I need your help. I'm all out of new reads, and I need some suggestions! Here's the scoop: I've already finished my book club book (The Help) and I don't want to fill my reading void with TV. Blame it on my ability to read fast I guess. Once I find a good book, I typically plow through it. My fiance however does not share the same unadulterated enthusiasm for reading. Whenever I tease my fiance about still reading the same book 3 months later, he likes to remind me, most people don't devour books like I do. Point taken. Truth be told, I've read most of the titles on Barnes and Noble's bestsellers list, along with pretty much everything else that's been recommended to me by friends. If and when I still come up short, I resort to my book finding "trick." Here goes: On Amazon.com, I plug in a title I enjoyed into the search, and when it pops up, I scroll down to the bottom of the page to the "customers who bought this book also recommended," section and I pull new books from there. Here's a handful I've already read, just to name a few...
- Sarah's Key
- Little Bee
- Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
- Half Broke Horses
- Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society
- Water for Elephants
- Girl With Dragon Tattoo (Trilogy)
Anyway, tangents aside - the point of this post is - I need some recommendations! So I ask, what have you got? Anything worth reading, please, send my way!
image/maryruffle
25 comments
I read Lunch In Paris by Elizabeth Bard and My Life In France by Julia Child. Both excellent food/travel memoirs.
My favorites of last year are The Secret Life of Bees, The Passage, Feed,My Name is Memory, Almost Perfect and The Book Thief. I'll be interested to hear what you pick.
Dang, I was going to recommend Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, but it looks like you've already read it!
One of the best books I've read in the past two years was Andre Agassi's memoir "Open". Even if you know nothing about him and don't care about tennis, it is a phenomenal read. He is a fantastic writer and his story is so raw and beautiful.
You should join www.goodreads.com, it will help you keep track of the books you have read and one that you would like to read. You can also see what books your friends are reading.
I just read The Hunger Games and I highly recommend it. Many bloggers have been reading it too. It's a trilogy so you can invest some time into the three part series.
- What the world will look like when all the water leaves us by Laura van den Berg.
- The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
- The Help by Kathryn Stockett
- Black Swan Green by David Mitchell
- Quiet as they Come by Angie Chau
- Tortilla Curtain by T.C. Boyle
- Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Just a few! I hope these help, some I have read in school and others on my own time. Let us know what you choose!
The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes
All You Need to be Impossibly French (hilarious)
The Memory Keeper's Daughter
Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas
Sam's Letters to Jennifer
My Sister's Keeper, The Time Traveler's Wife (I'm gunna take a wild guess and assume you have read these, but I loved each of them).
I have a James Patterson weakness. I devour the Alex Cross series. Anything by him is gold in my book.
Sophie Kinsella is great too for fun, easy reads. I love Remember Me, The Undomestic Goddess, and Can You Keep A Secret?
Let us know what you pick!
commited by elizabeth gilbert, especially since you are about the get married.
shes the author of eat pray love. this book follows it up and is an interesting look at marriage. im loving it so far.
Chris Cleave, the author of Little Bee, has a new one out - Incendiary. I haven't read it yet, but if it's anything like Little Bee, it's winner! I'm reading the Help right now - hope you liked it!
Anne Frank Remembered - written by Miep Gies, the woman who hid Anne Frank and the others
Thou Shall Not Hate - Izzeldin Abuelais
Poisonwood bible - barbara kingsolver
Half-broken horses - jeanette walls
Postmistress - Sarah Blake
hope theres at least one there you havent read yet!
I post my book list here. I have read most of what you posted so we might have similar tastes.
I second The Book Thief (loved it)
Also recommend, The Brother's Karamazov (long but excellent) The Power of One and The Seamstress
i'm with irene! "incendiary" is a magnificent story. chris cleave actually wrote it before "little bee". you won't be able to put it down!
I haven't come round to reading it yet, but I got Room by Emma Donaghue last week. It looks interesting.
I just finished a book called Daughters of shame by Jasvinder Sanghera. It's a book about forced marriages and honour murders in UK, even the subject is quite hard, it was one of the best books I have read.
-The Devil in White City, Erik Larson
-The Whole World Over, Julia Glass
-Time Traveller's Wife, Audrey Nifenegger
-19th Wife, David Ebershoff
-All of Anita Shreve's books
Shanghai Girls and all other books by the same author, last name of Lee
Shanghai Girls and all other books by the same author, last name of Lee
Have you read Suite Française by Irène Némirovsky? I'm reading it now.
if you are looking for a easy fun read: Last Night at Chateau Marmont. it was so good! i just started Decision Points by G.W. Bush. It starts off pretty good!
Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro
Just about anything by Ian McEwan (although I wasn't a huge fan of his latest, Solar)
One Day, by David Nicholls
Let the Great World Spin, by Colum McCann
Say You're One of Them, by Uwem Akpan (warning: excellent, but it'll break your heart)
Lacuna - Barbara Kingsolver (*Haven't read it yet - it's next on my nightstand)
Definitely post about the ones you read and loved. I read a lot too (and my husband takes months to finish one, similar to your dynamic sounds like) and am always looking for good recommendations.
Thanks soo much for all of the suggestions, I have LOTS of fantastic ideas now, headed for the library ASAP!
I think we have similar tastes based on your recent reads and likes - here are some additional ones I'd recommend:
Beach Music
Art of Racing in the Rain A Thousand Splendid Suns
A Year of Magical Thinking
Snowflower and the Secret Fan (really anything by Lisa See)
Middlesex
Kite Runner
Namesake
I know this much is true
Time Traveler’s Wife
Color of Water
Space between Us
Distant Land of My Father
Keep us posted on your good reads!
Charles Martin: The Mountain Between Us and When Crickets Cry!
James Patterson is my go to author when I have nothing to read too.
I just finished two books by Marisa de los Santos (which are a bit older, so you may have read them already): Love Walked In and Belong to Me. Very easy reads and uplifting--they made me feel lighter for reading them. Another older one I just finished is Life of Pi. American Wife is also a good quick read (by the author of Prep), and I am in the middle of The Given Day right now (by the author of Mystic River). Thanks for asking the question--the comment stream has given me a whole new reading list!
The Lost City of Z (nonfiction narrative about a lost exploration in the Amazon)
Stiff: The Secret Life of Cadavers (interesting and informative, with a wry twist to the slightly morbid)
Modern Fairies, Dwarves, Goblins, and Other Nasties: A Practical Guide by Miss Edythe McFate (cute and imaginative, a quick and fun read)
Sex at Dawn (very compelling historic and biological study on the development of sex and sexuality in modern civilization)
you've already listed some of my favorites! i doubly recommend goodreads : ) but if you're looking for your next book, you *must* read "let the great world spin." it is one of the best true stories i've read in the longest time.
HALF THE SKY (!!!), by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn; life changer.
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