[shy_bear]

I love to read esp. during the summer since our routine goes out the door! I flew through the Twilight series in a week and need some reading suggestions????

[loveajax]

Shy, I am really into like "good" mysteries these days. Right now I am reading a book by Louis Bayard called The Pale Blue Eye and loving it.

Some other books I've read recently that I really liked: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, The Historian (also about a vampire!), and the "Paddy Burke" series by Denise Mina (oh, I love her!). If you like vampire stuff, I heard the Sookie Stackhouse series (on which True Blood on HBO is based) is really good too, though I haven't read it.

Can't wait to see other recommendations. I am going on vacation soon and want to bring many books!

(PS: I read the first two books in the Twilight series, and "cheated" by looking at synopses of the last two books and now that I know what happens am not sure if I want to read the last two?!).

[lovemy2boys]

YES YOU WANT TO READ THE LAST TWO!!!!!!!!!

[tweetybirdus]

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls is an excellent read.

Icy Sparks by Gwyn Hyman Rubio was one that I couldn't put down.

Escape by Carolyn Jessop, the first 50 pages were difficult to get into but then it picks up quickly and I absolutely loved it. It's a true story.

Right now, I'm reading One Fifth Avenue by Candace Bushnell but I'm having trouble getting into it.

[loveajax]

OK, Lovemy, I trust you!!

Oh, Tweety, the Glass Castle....My DH is not a big reader (except of the sports page!) and we both read this book and were sooooooooo moved by it. Really beautiful!

[paigeturner]

I Loved the Glass Castle! Here are some of my other favorites:

Broken for You by Stephanie Kallos

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Anything written by Alice Hoffman

The Rock Orchard by Paula Wall

[plum93]

I am a HUGE reader and some of my all time favorite books-

The Namesake
A thousand splendid suns
American Wife
I know this much is true
While I was gone
White Oleander
Summer Sisters
Rapture of Canaan

Also just read 'Happens every day' (very raw but good).

Easy summer reads I got addicted to were the Emily Griffin series and Jennifer Wiener books.

[Nevada Jen]

Tweety, I am reading One Fifth also. I am almost done and I am thinking it wasn't worth pushing myself so hard to get into it. Kind of a disappointment.

My new thing is I love reading books on my Blackberry (you can do it on most PDA phones). The books are super cheap and I love that my phone is backlit so I can read in bed without lights and then just fall asleep. I also love that it appears to anyone watching me that I'm working!

I enjoyed the Diane Mott Davidson books about a caterer who gets herself into various crime investigations. SHe talks about what she is cooking and the recipes are included!
Sweet Revenge, Double Shot and Fatally Flakey come to mind.

I recently found an offer similar to Patricia Cromwell's forensic books. Simon Beckett

[loveajax]

Nevada, it doesn't strain your eyes (reading on Crackberry, er I mean Blackberry)? I have heard of something called Kindle...I don't know if that is similar or not?? I like the sound of those Davidson books -- thanks!

[SuzBerg]

I agree with Paige - I just read "Time Traveler's Wife" and LOVED it (although it does take a while to get into it and kind of figure it out, I don't usually read Sci-Fi and the first time I tried to read it I put it down for TWO years but it was a FANTASTIC read). I also enjoyed "Summer Sisters". We are reading "While I was Gone" for this months Book Club, so I'm glad to hear you liked it Paige!

I have read a few Jodi Picoult books lately and my favorite was "My Sister's Keeper" although it is very sad and a lot of people hated it (and were mad at me for recommending it ) - I enjoyed it, probably because I read it from the perspective of having a sick kiddo.

I also highly recommend "Still Alice", it's about a Harvard Linguistics Professor who is diagnosed with Early-Onset Alzheimer's Disease. It's written from her perspective an I found it fascinating (but again it was sad).

I just finished "The Corner of Bitter and Sweet" and I thought it was good (although again very sad).

My theme seems to be sad books - I'm going to keep updated with this thread so I can read some books that aren't so darn sad!

[Fran27]

If you like sci-fi/space operas, I suggest Peter F.Hamilton. I read one and I was hooked. There is a series of two (Pandora's Star and Judas Enchained) and a series of six (The night dawn's Trilogy, the first one is the Reality Dysfunction). He's writing another series (first two are out) but it's best to read Pandora's star first.

[belleinblue1978]

I'm all about Michener right now. Yep, all older books, but still really good. I also just finished "All Quiet on the Western Front".

There is a new Stephanie Plum novel out, so I'm looking forward to that.

Anything by Dean Koontz is good, the Odd Thomas series especially.

[Fran27]

Originally Posted by belleinblue1978

an Koontz is good, the Odd Thomas series especially.

I like Stephen King better, but I need to check that out!

[belleinblue1978]

Originally Posted by Fran27

I like Stephen King better, but I need to check that out!

Odd Thomas, although sad is so uplifting, I just have had a good feeling when I've finished those books. I haven't gotten to the fourth one yet though.

[sbaglio]

Blindness by Jose Saramago

The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst

The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Interpreter of Maladies by Jumpha Lahiri