need good read -- ASAP!

[Michelle @ Living Waters]

I've been in a book drought for some time, not able to find anything to love, love, love. (I'm talking about for me, not my children). Anyone have anything they've read recently that they couldn't put down? Fiction or Non. Anything! I'm a much nicer person when I have a book I'm really into...
Thanks!

[JudoMom]

I've been in a book drought for some time, not able to find anything to love, love, love. (I'm talking about for me, not my children). Anyone have anything they've read recently that they couldn't put down? Fiction or Non. Anything! I'm a much nicer person when I have a book I'm really into...
Thanks!

I liked Cormac (http://www.amazon.com/Cormac-Sonny-Brewer/dp/1596923024) (thanks to Kelli in TN), The Rescue Artist (http://www.amazon.com/Rescue-Artist-Thieves-Missing-Masterpiece/dp/B000EMSZB0) (thanks to Jill, OK), and Deconstructing Penguins (http://www.amazon.com/Rescue-Artist-Thieves-Missing-Masterpiece/dp/B000EMSZB0).

[Carol in Cal.]

I just finished rereading James Michener's "Hawaii."

I had last read it maybe 25 years ago or so.

I was amazed, knowing so much more about history and sociology now than I did then, at how well it stood the test of time. Also, once you finish that unbelievably long and boring first part (the geological history), it is very very well-written and enjoyable.

[Ohio12]

Haven't read off the best seller's list in a few years, (parenting and hsing will do that to you!) but when I did last. I liked:

The Liar's Club by Mary Karr
and
Peace Like a River by Leif Enger

also a couple years ago I devoured ALL the novels by Reynolds Price and his memoir

I am a Christian and would also recommend for non-fiction:

Family Driven Faith by Ravi Zacharias

[Tracy in Ky]

Some of my recent favorites include The Omnivore's Dilemma; Animal, Vegetable, Miracle; The Long Emergency; Real Food, Food Inc.

[Wendi]

Well, I'm currently addicted to the Amelia Peabody mysteries by Elizabeth Peters.

When I read The Lord of the Rings, I definitely couldn't put it down. Also, try Connie Willis' book The Doomsday Book. Wow.

Wendi

[Rebecca in GA]

How about The Shack? I'm reading it now. It's Christian fiction, if that matters.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle?

Something by Jane Austen or Louisa May Alcott?

Middlemarch?

To Kill a Mockingbird?

Tom Sawyer, or some other wanderlust kind of adventure novel?

Two Christian NF books I've liked recently are Where's Mom? The High Calling of Wives and Mothers and Biblical Womanhood in the Home.

Oh, and I really like Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie mysteries. :)

[battlemaiden]

I'm always suggesting Dorothy Sayer's Lord Peter Wimsey mystery series. They are the only fiction books that I love, love, love.

I usually steer clear of any current best-selling fiction. I still need to get through the classics I missed in my highly limited literary youth. ;) I'm getting ready to read the George MacDonald fiction titles- At The Back of the North Wind, etc.

I also like Stephen Ambrose and McCullough for non-fiction titles.

Jo

[cowgirl]

For Christian fiction, one of my favorites is the Mark of the Lion trilogy by Francine Rivers. The first book is A Voice in the Wind. I loved them so much that I'm getting ready to start them again, after reading them only a year ago. :001_smile:

[Mrs. Readsalot]

If you like dogs*******Marley and Me

If you like Jane Austen****Lost in Austen (it is a choose your own adventure and really, really fun)

If you like gardening****The $64 Tomato (laugh out loud funny)

If you Like(d) Valerie Bertinelli ***Losing It (I found this surprisingly good)

If you like to be informed *****The Autoimmune Epidemic

If you want more animal stories***Dog Days by Jon Katz is very good

[Marie in Oh]

Gone With the Wind. It is surpisingly (to me) a page turner.

[HollyDay]

Pretense by Lori Wick
True Honor by Dee Henderson
Lies Women Believe by deMoss
First Among Equals by Jeffry Archer

[K-FL]

I'm reading "the Sunne in Splendor." It's historical fiction on the War of the Roses, Edward IV & Richard III. Good prelude to the Boylen women books.

http://www.amazon.com/Sunne-Splendour-Sharon-Kay-Penman/dp/0345363132

[Fourmother]

If you love classic literature, mysteries, and science fiction, Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series starting with The Eyre Affair will fit the bill. It's great fun!

[Eliana]

Bujold's Vorkosigan series is, imho, irresistible... and long enough that you will be guaranteed reading material for at least a little while! [Her novels have been reissued in omnibus editions: Cordelia's Honor; Young Miles; Miles, Mystery, and Mayhem; Miles Errant; Memory (a stand alone novel); Miles in Love (which has the absolutely delightful A Civil Campaign); Miles, Mutants, and Microbes.

Jo Walton's Ha'penny was one I could not put down (though I think Farthing should be read first).

I was a beta reader for Sherwood Smith's King's Shield (third in a series, start with Inda and Fox (have Fox on hand, Inda ends with a cliffhanger) - rich, compelling fantasy.

Bohjalean's Double Bind is mesmerizing (have The Great Gatsby around b/c you will want to reread it after reading this book!)

Dunnett's Lymond chronicles are definitely page turners - despite the meticulous research!

Passage by Connie Willis was so amazing that I gave copies to all my nearest and dearest...

Emma Bull's War for the Oaks is gripping and Freedom and Necessity (co-authored with Brust) was, despite it's bulk, also very hard to put down.

Elizabeth Moon rights passable space opera, but her Speed of Darkness is really compelling.

I still find Middlemarch almost impossible to put down... it is one of my absolute favorite books.

Another compelling favorite is Ishiguro's Remains of the Day - it is a very understated book, but surprisingly compelling.

If you can handle intense psychological mysteries PD James and Elizabeth George are both hard to put down (I read them when I was taking organic chemistry.. the only time in my life I have been able to handle your average mystery book... I can't touch them now!)

My kids are entranced by Napoleon's Buttons: 17 molecules that changed history - it is a favorite of mine, and they persuaded me to start reading it aloud to them.

Some other can't put it down non-fiction:
Rare Encounters with Ordinary Birds
Geese of Beaver Bog (I love Heinrich's books!)
Red Tails in Love
Catherine of Aragon - Matttingly
Galileo's Daughter and Longitude both by Sobel
Warren's bio of King John

[Stacia]

"Into Africa: The Epic Adventures of Stanley and Livingstone (http://www.amazon.com/Into-Africa-Adventures-Stanley-Livingstone/dp/0767910745/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210969238&sr=1-1)" by Martin Dugard (just finished & it was fascinating)

"The Glass Castle: A Memoir (http://www.amazon.com/Glass-Castle-Memoir-Jeannette-Walls/dp/074324754X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210969322&sr=1-1)" by Jeannette Walls

"The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear (http://www.amazon.com/13-Lives-Captain-Blue-Bear/dp/1585677248/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210969381&sr=1-1)" by Walter Moers (not for everyone, but I found it hysterically funny & entertaining)

"Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress (http://www.amazon.com/Balzac-Little-Chinese-Seamstress-Novel/dp/0385722206/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210969502&sr=1-1)" by Dai Sijie (loved this book -- probably the best I've read in a long while)

"In the Company of the Courtesan (http://www.amazon.com/Company-Courtesan-Novel-Sarah-Dunant/dp/0812974042/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210969667&sr=1-1)" by Sara Dunant

Like you, I'm looking for a good book to get into (for myself). I've read quite a few lately that I ended up not liking or they were just so-so, not living up to expectation or anticipation. (Some of my recent reads that I haven't particularly enjoyed were: "Love in the Time of Cholera", "The Queen of the South", and "Perfume: The Story of a Murderer", with "Perfume" being one I really hated.)

[Michelle @ Living Waters]

Thanks so much everyone!! My library list is now long!