Thursday, July 19, 2012

Books, Books, Books!

I love to read.  I think it drives Lallie and Husband nuts because I almost always have a book in hand.  I also think it's part of the reason Lallie loves to read so much.  I do have a Kindle but even the savings from owning it would still cost a small fortune, so I try to use the library when possible. 

I don't have a category or theme that I keep to.  I read across the spectrum, all different types of authors, rarely reading the same author multiple times (unless it's a series like The Hunger Games or Hex Hall).  Don't get me wrong, I do have a select few favorite authors but I find myself getting bored with the same style of writing if I read more than one or two books in a row.  
So I take author breaks.

Here's a few books I've read over the past couple of years.  Significant enough for me to post about them because I could rattle off the story to you in great detail even after quite some time (and quite a few subsequent books).  Some books you read and forget.  These made an impression. 

Before I move on, I am a victim of this.  Are you?



I am currently reading 11/22/63 and can't put it down.  I would have probably read the 800+ page book in one sitting if haven't been so busy the past two weeks.  I've never read Stephen King and this is not one of his horror books but rather about a man that travels back in time to stop the murder of John F. Kennedy and his life leading up to the moment.  The writing is phenomenal!



I'm sure everyone is reading Divergent and Insurgent and if you have, you're probably thinking "Man, now I have to wait a year for the final book to debut!"  Like Hunger Games, it's an American-alternate reality book that takes place in Chicago and centers around the life of teenagers.  I'm sure this is a book to be discussed in many classrooms!


I love Diane Chamberlain.  Her books have so many twists and turns and while there is some predictability, you're usually thrown an extra loop or two to make you say "Oh, wow!"  Her books generally center around sister and mother-daughter relationships and while the story lines might cause a bit of shock, the relationships themselves are usually quite normal and what you might see in everyday life.
My favorite are The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes and The Midwife's Confession.  I also read The Lies We Told, but it wasn't my favorite of Chamberlain's books.

Bergdorf Blondes.  This book is hilarious!  I loved it!  I took me a few chapters to get used to the style of writing but it was just so over-the-top, I just loved it.  A great beach read, especially for those of us that find the socialite lifestyle....what's the work....intriguing?

The Friday Night Knitting Club is one of the only two books I've ever read in which I cried.  And I mean a good, soaking, long-winded cry.  I tend to shed tears during movies (and even commercials), but never a book.
This one made me cry.  A fabulous read about a group of women from all different backgrounds and ages coming together to knit and forming relationships that last a lifetime.


The other book that made me cry, you might ask?  Of Mice and Men.  If you didn't cry like a baby when you read this book, then I'm quite frankly really, really surprised.  I cry whenever I read scenes in other books based on this book!  A classic for sure.

I love Elin Hilderbrand.  I could read all her books (over the course of several years because again, I can't read the same author over and over again in a row).  The Blue Bistro is probably my favorite of all her books.  Anytime you combine cooking, romance and Nantucket, you'll be sure to win my heart.  In this one, you could practically smell the soft shell crabs wafting up through the pages and Nantucket is on my bucket list of places to visit.

 Wow, what an interesting book.  Not to mention, the author, Taylor Stevens is a very interesting person, you should read up on her as well.  The Informationist takes a mentally and emotionally depleted Vanessa Monroe on an investigative trip to Africa to search for a Texas millionaire's daughter.  She herself is running away from a past traumatic experience which eventually comes back to haunt her during her African tour. With similar capacities to deal with sensitive information as Lisbeth in Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Vanessa takes us on a fast-paced journey through her life and the life of her client. If you love a good action book, this one is for you!

And of course The Hunger Games.  I'm sure you all know what this series is about, after all they made a movie (which I haven't seen yet.  Was it any good?)
I guarantee you'll fly through these books very quickly.  
.

So there you have it.   If you want to keep up with my reads, visit my little "Books" icon on the top of the page and/or follow along with me on Goodreads.

What great books can YOU recommend to me?

Happy Thursday Y'all!

10 comments:

  1. I recommend "Redeeming Love" by Francine Rivers. It is a modern re-telling of the book of Hosea in the Bible. It is very good. It is sometimes sorta intense. I felt like I had to finish it to get my life back. :) Go look it up on amazon. It has over 1,000 positive reviews.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, I will have to put that one on my Goodreads! Thank you for your lovely email too. :-)

      Delete
  2. I LOVED Redeeming Love! I read it so long ago I forget about it. Great book!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love to read as well, I just finished Silver Girl by Elin Hilderbrand and Home Front by Kristen Hannah, both were great reads.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Silver Girl is on my nightstand, starting it tonight! I just finished 11/22/63 and this was next on my list! :-)

      Delete
  4. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I have read one Stephen King book in my life and I hated it...but I have a fascination with the Kennedys', so I might have to pick up 11/22/63. I read Bergdorf Blondes and The Debutante Divorcee (also by Plum Sykes)...love them both! Not sure if you have read/like any of the Shopaholic books...But Sophie Kinsella wrote a bunch of books as Madeline Wickham (I think). They're different than the Sophie Kinsella written books...I really liked Gatecrasher. I also love A Total Waste Of Makeup (the author's name is escaping me right now...and it's 3:22am, I'm too lazy to look it up).

    My three favourite books are: Prep, Valley of the Dolls and The Great Gatsby. If you haven't read any of them...high recommend them! If you lived closer, I'd just drop off a bunch of books to you to borrow =)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love to read too. And I am sure watching you read has helped Lallie. Both my parents love to read and picked it up from watching my grandmothers. I am adding a few of these to my GoodReads list.

    ReplyDelete
  7. In an odd twist of timing, I just read The Hate List. Its definitely NOT a beach read, as it tells the story of a mass school shooting from the point of view of the shooter's girlfriend of 3 years. It is very well written.

    I also finally got around to reading The Help. I think I am probably the last woman in America to do so.

    Just before that, based on a good friends recommendation, I read Are You There Alone by Suzanne O'Malley. It is the story of Andrea Yates that wasn't told by the media. I am usually not a fan of the true crime genre, but was fascinated. O'Malley did a great amount of research and when I finished, my entire perception of the crime was different. There is an underlying theme of what society perceives as normal behavior by mothers, and the expectations.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Going to bookmark a bunch of these! I am currently reading Maine and it is taking me forever. I like it but it's a slow read

    ReplyDelete