Good Books--how do you find good books to read?

[Ottakee]

Are there any sites/blogs, etc. that review good books to read?

 

I am a conservative Christian and would like to avoid books with explicit adult scenes and a lot of language---as well as blood, gore, violence, etc.

 

I enjoy books that encourage me to think, along with light, fluffy "no-think" books. I enjoy stories of doctors, vets, rural life, the elderly, etc. I have read a lot of historical fiction romances and those 4 short romances in a book series but would like to expand my reading.

 

The books don't have to be Christian per say, but as I mentioned above, I want to avoid R rated material.

 

Help me figure out where to even hear of good books to request from the library.

[VA6336]

:bigear:

[Mothersweets]

I have a few book blogs that I follow that help me find clean books.

 

http://goodcleanreads.blogspot.com/ I really like this blog as she rates her books using a number system according to sax, profanity, and violence.

 

http://libraryofcleanreads.blogspot.com/

 

http://blog.mawbooks.com/ This last one also reviews quite a few picture books, too.

 

Hope this helps!

[Heather in WI]

I have enjoyed many of the books recommended on Mental Multivitamin.

 

http://mentalmultivitamin.blogspot.com/search/label/On%20the%20nightstand

[lllll]

Sometimes I just wander through the library in the section of whatever type book I feel like reading, and look for books with those old, old covers. And the more ragged, the better. I flip through them to see if I want to read them, before checking them out, however.

 

And if your library system has many branches like ours does, it pays to visit all of them at one time or another. They can carry quite different selections.

 

Kathy

[Hedgehogs4]

you could always ask here...i'm thinkin' there are a few readers lurking around who would love to share their best finds with you...for instance my top two at the moment (and i have the same criteria as you) are

 

Same Kind of Different as Me (keep a box of tissues handy)

Elegance of the Hedgehog (keep a dictionary handy)

 

nothing similar about these books. they are just awesome.

[KidsHappen]

I have enjoyed many of the books recommended on Mental Multivitamin.

 

http://mentalmultivitamin.blogspot.com/search/label/On%20the%20nightstand

 

Wow, I haven't been to her site in forever. I always remember her as the one with the color coded M&Ms. :tongue_smilie:

[KidsHappen]

I read almost entirely non-fiction. I rarely have problems with language or content and I learns ton of miscellaneous trivia which, who knows, I just might use on a game show someday.

[Vida Winter]

Start by thinking of a book you loved reading. Look it up on Amazon. Scroll down and click on some of the links to lists that people created (that included that particular book). There are also Amazon "communities" that you can peruse; I was over there earlier looking through their Catholic community. Scan the reviews for certain books. I like to look at both very positive and very negative reviews; sometimes the negatives are given because a bookseller did not deliver the book to the buyer, and can skew the whole rating.

 

Start a wish list on Amazon (or 5 or 7) and save books that look interesting and are highly rated. Browse your wish lists once in a while to refresh your memory of what you have added, or print it out (check "compact form" to make it small and all text). Keep that list in your purse - next time you are in the library, see if some of your choices are there, or if the librarian can get a book for you from another library.

 

Anyhow, that's how I keep track of my lists. A side benefit is that eventually you will memorize many items on your list and when you are poking around looking at books at a garage sale or thrift store, the title will literally jump out at you.

[Hikin' Mama]

Mental multivitamin, as has already been suggested. I also like Semicolon, www.semicolonblog.com.

 

I also scan the reading posts here occassionally.

 

Happy reading!

[KidsHappen]

Start by thinking of a book you loved reading. Look it up on Amazon. Scroll down and click on some of the links to lists that people created (that included that particular book). There are also Amazon "communities" that you can peruse; I was over there earlier looking through their Catholic community. Scan the reviews for certain books. I like to look at both very positive and very negative reviews; sometimes the negatives are given because a bookseller did not deliver the book to the buyer, and can skew the whole rating.

 

Start a wish list on Amazon (or 5 or 7) and save books that look interesting and are highly rated. Browse your wish lists once in a while to refresh your memory of what you have added, or print it out (check "compact form" to make it small and all text). Keep that list in your purse - next time you are in the library, see if some of your choices are there, or if the librarian can get a book for you from another library.

 

Anyhow, that's how I keep track of my lists. A side benefit is that eventually you will memorize many items on your list and when you are poking around looking at books at a garage sale or thrift store, the title will literally jump out at you.

 

I do this as well. Something else along these lines is I belong to a few different book clubs. I rarely order from them but I do get a monthly catalog that list all the new books that have come out recently or will be coming out soon. I take this to the library and have a ready made list. Susan medieval history book is a selection in BOMC next month. I have already ordered it.

[Guest mrs. logic]

Are there any sites/blogs, etc. that review good books to read?

 

I am a conservative Christian and would like to avoid books with explicit adult scenes and a lot of language---as well as blood, gore, violence, etc.

 

I enjoy books that encourage me to think, along with light, fluffy "no-think" books. I enjoy stories of doctors, vets, rural life, the elderly, etc. I have read a lot of historical fiction romances and those 4 short romances in a book series but would like to expand my reading.

 

The books don't have to be Christian per say, but as I mentioned above, I want to avoid R rated material.

 

Help me figure out where to even hear of good books to request from the library.

 

Here are the resources I have used over the past 10 years...

Reviews:

www.amazon.com

www.rainbowresource.com

www.christianbook.com

Resources for selecting good books:

"Honey for a Child's Heart" by Gladys Hunt

"Books Children Love" by Elizabeth Laraway Wilson

"Books That Build Character" by Gregory Wolfe

"1000 Good Book List" on the Classical Christian Education Support Loop

www.classical-homeschooling.org

"The Hand That Rocks The Cradle" by Nathaniel Bluedorn

"All Through the Ages" by Christine Miller

The Veritas Press catalog www.veritaspress.com

The Emmanuel Books catalog www.emmanuelbooks.com

Have fun selecting your books!

Edited January 21, 2010 by mrs. logic

[Mothersweets]

Start by thinking of a book you loved reading. Look it up on Amazon. Scroll down and click on some of the links to lists that people created (that included that particular book). There are also Amazon "communities" that you can peruse; I was over there earlier looking through their Catholic community. Scan the reviews for certain books. I like to look at both very positive and very negative reviews; sometimes the negatives are given because a bookseller did not deliver the book to the buyer, and can skew the whole rating.

 

Start a wish list on Amazon (or 5 or 7) and save books that look interesting and are highly rated. Browse your wish lists once in a while to refresh your memory of what you have added, or print it out (check "compact form" to make it small and all text). Keep that list in your purse - next time you are in the library, see if some of your choices are there, or if the librarian can get a book for you from another library.

 

Anyhow, that's how I keep track of my lists. A side benefit is that eventually you will memorize many items on your list and when you are poking around looking at books at a garage sale or thrift store, the title will literally jump out at you.

 

I do this, too! I have found many a good book this way.

[LibraryLover]

You might enjoy The Harmony Town books. They are witty and funny-- I laugh out loud --and clever. They are written by a Quaker preacher. I love them. :) They are about love, family, marraige, kids, nutty neighbors etc.

 

www.harmonyseries.com

Edited January 21, 2010 by LibraryLover

[Trixie]

I can't guarantee that you'll find the content of all of the books reviewed appropriate for you, but you might enjoy the "Review-a-Day" and/or "Daily Dose" from Powell's Books.

[Ottakee]

Thanks for all of the ideas. Hopefully in the next few days I can start looking around for good books to read. Right now I am reading a book on horse training and one written by the daughter of a Norwegian pastor in the early 1900s telling of her early life.

[Heidi @ Mt Hope]

I very much enjoyed Honey For a Woman's Heart, which is in a different format than Honey For a Child's Heart.

 

Here is an editorial review:

 

"The author of the parenting staple Honey for a Child's Heart expands her role to become a chatty adviser for Christian women interested in exploring the literary world. Hunt's passion for books is infectious as she discourses on a broad range of issues from "Why Read?" to the classics, genre fiction, nonfiction, book groups, poetry, the Bible, making time to read and a host of related topics. As well as listing her choices for best books in each of the categories she discusses, Hunt adds recommendations from outside sources (including editors, housewives, librarians and Mitford maven Jan Karon), which are boxed on the pages. The resulting compilation of titles resembles a list one might obtain from a well-read book group. Hunt also tackles some of the touchier issues for conservative Christian readers, such as the value of reading selected books that contain profanity and sexual situations. There's homespun wisdom ("It's a good rule to never pronounce judgments on books you haven't read"), as well as moral commentary (Hunt calls Snow Falling on Cedars "beautifully written, but with some unnecessary sexual scenes"). Interspersed throughout the text are her effusive accolades such as "My all-time favorite" or "that title is the best!" Hunt's gushy asides are easily pardoned because they're just one part of her unbridled enthusiasm. It's a satisfyingly eclectic mix for book junkies, which doubles as an introduction to reading for the reluctant reader. "The right thing said in the right way, ah, that's the delight of good books," writes Hunt. There's much to delight in here." ~ Publisher's Weekly

[jujsky]

I'm on Shelfari and I often get recommendations there.

[kokotg]

NPR.org has a new feature where they list several books that have been talked about on the radio during the week. I found it last night, and my Amazon wish list has grown exponentionally:

 

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120012205

[BikeBookBread]

Here!!!!

 

Use the search criteria "book suggestion" and there are some really really really good and LOOONG threads.

[kalanamak]

 

You have read Gerald Durrell, haven't you?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Durrell

 

I read his Corfu books (Birds Beasts and Relatives and My Family and Other Animals) and there was a reference to his dingy mother mistaking a reference to erysipelas for an STD, but that is about as racy as it got. My mother and my sister and I all screamed over these funny childhood memoirs.

 

His later books are more adventures: A Zoo in My Suitcase, etc. A woman I went to college with did a summer at the zoo, and everyone loved him and his first wife.

[OnTheBrink]

I really like this blog as she rates her books using a number system according to sax, profanity, and violence.

 

 

 

Man, I HATE those books about foul-mouthed, violent jazz musicians! They cuss and throw chairs at people in between sets. It's just horrid. :lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

 

Ahem. Anyway. To answer the OP, I usually start a "What are you reading?" thread and look at the suggestions that interest me.

[*Inna*]

You have read Gerald Durrell, haven't you?

LOVE his books! Esp. My Family and Other Animals.

[Crissy]

Man, I HATE those books about foul-mouthed, violent jazz musicians!

 

 

 

:smilielol5:

[Liz CA]

Some quick suggestions:

 

Christian Content:

 

Just about any book by Karen Kingsbury (http://www.karenkingsbury.com), Lori Wick (some of hers are a bit cheesy) and Jan Karon.

 

Non-Christian but clean:

 

The Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters - Funny, no explicit s** scenes.

The William Monk series or the Thomas Pitt series by Anne Perry

The Word War I series by Anne Perry (These have Christian undertones or at least very moral ones if I remember correctly)

 

Tales from Avonlea by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Written in late 1800's and early 1900's by the same author of the famous "Anne of Green Gables" stories.

[gandpsmommy]

I have enjoyed many of the books recommended on Mental Multivitamin.

 

http://mentalmultivitamin.blogspot.com/search/label/On%20the%20nightstand

 

I have as well. But not all of them are free of sexual references or swearing. I just read Olive Kitteridge because it was in her Amazon store. I loved it, but if the original poster is looking for squeaky clean reading, it doesn't qualify.

 

You will probably have good luck if you stick with the classics. Have you read The Well-Educated Mind by Susan Wise Bauer? It has a great list of both novels and autobiographies.

 

I find that reading books about reading and writing often point me in the direction of new authors and works. I would recommend How To Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster and Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose.

[pageta]

I've found some good books on recommendation of Heidi over at Mt. Hope Chronicles (I see she's posted to this thread).

 

I've also found some great selections over at Ambleside. I am currently going through Year 11 for myself and have found some real jewels in their recommendations. It's a fairly conservative crowd over there and the selections are for teenagers to read - they let you know if there is anything you might want to think twice about having your child read.

[Paisley Hedgehog]

..

[ElizabethB]

There are a lot of good links here, I've been running out of ideas myself, lately, thanks everyone!

 

My favorites are George MacDonald, Lawana Blackwell, and Davis Bunn.

[Guest momof3kids]

Here is the link to a book blog by a homeschool senior. She has some great reviews.

 

The Book Blog

http://bookreviewsbymyself.blogspot.com