Jenny in GA Posted May 15, 2010 Share Posted May 15, 2010 After almost five months of on-again, off-again, I finally finished A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and am ready to plunge right into something new, but I don't know what. Any suggestions? Broad question, I know. Here's some things I've liked before: Maeve Binchy is probably my favorite author (I particularly loved Circle of Friends and The Glass Lake, each of which I read twice.) I like Anne Tyler, although I sometimes find her too depressing. (My favorite was A Patchwork Planet.) I liked The Help a lot. I also enjoyed a quick read a few years ago called The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. My all-time favorite read in high school (and what I wrote my senior paper on) was Catcher in the Rye. Anyway, what have you liked? Any suggestions? And/or is there already a thread which discusses this? Jenny http://beanmommyandthethreebeans.blogspot.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenL Posted May 15, 2010 Share Posted May 15, 2010 Have you read The Kite Runner or A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini? Both are fabulous! I also recently enjoyed Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristusG Posted May 15, 2010 Share Posted May 15, 2010 I'm currently reading The Hunger Games. It's really good so far! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted May 15, 2010 Share Posted May 15, 2010 I just discovered and am enjoying the Mrs. Pollifax books, thanks to a recommendation from this board. Recently re-read The Winds of War by Herman Wouk and To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted May 15, 2010 Share Posted May 15, 2010 Some I've enjoyed: Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford Bel Canto by ann Patchett Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie I, Claudius by Robert Graves The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear by Walter Moers The Book Thief by Markus Zusak Dancer by Colum McCann Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktog29 Posted May 15, 2010 Share Posted May 15, 2010 How about Alexander McCall Smith? He wrote the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. He also has two more series set in Scotland. Sometimes their hard to find in an IRL bookstore...some of them are shelved in mysteries. Hope you find something great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heidi @ Mt Hope Posted May 15, 2010 Share Posted May 15, 2010 I, too, enjoyed Hunger Games and the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. Right now I'm really enjoying The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted May 15, 2010 Share Posted May 15, 2010 I, too, enjoyed Hunger Games and the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. Right now I'm really enjoying The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery. I always like the mystery genre. I love "Trent's Last Case" by E.C. Bentley - a classic by all accounts IMHO, or if you like humor and suspense, try Elizabeth Peters and one of the Amelia Peabody Series. Ann Perry writes suspense novels set in Victorian times and always deals with some social ill - well written but not necessarily humorous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoughCollie Posted May 15, 2010 Share Posted May 15, 2010 (edited) I can't recommend individual books because when I like an author, I pretty much read everything they have written. Right off the top of my head, these are some authors whose books I like a lot. I like books by Elizabeth Berg, Maisie Mosco, Anna Jacobs, Noah Gordon, Stieg Larsson, Charlaine Harris, Lisa See, Elizabeth Strout, Lilian Harry (Corner House Girls), Jan Karon, Francine Rivers (Mark of the Lion series), Jeffrey Archer, Elizabeth Ogilvie, Lorna Landvik, and Henning Mankell. I liked Nora Roberts' Irish Trilogy and Chesapeake Bay Saga. I like all the standard mystery bestsellers by Lisa Gardner, James Patterson (The Women's Murder Club), Janet Evanovich (Stephanie Plum), John Sanford, Lee Child, Ridley Pearson, Nelson DeMille, Stuart Woods, Tess Gerritsen, Jeffrey Deaver, Robert B. Parker, Dick Francis, and so forth. I really like the Maisie Dobbs books by Jacqueline Winspear, the Flavia De Luce books by Alan Bradley, Sarah's Key, by Tatiana de Rosnay, The Fire Dream, by Franklin Allen Leib, and Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card. I find a lot of good books on Amazon and Amazon UK by looking at books others bought who like the same authors I do, or by searching fiction on Amazon with key words like "world war II". Sometimes I just take books out of the library on spec, but the last time I did this I got 15 duds. Edited May 15, 2010 by RoughCollie I keep thinking of more authors. I'll try to stop now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted May 15, 2010 Share Posted May 15, 2010 After almost five months of on-again, off-again, I finally finished A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and am ready to plunge right into something new, but I don't know what. Any suggestions? Broad question, I know. Here's some things I've liked before: Maeve Binchy is probably my favorite author (I particularly loved Circle of Friends and The Glass Lake, each of which I read twice.) I like Anne Tyler, although I sometimes find her too depressing. (My favorite was A Patchwork Planet.) I liked The Help a lot. I also enjoyed a quick read a few years ago called The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. My all-time favorite read in high school (and what I wrote my senior paper on) was Catcher in the Rye. Anyway, what have you liked? Any suggestions? And/or is there already a thread which discusses this? Jenny http://beanmommyandthethreebeans.blogspot.com/ Have you read any Hesse? My favorite is Rosshalde, but it has a medical issue, which is why it my favorite. I also love the three short stories at the end of The Glass Bead Game. How about The Razor's Edge? And of course, since this is me typing, I have to mention Kristin Lavransdatter.:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thescrappyhomeschooler Posted May 15, 2010 Share Posted May 15, 2010 Anything by Tracy Chevalier The Rashi's Daughters Trilogy by Maggie Anton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BikeBookBread Posted May 15, 2010 Share Posted May 15, 2010 I just finished North & South and Wives & Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell. I loved both of them...in fact, I was so sad each time I finished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erica in PA Posted May 15, 2010 Share Posted May 15, 2010 After almost five months of on-again, off-again, I finally finished A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and am ready to plunge right into something new, but I don't know what. Any suggestions? Broad question, I know. Here's some things I've liked before: Maeve Binchy is probably my favorite author (I particularly loved Circle of Friends and The Glass Lake, each of which I read twice.) I like Anne Tyler, although I sometimes find her too depressing. (My favorite was A Patchwork Planet.) I liked The Help a lot. I also enjoyed a quick read a few years ago called The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. My all-time favorite read in high school (and what I wrote my senior paper on) was Catcher in the Rye. Anyway, what have you liked? Any suggestions? And/or is there already a thread which discusses this? Jenny http://beanmommyandthethreebeans.blogspot.com/ You have two of my all-time favorites on your list: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and Catcher in the Rye. I have a bit of a melodramatic streak when it comes to reading. Some other books I have really enjoyed are A Prayer for Owen Meany, The Lovely Bones, Great Expectations, The Hiding Place, The Amateur Marriage, and Memoirs of a Geisha. I will have to look at the other recommendations you've received, because I am looking for a good novel myself! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jlynn Posted May 15, 2010 Share Posted May 15, 2010 The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and The Thirteenth Tale: A Novel both of these were great summer time reads for me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maureen Posted May 15, 2010 Share Posted May 15, 2010 Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn is one of my all time favorites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in GA Posted May 16, 2010 Author Share Posted May 16, 2010 Thanks for all the recommendations; I am putting some of my Wish List. I just remembered one I read a long time ago and liked; it seemed like something this crowd would enjoy: Glittering Images by Susan Howatch. There was also a sequel of sorts called Glamorous Powers. Jenny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in GA Posted May 16, 2010 Author Share Posted May 16, 2010 Oh, and how could I forget I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb? Jenny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrganicAnn Posted May 16, 2010 Share Posted May 16, 2010 I first read Maeve Binchy in a college course. The other contemporary female Irish writer that I read in the course was Mary Lavin. I don't have a specific novel to recommend. She wrote several collections of short stories, so you could read a short story of hers to see if you like it. Another author I like to recommend is Nick Hornby. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvenice Posted May 16, 2010 Share Posted May 16, 2010 I'm currently reading Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann. He has spun the soul NY and the lives of several characters through a web of a story in several voices with complexity and sometimes heartbreaking purity. I think it won a National Book Award. He is an Irish writer and has the wit and wisdom you expect from the land of artists and poets. I think we will see much more of him...he has the soul of Joyce and the questions of Beckett. I am awestruck thus far. It has plenty of language though and shows real NY life in the 70's for immigrants and natives alike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forget-Me-Not Posted May 16, 2010 Share Posted May 16, 2010 (edited) Are you looking for fun or profound? :D I love Maeve Binchy too. I have all of her books and I've read them over and over and over again. I think Light a Penny Candle is my very favorite. I just finished Tender Graces by Kathryn Magendie because it was a freebie for Kindle. I really enjoyed it. There's some abuse mentioned in the book, but it's not detailed--just alluded to (in case you're sensitive to things like that). I also recently read Home Safe by Elizabeth Berg. It was pretty good. I also love Elizabeth Gaskell--someone above mentioned her. I loved Wives and Daughters and Cranford and Ruth. Mary Barton was depressing. I don't think I've read anything else by her, yet--working my way through. Wilkie Collins is a fun one. Victorian mystery type stuff. You can't go wrong with The Moonstone or The Woman in White. Also check out Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier. Edited May 16, 2010 by LemonPie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thescrappyhomeschooler Posted May 16, 2010 Share Posted May 16, 2010 Oh, I forgot about Cecilia Ahern! I've read There's No Place Like Here, P.S. I Love You, and If You Could See Me Now and liked them all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lauracolumbus Posted May 16, 2010 Share Posted May 16, 2010 The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and The Thirteenth Tale: A Novel Both of these were great summer time reads for me! I also like anything by Elizabeth Berg and Ann Patchet. And I recently read March and enjoyed it. If you have time, it would be great to stroll the bookstore aisles. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiffany k Posted May 16, 2010 Share Posted May 16, 2010 I really enjoyed The Forgotten Garden and The House at Riverton by Kate Morton. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley is very good as well and he has a new one out that I haven't read yet. I've also enjoyed Dissolution and Dark Fire by CJ Sansom, they are mysteries set in Henry VIII's reign. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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