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I desperately need suggestions for lots of good books-Christian or secular-to read this summer! (surgery recovery)

HappyGrace

By HappyGrace,
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HappyGrace

HappyGrace

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I will have a long recuperation, and need HELP finding book ideas please!

 

I like fiction or nonfiction!

 

I just don't like fiction that is lame or depressing/upsetting. I love Christian fiction but some of it is lame/poorly written, sadly. Some of my favorite fiction authors: John Grisham, Francine Rivers (Christian), Maeve Binchy,  I don't like mystery or sci fi.

 

I like nonfiction too-I loved all the Malcolm Gladwell books (The Tipping Point, etc.), missionary stories (modern or old-loved Kisses for Katie, etc.), biographies or autobiographies, etc.

 

Books I have enjoyed lately: Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker, the Francine Rivers Mark of the Lion series (re-reading it!)

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magnificent_baby

magnificent_baby

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My Mom and my sisters love anything by Debbie Macomber. There are many series to choose from, not sure if they need to be read in order. 

 

Anybody Out There by Marian Keyes is really good. Suspenseful but not a mystery. An emotional roller coaster though. I could not put it down, and there are very few books that have kept me up late at night to finish. (Don't read the Amazon reviews, unfortunately there are spoilers!)

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Alicia64

Alicia64

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The Help. (I could not put it down.)

 

The Glass Castle: A memoir by Jeannette Walls (Super! Could not put down.)

 

Loving Frank by Nancy Horan (Sounds boring, but not at all. It's about Frank Lloyd Wright's relationship. It'll hold your interest, trust me.)

 

These three books are fantastic.

 

Alley

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redsquirrel

redsquirrel

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hmmm... Well, I don't know if you would like this but you can check it out and decide for yourself.

 

Boy's Life by Robert McCammon.

 

Now, it is a mystery but that is not all it is. It was suggested to me on this board for my son who adored To Kill a Mockingbird. I started reading it this weekend and I am in love with it.

 

There is also The History of the World in 6 Glasses. That is a lot of fun.

 

Whenever I need a good book or a new author I pick from the Nobel, Pulitzer and The Man Booker Prize lists. So far I have always been very happy. With the Nobel it is an author recommendation, with the Pulitzer it is fiction and non-fiction (and maybe only American? IDK), and the Booker is the UK. You can also google "not the booker prize' to get some other great suggestions. I don't limit myself to winners, sometimes the runner ups or just what made the list will yield some great suggestions. I always look forward to the release of the Man Booker long list and short list.

 

 

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Amethyst

Amethyst

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Fiction:

Gone with the Wind

To Kill a Mockingbird

DaVinci Code

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Snow Falling on Cedars

Life of Pi

Poisonwood Bible

The Rosie Project

 

Nonfiction/Memoir:

Angela's Ashes

Longitude

Johnstown Flood

John Brown, Abolitionist

Death of the Liberal Class

All the Shah's Men

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Liz CA

Liz CA

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I thought I posted in this thread before and now don't see it.

 

Karen Kingsbury's Baxter series (Christian). Can get a little antsy but she is all about redemption.

 

Amelia Peabody Series by Elizabeth Peters. Has some mystery but nothing graphic or explicit and is VERY funny in a clever way.

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redsquirrel

redsquirrel

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I just finished The Luminaries and it was great.  It won the Man Booker prize this year.  It is a story about a small gold mining town in NZ in the 1860s.  http://www.amazon.com/Luminaries-Eleanor-Catton/dp/1480592595

 

It is FAT as in close to 1000 pages.

 

Ruth in NZ

 

Jealous of you! The waiting list at my library is about 85 people in front of me.

 

I have at least two books going right now, so it's not like I have the time for The Luminaries right now, but still.....

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Sophia

Sophia

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Jude Morgan if you like Regency Era fiction. I just finished A Little Folly, which was so good!

Life of Pi was excellent.

A Renaissance Redneck in  a Mega-Church Pulpit  was good.

First We have Coffee is a favorite.

Just started The Cellist of Sarajevo which is also promising to be an enjoyable read.

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Pippen

Pippen

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I posted in this thread yesterday and it's gone now, as are some other posts I remember seeing.

 

Ahh...not so lost. There are two threads.  Here's the link to the other one.

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/518050-i-desperately-need-suggestions-for-lots-of-good-books-christian-or-secular-to-read-this-summer-surgery-recovery/?hl=%2Brecovery&do=findComment&comment=5718886

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SJ.

SJ.

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7 An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess, Jen Hatmaker

Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hr Bookstore, Robin Sloan

The Cellist of Sarajevo, Steven Galloway

The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald

The Painted Girls, Cathy Marie Buchanan

The Shadow of the WInd, Carlos Ruiz Zafon

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, David Mitchell

Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell

The American Heiress, Daisy Goodwin

And the Mountains Echoed, Khaled Hosseini

The Daughters of Mars, Thomas Keneally

The Son, Phillip Meyer

The Unthinkable Who Survives When Disaster Strikes and Why, Amanda Ripley

The Good Earth, Pearl S Buck

Ahab's Wife, Sena Jeter Naslund

The Great Fitness Experiment, Charlotte Hilton Anderson

 

These are some of the books I've enjoyed reading within the past few years.  Hopefully you find something in the list that you will enjoy! :)

 

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Liz CA

Liz CA

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Goodness Gracious...and here I thought my post was so controversial, the mods must have deleted it. :)

 

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ThisIsTheDay

ThisIsTheDay

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Lynn Austin's Chronicles of the Kings series.

 

Neta Jackson's Yada Yada Prayer Group, not to be confused in any way with the Yaya Sisterhood book.  In the first book of the series, Jodi really got on my nerves--but throughout the series, she grew so much in her faith, and I ended up appreciating watching her transformation.  I also loved the House of Hope follow up series by the same author.

 

And on a totally different track, I would recommend The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

 

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Five More Minutes

Five More Minutes

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I just finished The Luminaries and it was great.  It won the Man Booker prize this year.  It is a story about a small gold mining town in NZ in the 1860s.  http://www.amazon.com/Luminaries-Eleanor-Catton/dp/1480592595

 

It is FAT as in close to 1000 pages.

 

Ruth in NZ

 

I loved that book! DH got it for me for Christmas, and I spent my entire holiday in a corner, savouring it.

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lewelma

lewelma

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My son read it and wrote a literary analysis evaluating the effect of the planet characters on the actions and personalities of the star-sign characters. (So a gentle character would get more aggressive when the mars character was in his star sign.)  He did a pretty good job of it too, as it was a HARD thing to figure out and write about, especially for a kid who knew nothing about astrology.  He did a heck of a lot of research and note taking.

 

Ruth in NZ

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Five More Minutes

Five More Minutes

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My son read it and wrote a literary analysis evaluating the effect of the planet characters on the actions and personalities of the star-sign characters. (So a gentle character would get more aggressive when the mars character was in his star sign.)  He did a pretty good job of it too, as it was a HARD thing to figure out and write about, especially for a kid who knew nothing about astrology.  He did a heck of a lot of research and note taking.

 

Ruth in NZ

 

Wow. That is incredibly impressive. If he's ever looking to share his analysis, I'd actually be interested in reading it (and so would my English-teacher DH).

 

That does it. I have to re-read the book this summer.

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Kareni

Kareni

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I'll repeat what I wrote in the other thread.

 

Wishing you a succesful surgery and speedy recovery.

 

I recommend the Don Camillo books by Giovanni Guareschi which are a light enjoyable read. It is a series of about six books about an Italian priest and his nemesis the Communist mayor set in the 1950s in Italy. The priest sometimes talks to Christ on the cross who talks back to him.

 

Start withThe Little World of Don Camillo. The wikipedia entry will give you a good idea of the content of the series.

Regards,
Kareni

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Liz CA

Liz CA

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Anything by Elizabeth Musser.

 

Caroline, I looked up the author's website. Looks very interesting from what I am reading there but I have a question. A lot of the books seem to deal with French/Algerian conflict. Is it graphic or not?

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Caroline

Caroline

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Caroline, I looked up the author's website. Looks very interesting from what I am reading there but I have a question. A lot of the books seem to deal with French/Algerian conflict. Is it graphic or not?

No, her books are not graphic. I have read two of the three in that series. I don't remember anything too graphic. Not Game of Thrones graphic by any stretch. It's been a while, though, since I read them. She has some that are about Atlanta, too. The Swan House, The Dwelling Place, The Sweetest Thing are all Atlanta ones. The Atlanta ones deal with race and poverty issues.

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MyThreeSons

MyThreeSons

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I just don't like fiction that is lame or depressing/upsetting. I love Christian fiction but some of it is lame/poorly written, sadly. Some of my favorite fiction authors: John Grisham, Francine Rivers (Christian), Maeve Binchy,  I don't like mystery or sci fi.

 

Since you like legal fiction, try these Christian authors: Randy Singer and Robert Whitlow. 

 

Elizabeth Musser, another Christian author, has written several novels set in and around Atlanta that I really like. Angela Hunt writes some amazing stuff -- real page turners.

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