Showing posts with label best reading. Show all posts
Showing posts with label best reading. Show all posts

Thursday, July 23, 2009

New List of Summer Recommendations

While reading through the magazine Woman's Day (August 4th issue) I saw that they had a site for readers:

http://www.womansday.com/Content/Family-Lifestyle/The-Woman-s-Day-Reading-List

On the site, they state: "Every couple weeks we will submit new reviews for books we love so you can find a page turner of your own. Settle in and find a new story to enchant you."

I thought it was a great list of books and wanted to share it with you. I have marked (*) the books that I want to read, and commented on those that I have read. It might be worth checking out the site every so often to see what is new they are recommending. Each book has a brief review with it. Here's an example:

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
This story of two Jewish cousins who set out to make it big in the world of comic books in the 1940s is funny, sad, exciting and touching all at once. Much more than a glimpse inside the world of comics, this novel's historical backdrop give it a much deeper and richer meaning. And even though it's more than 600 pages, the story seems to go by in a flash thanks to Chabon's inspired prose. He's a truly gifted writer. -- Angela Ebron


The books listed on the site so far are the following:

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruis Zafron-good book

Body Surfing by Anita Shreve

Chocolat by Joanne Harris

Admission by Jean Hanff Korelitz

Are You There Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea by Chelsea Handler

*The Girls from Ames by Jeffrey Zaslow

*The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

*Broken: A Love Story by Lisa Jones

Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell

Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri

The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer

My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult-one of my all-time favorite books! I highly recommend it!

Covert: My Years Infiltrating the Mob by Bob Delaney with Dave Scheiber

Very Valentine by Adriana Trigiani

Girls Like Us by Sheila Weller

Belle in the Big Apple by Brooke Parkhurst

Nights of Rain and Stars by Maeve Binchy

But Enough About Me: How a Small-Town Girl Went from Shag Carpet to the Red Carpet by Jancee Dunn

*Apples and Oranges: My Brother and Me, Lost and Found by Marie Brenner

The Uncommon Reader: A Novella by Alan Bennett

*The Favorites by Mary Yukari Waters

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides-excellent read

Devil in the White City by Erik Larson-another excellent read

The Smart One and the Pretty One by Claire LaZebnik

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult-good, but not her best

*Novel About My Wife by Emily Perkins

How Not to Die by Jan Garavaglia

*Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo

A Fortunate Age by Joanna Smith Rakoff

Paula Deen: It Ain’t All About the Cookin’ by Paula Deen with Sherry Suib Cohen

The Vagrants by Yiyun Li

The Kite Runner by Kahled Hoseini

*Atonement by Ian McEwan

The Romantic Movement by Alain de Botton

Telex from Cuba by Rachel Kushner

*The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb

The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards-I loved this book

When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris

Cheer! Inside the Secret World of College Cheerleaders by Kate Torgovnick

Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

*The Piano Teacher by Janice Y. K. Lee

The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs

*Little Bee by Chris Cleave

Perfectly Imperfect by Lee Woodruff

Inside Out Girl by Tish Cohen

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon-see my last review!

Hope that this gives you some more ideas for books TBR! It sure did me! Let me know if you have read any of these and would recommend them!

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

2008 Summer Reading?

Looking for some summer reading? Below are the recommendations from Barnes and Noble. There are a couple listed here that sound interesting that I may read. However, out of the 17 listed, I only found 4 that interest me. I would be curious to hear from others if they have read any of these. The ones that I think sound good are ***.

Summer 2008 Selections (from Barnes and Noble):

The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway (Hardcover) ***
In this haunting debut, one musician's act of courage serves as a catalyst in the midst of a war-torn city.
The Outcast by Sadie Jones (Hardcover)
Upon his release from prison in 1950s London, young Lewis Aldridge confronts both familial and societal hurdles.
Beautiful Boy by David Sheff (Hardcover)
In this heartrending memoir, a father struggles to help his teenage son overcome an addiction to meth.
Tell Me Where It Hurts by Nick Trout (Hardcover)
A day in the life of a veterinary surgeon -- full of humor, heartbreak, and astonishing technological advances.
Mudbound by Hillary Jordan (Hardcover) ***
This firestorm of a first novel employs numerous voices to depict a tale of southern history, tragedy, and romance.
The Well and the Mine by Ginny Phillips (Paperback) ***
The ripple effect of a baby thrown into a well reveals the racial and class divisions in a southern coal-mining town.
The Billionaire's Vinegar by Benjamin Wallace (Hardcover)
The relationship between wine collectors, hubris, deceit, and folly is exquisitely decanted in this illuminating work.
God's Middle Finger by Richard Grant (Paperback)
A travel writer succumbs to the dangerous allure of the Sierra Madre in this harrowing yet often humorous book.
The Painter from Shanghai by Jennifer Cody Epstein (Hardcover)
A historical painter's redemptive career is revealed in the pages of this mesmerizing debut novel.
Love Marriage by V. V. Ganeshananthan (Paperback)
Marriages -- both Arranged and Love -- are explored in this unforgettable novel of family history.
Bitter Sea by Charles N. Li (Hardcover)
In an unforgettable trip through Chinese history, Li details his youth as the son of a political prisoner.
Enders Hotel by Brandon R. Schrand (Paperback)
Schrand's memoir of his youth in a decrepit Idaho hotel serves as a counterpoint to Eloise's life in the glorious Plaza.
Blood Kin by Ceridwen Dovey (Hardcover)
Dovey's brief yet bold novel explores the bonds of loyalty between a deposed dictator and his faithful servants.
A Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammed Hanif (Hardcover)
This rollicking political satire skewers Middle Eastern politics, American intervention, and religious hypocrisy.
Bicycling Beyond the Divide by Daryl Farmer (Hardcover)
Farmer's two treks across the western states -- 20 years apart -- offer a unique view of progress on several fronts.
The Taste of Sweet by Joanne Chen (Hardcover)
A self-confessed sweets fanatic takes readers on an adventurous journey through the world of taste and imagination.
The Outlander by Gil Adamson (Hardcover) ***
A recently widowed young woman flees west to escape her vengeful in-laws in this poetic historical novel. (Note: of course this sounds good...the author has the same name as my maiden name!)

Then I found the list on the summer debut novels of 2007, last summer. I have read none of them, and have only ever heard of 2 of them. Am I that out of touch? Because I have read some really good books over the past year. Anyway, I think that I will keep these 2 lists and perhaps keep my eyes open to finding at least some of them to read. I will keep you posted! Please leave a comment if you have ready any of the books on this blog post. So far, I am 0 for 27.

The Early Word on Summer’s Debut Novels (2007):

CONFESSIONS OF A WALL STREET SHOESHINE BOY By Doug Stumpf (HarperCollins; July 3)
The Précis: Vanity Fair deputy editor’s novel about a Brazilian shoe-shiner to downtown businessmen who stumbles on an insider-trading scheme.
THE HEADMASTER RITUAL By Taylor Antrim (Houghton Mifflin; July 9)
The Précis: Hypereducated (Stanford, Oxford) freelancer’s novel about a tony boarding school with a sinister headmaster.
THE TENDERNESS OF WOLVES By Stef Penney (Simon & Schuster; July 10)
The Précis: The 38-year-old’s Jack London–style tale is set in nineteenth-century northern Canada—a highbrow, atmospheric murder mystery.
THE SAVIOR By Eugene Drucker (Simon & Schuster; July 17)
The Précis: A lead violinist from the Emerson String Quartet writes about a young violinist forced to play for dying concentration-camp inmates.
THE SEPTEMBERS OF SHIRAZ By Dalia Sofer (Ecco; August 1)
The Précis: Jewish-Iranian immigrant’s fictionalization of the fate of Jews in the early days of the Iranian Revolution.
LOTTERY By Patricia Wood (Putnam; August 2)
The Précis: Ph.D. candidate who lives on a sailboat in Hawaii wrote Lottery on the advice of mentor Paul Theroux. A retarded man wins the Washington State lottery.
LOVING FRANK By Nancy Horan (Ballantine; August 7)
The Précis: Former resident of Frank Lloyd Wright territory (Oak Park, Illinois) fictionalizes the architect’s scandalous affair with the wife of a client.
THE CHICAGO WAY By Michael Harvey (Knopf; August 21)
The Précis: The executive producer of A&E’s Cold Case Files tries his hand at a Chicago-based thriller about—what else?—a cold case that turns red-hot.
GIFTED By Nikita Lalwani (Random House; September 11)
The Précis: An Indian-Welsh former BBC director invents a genius child whose overbearing immigrant parents try to get her into Oxford at age 14.
MAYNARD AND JENNICA By Rudolph Delson (Houghton Mifflin; September 18)
The Précis: A former lawyer writes a sort of fictional oral history— with a huge cast of narrators—about a meet-cute love affair set in post-9/11 New York.