Top rated books

[kiwi girl]

If you are into natural history, a short history of nearly everything by Bill Bryson has some meat on the bone.

+1 on this I have 'read' it properly and also listened to the audio book and really enjoyed it both times

[Lifesgreat]

Just finished reading John Adams by David McCullough. In some ways, politics were a lot rougher and meaner then than now. I came away thankful the thousands of letters used in McCullough's research survived. Abigail Adams rocks! What a strong woman.

[slowlane]

Island of Lost Girls by Jennifer McMahon
Animal Vegetable Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver are two I'd recommend

[mayanorange]

+1 on Gabrial Garcia Marquez (Love in the Time of Cholera, etc)

+1 on Barbara Kingsolver

I have become addicted to Christopher Moore books lately- my fave is Fluke. He has a twisted sense of humor, but I like it.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Recommending books is often like recommending movies...even when you have the same interests as someone else, you can still have different taste.
My husband and I rented several movies enthusiastically recommend by various friends we like- only to find said movies completely tedious or stupid. We totally couldn't figure out what redeeming features they saw in them! Still can't figure it out...and these are people we like and hang out with!
We've since stopped watching movies recommended by others except for a couple of particular people who we have found have very similar taste to ours.

[StressFree]

David Sedaris' When You Are Engulfed in Flames. Sheer hilarity ensues. If you're looking for something more serious, Suite Francaise is very good.

[Trekhawk]

If you're looking for something more serious, Suite Francaise is very good.

I have this book sitting right next to me. A dear friend in the USA gave it to me to read. I'm having a hard time putting it down.

[Crankin]

I just finished a book called Mistress of the Revolution. It is great if you like historical fiction. It's about a fictional character in the years leading up to and during the French Revolution. Lots of history with romance. I couldn't put it down.

[Biciclista]

[QUOTE=StressFree;393388If you're looking for something more serious, Suite Francaise is very good.[/QUOTE]

just put this one on hold at my local library. sounds very well written. I just finished two books written by a couple of cyclists who toured Mexico, Central America and South america. I really enjoyed those two books. Now I am starting on my Christmas Present, called "A Sicilian Tragedy" so far the biggest tragedy is that the author didn't have anyone help him write the book.
Averaging 3-4 errors per page.

[RoadRaven]

A book called "Falling For Science" written by a local (from Wellington).

It is the most readable science book I have read

He takes facts, and talks about the stories we create around them and how these stories become myths which people then begin to argue as scientific fact (when actually, the stories we make up to explain our world are often unprovable).

He looks at evolution, creation, migration of people and all sorts of other things. Some really great provocations which have made me think about what I believe and why I believe it and whether I still actually do.

Example:a piece of pottery is found in an excavation. It can be carbon dated. Where the clay is from can be identified.

Then someone starts to tell us what this piece of pottery might have been used for, who might have made it, why it got broken or the reason for it being discarded. None of this is provable, but the story helps build a picture of people, of a way of life, and we like that. Suddenly, the story comes to be believed and accepted as factual.

Its a great book. I'm part-way through my second read of it. If I could I would buy everyone I know a copy of it.

[moley42]

I just finished reading The Host by Stephenie Meyer and was pleasantly surprised by it. I feared I would be disappointed after the Twilight series but it was actually really good and stood out well on its own.

[Aint Doody]

Thirteen Moons by----Oh, I forgot! He's the same fellow who wrote Cold Mountain.

[suelax]

love in the time of cholera was a good one, but marquez' 100 years of solitude was excellent!

[tulip]

Garcia Marquez 100%. I also recently read Le Hussard sur le Toit (the Horseman on the Roof) by Jean Giono. I loved it. The movie was good, too, but somehow I preferred the book. One of my favorite books of all time is another by Giono, L'Homme qui plantait des arbres. Wow! It's short. There's a fantastic Quebecois animated short of it, too.

[papaver]

I loved Quiet Chaos by Sandro Veronesi
The Kindly Ones by Jonathan Littell
The Angel Maker by Stefan Brijs. He's a Belgian writer and it's an absolute masterpiece.

http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/B...r_Stefan_Brijs