Reading 2010...June-December

[deltamiss]

The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd
The Oath by Frank Peretti
Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich
Holy Fools by Joanne Harris
Ellen Foster by Kay Gibbons
The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler
Finger-Lickin' Fifteen by Janet Evanovich
Queen of Broken Hearts by Cassandra King
The English Major by Jim Harrison (very disappointed!)
A Long and Happy Life

Comments

[jazzyglo]

TWO Janet Evanovich books! Good summer!

[deltamiss]

I borrowed these two from a coworker. We're supposed to meet for lunch in July and trade some more. I hope by then she has and has read the sixteenth book of Evanovich's. :D

[jackiejj]

Okay, I have never read a single book of Janet Evanovich!

Is she a mystery writer? Which book would you recommend for a first-time reader?

BTW, I bought (caved and did it) a Nook from Barnes and Noble. One reason I got it was that our local (Knoxville) very fine library system can loan books by dropping them right into my Nook! I even got the color version, as the page turning is not accompanied by the irritating pause and flash of light as the screen clears, a problem I found increasingly hard to deal with on the early Sony I had.

[deltamiss]

Evanovich writes pseudo-crime novels. Her characterization is phenomenal...especially if you read several books. Stephanie Plum is a not so good bounty hunter who needs help from her best friend Lula (a large black woman who used to be a prostitute and still wears Spandex and faux fur). None of the plots can be taken seriously and it's definitely fluff reading, but I laugh out loud at least twice in every book. You could start with any of her books...they are that inane. ;)

[jackiejj]

Great list!

One of my book clubs mentioned Pat Conroy last week, and because they liked him and you say his latest is "excellent," maybe I'll try him again--I remembered him from Prince of Tides, which I didn't like much--

Have you read The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti? It's beautifully written--one of my book clubs read it for November, and I couldn't put it down.

[deltamiss]

If you're considering Conroy, may I suggest Beach Music and South of Broad, too. I love Conroy myself.

I have not read The Good Thief. Must put it on my to read list! Thanks for the rec.

The county in which I teach has a county-wide book of the season - not every month, but maybe every three or four. Anyway, this time around Wayne Reads is touting Three Cups of Tea and Stones Into Schools by Greg Mortensen. I've read the first (excellent!) but not the second. Guess I'll try to find that one and read it, too.

[jackiejj]

Thank you for the good ideas.

My book clubs are reading (for January)

The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova (she also wrote The Historian, a fascinating if too-long book about vampires that did very well; Elizabeth went to a private school in Knoxville and is known to some of the group members).

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See (I just got this one and know nothing about it!)

I'm reading (for bleak winter) Annie Proulx's wonderful (if bleak) Wyoming Tales (she has three collections of these short stories).

[deltamiss]

Wow! Some great suggestions! More to put on my to read list. :)