Book Recommendations

[hopecounts]

The Painted Girls
www.amazon.com/The-Painted-Girls-Novel-ebook/dp/B008U4BQWO/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1372459418&sr=1-1&keywords=the+painted+girls

Such a good book with lots of P&CE related topics.
Historical Fiction set In Paris between 1878 and 1881

[Deleted]

You have to read Wool by Hugh Howey. I bought it because Wool 1-5 was like 7 bucks on Amazon, and it had such amazing reviews. Which it lived up to.

Absolutely amazing book. Best thing I have read in years and years. I dont want to give you any plot stuff cos its best if you come to it blind.

[Deleted]

Mar 25, 2013 15:50:53 GMT -5 asdfjkl said:

Mar 25, 2013 15:32:29 GMT -5 IIOY said:

Almost everything Bill Bryson writes about is enjoyable. His book about England is the only one I found to be plodding. His book about Australia was my favorite.

This is the first book of his that I have read.  I keep meaning to read "A Short History of Almost Everything" or whatever it's called.

So many books, so little time.

I haven't read At Home, but I really liked Walk in the Woods, Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, and I'm a Stranger Here Myself. The last one being great to read even as you're reading a novel and want to mix it up. Short little columns collected into book form, that you can pick up whenever you feel like it without needing to stay with it long. I love that cranky old man.

[caden]

I'm reading At Home right now. It's fascinating. It goes in unexpected directions. Some might say tangents, but they're interesting. I'm definitely learning a lot.

[Deleted]

I just read When She Woke by Hillary Jordan (http://www.amazon.com/When-She-Woke-A-Novel/dp/1616201932/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1373283297&sr=8-1&keywords=when+she+woke) It's about sometime in the not-so-distant future when abortion has been made illegal in 42 states and it is prosecuted as murder, and criminals are genetically altered to change the color of their skins. So when the protagonist wakes up, she is red, the color of the murderers.

It was really really heavily pro-choice obviously but I think it's not really that "pro-abortion" if that makes sense. It's kind of a combo of Scarlet Letter and Handmaids Tale, like in a really obvious way, which was kind of annoying at times, but overall it was pretty good. It's an interesting look at church and state, abortion rights, and then criminal justice in general.

[darnkatz]

Jul 8, 2013 6:37:19 GMT -5 @mrsbecky07 said:

I just read When She Woke by Hillary Jordan (http://www.amazon.com/When-She-Woke-A-Novel/dp/1616201932/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1373283297&sr=8-1&keywords=when+she+woke) It's about sometime in the not-so-distant future when abortion has been made illegal in 42 states and it is prosecuted as murder, and criminals are genetically altered to change the color of their skins. So when the protagonist wakes up, she is red, the color of the murderers.

It was really really heavily pro-choice obviously but I think it's not really that "pro-abortion" if that makes sense. It's kind of a combo of Scarlet Letter and Handmaids Tale, like in a really obvious way, which was kind of annoying at times, but overall it was pretty good. It's an interesting look at church and state, abortion rights, and then criminal justice in general.

I just finished this, and it was a decent read. I found myself getting pretty pissed at a few points, but I'm always angry these days because of the shit that is going down in Texas and elsewhere. 

I also just finished The Art Forger for a book club, and it was a quick read that kept my attention. I sped through it because I wanted to find out what happened. It's definitely great if you are an art nerd. 

[ChillyMcFreeze]

Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson... I had to come here to recommend it right when I finished it. I haven't been in such a glass case of emotion over a book in a long time. It's a drama/thriller kind of read.

Brief synopsis with no spoilers: An amnesiac keeps a journal to try to piece together her life as she can't make new memories or retain any memories from the last 20 years. The things she finds out get crazier and crazier. You start to wonder what's memory and what's fantasy.

[orangello]

Jun 28, 2013 18:12:47 GMT -5 @reeve said:

You have to read Wool by Hugh Howey. I bought it because Wool 1-5 was like 7 bucks on Amazon, and it had such amazing reviews. Which it lived up to.

Absolutely amazing book. Best thing I have read in years and years. I dont want to give you any plot stuff cos its best if you come to it blind.

Can I just say thanks for this rec?  I looooooved this.  I read the 2nd one too, I didn't love it as much until the end, and am now impatiently waiting for #3 that I pre-ordered on Amazon

And did you hear Ridley Scott is doing this as his next movie???  OMG.

[cattledogkisses]

I'm currently reading Letters to a Young Scientist by E. O. Wilson and loving it.  I checked Amazon and it has 4.5 stars, so I feel validated in my good feelings about it, lol.  Here's the synopsis:

Pulitzer Prize–winning biologist Edward O. Wilson imparts the wisdom of his storied career to the next generation.

Edward O. Wilson has distilled sixty years of teaching into a book for students, young and old. Reflecting on his coming-of-age in the South as a Boy Scout and a lover of ants and butterflies, Wilson threads these twenty-one letters, each richly illustrated, with autobiographical anecdotes that illuminate his career—both his successes and his failures—and his motivations for becoming a biologist. At a time in human history when our survival is more than ever linked to our understanding of science, Wilson insists that success in the sciences does not depend on mathematical skill, but rather a passion for finding a problem and solving it. From the collapse of stars to the exploration of rain forests and the oceans’ depths, Wilson instills a love of the innate creativity of science and a respect for the human being’s modest place in the planet’s ecosystem in his readers.

[Deleted]

Aug 15, 2013 12:41:48 GMT -5 orangello said:

Jun 28, 2013 18:12:47 GMT -5 @reeve said:

You have to read Wool by Hugh Howey. I bought it because Wool 1-5 was like 7 bucks on Amazon, and it had such amazing reviews. Which it lived up to.

Absolutely amazing book. Best thing I have read in years and years. I dont want to give you any plot stuff cos its best if you come to it blind.

Can I just say thanks for this rec?  I looooooved this.  I read the 2nd one too, I didn't love it as much until the end, and am now impatiently waiting for #3 that I pre-ordered on Amazon

And did you hear Ridley Scott is doing this as his next movie???  OMG.

Yeah, I cant wait for the movie! I have been reading the "Shift" series which is sort of about Silo 1 and how it all started. Its good too. And if your interested, you should read about the history of how Hugh Howley set himself up. He retained the rights to the ebooks, and he is the first author (I think) to have been able to do it. After it has already done so well digitally, publishers approached him to buy the rights so they could release paperbacks etc and they usually get the rights to the ebooks - thats standard. His reply was that he didn't really need the paperback, and saw no reason to give up the rights to the ebooks which were making him good money as it was. I am always interested in how these things work, because it mirrors the music industry which I work in. I thought it was cool and that it will have an interesting effect on future new authors, although the way I wrote it probably makes him sound terrible lol.

[Deleted]

I know recs for Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn have been making the rounds on these boards recently. If you liked this book, you might like The Other Typist by Suzanne Rindell. It has a similar feel to it with the use of an unreliable narrator trying to solve a mystery. It's set in NYC in 1924 just as the police are beginning to crack down on speakeasies and bootleggers.

[Deleted]

Aug 14, 2013 21:31:44 GMT -5 ChillyMcFreeze said:

Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson... I had to come here to recommend it right when I finished it. I haven't been in such a glass case of emotion over a book in a long time. It's a drama/thriller kind of read.

Brief synopsis with no spoilers: An amnesiac keeps a journal to try to piece together her life as she can't make new memories or retain any memories from the last 20 years. The things she finds out get crazier and crazier. You start to wonder what's memory and what's fantasy.

Ha my mom just left this for me to read. Maybe I'll bump it up on my "to read" list. 


for historical fiction lovers, I just read "the stolen crown" by susan higganbotham, about the late 15th century in England.  It's told form the point of view of Kate Woodville (younger sister of Elizabeth, wife to Edward IV) and her husband, Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham.  It's really interesting. It takes a while for the story to really pick up - the first half is all about Edward IV putting down rebellions, killing "traitors," dealing with Warwick the kingmaker, etc, but then once Edward dies it gets much easier to follow.  It also really makes it evident how Henry Tudor came to the throne and is a good crash course in the end of the Plantagenets and the beginning of the Tudors. 

[cattledogkisses]

I found a good book recently:  This Will Make You Smarter: New Scientific Concepts to Improve Your Thinking edited by John Brockman.

He posed the question What scientific concept would improve everybody's cognitive toolkit? to the influential thinkers of today, and the book is a collection of their short essay responses.  The subject matter is pretty interesting, and since the essays are only a few pages each it's easy to read and digest in little chunks at a time.

[Deleted]

I'm commenting so I can find the thread later. Sadly, I have nothing recent to add ever since H won me over to Song of Fire and Ice (aka Games of Thrones). I've been reading straight through and I'm on book 3.

If you try it, get through more than just the prologue. It gets better. I have a crush on Daenerys. For genre literature, it's actually quite well written. But definitely violent, in case that's not your cup of tea.

The last thing I read before this series was George Saunders short story collection, The Tenth of December. It was excellent.

Lol, I just realized this is an old thread I'd already commented in. D'oh!

[secretlyevil]

Dana Fuller Ross (aka James Reasoner)'s Wagon West series - every single one of them.

www.goodreads.com/author/show/110739.Dana_Fuller_Ross?from_search=true

John Jakes' North and South Trilogy and Kent Family Chronicles
www.goodreads.com/author/show/5768.John_Jakes?from_search=true

These two authors and the series I mentioned are the best examples of sweeping family sagas ever. Also probably some of the best historical fiction I have ever read. I read these authors back in middle and high school. 

Just ordered the first book of the Wagon West series to re-read. I hope to shake my reading funk by reading something I truly loved back in the day.

ETA: and I had to Google forever to figure out what the Wagon West series was called because I was drawing a complete blank. I could see most of the covers in my head and I remembered many of the individual book titles. However, it took several attempts over a number of days to find Dana Fuller Ross.

ETA 2: Wagon West spin off series were excellent as well.

[cattledogkisses]

I'm only a few chapters in, but I already can't put it down and it strikes me as a book that CEP would like (I'm kind of surprised no one's posted it yet):

Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong

"Americans have lost touch with their history, and in Lies My Teacher Told Me Professor James Loewen shows why. After surveying eighteen leading high school American history texts, he has concluded that not one does a decent job of making history interesting or memorable. Marred by an embarrassing combination of blind patriotism, mindless optimism, sheer misinformation, and outright lies, these books omit almost all the ambiguity, passion, conflict, and drama from our past.

In this revised edition, packed with updated material, Loewen explores how historical myths continue to be perpetuated in today's climate and adds an eye-opening chapter on the lies surrounding 9/11 and the Iraq War. From the truth about Columbus's historic voyages to an honest evaluation of our national leaders, Loewen revives our history, restoring the vitality and relevance it truly possesses.

Thought provoking, nonpartisan, and often shocking, Loewen unveils the real America in this iconoclastic classic beloved by high school teachers, history buffs, and enlightened citizens across the country."

[heyjude]

1. Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn--a marital who done it. Creepy!! Disturbing!! Heroin in literary form!!

2. Wild, Cheryl Strayed--A young woman's life falls apart and then she makes the stupid decision to hike the pacific coast trail in CA and OR but learns some things too. At least she is open about how stupid she is!

3. Eleanor & Park, Rainbow Rowell--a simple but beautiful story of first love. YA but good for all. An NPR best book of 2013. It's like holding hands with your first love in book form. Le sigh.

4. Serena, Ron Rash--If Tony Soprano and Claire Underwood had a baby in an 1930s Appalachian logging town, it would be Serena.

5. Shopgirl, Steve Martin (yes HIM!)--an adorable novella about a young woman who sells hand gloves in a fancy store in LA and her love life. The reason why the book is remarkable is because Steve Martin is a beautiful, beautiful writer.

[Vespasia]

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent. It's based on a the true story of the last woman (person?) executed for murder in Iceland in the 1800s. I really enjoyed it and wished there were more books available from this author. 

When looking for a link I learned that it will be made into a movie staring, of course, Jennifer Lawrence. I'm still not sure how I feel about her playing Serena. 

[Deleted]

I'm currently reading A House in the Sky by Amanda Lindhout. It's really interesting so far (I'm about a third of the way in).

www.amazon.com/A-House-Sky-Memoir/dp/1451645600/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1393448265&sr=8-1&keywords=a+house+in+the+sky

[lasagnasshole]

Right now, I am reading Admission (that was made into a movie with Tina Fey and Paul Rudd). It's good, but homegirl is a bit wordy.

I recently finished Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld. It's about two identical twins who have ESP, and one of them predicts an earthquake in the Midwest.


I've taken some notes from this thread (thanks for reviving it!) but if anybody has books you'd recommend for light reading on vacation, I'm all ears! I am going to the beach next weekend. Humor would be great. I don't like overly frivolous - no interest in something like the Shopaholic series - but I'm not really looking for life-changing nonfiction or Madame Bovary, either. Interesting and stimulating, but easy, quick reading.

[ijack]

I've recommended it here before, but I think Americanah is a book that a lot of you would like.
I just finished the new Wally Lamb - We Are Water and would love to discuss with someone. I love his writing, but damn some of the chapters were hard to read.

[lasagnasshole]

Feb 26, 2014 16:13:34 GMT -5 @soudesafinado said:

OH! And when I moved some stuff on my desk, I found this --> Poking A Dead Frog: Conversations with Today's Top Comedy Writers

This sounds great for my trip! I love learning about the art of comedy.

Sadly, the library does not have it. WOMP WOMP.

[secretlyevil]

the book club board's historical fiction read for Feb was Lady Elizabeth by Alison Weir, it was good!

[2curlydogs]

I just finished up "City of Masks" by Daniel Hecht. Found a new mystery series. Thoroughly entertained

I ESPECIALLY recommend it as an audiobook. I think someone here was asking for good audiobook recs? The narrator on it was amazing. She had me fighting back tears and gasping aloud at the plot twists.

[2curlydogs]

It's been a while, but I have a new recommendation

"The Invisible Bridge" by Julie Orringer

I can't even describe it. Breathtaking. Heartbreaking.

[sangria]

Mar 25, 2013 12:27:41 GMT -5 mominatrix said:

My go-to recommendation, if you're looking for hilarious easy reads, is The Sex Lives of Cannibals. It's nonfiction, the chronicle of a man who followed his girlfriend (wife? don't remember!) to a not-picture-perfect island in the South Pacific.   Its sequel, Getting Stoned with Savages is almost as good; it's another year on another island. His third book, about a trip to China, doesn't stack up.

YES!

I laughed so hard at the first two and then the China book....not so much. 

[sangria]

Ok, sorry. I just fell for the old thread resurrected trick. lol

[mominatrix]

May 7, 2015 16:20:26 GMT -5 sangria said:

Mar 25, 2013 12:27:41 GMT -5 mominatrix said:

My go-to recommendation, if you're looking for hilarious easy reads, is The Sex Lives of Cannibals. It's nonfiction, the chronicle of a man who followed his girlfriend (wife? don't remember!) to a not-picture-perfect island in the South Pacific.   Its sequel, Getting Stoned with Savages is almost as good; it's another year on another island. His third book, about a trip to China, doesn't stack up.

YES!

I laughed so hard at the first two and then the China book....not so much. 

I want to re-read the second one, only for the Darth Vader caterpillar story.

[darnkatz]

I know that we had a thread about minority authors, and I can't find it. But I am seriously loving Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson. It's a biography told in poetry.

Description:
National Book Award Winner

Jacqueline Woodson, one of today's finest writers, tells the moving story of her childhood in mesmerizing verse.

Raised in South Carolina and New York, Woodson always felt halfway home in each place. In vivid poems, she shares what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s, living with the remnants of Jim Crow and her growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement. Touching and powerful, each poem is both accessible and emotionally charged, each line a glimpse into a child’s soul as she searches for her place in the world. Woodson’s eloquent poetry also reflects the joy of finding her voice through writing stories, despite the fact that she struggled with reading as a child. Her love of stories inspired her and stayed with her, creating the first sparks of the gifted writer she was to become.

[darnkatz]

Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America
We in America have certain ideas of what it means to be poor. Linda Tirado, in her signature brutally honest yet personable voice, takes all of these preconceived notions and smashes them to bits. She articulates not only what it is to be working poor in America (yes, you can be poor and live in a house and have a job, even two), but what poverty is truly like—on all levels.

Frankly and boldly, Tirado discusses openly how she went from lower-middle class, to sometimes middle class, to poor and everything in between, and in doing so reveals why “poor people don’t always behave the way middle-class America thinks they should.”


Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City
In this brilliant, heartbreaking book, Matthew Desmond takes us into the poorest neighborhoods of Milwaukee to tell the story of eight families on the edge. Arleen is a single mother trying to raise her two sons on the $20 a month she has left after paying for their rundown apartment. Scott is a gentle nurse consumed by a heroin addiction. Lamar, a man with no legs and a neighborhood full of boys to look after, tries to work his way out of debt. Vanetta participates in a botched stickup after her hours are cut. All are spending almost everything they have on rent, and all have fallen behind.

The fates of these families are in the hands of two landlords: Sherrena Tarver, a former schoolteacher turned inner-city entrepreneur, and Tobin Charney, who runs one of the worst trailer parks in Milwaukee. They loathe some of their tenants and are fond of others, but as Sherrena puts it, “Love don’t pay the bills.” She moves to evict Arleen and her boys a few days before Christmas.

Even in the most desolate areas of American cities, evictions used to be rare. But today, most poor renting families are spending more than half of their income on housing, and eviction has become ordinary, especially for single mothers. In vivid, intimate prose, Desmond provides a ground-level view of one of the most urgent issues facing America today. As we see families forced into shelters, squalid apartments, or more dangerous neighborhoods, we bear witness to the human cost of America’s vast inequality—and to people’s determination and intelligence in the face of hardship.

Based on years of embedded fieldwork and painstakingly gathered data, this masterful book transforms our understanding of extreme poverty and economic exploitation while providing fresh ideas for solving a devastating, uniquely American problem. Its unforgettable scenes of hope and loss remind us of the centrality of home, without which nothing else is possible.

The Morning They Came For Us: Dispatches From Syria
Doing for Syria what Imperial Life in the Emerald City did for the war in Iraq, The Morning They Came for Us bears witness to one of the most brutal, internecine conflicts in recent history. Drawing from years of experience covering Syria for Vanity Fair, Newsweek, and the front pages of the New York Times, award-winning journalist Janine di Giovanni gives us a tour de force of war reportage, all told through the perspective of ordinary people―among them a doctor, a nun, a musician, and a student. What emerges is an extraordinary picture of the devastating human consequences of armed conflict, one that charts an apocalyptic but at times tender story of life in a jihadist war zone. Recalling celebrated works by Ryszard Kapus´cin´ski, Philip Gourevitch, and Anne Applebaum, The Morning They Came for Us, through its unflinching account of a nation on the brink of disintegration, becomes an unforgettable testament to resilience in the face of nihilistic human debasement. 30 illustrations

Ravensbrück: Life and Death in Hitler's Concentration Camp for Women
Months before the outbreak of World War II, Heinrich Himmler—prime architect of the Holocaust—designed a special concentration camp for women, located fifty miles north of Berlin. Only a small number of the prisoners were Jewish. Ravensbrück was primarily a place for the Nazis to hold other inferior beings: Jehovah’s Witnesses, Resistance fighters, lesbians, prostitutes, and aristocrats—even the sister of New York’s Mayor LaGuardia. Over six years the prisoners endured forced labor, torture, starvation, and random execution. In the final months of the war, Ravensbrück became an extermination camp. Estimates of the final death toll have ranged from 30,000 to 90,000.

For decades the story of Ravensbrück was hidden behind the Iron Curtain. Now, using testimony unearthed since the end of the Cold War and interviews with survivors who have never talked before, Sarah Helm takes us into the heart of the camp. The result is a landmark achievement that weaves together many accounts, following figures on both sides of the prisoner/guard divide. Chilling, compelling, and deeply necessary, Ravensbrück is essential reading for anyone concerned with Nazi history.