alright, i'm now appealing to the masses. what books do you recommend? ive read about five books since i finished my master's degree - all good. so i propose a swap. here's what i've read recently and recommend:
> harry potter and the order of the phoenix - j.k. rowling (done in 24 hours! )
> in this mountain - jan karon
> girl with the pearl earring - tracy chevalier
> the red tent - anita diamant
> the blind assassin - margaret atwood
> any of the amelia peabody series by elizabeth peters (gasp! i've not read the most recent one, children of the storm - that will be rectified immediately. though looking at it, i don't feel too bad. it was only published april of this year. still, i've always had the newest one preordered since i started reading the series in 2000ish)
things i've read in the past and still highly recommend:
> the temple bombing - melissa fay greene (civil rights in atlanta in the 60's. a book written like a documentary. talks about how the jews played into the situtation as well, which is fascinating to me since you usually only hear about the african-american struggle.)
> northanger abbey - jane austen (a lesser-read work of hers, but so...ironic. she pokes fun at the very style of novel that she's writing. i think it's my favorite of hers.)
> the woman in white - william wilkie collins (still one of my favorite mystery-type novels to this day. the writer definitely keeps you guessing until the end.)
alright. your turn. what books should i be reading?
afterthought:
those queued up for my reading pleasure: (alright, so i saw a couple of them in andrea's blog...): the nanny/melissa nathan and the dante club/matthew pearl, the winter queen/boris akunin, pale fire/vladimir nabokov
Howdy cuz!!
Thanks for signing my guest map!! I don't know why I'm so excited about that little thing, but I get all giddy when I look at it...
Ok, books. Well, we may not jive on this 100% but I'll give you a couple that I like:
Richard North Patterson--Think John Grisham, but in my opionion he's better. "Protect and Defend" is my favorite by him, so I would suggest you start there. If the pro-life/pro-choice debate intrigues you, this book will be a good read.
Robert Ludlum writes great espionage/spy thrillers. He wrote "Bourne Identity", which as always, was better in print that on screen.
Joseph Ellis-- "Founding Brother: The Revolutionary Generation" Only if you like American history.
I just finished "Harry Potter" (LOVE this series) and "Shoeless Joe" by W.P. Kinsella (a baseball novel) which were both really "easy" reads. I'm dying to start on "Dante Club" which for some reason I haven't read yet. I have also heard great things about "Seabiscuit" so I added that to my ever increasing list. Too many books.....
Posted by: Jeremy at July 12, 2003 07:04 PM
Ooo. Seabiscuit - if that's a novel about the racehorse, that's a book I can get into. :) Just ask Andrea about all my years of horse craziness...
I'll have to check out your other recommendations. I really liked the Bourne Identity movie, and if the book's better... :)
Thanks!
Posted by: Kendra at July 12, 2003 11:18 PMOh yeah, Kendra, you would *love* Seabiscuit. I haven't read it, but my mom couldn't stop talking about it.
I just finished The Nanny, which reminded me a bit of the Shopoholic series. It was okay, but nothing to rave about. Heavy on the British lingo. It read like it was the author's first novel, so I think once she works out some rough kinks, she'll get better (or maybe that's just her writing style, in which case I've just insulted her!)
Of course, as you know, I *loved* The Dante Club, but also I'm a 19th century American literature freak. : ) But I know this book will appeal to a wide-ranging audience. If you like murder-mystery type novels, or American hisory, or American literature, or just an intelligent read, you'll love this book.
A book I read recently that I think you will really like is He, She, and It by Marge Piercy. (UK title: Body of Glass) A futuristic, cyborgian novel that explores the relationships between humans and machines. Piercy really explores the emotionality of these relationships, and *that's* what I loved most about the novel. Sounds far-fetched, but she writes in a way that makes it believable...
Hmmm...I'll keep chewing on this thought and be back if I think of more. This is a great idea -- a book recommendation swap!
Andrea
P.S. I've tried using some html tags here...not sure if they will work, so I'm crossing my fingers. Apologies if it doesn't work.
Posted by: Andrea at July 13, 2003 04:38 AMI went and checked the config - looks like I had html in comments turned off. They're on now, so it wasn't you... ;)
That's the great thing about having my own blog software, I can turn on/off anything I like!
Looks like I have a summer reading list starting. Let me know if you think of anything else. I think I'm going to hit the library this week. (That's one really cool thing about the libraries here in town. They all have their collections online, so I can check them from home before driving, especially since I'm not really close to one.)
-K-
Posted by: Kendra at July 13, 2003 09:55 AM