Take a Recommendation, Leave a Recommendation!

Post by **themary** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 7:12 am

I never cross-post but I have for this thread because I'm serious about suggestions

.

So my new favorite thing to do is read book recommendations by anyone willing to share. I love reading and I love discussing books but there are so many out there that I find myself overwhelmed. So I tend to raid my friends bookcases in search of a good book.

I love books and am completely not picky when it comes to what sort of book I read. Biography, autobiography, fiction, non-fiction, sci-fi, fantasy, romance, horror, young adult, historical and so on an so forth. Now I've read mostly fiction in my life but I'm open to anything. I want to know what YOUR favorite book is and I want to read it.

Please share as many titles as you can and I shall do the same.

Happy sharing and happy reading!!!!

The Other Boleyn Girl, Philippa Gregory
Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, Gregory Maguire
Matilda, Roald Dahl
Jurassic Park, Michael Crichton
Confessions of a Shopaholic, Sophie Kinsella
Bridget Jones' Diary, Helen Fielding
The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien

There are many many more but I shall pace myself!

Post by **Primula Baggins** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 7:34 am

Great thread, T_M!

Needless to say I will be back, with quite a list, but realistically it's going to be Monday.

Except, of course, so say that everyone* will want to read THE COLD MINDS (coming from Ace Books in June 2008).

(If I get the damned thing turned in by Monday.)

*Everyone: anyone who thought HIDDEN WORLDS was, um, OK.

Post by **Crucifer** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 4:45 pm

*Everyone: anyone who thought HIDDEN WORLDS was, um, OK.

i.e. anyone with half a brain cell...

Post by **WampusCat** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 11:23 pm

I liked "Lord of the Rings" -- anyone heard of it? Written by some English gent.

Post by **Crucifer** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 11:58 pm

Actually, the chappie who wrote it was from Syria, but the government hushed it up...

I saw the films of this. Is the book any good? Worth reading at all?

Post by **themary** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 10:58 am

Loved The Hidden Worlds can't wait for The Cold Minds

ETA: Um, no pressure Prim

Post by **Primula Baggins** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 4:33 pm

No pressure? Why, I have all the way until Sunday to finish the revision.

<pours lemonade and settles back>

Post by **Pearly Di** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 4:37 pm

I loved The Hidden Worlds.

This is a great idea for a thread, TheMary.

Here are some wonderful books I've enjoyed over the past few years:

FICTION

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
- A gorgeous book with lots of very strong female characters set in South Carolina during the summer of 1964. Monk Kidd's prose is so lyrical, and it's a wonderful story.
The Shadow of the Wind by Carl Ruiz Zafon
- Just finished reading this. Part brilliant literary novel and part Gothic murder mystery: full of suspense and humour and amazing twists and turns, set in war-torn, Fascist-ruled Barcelona from the 1940s to the 1950s.
Shadows and Strongholds by Elizabeth Chadwick
- Excellent historical novel about England in the 12th century: unputdownable, and beautifully written. I'm a sucker for anything medieval, and Chadwick's evocation of the knight-and-squires culture, and the depiction of strong female characters in a very patriarchal setup, is simply wonderful.
Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow by Peter Hoeg
- It's been ten years since I read this but I couldn't put it down. I did find the final denouement something of a letdown, but the beauty of Hoeg's prose is worth reading alone.
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
- I love this. Love it. LOVE IT.
Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
- Riveting novel set in England during the Great Plague of the 1660s and set specifically in Eyam, the Derbyshire village which chose to die: the villagers sealed the village from any outsiders, in order not to spread the plague, and thus sealed their own death warrants. The novel puts quite a dark spin on their act of self-sacrifice, as if this true story were not dark enough already! Heh, I do love dark spins.
Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
- One of my favourite modern classics about love and loss. Gorgeously written, melancholy, profound.

NONFICTION
Gerard Manley Hopkins - A Very Private Life by Robert Bernard Martin
- Hopkins is one of my favourite poets, and this bio is utterly compelling, evoking the rarefied air of Victorian academic Oxford, an elitist world for privileged young men. Hopkins is a fascinating person: conflicted, passionate, spiritual, permanently haunted.

The Pianist by Wladyslaw Szpilman
- Szpilman's harrowing account of surviving the Holocaust in the Warsaw Ghetto. His entire family were wiped out. Polanski's movie was a very faithful rendition of this book, and both book and film are equally harrowing. Szpilman wrote this very soon after the events and seems to be in shock, his account is so dispassionately written. Not an easy read, but an important one.

Post by **Crucifer** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 9:46 pm

The Shadow of the Wind by Carl Ruiz Zafon
- Just finished reading this. Part brilliant literary novel and part Gothic murder mystery: full of suspense and humour and amazing twists and turns, set in war-torn, Fascist-ruled Barcelona from the 1940s to the 1950s.

Blah. Crap ending.

Post by **Lily Rose** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 10:51 pm

Anybody who has not read Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gamain should. Then while your at it, read everything else written by both authors.

I can't recommend The Walking Drum by Louis L'Amour highly enough. It is one of the best books that has ever come into existence. It is set in 11th century Brittany and is a beautiful piece of historical fiction.

I also highly recommend Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay.

Post by **Northerner** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 11:20 pm

Oh, I like.

My faves this year were:
Merle's Door: Lessons from a Freethinking Dog by Ted Kerasote, the best dog story since Lassie-just a delightful read. It made me smile-a lot. It made me think about my relationship with my own dogs. And in the end it made me howl in more than one way.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy, perhaps the best book I've ever read. Incredible suffering, the world dying, all hope gone, but a man struggles to save his son. Inexpressibly beautiful, sad and hopeful.

Post by **Pearly Di** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 11:51 pm

Crucifer wrote:
The Shadow of the Wind by Carl Ruiz Zafon
- Just finished reading this. Part brilliant literary novel and part Gothic murder mystery: full of suspense and humour and amazing twists and turns, set in war-torn, Fascist-ruled Barcelona from the 1940s to the 1950s.
Blah. Crap ending.

Don't agree. I thought the ending was emotionally satisfying and well done .

Post by **Crucifer** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 5:51 pm

I loved the rest of the book. Really I did. But the ending was both predictable and boring! And totally out of context with the rest of the style in the novel.

Post by **Pearly Di** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 10:15 pm

Slightly predictable, yes: and I worked out the twist before the twist was revealed. Go me.

Boring, no, I wouldn't say that.

Post by **Crucifer** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 10:57 pm

No accounting for taste I suppose...

Post by **Pearly Di** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 11:50 am

'Tact' is your middle name, isn't it, eh, Crucifer?

I'm sure many would question my taste in liking Tolkien.

Post by **Crucifer** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 12:12 am

Woops.. .Guess I sounded a little brusque.
I wasn't questioning your taste at all. I'm just saying that what is to your liking isn't for mine, and that it's difficult to know why people who like a lot of the same books (Secret Life of Bees, Cold Mountain, LOTR) might disagree over others (Shadow of the Wind).

Absolutely no offence intended.

Post by **kams** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 10:41 pm

For the past two Christmases, I asked for a book that the giver thought I would like. Could be on loan or purchased new.

2006 Beloved, by Toni Morrison
A book I knew I would eventually read but hadn't yet. Have not seen the movie.

Marvelous book. I loved her use of words and imagery. Frightened me out of my wits at times.

2007 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
Would not have ever picked this one up. An autisitc teenager sets out to solve a murder mystery. Told in first-person.

I am half-way through it now. Fascinating perspective. Chapters are in prime numbers instead of the normal 1,2,3.

Tue Jan 15, 2008 10:50 pm

I just saw this thread for the first time. What a great thread, tm!

I'll be back with some recommendations at some point.

Post by **narya** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 7:15 am

Pearly Di, Hoeg's book was called Smilla's Sense of Snow in America, and I, too, recommend it.

I just finished Bram Stoker's Dracula. Started off well, but dragged a bit at the end (reminded me of Harry Potter's endless camping trip).

Off the top of my head ... what else have I read in the past few years ... hmmmm.

Laura Escobal's Like Water for Chocolate. I love Latin American fantasy - it's very different than North American fantasy.

Ellen Kushner's The Priviledge of the Sword, and Thomas the Rhymer. OK, so I like North American fantasy, too, especially when set in sorta-England , and I met and swooned for this author and her partner - Dehlia Sherman - last year.

Sue Monk Kidd's The Mermaid's Chair. Her writing is so lyrical.

Michael Chabon's The Yiddish Policeman's Union. What would have happened if 3 million Jews had gone to Sitka, Alaska, in 1945, and now it's present day and they all speak Yiddish and live in a special enclave that is going to revert back to America soon? A very different murder mystery.

George RR Martin's Song of Fire and Ice series. More NA fantasy set in sorta-England. With dragons! I'm impatiently awaiting the final book.

The Dalia Lama's Compassion. Yes, I'm eclectic. I'm very drawn to His Eminence's writings.

Temple Grandin's Animals in Translation and Thinking in Pictures. Another look into the autistic mind, though harder to read than the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime.

Just finished a book my mom lent me - Jame's Patterson's Susan's Diary for Nicholas. A real tear jerker romance, with a good central message: The Lesson of the Five Balls. You have 5 balls to juggle during your lifetime, Work, Family, Friends, Health and Integrity. Work is a rubber ball. The others are glass. You do the math.

Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner, and A Thousand Splendid Suns. Gave me a much better appreciation of my Afghani co-worker. Life really is different, out there.

Dean Koontz's Velocity. Part of me was unable to put down the book, which is about someone who is slowly terrorizing the protagonist. The other part of me was saying "Why are you letting this author slowly terrorize you?"

There are lots more, but my mind's a blank right now.