April 2011 Moms
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Recommend your favorite books (NBR)
With a new baby coming all I can think about is finances and what needs to be done. I worry too much and I am looking for a new book to get lost in. I feel like if I had a really good book I could escape for just a little while into someone else's life and not have to worry about all of the things I need to do in mine.
So ladies, what are some of your favorite books? Also add what type of book it is (romance, mystery, etc.) Thanks in advance!!
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Re: Recommend your favorite books (NBR)
I did too! They are a perfect escape if you don't want a serious read.
I just read The Art of Racing in the Rain. It's written from a dog's perspective and was really good. It's about the life of his owners and their ups and downs.
Hmmm, I love to read so it is hard to narrow it down. Here are some that I love...
Pride & Prejudice (Romance, Classic)
Little Women (Classic)
Twilight (Teen Romance)
Harry Potter series (It is what I am reading now)
The Hunger Games series (Teen Fiction)
The Sookie Stackhouse series (Total Fluff Reading, Vampire)
To Kill A Mockingbird (Classic)
Any of Jenn Lancaster's books (Such A Pretty Fat, Bitter is the New Black, etc.) (Chick Lit., Comedy)
I started this but haven't finished it. I got kind of bored with it. Does it just start off slow?
I loved "The Red Tent" and read it very quickly - a page turner for sure.
https://www.amazon.com/Red-Tent-Anita-Diamant/dp/0312195516
BFP 3/28/16 (EDD 12/9/16) * Chemical pregnancy
ME: 40 yrs.old
DH: 41 yrs.old
DD: 5 yrs.
Yes, by the time I was halfway through I was hooked. I actually read it in one day while on vacation, I couldn't put it down. There are a few parts where the dog says the funniest things too, I was laughing out loud. Overall, it's a serious book but I thought it was really good!
I really enjoy Marian Keyes' books. She's a hilarious writer. It's definitely not mushy romantic type writing, but usually has some love theme, but in a very comedic way. I'm currently reading The Brightest Star in the Sky, but many of her other books are great. I loved Rachel's Holiday. It's one of those laugh out loud type books.
I think I've been absolutely devouring books lately. Seems to be the only thing I feel like doing. I'll go through a novel a week, which is crazy for me.
The Help (by Kathryn Stockett) -- Historical Fiction
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and the other 2 books in the series(Stieg Larsson) -- Mystery
Cutting for Stone -- Abraham Verghese -- Historical Fiction
The Glass Castle -- Jeannette Walls -- Nonfiction (Memoir)
I am in a book club and other books we have enjoyed: Sarah's Key, Water for Elephants, Molokai, London is the Best City in America
**None of the above are 'light' reads, per se, but they were all interesting!
I cried so hard when I read The Glass Castle and I think it has changed some of my perspectives as well. Still think about it from time to time... I second this suggestion.
I love to read, I feel like that is my escape too!
A few of my favs are:
-The Twilight Series
-The Yada Yada Prayer Group Series
And anything by the authors:
-Jennifer Wiener (chick-lit)
-Jane Green(chick-lit)
-Emily Giffin (chick-lit)
-Nicholas Sparks (romance, love)
This is the last one I read and it was really good!
Emily Giffin is a great author she wrote Something Borrowed, Something Blue and Baby Proof
I also enjoyed the Shopaholic series
Marian Keyes is also a great writer.
All are fiction.
All of these with the exception of the Sookie Stackhouse series and Jenn Lancaster's book which I have not read. Loved the Hunger Games series. There is also a book called Gone for young adults that I liked.
My fav. books ever are The Pillars of the Earth and World Without End by Ken Follett. And they have the advantage of being something like 1000 pages each so you will be occupied for a while.
I just read the first book in The Hunger Games series, it was awesome, and I've been told the next two are better.
Lately I mostly have been reading Young Adult fiction because that's what I write. Here's a link to my Goodreads page so you can see my bookshelves of what I've read and how I ranked them.
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1867665
You've gotten lots of great recs from PPs already. I'll add to the list the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. Historical fiction with some fantasy elements and a male main character to drool over. :-)
This is a GREAT book.
I would also highly recommend Birds of America by Lorrie Moore -- her best short story collection.
I love everything by Ellen Gilchrist.
Some books by my buddies that I would recommend are:
In the Devil's Territory by Kyle Minor
All Through the House by Christopher Coake
The Loss of Leon Meed by Josh Emmons
The Home for Wayward Clocks by Kathie Giorgio <---my blurb is on the back of this book, so obviously I recommend it.
Anything by Sherman Alexie (even though his wife grounded us from being friends with each other *pout*. He totally deserved the National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner in the same year. He's amazing.)
All of the above books are "mainstream literary fiction"--the type that is considered for the Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, etc., so it's not genre fiction like mystery, romance, etc.
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Anything by Emma Donoghue is good. She writes historical fiction based on actual events. Her Ph.D. is in 18th Century British Literature, and her novel Slammerkin is based on a real court case then and is AMAZING.
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If you want to read books by me, I could give you a special April Mommy discount
Mac and cheese lover!
Sooo many good suggestions here. I'm adding my vote to The Red Tent. It is a beautiful, well written book. I'm in the middle of a third read of The Count of Monte Cristo - that's also always good. I'll add Ines of my Soul, Portait in Sepia, and Daughter's of Fortune by Isabel Allende (historical fiction/romance-y). My guilty pleasure is anything by Steve Berry - he writes books like The Davinci Code covering a wide variety of historical mysteries.
Not a specific suggestion, but I wandered into a used bookstore the other day and got 4 books for 5$. Not a bad deal especially if you're not looking for anything in particular.
My favorite book is The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.
For light reading (usually on airplanes) I like the Myron Bolitor mysteries by Harlan Coben.
I also really enjoyed the Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd.
Recently I enjoyed Alice I have Been which is historical fiction based on the life of the woman that Alice in Wonderland is based on.
For non-fiction, I actually really liked The Midwife by Jennifer Worth. She was a midwife in post war London's slums and it has some very interesting tales in it.
The Alchemist (?)
The Shack (?) Sorry I dont know the authors I give my books away when I'm done reading them.
Jodi Picolt, Nathan Sparks books are good (if I got their names right)
The Shadow of the Wind was SO good!!! Did you know that there is a sequel? I think my sister told me it just came out.
Yes! It is called The Angel's Game. It is pretty good, but Shadow of the Wind is still my fav.
She has a few others that are really good as well. Baby Proof and I think another one is called "Love the one You're With"? I've read all her books, and they are a fun and breezy read.
Another fun, breezy read is Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series.
I also like Jodi Picoult and Joy Fielding. They write great "suspense with a twist" type novels.
Barbara Delinsky writes great human interest and family issues novels.
ETA: As a middle school English teacher, I read a good amount of Young Adult fiction as well. I really like Sharon Draper. She writes young adult urban fiction.