I'm always on the lookout for a good book. I generally lean towards fiction but am pretty open minded.

I read a ton, so any and all favorites are welcome.

For anyone else looking for a good book, I've recently read and would recommend:

Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith, a thriller/murder mystery set in Stalinist Russia; and

America, America by Ethan Canin: a fictional account of a teenager's tangential association (he worked for the family backing the candidate) with the campaign of a democratic hopeful in the 1972 primary presidential election complete with Chappaquiddick type scandal.

Fish, what can you tell us about The Secret?

The Last Lecture is an inspiring book, Mama.

Thanks -

I'm in a book club and Last Lecture is one of our books this fall. I'm looking forward to it.

Right now I'm reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I don't know how I have managed to get this far in life without reading it. So far, it is a wonderful read.

I'm just starting this one. Sounds delicious.

Vive de Taco Titan.

Believe it or not, I've read it.

Did I mention that I read quite a bit?

Thanks for the Ethan Canin rec...I've read a couple of his earlier books and LOVED them, but somehow this new one slipped by me.

I hope you enjoy A Tree Grows in Brooklyn! I first read it when I was 12 and have re-read it probably 8 times since.

2 Books that I've read and enjoyed this summer were The Sister by Poppy Adams and The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry. I'm also in the process of methodically rereading all of Anne Tyler's books.

Born Standing Up, by Steve Martin was a good read about his life.

Marley and Me was so much better than I expected and I highly recommend it to all the dog lovers out there.

Also I need an intervention. I am totally addicted to the Twilight series. Done with book 2 and I am trying to make it through the day without running to the book store for the 3rd.

Thanks everyone!

I've been tempted by the Twilight series. I've heard they are excellent; I'll have to indulge myself.

And Agnes, you're welcome on Canin; I think America, America was highlighted in a Barnes and Noble e-newsletter I received. With this being an election year, I thought the topic was pretty timely. His writing style is mesmerizing; I really enjoy it.

I have read the previous 2 Twilight books. They are good! My sister purchased the latest and left it for me to read when she went out of town a week ago. I have been controling myself because I know once I start, I won't be able to stop.

Have any of you ever read anything written by Paulo Coelho? I find his writings to be inspirational, enlightening, etc...

I am so relieved that I am not the only non-teen reading the Twilight series.

oh, i hope you enjoy Tree G. In Brooklyn! i read it in 9th grade and repeatedly since...i really think it is a great American novel, with such a wonderful portrayal of characters and an era.
did you read "March" by G. Brooks (i think it won the pulitzer a few years ago?)it's the story of the father during the civil war from "little women." (don't worry, it's an adult novel)
i need to read more books and less online....

I have three parallel reading themes going now. I guess I am trying to make up for two decades of non-recreational reading. Theme one: read every Hugo award winner. Sure, Sci-fi may not be for everyone, but just finding some of the older ones is a challenge. Theme two: historical fiction. I just need my history made palatable by mixing in some readable fictional material. Three: the classics. You know those books you have seen and heard referenced ever since high school? The ones you never read? I pick them up and mix them in with the other themes for variety.

On the classics, Hemmingway appeals to me more than Salinger. Historical fiction, the Napoleonic war naval and infantry sagas by Cornwell, Forester, and O'brien. Pressfield does some good ancient Greek work, and Tom Holland's "Rubicon" eerily mirrored modern politics, perhaps intentionally so. If not for seeing the politics of today in the historical fiction of the past. Rubicon would have been too boring to read, more history than fiction.

As for Sci-fi, well, I prefer the hard sci-fi over the fantasy stuff. Even so, a well done time travel story can still be entertaining.

My favorite author to read-especially summer-is Tom Robbins.
The stories are VERY unique and touching. I don't know how he comes up with these plots.
"Jitterbug Perfume", "Still Life With Woodpecker", "Another Roadside Attraction"- and many more!

quote:

Originally posted by Shaker:
As for Sci-fi, well, I prefer the hard sci-fi over the fantasy stuff. Even so, a well done time travel story can still be entertaining.

Heinlein's - The Door into Summer, is one of my all time favorites sci-fi/time travel. (of course it doesn't hurt the main character's name is Dan and he is an engineer )

quote:

Originally posted by Dan the Man:
Heinlein's - The Door into Summer, is one of my all time favorites sci-fi/time travel. (of course it doesn't hurt the main character's name is Dan and he is an engineer )

Heinlein hooked me with his juvenile novels way back when, well, when I was a juvenile. Some dismiss those novels, but you can not argue that they hit the target audience with deadly accuracy. Now, many years later, I have acquired a shelf full of Heinlein that I never read. I can still enjoy a sci-fi novel that was targeted at a teenage boy, because I can still remember what it was like to be a teenage boy. Now, as an adult, I am surprised by the liberal politics Heinlein tends to inject into the stories. I guess I wasn’t politically aware enough back then to pick up on it.

From my more recently read, non-hugo winning sci-fi, I liked "Starfish" by Peter Watts. It has sequels, but the first book stands on its own as a complete story.

A Nation Of Victims by Charles Sykes.

Shaker, A Break with Charity, by Ann Rinaldi, is an excellent historical fiction book. It is centered around the Salem Witch Trials.

quote:

Originally posted by 50 Pound Backpack:
Shaker, A Break with Charity, by Ann Rinaldi, is an excellent historical fiction book. It is centered around the Salem Witch Trials.

Thanks. That's a subject I only know by pop culture and the history channel.

Oh- I just remembered three historical books that didn't require fiction to make them interesting.

Close to shore - Michael Capuzzo. A description of the east coast and american culture at the turn of the 20th century, when a great white shark swam up a NJ river and ate people. Learn about that peiod in history and about sharks.

Isaac's Storm - Erik Larson. The story of how Galveston Tx was destroyed by a hurricane a hundred years ago.

In the Heart of the Sea - Nathanial Philbrick. The story of the whaleship Essex's destruction by an enraged sperm whale, and the survival at sea of some of the crew. Story line sound familiar? Herman Mellville based Moby Dick upon this true event. Trust me, this novel is much easier reading than Moby Dick. Why, you can even find out what "he's a home" meant to a 19th century Quaker woman.

What a bunch of snobs. :-)

For my money, I head to the humor section. There's a rennaisance going on of comic strip reprints.

Popeye
Dick Tracy
Peanuts
Little Orphan Annie
Terry and the Pirates
Dennis the Menace

All published in hardcover editions that go back to the first strips and print them complete in chronological order. I'll take Chester Gould over Ernest Hemingway any day.

I agree that Hemingway was to writing as Tom Cruise is to movies, but Popeye, Annie and Dennis can kiss my fat white ***. No way in the world anyone finds that stuff interesting or entertaining...do they?