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I Want a Book/s (that I can get completely lost in)


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I'm not in the mood for classics at the moment and preferably nothing that's overly depressing.

I don't mind some inappropriate stuff. In fact, I was very close to ordering 50 Shades of Grey, but didn't because so many said that it's very poorly written.

Here are some books that I've loved in the past. If you can suggest anything, would be so grateful.

 

Harry Potter books

A Thousand Splendid Suns - I love Khaled Hosseini's style of writing. Yes, his books are very sad, but I just love his writing.

The Help

The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Allende. :D

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy - I wish there were more in this series. I'm really craving something like these. Good storyline and strong protagonist.

The Geography of Bliss - enjoyable, funny in parts

Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea - great writer, sad subject matter, but fabulous writer

Books by Mitch Albom, Fannie Flagg, the older stuff by John Grisham, some of the books by Ken Follett, and pretty much all books by Maeve Binchy

Funny in Farsi

Confessions of a Prairie B*tch: How I Survived Nellie Oleson and Learned to Love Being Hated

Middlesex – Jeffrey Eugenides

The Poisonwood Bible – Barbara Kingsolver

The Da Vinci Code

 

Thank you.

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I LOVED Cutting For Stone

Nobody's Fool by Richard Russo

A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute

The Twilight books (she tells a good story)

The Witching Hour by Anne Rice

The Friday Night knitting Club (a little depressing but not bad if you immediatly read the sequel)

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I LOVED Cutting For Stone

Nobody's Fool by Richard Russo

A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute

The Twilight books (she tells a good story)

The Witching Hour by Anne Rice

The Friday Night knitting Club (a little depressing but not bad if you immediatly read the sequel)

Thank you for this list. I will look into the ones I haven't read or heard of.

I really disliked Twilight.

I read The Friday Night Knitting Club a few years ago. Although I didn't love it, I liked it just fine.

 

Just saw you read Da Vinci code, have you read Angels and Demons? I preferred that one.

Yes, I also liked Angels and Demons.

 

If you don't mind nonfiction, anything by Laurie Notaro is hilarious. (She's written some fiction, too, but her nonfiction humor is great.)

Off to look at her also. I don't mind non-fiction as long as it's not self-help. Not in the mood for self-help these days. I love hilarious. :D

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If you don't mind nonfiction, anything by Laurie Notaro is hilarious. (She's written some fiction, too, but her nonfiction humor is great.)

She has so many. Any specific ones that you can recommend I start with? Thank you. :)

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This may be too simple, but I loved the Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. The Long Winter is probably my favorite one. It just amazes me how they used to do things and how they make it through that winter and I just can't put that book down when I read it. I think I've read it maybe 7 or 8 times now and each time I've read it I've lost sleep from reading through the night til dawn. :p

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The Mill River Recluse

 

The Distant Hours (It was long and some of it could have been cut out without losing the story, but still, it was good)

 

The House at Riverton

 

The Last Time I saw Paris

 

This Burns My Heart

 

The Sebastian St. Cyr series by CS Harris-They need to be read in order

 

The Captain Lacey series by Ashely Gardner-Read in order

 

The Lady Julia Mysteries by Deanna Raybourn-Read in order

 

The Heather Wells series by Meg Cabot-Read in order. These are pure chick lit, but I love them. They are titles Size 12 is not Fat, Size 14 is not Fat Either, Big Boned and the latest Size 12 and Ready to Rock

 

I like almost all of Meg Cabot's chick lit books. She writes a lot of YA, but the ones aimed at adults are good IMO.

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She has so many. Any specific ones that you can recommend I start with? Thank you. :)

 

Start with her first one, The Idiot Girls' Action-Adventure Club. Some of what she writes is retrospective, but much of it is also based on where she is at the time of writing, and you probably don't want to read about her married life before you read about how she met her hubby. :)

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This may be too simple, but I loved the Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. The Long Winter is probably my favorite one. It just amazes me how they used to do things and how they make it through that winter and I just can't put that book down when I read it. I think I've read it maybe 7 or 8 times now and each time I've read it I've lost sleep from reading through the night til dawn. :p

 

I love rereading old favorites, especially ones that I read out loud to my dc. :)

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This may be too simple, but I loved the Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

I wish I could, but I've never been able to get into these. We LOVE the DVDs, however. :)

 

The Mill River Recluse

Just purchased it. :D

 

The House at Riverton

I think I read this a few years ago.

All your other suggestions look great also. Thank you.

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I love rereading old favorites, especially ones that I read out loud to my dc. :)

 

I'd never read them til I read it with dd. I read the first 4 to her and she was like, "mom enough already!!" so I read the rest on my own. :D hehehe I loved them. :)

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:grouphug: :) :grouphug:

It's often hard to always agree on books, movies, etc. They're all quite subjective.

 

Most people don't agree with me on those things anyway because I have a weird sense of humor so I'm actually kind of used to it. I make references to something and get this look :001_huh: all the time. :p hehe

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I was very close to ordering 50 Shades of Grey, but didn't because so many said that it's very poorly written.

 

Seeing how its origins are Twilight fanfic, it's highly probable that it is poorly written.

 

 

I have a fierce love of dystopian scifi, if that piques your interest

The Handmaid's Tale By Margaret Attwood

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

 

 

General Fantasy:

Anything by Terry Pratchett, there's about 40 Discworld novels. Colour of Magic is the first one. Its helpful to read them in order but not essential.

 

Anything by Neil Gaiman, I cannot praise his writings enough. Anansi Boys is a good quick read.

 

or combine the two brilliant minds and read Good Omens.

Edited by Delirium
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Just purchased it. :D

 

I loved this book. I certainly got my .99 worth!

 

I have a fierce love of dystopian scifi, if that piques your interest

The Handmaiden's Tale By Margaret Attwood

.

 

We had to read this for Lit my junior year of high school and I loved it. There were only 12 of us in my Lit class (small all girl school of about 200), but after we read it and raved over it, the books ran like fire through the entire school. I don't know how many girls borrowed my copy. In retrospect it seems an odd choice for a Catholic girls school, but we had a very interesting Lit teacher. I'm not sure she followed all the "rules." The junior class behind us did not read it. I'm not sure if it was because she knew they had already read it or because the nuns were unhappy that we read it. She was great teacher, but very...odd. For some reason, still unknown to me, she took us outside to read passages from The Transitive Vampire. Also, she's John Cusak's godmother. Not that that has anything to do with it, but I adore John Cusak.

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I was also going to recommend Kate Morton. I enjoyed all three of her books.

 

I have also enjoyed Haven Kimmel's books. "Zippy" reminded me of myself as a child. LOL!

 

I really enjoyed The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield.

 

I recently decided to read "Chocolat" by Joanne Harris. It was good, but I far more enjoyed the sequel to it, "The Girl Without A Shadow". However, my FAVORITE Harris book is "Five Quarters of the Orange".

 

Have you read any of Erik Larsen? He wrote "The Devil in White City", "In the Garden of Beasts", and "Thunderstruck". These are non-fiction.

 

I also have enjoyed the "No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency" series by Alexander McCall Smith for "turn your brain off and enjoy the story" reading.

Edited by MSPolly
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or combine the two brilliant minds and read Good Omens.

 

:iagree:

 

Well, if you want one that is weird and fun and inappropriate in some places, AND a mind-rocking experience, read House of Leaves.

Here's a website description of it--it has some spoilers, but not enough to give away everything. It's...complex. :D I really admire the thought that went into it.

 

I have tried twice to read that book & find myself entirely creeped out very quickly. I think I've barely made it 20 pages in both times.... I'm way too chicken to read it. :tongue_smilie::lol:

 

Negin, a fun one I read earlier this year (on Lizzie in Ma's rec) is Kevin Hearne's Hounded. Really fun summer reading, imo.

 

Also, I just started another one that looks to be fun summer reading -- Gail Carriger's Soulless.

 

Both are considered urban fantasy & are the first ones of their respective series.

 

Also, I recently read & loved Michael Ondaatje's The Cat's Table. Just gorgeous.

 

I think you already know a lot of the books I highly recommend, but if you need a refresher of my list, check my Goodreads favorites page. :001_smile:

 

ETA: Oh, and one I want to read is Lisa Rinna's The Big, Fun, Sexy Sex Book.

Edited by Stacia
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The Book of Lost Things~kind of a darker twist on fairy tales, but also beautiful. A boy tries to find his way through the dark paths inside himself and finds himself in a magic and dangerous country.

 

Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China~biography of grandmother (warlord China), mother (WWII Communist leader), and daughter (Cultural Rev to '80s). Fascinating because it is so personal, intriguing because the family was high up in Communist politics (both the authors parents were high up in the structure so you get to know *why* things happened).

 

Interpreter of Maladies~probably the best book of short stories I've ever read. Mostly deals with Bengali immigrants. If you don't like something this literary get a book of O. Henry's short stories.

 

A Thread of Grace~many people (Jewish, Italian, German) struggling to survive the end of WWII in Italy. A group of peasants and priests hide Jews crossing the Alps. Resistance forms. Plenty of sad things here but moments of joy as well.

 

I just finished the children's book The Penderwicks and I found it completely charming. Four very different sisters having adventures on summer vacation with their dog Hound, their new friend Jeffrey, and their Botanist father.

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If you haven't already read the Outlander series - this is definitely a series to get lost in.... I've read the Outlander 10 years ago and thousands of books later, it still stands out as my all time favorite novel.

 

Others:

 

The Book Thief

Forgotton Garden by Kate Morton

The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons

The Cellist of Sarajevo

 

Cutting for Stone was also excellent.

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Thank you all so much. :grouphug:

 

Most people don't agree with me on those things anyway because I have a weird sense of humor so I'm actually kind of used to it. I make references to something and get this look :001_huh: all the time.

:lol: I can relate somewhat. I have a very corny sense of humor and am often giggling when no one else is. :D

 

I absolutely loved the movie many years ago. Will look into the others you suggested.

 

teacher, but very...odd. For some reason, still unknown to me, she took us outside to read passages from The Transitive Vampire. Also, she's John Cusak's godmother. Not that that has anything to do with it, but I adore John Cusak.

I love this story of your Lit Class. :)

 

Anything by Anna Quindlen. I was sad when I finished Rise and Shine because I missed the characters so much. Haven Kimmel's books are wonderful, too.

I've liked some Anna Quindlen in the past, not all, however. Haven't read her in years.

Haven't read any Haven Kimmel.

 

I really enjoyed The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield.

I have this one and plan on reading it soon.

 

I recently decided to read "Chocolat" by Joanne Harris. It was good, but I far more enjoyed the sequel to it, "The Girl Without A Shadow". However, my FAVORITE Harris book is "Five Quarters of the Orange".

I loved the movie Chocolat. Didn't even know there was a book. I don't know if I should read it and then read the sequel. I have Five Quarters of the Orange on my Kindle and hope to read it soon.

 

Have you read any of Erik Larsen? He wrote "The Devil in White City"

I didn't like this one that much. Maybe it was the timing.

 

I also have enjoyed the "No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency" series by Alexander McCall Smith for "turn your brain off and enjoy the story" reading.

I've read quite a few of these. Just finished two of them. They're sweet and light. :)

 

Thank you all. Need to go, but will respond and look at other suggestions later.

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The Heather Wells series by Meg Cabot-Read in order. These are pure chick lit, but I love them. They are titles Size 12 is not Fat, Size 14 is not Fat Either, Big Boned and the latest Size 12 and Ready to Rock

 

I like almost all of Meg Cabot's chick lit books. She writes a lot of YA, but the ones aimed at adults are good IMO.

 

Oooooooooo! So excited! Didn't know there was a Size 12 and Ready to Rock!!! Going to look for it now. LOVE Meg.

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:lol: I can relate somewhat. I have a very corny sense of humor and am often giggling when no one else is. :D

 

 

Sounds like you and I would get along just fine IRL. :) That is as long as I don't read the Little House series to you aloud. :p hehehe

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Well, if you want one that is weird and fun and inappropriate in some places, AND a mind-rocking experience, read House of Leaves.

Here's a website description of it--it has some spoilers, but not enough to give away everything. It's...complex. :D I really admire the thought that went into it.

 

 

This looks interesting!

 

One of my favorite series is The Midnight Breed series by Lara Adrian. It has vampires and s@x. Lots and lots of it, and very detailed. :blushing:

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Well, if you want one that is weird and fun and inappropriate in some places, AND a mind-rocking experience, read House of Leaves.

Here's a website description of it--it has some spoilers, but not enough to give away everything. It's...complex. :D I really admire the thought that went into it.

 

Well, now, I didn't read the whole review but now I have to see if my library carries it...

 

What? Rats - they don't have it.

Edited by Susan in TN
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Thank you all again so much :grouphug:. I haven't responded to all your posts, but I really do appreciate your suggestions and am looking into all of them.

 

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon.

I tried and tried with this a few years ago. Couldn't get into it at all.

 

And don't go for his latest, it is terrible!

:iagree: - it was awful.

 

Well, if you want one that is weird and fun and inappropriate in some places, AND a mind-rocking experience, read House of Leaves.

Here's a website description of it

Chris, I wish I could read this. Just reading about it however, scares me. I get scared very easily. Is it scary or something that most might be able to handle?

 

Also, I just started another one that looks to be fun summer reading -- Gail Carriger's Soulless.

Stacia, I added this to my wish list yesterday from the Book a Week thread. Love the cover. :D

 

ETA: Oh, and one I want to read is Lisa Rinna's The Big, Fun, Sexy Sex Book.

Looks like fun. :D

 

I just finished my second Geraldine Brooks book--I've now read and really enjoyed Caleb's Crossing and People of the Book. I want to read her Year of Wonders, too.

I liked People of the Book, but not sure if I'm in the mood for her other stuff right now. Will keep her in mind for later. Thank you.

 

For light and fun I recommend a lesser-known Alexander McCall Smith Series: the Professor Doctor von Igelfeld series.

Will look into these. Thank you.

 

Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Susan, I liked this one a lot when I read it a few years ago. Off to look at your other suggestions.

 

Sounds like you and I would get along just fine IRL. That is as long as I don't read the Little House series to you aloud.

:lol: And then we can go make up shopping together. :D

 

One of my favorite series is The Midnight Breed series by Lara Adrian. It has vampires and s@x. Lots and lots of it, and very detailed.

I wish I was into vampires. I would read this. After Twilight, I just don't like books about vampires. :glare:

 

Barbara Kingslover has several other books and they are all so different.

I have one of her books which is too heavy for me to take on our upcoming trip. I really liked The Poisonwood Bible.

 

I usually recommend Nick Hornby to people. Quirky British novelist.

I keep hearing about Nick Hornby. Any specific ones you would recommend or are they all quite good?

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Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. That whole series is the best for getting completely swept away in. Seriously. Check it out.

 

Okay, I know it's not a popular opinion, but I'm going to say it...blech. I read through book 3 and hated every one of them. I kept reading thinking I would eventually like them since so many people do, but no. I hated Jamie. He was not hero worthy in my eyes!

 

Others:

 

The Book Thief

 

 

Oh, how could I forget to add this to my list? This is one of my all time favorite books! After I read it, I bought a copy for everyone I know. So good!

 

 

Oooooooooo! So excited! Didn't know there was a Size 12 and Ready to Rock!!! Going to look for it now. LOVE Meg.

 

It arrived on my Kindle the other day and I just started reading it. Heather Wells is so awesome it hurts me. I would never want to go to that college though! :tongue_smilie:

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My favorite Barbra Kingsolver Book is 'The Bean Trees' I have read it so many times.

 

'The Handmaidens Tale' still haunts me and keeps me up at night thinking about it.

 

I didn't see them mentioned and I know that they are the "cool" books to be reading right now but I thought The Hunger Games trilogy was an incredible read. I was so caught up in them that it took me weeks to stop obsessing about them. I found it so hard to get into another book that I had to read the series again.

 

If you like something lite but entertaining Susan Elizabeth Phillips writes good chic lit, and Jennifer Crusie's 'Agnes and the Hitman' had me laughing all the way through it.

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Negin, it's scary, but it's more weird. For instance, there's an index in the back (who puts an index in a novel?) and some of the entries don't refer to anything in the book. There are some blank or almost blank pages. The cover reflects the book--it's shorter than the text pages, because the house is bigger on the inside than on the outside. There's also a pattern on the cover, raised up a little--it's the pattern that you'd get if you played the sound emanating from the house, thru a speaker, and put sand on top of the speaker--the pattern caused by the frequency.

 

In the story itself, as the website describes, it's a story within a story covered by another story that contains a story...:lol: Yeah, parts are really scary, but no super gory descriptions or anything. (How would YOU like to come home from vacation to discover another closet in your kid's room...?)

 

Heehee--worth your time, if only for the artistic, creative expression.

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