff of many mystery series. It's pretty deep stuff, and very authentic to the period.

I could not get into Phillipa Gregory at all. I read one of them, and it seem so contrived I had to toss it. It may have been one of her true fiction and not the bios she's known for.

Wilbur Smith is another author I like. He writes about Africa, primarily South Africa, from about the 17th century on. The history is told through the Ballentyne Family, from the earliest settlement by Dutch to the end of Apathied. His really "famous" book ( ie, supermarket bestseller) "River God" is not his best work.

Hope you find something you like! I love reading on my Nook and iPad.

Who is on Goodreads?

I love well researched historical fiction myself. I have some old favorites (Sarum, The Far Pavillions, Pillars of the Earth, etc) but lately I've been really enjoying the books by Anne Easter Smith. I finished Queen by Right about a month ago and just started Daughter of York over the weekend. For whatever reason, I'm partial to British history. I'll definitely check out some of the ones you've recommended!

I did like the few Phillippa Gregory books I read (The Queen's Fool in particular) but they do border on 'bodice rippers' for sure.

Shades of Grey - I read them all. In about a day. Seriously easy reading but I found the story entertaining enough to keep me engaged while traveling. I don't know how accurate the erotic parts are, but admittedly, I learned some stuff I never knew (and wouldn't dare to google!). :p Would I recommend the books? For literary value? No. For entertainment or light beach reading? Sure.

I read fiction for escape, so I'm typically not partial to stories or books that take place in a world like my own. They don't do it for me. I typically like stories that take me somewhere else (why I like historical fiction or sci-fi), and the Shades of Grey series took me to a world I don't inhabit (even though it was set here in the PNW). Between the kinky sex and incredible wealth, it was 'other worldly' to me which I think is why I enjoyed it even though it wasn't very well written.

For non-fiction I have two recommendations if anyone is interested. One is called 'It Starts With Food" and it kind of changed my life (for the better). The other is called 'The Dirty Life' and its about a city girl who falls in love with a farmer and their journey as they set up a rural, sustainable life in upstate New York. (anyone want to venture a guess why I liked it? ;) )

[Irulan]

This is why I love Goodreads. It's very easy to go in and find some books by author suggestions, and mark as "to read". ;)

[thekarens]

I'm another one who only reads for escape. However, I must be the only fantasy reader here. I fell in love with Tolkien at the age of 8 and I've been hooked on fantasy ever since.

Usually I have 2 or 3 books going at once. I'm currently reading F. Paul Wilson's Repairman Jack series.

[Irulan]

Fantasy is a reeealllly broad category. I absolutely refuse to read sword and sorcery stuff, but I love authors like Juliet Marillier and Jacqueline Carey.

[malkin]

Another non-fiction one: I'm rereading Monkey Mind just to wash out the bad taste left by the last one.

In addition to sparklingly witty writing, Monkey Mind is the funniest book about any mental illness ever!

[Catrin]

I'm another one who only reads for escape. However, I must be the only fantasy reader here. I fell in love with Tolkien at the age of 8 and I've been hooked on fantasy ever since.

Usually I have 2 or 3 books going at once. I'm currently reading F. Paul Wilson's Repairman Jack series.


Fantasy is a reeealllly broad category. I absolutely refuse to read sword and sorcery stuff, but I love authors like Juliet Marillier and Jacqueline Carey.

I love Tolkien, and fantasy in general but as Irulan said, it is a huge genre. Have you read the short stories of Tolkien they published a few years back? One is "A Tolkien Miscellany" and another is "Unfinished Tales", there are a few gems in these two collections. Some sword and sorcery books I enjoy, especially when I need some down time. Irulan, I've not heard of Marillier or Carey before, will have to add them to my list, their books sound quite interesting!

I've not seen Stephen Lawhead mentioned in this thread, I like his work pretty well. I really enjoyed Byzantium, had mixed feelings on his Pendragan series.

[Catrin]

I am currently reading "In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin" by Erik Lawson (along with a couple of books on primal/paleo eating).

This is a well written book and quite captivating. It is on the Dobbs family, Dobb was sent to Germany as the US Ambassador soon after Hitler rose to power. He originally took the position hoping to have time to work on a history of the southern US he had been trying to work on for years, but of course events in German changed that. He was not the usual pick for such a position as he wasn't one of the American privileged class.

Dobbs invited his grown children to go with he and his wife, and the author uses diaries of the family to reconstruct that first year. As you read this book, you begin to understand in part why the true nature of Hitler wasn't believed by outsiders for so long. There were all of the horror stories that started coming out when he and his party rose to power, but for visitors to Germany it all appeared to be just exaggeration as everything "appeared" to be the same. His daughter Martha took longer to understand the true nature of the Nazis and was caught up in it all.

I am still reading the book but I highly recommend it if you like to read history. I could easily stay up too late reading this, but the alarm goes off much too early :) Larson is such a good writer that I am going to see what else he may have written.

[Dogmama]

Catrin, thanks! That's definitely on my reading list.

My grandmother was in Germany during Hitler and had to escape to America. She wasn't Jewish or any other minority - she just wasn't one of Hitler's chosen people. But, she still secretly believed that Hitler was right and carried many prejudices to her grave. Different times.

[Catrin]

Catrin, thanks! That's definitely on my reading list.

My grandmother was in Germany during Hitler and had to escape to America. She wasn't Jewish or any other minority - she just wasn't one of Hitler's chosen people. But, she still secretly believed that Hitler was right and carried many prejudices to her grave. Different times.

They were indeed very different times, and that is another thing that becomes clear in this book. We "know" that there was more antisemitism in this country at that point in the 20th century, but reading this really brings that home. The focus is on Germany, but of course there were his interactions with the "folks back home", and even Dobb himself was on the anti-Jewish side of things - but he didn't agree with the methods the Germans used. Different times indeed.

[OakLeaf]

Catrin, thanks! That's definitely on my reading list.

My grandmother was in Germany during Hitler and had to escape to America. She wasn't Jewish or any other minority - she just wasn't one of Hitler's chosen people. But, she still secretly believed that Hitler was right and carried many prejudices to her grave. Different times.

That does sound like a good book. As usual my reading list is stacked to the rafters and I've only got motivation for light fantasy (really enjoying Martha Wells' Raksura books right now, BTW) - but I'll keep an eye out for it.

My grandmother was in Germany during Hitler's ascendancy also. She had the right bloodlines (she used to tell a story about Mussolini hitting on her at an embassy party! :eek:) but the wrong beliefs. She entered an interracial marriage and followed a circuitous international route to wind up in the US with her children. It's one of the reasons I cut my mom a lot of slack for a lot of things. I can't imagine growing up on three continents speaking four languages, in wildly different social and economic circumstances each time, before she was 12.

[malkin]

Sounds interesting. I am still on a "no Nazis diet" for all media.


Tana French has a new one Broken Harbor.
Who knew there'd be so many creepy murders in Dublin?!

[indysteel]

Sounds interesting. I am still on a "no Nazis diet" for all media.


Tana French has a new one Broken Harbor.
Who knew there'd be so many creepy murders in Dublin?!

I've never read any of her books. Are they good? They've caught my eye recently because I'm in one of my periodic mystery/thriller phases.

[malkin]

Highest recommendation for Tana French's books!!!

All the normal procedural crime stuff, with fleshed out characters and rich language.

[salsabike]

I've never read any of her books. Are they good? They've caught my eye recently because I'm in one of my periodic mystery/thriller phases.

She's great! Tana French and Denise Mina are my suspense discoveries of the year for sure.

[indigoiis]

I'm reading "Enemies: A History of the FBI" by Tim Weiner. I picked it up for a research paper for school and keep renewing it because I can't put it down.

I'm also reading in rotations on the bus commute:
Chi Marathon by Danny Dreyer
The Thrive Diet by Brendan Brazier
Eat & Run by Scott Jurek.

And I listened to "Daughter of Smoke and Bone" by Laini Taylor, a young adult novel that was really excellent for a long trip with my artist daughter down to North Carolina and back. We really, really enjoyed it.

[snapdragen]

I'm on an end of the world as we know it binge, just finished the Wool Omnibus (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1469984202/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B005FC52L0&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0VYTXQTAD9CQ4FPJKN3V), now I'm reading First Shift, which is like a prequel to Wool. If you are a science fiction lover, I highly recommend it.

My Goodreads bookshelf is an assortment of earth in the future stories..

Radioduranz
2184
Alice in Deadland (Zombies!!)
The Windup Girl

I also spent about a week reading the Hunger Games trilogy. :p

[Irulan]

I'm on an end of the world as we know it binge, just finished the Wool Omnibus (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1469984202/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B005FC52L0&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0VYTXQTAD9CQ4FPJKN3V), now I'm reading First Shift, which is like a prequel to Wool. If you are a science fiction lover, I highly recommend it.

My Goodreads bookshelf is an assortment of earth in the future stories..

Radioduranz
2184
Alice in Deadland (Zombies!!)
The Windup Girl

I also spent about a week reading the Hunger Games trilogy. :p


Have you read any of the Nantucket/Lady of the Sword stuff by S M Stirling?
Or, the trilogy that begins with 40 Signs of Rain by Kim Stanley Robinson?

[snapdragen]

Have you read any of the Nantucket/Lady of the Sword stuff by S M Stirling?
Or, the trilogy that begins with 40 Signs of Rain by Kim Stanley Robinson?

I haven't, I'll check them out.

[Irulan]

warning, for SM Stirling you must set your plausibility meter to zero as he's very tongue in cheek. :D

[maryellen]

Another vote for Gone Girl by Flynn -- a real page turner

Liked Canada by Ford too but I didn't stay up late reading it (my standard for good vs very good).

[jobob]

Highest recommendation for Tana French's books!!!

All the normal procedural crime stuff, with fleshed out characters and rich language.


Tana French and Denise Mina are my suspense discoveries of the year for sure.


I was able to check out the Kindle edition of Tana French's Faithful Place from my public library and I devoured it this weekend. I really enjoyed it, thanks for the recommendation!

I have Broken Harbor on reserve (no Kindle edition yet so no instant gratification, ratz).

[Thorn]

I'm on an end of the world as we know it binge, just finished the Wool Omnibus (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1469984202/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B005FC52L0&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0VYTXQTAD9CQ4FPJKN3V), now I'm reading First Shift, which is like a prequel to Wool. If you are a science fiction lover, I highly recommend it.


So I'm not the only one stuck in the world of Post-Apocalyptic fiction? :eek:

I really liked Wool. I don't know how it ended up on my reading list, but I found them to be real page-turners (Ok, it was on my Kindle, so that would be a "real button presser"?)

Geek Feminism had a posting a while back for Dystopian/SciFi with strong female leads ( http://geekfeminism.org/2012/02/15/dystopianscifi-stuff-with-strong-female-characters/ ). Found some entertaining reads there, but nothing that I'd scream, "Read This" from that I hadn't already read.

Nicola Griffith's blog (she who wrote _Ammonite_) occasionally has reading lists and I've found interesting reads there, as well.

[Irulan]

Thanks for the link

[indysteel]

I started reading a novel by Lisa Lutz over the weekend called The Spellman Files. It's the first in an ongoing series involving a family of private investigators. It's more comedy than myster/thriller, and I'm enjoyed it as a light and fun summer read.

[hike n bike]

We are a homeschool family so getting books for curriculum and for free is a pretty big deal.
Kids books that adults might like are: a series called "The 39 clues" a very fun series, written by several authors using history and geography to solve the big mystery. I found my son getting answers correct on "Jeopardy" just from what he'd learned and researched on these books. He also LOVES American History- he somehow travels through world history and ends up back here. Oh well. He adored "Destiny of the Republic- Madness, Medicine and Murder of the President" about Garfield. Not historical fiction, but very good non-fiction.
I truly recommend Librivox.org for free downloadable audiobooks. Anything on public domain is there....for freeeee! I just finished Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. Long book but a real gem.

[hike n bike]

We are a homeschool family so getting books for curriculum and for free is a pretty big deal.
Kids books that adults might like are: a series called "The 39 clues" a very fun series, written by several authors using history and geography to solve the big mystery. I found my son getting answers correct on "Jeopardy" just from what he'd learned and researched on these books. He also LOVES American History- he somehow travels through world history and ends up back here. Oh well. He adored "Destiny of the Republic- Madness, Medicine and Murder of the President" about Garfield. Not historical fiction, but very good non-fiction.
I truly recommend Librivox.org for free downloadable audiobooks. Anything on public domain is there....for freeeee! I just finished Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. Long book but a real gem.