Books to recommend....
 

I got this idea while reading the random thread when Honey mentioned about the Shopaholic series. I thought it might be a fun idea for us to tell each other great books that we have read (and even possibly books to avoid reading ;) )


I highly recommend the following books :)

Diary of a Mad Bride-to-Be and Diary of a Mad Mom-to-Be by Laura Wolf (these books are absolutely hysterical!)

Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas by James Patterson (I'm actually reading this one right now and it is so incredibly hard to put it down but I know I have to actually get some sleep)

Summer Sisters by Judy Blume

Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts

All of the Harry Potter books (he he)




Can't think of anymore right now but I'm sure I'll have more once school is over and winter break starts and I have more time to read.

I LOVE the shopaholic books!!!! I haven't read the latest one yet though!

I also really loved "Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister" from Gregory Maguire. It is basically the Cinderella story told with a dark twist. It was AWESOME!!! I've heard Maguires' "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West" was also VERY good, but I haven't been able to get my paws on a copy yet (I'm really picky about books.. gotta have the first editions in hardcover.. hehehe). He also has out "Lost" which I believe is the tale of Hansel and Gretel, "Mirror, Mirror" (obviously a version of Snow White), and I think there is another one? I can't remember.

I REALLY loved the Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister though!!!! So I definitely plan on getting his other books.

If you're into girly-type books, I would recommend "Confessions of a Sociopathic Social Climber"... it was HILARIOUS!

Also another book I would highly recommend is "e" by Matt Beaumont. It is basically the tale of a company told thru inter-office memos. The entire book is in the form of emails, and it is so funny you will seriously laugh out loud.

I can't think of other books I have that I would highly recommend... I have like a library of fiction books...so I will have to go thru those and get back to ya'll on more that I'd recommend. :)

(Note: if you read as much as I do, Half Priced Books is your friend!!! also half.com to get good books cheap! or you could go to the library I guess :p)

Cosign to the nth degree!!! A mixed blessing of my life is that I am a very fast reader (we're talking about reading Dr. Zhivago in one night!), and take a book with me wherever I go. I always have one "good" book, and one "mind candy" book going.

I'm on a David Baldacci high right now, and will read anything by him. Same with Ludlum, Forsythe, Follett, and that whole genre - especially if it concerns either the Russian Revolution or Nazi Germany.

For fun, anything by Fannie Flagg or Florence King is usually fun.

I'd recommend:

* Anything by Dee Henderson (writes a sort of Christian suspense/romance type book...has two series out)

* Anything by Iris Johansen (I started reading her books with The Killing Game, and I'm actually now reading some of her earlier books that came before that)

*Nora Roberts either as Nora Roberts or J.D. Robb (Robb books are a futuristic suspenseful romantic novel...do you sense a theme here? ;))

* Meg Cabot (Yes, The Princess Diaries are great, but she also has a couple of books out written in the manner that t*p was talking about being entirely in the form of emails among co-workers and such)

*Karin Slaughter (mainly suspense novels....can be very graphic, but are VERY hard to put down!)

I may think of more....can you tell how I spend my time???? :D

for anyone really into colorful, creative language and modernized fairytale-esque stories, check out Francesca Lia Block.


'A Tree Grows In Brooklyn' is a great book by Betty Smith.

'Anywhere But Here' by Mona Simpson

'Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man' by Fannie Flagg
'Welcome to the World Baby Girl' by Fannie Flagg
(both of these books are very southern, flagg is the author of 'fried green tomatoes at the whistlestop cafe')

'The Virgin Suicides' by Jeffery Eugenides

AWESOME BOOK!!!!!!




I thought of some more authors.


I have to admit that I love Danielle Steel. My absolute favorite book of hers is A Long Journey Home. Excellent!!!!!

The Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler (Just an amazing book and I hope that I am able to see the play this coming Valentines Day)

Black Hawk Down by Mark Bowden (It goes into a bit more depth than the movie, but it is EXCELLENT, it was actually a New York Times bestseller)


I saw a couple of books that I want to read, I'll definately let y'all know how they are.

The Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler is a great book and a even better play.

I LOVE Nora Roberts and all JD Robb books. They are the best best best romanace/mystery books around and she is awesome. All of her books are awesome, but I did just read Blue Dahlia and Northern Lights. Both I recommend.

Skipping Christmas, by John Grisham was also a good book.


I am into romance and mystery.

Seems like we have a very similar taste in books! :)

I also like "The Cat Who..." books by Lillian Jackson Braun.

"Eating the Cheshire Cat" by Helen Ellis was also a really good read! I could hardly put it down. The opening paragraphs seriously grab you into the book. It is basically a story of three girls and their mothers.. think deep south traditions... rites of passage (i.e. sorority rush.. things like that).. perfectly planned parties, social ladders, and the crazy things women do to get to the top. It is a little less than 300 pgs. but well worth it.

Honestly, that was the weirdest book I ever read. If I didn't have this thing against quitting in the middle of a book, I probably would have. It was just really, really odd, and I didn't like it one bit.

Oooo, thank you sisters for some unchartered reading territory for me! I love to read, but I have a really bad habit of reading everything that an author writes very quickly and then I'm left trying to find something else that I would like just as well.

Right now I am speeding through Deception Point by Dan Brown. I'm sad b/c I've read all of his others and I'm savoring the last one. I know that The Davinci Code has gotten alot of press and will be made into a movie, but I have to say that Angels and Demons was so much better.

Other than Harry Potter books (my excuse for reading them is the need to "connect" with my students, yeah right), that is all I can think of to recommend.

Thanks again, I have my holiday break coming up and I plan to do alot of reading then!

hehehe yea it was definitely different... i think that's what i liked about it - that it wasn't like a lot of the books i tend to read. when i read it i was in a little phase of reading all different kinds of girly books (you know.. there's a girl in her mid-20s.. gets dumped by a boyfriend, loses her job... just about everything goes wrong.. she goes through all kinds of craziness but ends up alright in the end) so I liked that it wasn't like any of those

ACK!!!!!!!!!! How could I forget the wonderful books by Maeve Binchy?? She is truly a story teller - 500 years ago, she would have been one of those "wise women" who told tales to others. It's mind candy, but such divine wisdom is between the lines.

oh I forgot the book Mean Season by Heather Cochran. I actually read a review for the book in People and they recommended it so I thought "what the heck". It was very good. It was hard to put it down.

polarpi, do you ever read Beverly Lewis' or Boedie Thorne's books? I love them, too.


Most definitely the strangest, oddest, weirdest book I ever had to read was "The Painted Bird" by Jerzy Kocinski (sp?). It's supposedly based on Roman Polanski's youth, which would definitely explain why he's so odd! I get the shivers, just thinking about that horrible book!!