[nikkianni]

I've never read East of Eden but I loved Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath. I should reread those. It's been a while.
I forgot Dean Koontz. He's supposedly working on the third book in a Frankenstien series. I've got the first two and I really like them. Funny though, I'm not really a fan of his other books.

[taramayrn]

I have East of Eden here in my book box, but I just couldn't get into it.

[thanksgivingmom]

I am reading "The Host" which is by the same person that wrote the Twilight series...confusing at first because it's got some sci-fi stuff, but good writing.

The last two books I read were:

**Mistaken Identity: Two Families, One Survivor, Unwavering Hope - this is the one about the two girls int he accident who's identities were switched....it was a LOT about God and their faith, which I usually don't read a lot of to be honest, but this was great - cried like the whole time though.
**Thirteen Reasons Why - about a teen that commits suicide and tells why on a series of 13 tapes. Very interesting, and again sad. But a good story.

I've got three on the way to me from Bookswim so I'll let you know how those go!

[OakShannon]

Saya - Yes! Yes! I love P&P. One of my all time favorites. I read it first in high school and thought it was the most boring book ever written - a bunch of women sitting around worrying about catching themselves a husband. Yawn . . . It took rereading as an adult to get Austen's delightfully dry wit. Elizabeth Bennett is probably my favorite fictional character. I had very mixed feelings about The Memory Keeper's Daughter. It was well written, but by the end, I absolutely loathed the main character - which made it hard to really like the book.

I will second the recommendation for Glass Castles. It was a wonderful memoir. And if you like memoirs, What is the What was really good as well. It's about a Sudanese refugee and takes the reader all the way from his escape from his village through his years in a refugee camp to his experiences trying to adjust to American culture. Three Weeks With My Brother is another good memoir I read recently. Oh, and another one Saya mentioned - My Year of Magical Thinking - a very powerful book. Very sad.

The Kite Runner, The Secret Life of Bees, The Poisonwood Bible . . . All great books. This is making me want to pull some oldies off of my bookshelf. This is great. I'm getting some good recommendations and it's reminding me of some of my favorite books that I've already read too.

[thanksgivingmom]

I LOVE LOVE LOVE memiors so recommendations for them are right up my alley!!!

[nikkianni]

Originally Posted by thanksgivingmom

I LOVE LOVE LOVE memiors so recommendations for them are right up my alley!!!

My Mother's Keeper. It's by Bette Davis' daughter. I got it out of curiousity from our local secondhand book place and it was pretty interesting.

[SuzBerg]

Tmom - I have "The Host" on my nightstand as well. I started it at a Doc appt of Em's but was distracted and didn't really get into it.

Sheeeesh I should get off the dang computer and go read something

[OakShannon]

Suz - no kidding! I'm going to have a 2 foot high stack by my bed tonight.

Has anyone else ever read Jane Hamilton's book A Map of the World? I don't think I've seen it mentioned yet. It was such a powerful book. The characters are finely drawn and it felt incredibly real and believable to me. Hamilton's best book in my opinion. It's about a woman who is babysitting her best friend's children and, in a moment of inattention, the little girl gets out into the yard and drowns in the family's pond. That's really how the story starts and then you see how everyone deals with the aftermath. It's so good - some of the images from that story will never leave me. But it's one book I've never been able to pick up again because it's such a painful story.

[thanksgivingmom]

Suz, you've gotta push through the first 40 pages or so and then it's MUCH more clear.

[Kat-L]

Originally Posted by hesabanana

American Gods by Neil Gaiman. Loved it....so much I was talking to it! Smart sci fi.

I loved that book!!

I also love anything by John Sandford. His murder mysteries with Lucas Davenport are awesome!

Also, I just finished Duma Key by Stephen King. It took about 30 pages to really get started but it was a fabulous book. More of a mystery than a scary sci-fi type of book. Kind of on the order of "Bag of Bones". It was a great story. I couldn't put it down.

[SuzBerg]

Originally Posted by thanksgivingmom

Suz, you've gotta push through the first 40 pages or so and then it's MUCH more clear.

So basically it's going to be like training for the 5K?

[thanksgivingmom]

haha, basically yes except I don't think ever just decide running is fun!

[humanpitchpipe]

Right now I am reading Sunstorm by Arthur Clarke and Stephen Baxter. It is the second book in the Time Odessy trilogy. The first book is Time's Eye and the last book is Firstborn. Arthur Clarke wrote 2001 Space Odessy. So these are sci-fi books. I really like them so far. For light reading I am reading the Nancy Fairbanks culinary mystery books. Right now I am on Death a La Orange. I discovered Paperback Swap this summer online (paperbackswap.com) and I love it! Basically you post books that you have read and other members request them from you. All you pay is the postage to send the book ($2 - $3). When you request books, you pay nothing. I don't think I will buy a new book again.

[jwmjwm]

Quote from SuzBerg (accidentally deleted the quote marks):

2. Molokai - About a young Hawain Girl and the Leper Colonies - I know it sounds awful but it was a Great book I loved it.

3. The Thirteenth Tale - A mystery kind of. It was a really good book but I'm not sure I liked it (if that makes sense).
----------
Suz, it seems like we have really similar taste in books! I LOVED Molokai - it was one of the best books I've read in a long time. And I had a similar reaction to The Thirteenth Tale - I respected it, but didn't love it.

The Secret Life of Bees and the Kite Runner are really good as well. And Atonement - I read that recently and really liked it, though it's not a "feel-good" book.

[Tigger27]

Well, I still have the last Harry Potter book to read when I finish the book(s) I'm reading now - I know, shame on me for not having read it by now, but it took me a while to get to reading it .

I read all the Twilight series too - LOVE them. I also just recently started the Dresden Files series - it's sci-fi about a wizard who's a detective, love them too.

I also read "The Host" - Loved that too.

I second Tara's suggestion of Kathy Reichs - on her suggestion I've read pretty much all of them - they were great =).

I just got some new books recommended to me by my family when I was visiting them this past week - so now I'm reading the Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull and absolutely love them.

I also have the first book in the Looking Glass Wars series that's suppose to be good.

Tamora Pierce is another author...a lot of mine are fantasy/sci-fi/mystery books that I really enjoy.