What are you reading now?

[zoebartlett]

I recently finished The Help by Kathryn Stockett and I began Beachcombers by Nancy Thayer not too long ago. The Help was fantastic and Beachcombers is pretty good so far. I tend to stick to realistic fiction (books about families or couples) and a lot of what I read is probably classified as chick lit. I need to branch out but I can't get into other genres.

We are reading The Help in February and I'm really looking forward to it, but boy I am not a fan of this genre in general. I guess I find it boring to read about other people's lives. I need elves or walking trees or a mystery to solve! I'm hoping what is touted as a mysterious vein in The Help keeps me intrigued!

It's such a good book! I do like mysteries too. I've read books by Lisa Scottoline and Sue Grafton, and many others by them are on my list. What mysteries do you like, Sara?

 

[zoebartlett]

I just finished "Heart of the Matter" last night. It's by Emily Giffin. I quite liked it. I like all her books.

Oh good, I want to read that one, so I'm glad to hear that you liked it. I really like her books too.

 

[zoebartlett]

I am reading the last book in th Steig Larsson trilogy.

Next up in the Hunger Games Trilogy, need to reads books 2 and 3.

I like series, can you tell?

How are the Larsson books? I don't know a thing about them, other than that they've gotten rave reviews. I've purposely stayed away from reading reviews because they often give too many details away and I hate that. I have The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo on my shelf, and I can't wait to read it.

 

[emilyalyse]

I'm currently reading "The Price of Admission: How America's Ruling Class Buys Its Way into Elite Colleges - and Who Gets Left Outside the Gates" by Daniel Golden.

While I and everyone else is acutely aware of many of the "issues" surrounding college admissions, it's quite interesting to have the actual numbers laid out in front of you... for example, Notre Dame having a 40% legacy admissions student body. I must admit, I benefitted from Title 9 and the related equestrian team priority entry (though I was also a 4.0 GPA student in HS, with a near perfect score on both the ACT and SAT tests and would have been a highly useful admit already)... it's been interesting to see just how much these different types of Affirmative Action benefit the "upper class white" group as well as, and even moreso than, lower class and minority groups. Also, the legacy issue is pretty interesting in and of itself.

 

[Arkteia]

Re-reading "The accursed Kings" by Maurice Druon. Unfortunately, the book was published many years ago and has become a rarity. It has been re-printed in Spanish last year but I do not know Spanish. My French may be not enough to track all details, because he makes very interesting, philosophic observations. I have not doubt that the ones of you who read his books enjoyed them. He died recently.

 

[AGBF]

A few days ago I finished The Moonstone for our Pricescope book club. Since then I have been reading a book by James Lee Burke, a writer (recently deceased) from Louisiana, who wrote a series of novels about a New Orleans police detective, Dave Robicheaux. This is my first book of the series, but I am really enjoying it. Burke has won two Edgar awards and truly captures the Louisiana atmosphere authentically, and not just the New Orleans atmosphere, either. He knows all of Louisiana.

Deb/AGBF

 

[wannaBMrsH]

I just finished Bringing Home the Birkin and I am about to start the last of the Stieg Larsson Millenium Trilogy (The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest). I loved the first two books and I tried to hold out until the last one was published in softcover, but I couldn't.

I really like the Sookie Stackhouse books, but I admit that it makes me crazy that the TV show has diverged so far away from the books. I love some of the characters in the book and I don't see the qualities I love about them in the TV show.

 

[Smo]

I am reading the last book in th Steig Larsson trilogy.

Next up in the Hunger Games Trilogy, need to reads books 2 and 3.

I like series, can you tell?

I absolutely loved the Hunger Games trilogy, I just finished re-reading it as I couldn't bring myself to start another book. I love reading series as well and ths one was really great.

I am a huge reader and now I don't know what to pick up next, hopefully this thread will give me some ideas.

For those of you who haven't read the Hunger Games, go and get it now. You will not regret it!

The book that I read before the Hunger Games, was The Passage which I also really liked. It is a series as well but the second book isn't out until next year.

I sometimes wish that I didn't enjoy reading so much because I always feel so sad after I finish a good book because it is finished and I have nothing left.

 

[AGBF]

I am towards the end of a great detective story by James Lee Burke, whom I just discovered, Neon Rain. Last night when I climbed in bed with Neon Rain, I looked over at the bedside table where I sleep when I am in Connecticut. It is my late mother's bedside table. She was the greatest reader of all time. Somehow I had never noticed the book in a basket there. It was entitled Desire of the Everlasting Hills by Thomas Cahill. I read about it on the covers and read what the newspaper clippings had to say about it, then I started to read it. Before I knew it, I was fascinated. I am now reading both that and Neon Rain. Some reviewer claims that reading Cahill's book will make one want to read the New Testament since most of its material is, supposedly, derived form it. I cannot tell you if that is true. I can tell you that the book is not meant only for theists, however!

Deb/AGBF

 

[Strawdermangrl]

Tonight a friend and I are starting to read 'The Fountainhead', we are going to do a little book club about it. I have really gotten into Ayn Rand as of late.

 

[Tuckins1]

I am reading Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History by S.C. Gwynne. It's really interesting so far... It's a true story, and really illustrates what life was like back then, both for the Native Americans, Pioneers, and the US Government.

 

[dragonfly411]

Tuckins - keep sharing on that one pls? I am interested in reading it.

 

[princesss]

I'm still working on Atonement. I have a feeling the problem is that I only ready about 2 pages before bed... Luckily that will change soon, as I'm going to find my own apartment this fall and since I don't have a TV, I will have far fewer things keeping me from reading.

 

[Strawdermangrl]

I'm still working on Atonement. I have a feeling the problem is that I only ready about 2 pages before bed... Luckily that will change soon, as I'm going to find my own apartment this fall and since I don't have a TV, I will have far fewer things keeping me from reading.

Love this book, although it was a very sad one, it was beautifully written.

 

[Tuckins1]

Tuckins - keep sharing on that one pls? I am interested in reading it.

No problem! I have only read the first few chapters so far... My mom read it and said it was fantastic!!! If you like these kinds of books, I would also recommend James Alexander Thom. He wrote The Red Heart (A true story of a young Quaker girl who was abducted from her home and raised as a Lenapeh Indian) and Follow the River (the true story of Mary Ingalls) Both are true stories and are fantastic!

 

[princesss]

I also just bought Water For Elephants and started it. So far I'm enjoying it.

 

[STEPHANSON]

i love philippa gregory. her 16th century, tudor series is my favorite
i can't wait to read her new series 15th century plantagenet

 

[Amber St. Clare]

i love philippa gregory. her 16th century, tudor series is my favorite
i can't wait to read her new series 15th century plantagenet

May I suggest rather than Ms. Gregory, you try Jean Plaidy? I find Philippa Gegory to go off on so many tangents and take so many liberties with the truth I have stopped reading her writings. {I was an English History major and get very frustrated with the way actual events are glossed over and/or misrepresented.}

 

[doodle]

Tonight a friend and I are starting to read 'The Fountainhead', we are going to do a little book club about it. I have really gotten into Ayn Rand as of late.

LOVE The Fountainhead. The only thing stopping me from reading Atlas Shrugged next is the mountain of library books I currently have overdue!

 

[risingsun]

I recommend the Larsson trilogy. We've already seen the Swedish version of the film of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. It was excellent. Also for a good read: The Passage, Little Bee, Await Your Reply, The Likeness, The Help, and Sarah's Key. I just started reading Room by Emma Donoghue, which promises to be interesting and unusual.

 

[monarch64]

I also just bought Water For Elephants and started it. So far I'm enjoying it.

Oh...I hope you love it.

 

[monarch64]

I really need recommendations.

I was such an avid reader all through elementary and high school...even winning contests for most pages read...and I like conventional books as well as non-conventional plus fiction and non-fiction...I always tell my mother "I'll read ANYTHING."

I have a confession: I haven't read anything (aside from 3/4 of a Stephanie Plum novel--what's it called?, seriously?) for a year.

I have been far too caught up in falling in love and making a life with my SO and reading has just...*sniffs*...gone away.

Help!!! Surely someone out there can know what it's like! Surely someone out there has a suggestion or two that could bring me backfrom this darkness, back from this cold, cruel, wordless world...please--can't someone help me???

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

I really need recommendations.

I was such an avid reader all through elementary and high school...even winning contests for most pages read...and I like conventional books as well as non-conventional plus fiction and non-fiction...I always tell my mother "I'll read ANYTHING."

I have a confession: I haven't read anything (aside from 3/4 of a Stephanie Plum novel--what's it called?, seriously?) for a year.

I have been far too caught up in falling in love and making a life with my SO and reading has just...*sniffs*...gone away.

Help!!! Surely someone out there can know what it's like! Surely someone out there has a suggestion or two that could bring me backfrom this darkness, back from this cold, cruel, wordless world...please--can't someone help me???

Monnie, what genres do you like the most? Fantasy? Historical fiction? Non-fiction? Thrillers/spy novels?

I have tons of recommendations, BUT a lot of it is skewed towards sci-fi/fantasy or historical fiction.

Historical fiction
Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett.
Brother Cadfael series - Ellis Peters - Murder mysteries set in the 11th century solved by a Benedictine monk - set in the same time period as Pillars of the Earth - begin with A Morbid Taste for Bones.
The Other Boleyn Girl - Philippa Gregory.
The Borgia Bride - Jeanne Kalogridis.

Thrillers (i.e. Dan Brown-ish)
I like James Rollins' books, especially his Sigma series - begins with Map of Bones. It's like Dan Brown's books - very fun and a bit out there, but well-written I think.
Steve Berry's books - his Cotton Malone books are pretty good.
Also Michael Crichton - Jurassic Park and The Lost World are classics.

Chick lit
I've only really read the Shopaholic books but I like them. Since you're engaged you could pick up Shopaholic Gets Married Or you can start from the beginning with Confessions of a Shopaholic.

Fantasy
Song of Ice and Fire - George R.R. Martin - begins with Game of Thrones, and there's going to be an HBO series based on the first book coming out next year - it's very complex and it's huge, and the series is still unfinished, but so good
The Belgariad (beginning with Pawn of Prophecy) - David Eddings - classic fantasy tale but much more light-hearted than much of what you see in the genre. Some great dialogue.
The Curse of Chalion - Lois McMaster Bujold - Bujold's strength, without a doubt, is how well she draws her world and her characters. It's really apparent in the Vorkosigan series, but her characters just seem so real and alive and you get pulled into the world. The plot is pretty good too.
The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss - unfortunately this is book 1 of a trilogy and the other two aren't out yet - but this is definitely one of the best fantasy books I've read in a long time.
Sookie Stackhouse books - begins with Dead Until Dark - if you like True Blood...
Dies the Fire, by S.M. Stirling - imagine if all modern devices go kaput. The book is about survival post-Change and how people need to adapt to a whole new (old) world, including banding together and learning survival and old fighting skills just to survive and defend themselves...a parallel series, The Nantucket series beginning with Island in the Sea of Time, explores what happens if a modern island (Nantucket, natch) is transported 3000 years into the past into the Bronze Age. I highly recommend Stirling's work.
Ilium - Dan Simmons - I feel like your guy might like Simmons' stuff since I know he's into philosophy and such, right? Simmons does an amazing job writing a sci-fi book that incorporates classic literature (Proust, Shakespeare, The Iliad/Odyssey) and is just so complex and well done. His Hyperion books are good too but I just love Ilium.

Sci-fi
Discworld - Terry Pratchett - best books ever. The first book is The Color of Magic, but there are sub-series within the series. I highly recommend the witches storyline (beginning with Wyrd Sisters) or the NIght Watch storyline (beginning with Guards! Guards!).
Vorkosigan series - Lois McMaster Bujold - you can start with Shards of Honor, which is technically a prequel, or more traditionally, with Warrior's Apprentice - I recommend beginning with WA. One of my favorite series ever. I think I've reread all the books (10+) at least 3 times over the last few months.

Young adult I've really liked the Percy Jackson series, of course Harry Potter, and the Alchemyst series by Michael Scott. Very fun and entertaining, and great when you just don't want to focus too heavily on a deep, deep book. Along these lines, Anne of Green Gables series, The Wizard of Oz series, and Little House on the Prairie for classics.

Non-fiction
I don't read that much non-fiction but the ones I do, I tend to gravitate towards women's stories (especially in the Middle East). I've really liked Jean Sasson's Princess Trilogy, beginning with Princess (story of an anonymous Saudi Arabian princess who has decided to tell the story of her life - fascinating reading).
Along those lines, I've also liked Infidel, by Hirsi Ayaan Ali, Desert Flower by Waris Dirie, Honeymoon in Tehran by Azadeh Moaveni, and Not Without My Daughter by Betty Mahmoody.
Also, this is not a woman's story, but Skeletons on the Zahara by Dean King was amazing - story of an English shipwrecked crew who are marooned off the coast of North Africa and are subsequently taken for slaves and forced to march across the desert. Really really compelling.
And I've also really liked Greg Mortenson's Three Cups of Tea.

And for some excellent scary/zombie/vampire standalones, The Passage by Justin Cronin was really good, The Strain by Guillermo del Toro was just creepy and awesome, Max Brooks' World War Z was awesome if you like zombies, or reading about how countries may react in the face of a major biological hazard, or both, and Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian was pretty incredible - the creepy atmosphere and the story was just so well written and done.

ETA: Monnie, for some of these books I have reviews posted on my blog - if you want to take a look and you need the address, you know where to find me

 

[monarch64]

Holy cannoli, B.E.G....that should keep me busy for a few weeks!

You sh*t!!!!!

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Holy cannoli, B.E.G....that should keep me busy for a few weeks!

You sh*t!!!!!

I really need a career where all I do is read for fun. I'm actually at a loss for what to read myself right now - gah. Especially with my LONG day of flying/layovers coming up. Hope it helped!

 

[monarch64]

Hahahaha!

I die. Thank you!!!

 

[zoebartlett]

I recommend the Larsson trilogy. We've already seen the Swedish version of the film of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. It was excellent. Also for a good read: The Passage, Little Bee, Await Your Reply, The Likeness, The Help, and Sarah's Key. I just started reading Room by Emma Donoghue, which promises to be interesting and unusual.

Thanks RS! I'll definitely begin the first one in the series after I finish The Beachcombers (which may take a while because I always find other things to do). Sarah's Key is also on my list of books to read.

My husband is now officially a reader (he hated to read until about a year ago)! He has gotten into reading books abotu different science topics. He's reading Freud now, as well as George Carlin's "Last Word." How's that for a combination? Nerd -- I love it.

 

[marcy]

I just started the third book in a trilogy I bought by Michael Connelly. This one is called "Concrete Blonde". Next I am reading "One for the Money" by Janet Evanovich.

 

[dragonfly411]

Monarch

Here are some that I would recommend as great reads

Watership Down
Sword of Truth Series (even for those that don't like fantasy these are just good) - Terry Goodkind
Memoirs of a Geisha
White Oleander
Love in the Time of Cholera
Living to tell the Tale - the Autobiography of Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Secret Life of Bees
Dance of the Dissident Daughter
I have recently fallen in love with Philippa Gregory
Cross Creek
Jurassic Park
Under the Tuscan Sun
Bella Tuscany
The Once and Future King
Lord of the Rings
The Quantum Mind - quantum physics applied to psychology
A Pirate of Exquisite Mind - the journals of a naturalist turned something of a pirate, fantastic!!!!
Diary of a Slave Girl
Geisha - the biography of a real Japanese Geisha
The World According to Garp
Little Women
Crime and Punishment
Jane Eyre
100 Years of Solitude
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
Harry Potter - of course
The Last Unicorn
The Firebringer Trilogy - a really neat fantasy trilogy by a Florida author about Unicorns
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
Tom Sawyer
Reading Lolita in Tehran
The Kite Runner
Tuesdays with Morrie
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
The Secret Life of Lobsters
The Tao of Equus
Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Siddhartha
The Poisonwood Bible
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
Roots

 

[wannaBMrsH]

Monarch

Here are some that I would recommend as great reads

Memoirs of a Geisha
Love in the Time of Cholera
The Kite Runner

I second these! Also to add to BEGs Chick Lit list (because I LUURVE Chick Lit):

Any Jane Green Books, but especially:
Mr. Right
Jemima J

Also by Sophie Kinsella (of Shopaholic fame):
Can You Keep a Secret
Twenties Girl

And finally books which already have movies made, but are still fantastic reads:

The Painted Veil - W. Somerset Maugham
Snow Falling on Cedars - David Guterson
The Cider House Rules - John Irving
In The Time of the Butterflies - Julia Alvarez