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Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Whatcha reading?

I like to read for fun, but I don't read often. Usually, I read one or two books over Christmas break, a handful of books during the summer, and maybe another book or two at other times of the year. I think the last book I read was The Help, which I read before the movie came out last summer.

Such an on-again-off-again romance with reading often leaves me unsure of what books are worth my time to read. I used to read all the John Grisham novels, until they got so formulaic. I like Elizabeth Berg, but have read most of her stuff. I read the entire Harry Potter series, but have no desire to read The Hunger Games, which seems to be a popular series these days.

So yesterday, I posted this on Facebook:

I'm kind of itchy to read something. I generally like historical fiction, chick lit, even young adult reads. Nothing heavy or depressing. Any suggestions?

Let me tell you, if you want a lot of chatter on your Facebook page, ask people what you should read. I got 39 responses, including some farcical suggestion from Mike that I read some dumb star Wars book. Mike's comment aside, I hated to lose such good suggestions or to keep them to myself.

So here you go: what to read if you don't know what to read:
  1. Jen Lancaster memoirs 
  2. Highlander by Diana Gabaldon
  3. Beverly Lewis Amish series
  4. Jennifer Weiner, Sophie Kinsella, Emily Giffin
  5. Real Vampires Hate Their Thighs by Gerry Bartlett
  6. Such a Pretty Fat by Jen Lancaster
  7. Marian Keys, Jane Greene, Elin Hildebrand, Kristin Hannah
  8. Bossypants by Tina Fey (honestly, I've started it and am not loving it)
  9. Left Neglected by Lisa Genova
  10. The Virgin Cure by Amy McKay
  11. Killing Lincoln
  12. James Patterson
  13. War Horse
  14. Becoming Marie Antoinette
  15. Sarah's Key (which I've read and loved!)
  16. The Help (again, read it, loved it)
  17. Secret Daughter
  18. The Secret Life of Bees (I've read it, but just might read it again)
  19. Me and Emma
  20. The Kite Runner
  21. Sharon Kay Penman - Here Be Dragons, Falls the Shadow, The Reckoning
  22. When Christ and His Saints Slept trilogy
  23. The Mary Russell series by Laurie R. King
  24. Tana French
  25. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by
    Laura Hillenbrand
  26. The Aquanet Diaries by Jennifer Nivens
  27. The Brides quartet by Nora Roberts
  28. Prairie Tale by Melissa Gilbert
  29. The Next Always by Nora Roberts
  30. Water for Elephants (one of my favorites)
  31. Blaize Clements -- apparently good for people who like cats and mysteries, an odd combination
  32. Catherine Coulter
  33. The Legacy by Stephen Frey -- someone has a video of the JFK assassination from the other side of the grassy knoll and tons of people want to get it
  34. The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson
  35. Hangman's Daughter
  36. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
  37. 11/23/63 by Stephen King
  38. Philippa Gregory
  39. Jean Plaidy
  40. The Story of Beautiful Girl
  41. New Found Land -- about the Lewis & Clark expedition
I'm going to highjack borrow Annie's Nook and download a few books. I think I'll start with Prairie Tale -- who wouldn't want the dish about Little House on the Prairie? Then The Aquanet Diaries, which is a memoir about growing up in Richmond, Indiana where I lived for a few years when I was a little girl. After that it's a toss up between The Legacy and Unbroken.

So, what are you reading? Anything else I should add to this list?

5 comments:

Michelle said...

You know what else was a fun read that I've now read twice? "The Princess Bride" (good parts version) by William Goldman.

Jessica McCoy said...

Well I think you should DEFINATELY read Hunger Games before the movie comes out. They are amazing! The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is great too!

I'm not sure if you are a fan of Stephanie Meyer but her latest book The Host is really good.

I just started reading a series by Maggie Stiefvater. It's the Wolves of Mercy Falls. I'm about 90 pages in and it's pretty good. It's a young adult series.

Ellen aka Ellie said...

Check out Goodreads. It's a great website on which to connect with friends and get book suggestions. I set a goal to read 50 books this year, and I met it and passed it.

I felt like the site held me accountable in a fun way!

kimybeee said...

beverly lewis is great if you like amish stories. i read a lot of her books several years ago. jennifer weiner is funny.

my fave author is karen kingsbury. she writes faith based fiction. and before you think boring, she really does a great job of including real life stuff like infedility, illness, secrets and all kinds of good stuff. i enjoy her stuff because she writes a lot of series stuff and i love to read a book and pick up the next one and continue the story.

she does have several stand alone books that are great reads too. like dandelion dust was made into a movie, the book was great, but i haven't seen the movie.

she has two books about 9/11 called one tuesday morning and beyond tuesday morning. they would make great movies - awesome story and not what you would expect!

i have also read a series of books about the yada yada prayer group. about a very diverse group of women that meet and support each other. also faith based, but very real. i think there is about 7 or 8 of those - i have loaned them many times.

i have not read a book in forever! if i start a book and i love it, i don't put it down!!! i have stayed up 24 hours before to read a book...harry potter is about a two day read for me!!! i really miss it and have considered an ipad or nook so i can kinda take it with me so i can start again, but i never have.

sounds like you got lots of good suggestions! happy reading!!

Katie said...

I'm reading Little Women (strangely, for the first time!) and re-reading Sense and Sensibility.