Read Any Good Books Lately?

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ditzyscrap

New member
I mean OTHER than the Twilight series, lol. I'm always on the lookout for interesting books to read - I read most genres, but I am not into ghost/vampire/zombie/paranormal stuff...

Chicklit, young adult, general fiction, memoirs, thrillers, crime fiction...anything goes! What have you read lately that you'd recommend to others?
 
I'm just finishing Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea. It's really interesting..

Here's a quick description (from Publishers Weekly)
Four upper-class Saudi Arabian women negotiate the clash between tradition and the encroaching West in this debut novel by 25-year-old Saudi Alsanea. Though timid by American chick lit standards, it was banned in Saudi Arabia for its scandalous portrayal of secular life. Framed as a series of e-mails sent to the e-subscribers of an Internet group, the story follows an unnamed narrator who recounts the misadventures of her best friends, Gamrah, Lamees, Michelle and Sadeem—all fashionable, educated, wealthy 20-somethings looking for true love. Their world is dominated by prayer, family loyalty and physical modesty, but the voracious consumption of luxury goods (designer name dropping is muted but present) and yearnings for female empowerment are also part of the package.
 
Bree, I'm not into vampires/supernatural either, and you know how much I loved Twilight. Just throwin that out there :p
 
any of the Jodi Picoult books are great - Well, I've read Vanishing Acts, Perfect Match, Nineteen Minutes, and My Sister's Keeper - any of which I would highly recommend.

Also, The Kite Runner was fantastic. I loved it!
 
All of those are great books too Leslie. I've read all the Jodi Picoult books except for Salem Falls and Perfect Match - I'm still trying to get my hands on them.

Have you read A Thousand Splendid Suns by the same author of The Kite Runner? If you liked The Kite Runner, you'll LOVE it.
 
Of the books I've read in the last year, the one that really stands out is Water for Elephants -- such a different, but fascinating, fun, gripping book!
 
ditzyscrap said:
All of those are great books too Leslie. I've read all the Jodi Picoult books except for Salem Falls and Perfect Match - I'm still trying to get my hands on them.

Have you read A Thousand Splendid Suns by the same author of The Kite Runner? If you liked The Kite Runner, you'll LOVE it.
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We are reading that one next for book club...:)
 
DawnMarch said:
Of the books I've read in the last year, the one that really stands out is Water for Elephants -- such a different, but fascinating, fun, gripping book!
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Another really good one...I'm looking forward to Sara Gruen's upcoming book "Ape House"...the release date has been pushed back a couple times already, I want to read it!!
 
I'm reading 4th of July by James Patterson right now, it's from the Women's Murder Club series, I've liked them all so far.
 
I read "Potty Time" for the 100th time, last night...it's a good one :) :thumbup: LOL

I'm not a big reader...the last book I read was The Nanny Diaries, and that was because my SIL was a nanny for a while...it's crazy what the nannies have to go through with crazy mothers :p
 
Mandy...I just added that one to my list, it looks interesting, and all my friends on GoodReads that have read it have marked it as 4+ stars, so it MUST be good, lol.

Pam - I started reading that series but got sidetracked - I think I've read 1 and 2...I should get back into the series...

Jenn - I have The Nanny Diaries, I planned on reading it before watching the movie...but DH rented it for me, so I watched it first, lol. I have a thing about reading the book before watching the movie, lol...
 
I love chicklit and young adult when I am bored and want some light reading.


Marian Keyes- I love her chicklit stuff
Meg Cabot- young adult stuff... I think I have read it all from her so far
Jane Greene (Green?)- also some cute chicklit stuff
Twilight series (I know you said you wouldnt, but I hate vampire stuff too)
I know there is more but nothing is coming to me.

What do you suggest? I am always on the look out too.
 
I'm a book addict, so I could reccomend books all day long. Jodi Picoult is my favorite author and I've read most of her stuff.

For chick-lit, I'd recommend Jennifer Weiner. She's AMAZING and I just love her stuff. My favorite book of hers is either Little Earthquakes or Good in Bed. Both are "chick-lit" but have some very powerful moments in them too. Both are based around motherhood (especially LE).

But my all-time favorite book is called Young Wives and its by Olivia Goldsmith who is the author of The First Wives Club. I happened upon Young Wives in college in a random bookstore and I have read it probably six times since then. And I do NOT reead books. :)

So, there ya go. I could name about a million more, but now I have a craving for Young Wives again. lol
 
For chick-lit and YA...I haven't read a LOT of it, but I do enjoy them...a couple that I really liked:

Crank (and Glass) by Ellen Hopkins (ya) - these are freestyle poetry based on her own daughter's struggle with meth addiction, they are SO good, though, and I want to read more of her books now
Me Vs. Me by Sarah Mlynowski (chick-lit)
Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin (chick-lit) - I want to read Something Blue with the same characters...
ANYTHING by Sophie Kinsella
 
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Some good lit/fiction that I've read recently:

The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton
The Knitting Circle by Anne Hood
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Bright Shiny Morning by James Frey
All The Numbers by Judy Merrill Larsen
 
Mandy...I just added that one to my list, it looks interesting, and all my friends on GoodReads that have read it have marked it as 4+ stars, so it MUST be good, lol.
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Yesssssssssss...SCORE! *fist pump*
LMAO!



If I can help one person in this world get addicted to this series, I can die knowing that I did a good thing in the world. *contented sigh*
 
ditzyscrap said:
For chick-lit and YA...I haven't read a LOT of it, but I do enjoy them...a couple that I really liked:

Crank (and Glass) by Ellen Hopkins (ya) - these are freestyle poetry based on her own daughter's struggle with meth addiction, they are SO good, though, and I want to read more of her books now
Me Vs. Me by Sarah Mlynowski (chick-lit)
Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin (chick-lit) - I want to read Something Blue with the same characters...
ANYTHING by Sophie Kinsella
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Another good one by Sarah Mlynowski is Fish Bowl. About 20-something roommates. Really funny.

And Something Blue by Emily Giffin is excellent.

Did you hear that there is a Shopaholic movie coming out soon?!?! I loved those books!!
 
I just read a set of 4 books by Elizabeth Aston. They are all sequels to Pride & Prejudice. They dealt with Darcy & Elizabeth's daughters and various other relations. I'm not a huge P&P fan and actually find Darcy himself to be exceedingly annoying,but he only figures as an an absent character & never appears in any of the books that wasn't a problem for me. I enjoyed them. The first book is a bit weaker than the rest though

Mr Darcy's Daughters
The Exploits of Miss Althea Darcy
The Darcy Connection
The Second Mrs Darcy
The True Darcy Spirit
 
ditzyscrap said:
I mean OTHER than the Twilight series, lol. I'm always on the lookout for interesting books to read - I read most genres, but I am not into ghost/vampire/zombie/paranormal stuff...
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Well that rules out all my suggestions LMAO! Since reading Twilight I am completely immersed in the vampire/paranormal stuff! The only non paranormal book I have checked out right now is The Shack by William P. Young, but I haven't read it yet. But I can recommend the Outlander series, I've read the first 3 books and they are great!
 
ditzyscrap said:
Some good lit/fiction that I've read recently:

The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton
The Knitting Circle by Anne Hood
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Bright Shiny Morning by James Frey
All The Numbers by Judy Merrill Larsen
Click to expand...

I LOVED The Book Thief. One of my favorite books ever.

What about the classics? I just reread The Count of Monte Cristo, and that's a really fun one.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is worth reading.
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood is really good.
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver--fabulous.
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy--hilarious.
Memoirs of a Geisha--amazing.
The Good Earth
The Red Tent
The Hiding Place

I'll try to think of more...
 
Mandy said:
Yesssssssssss...SCORE! *fist pump*
LMAO!



If I can help one person in this world get addicted to this series, I can die knowing that I did a good thing in the world. *contented sigh*
Click to expand...

I was so proud of myself for finally getting up to like 150 pages of it, then I stopped and got hooked on Karen Kingsbury and now I feel compelled to read all 40+ KK books before I go back to it. Why can everyone on the planet get hooked on it but not me???????????
 
Bree, I would for sure read The Nanny Diaries, if you have the time...I really enjoyed it, and so much of it really reminded me of what my SIL went through...unfortunately...lol I have a hard time keeping my mind from drifting off to other thoughts while I'm reading...I pretty much was able to "stay on task" with that book. It has to be something I'm really interested in to keep my attention, or my mind goes off to my to-do list...ugh :thumbdown: lol
 
I think I may be one of the only ones who wasn't a big fan of The Nanny Diaries. I didn't hate it, but I didn't really enjoy it, either. It felt...fluffy. If you know what I mean. Not much substance.
 
If you like mystery fiction, anything by Harlan Coben is a great read! I have read every book he wrote and loved them all :)
 
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