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Favorite Books
I'm starting this thread to list all our favorite books. Please post some of your favorites and I'll keep updating the list. Please put after the author/title the type of book, mystery, love story, etc. You can print out this list
Andrews, Donna Arnout, Susan: "Frozen lady" love story in alaska Atherton, Jane: The aunt Dimity mystery series Austen, Jane Baldacci, David mysteries who done it Ball, Alan, American Beauty Binchey, Maive "Tara Road" Block, Francesca Lia, Wasteland -young adult book Bohjalian, Chris The Double Bind Bradley Marion Zimmer "Mists of Avalon" king arthur and his knights Bradford, Barbara Taylor "a woman of substance" series about family dynasty emma harts retailing Bristow, Gwen "Calico Palace" about the gold rush & Jubilee rail Bronte, Charloote: Jame Eyre Brown, Rita Mae and her cat Brunstetter, Wanda-Amish Camillari, Andrea : Montalbano series Cato, Nancy "all the rivers run" about australia Childs, Laura tearoom mysteries (10) with "Teaberry Stranger" Christie, Agatha: mystery Clavell, about japan "Shogun", "nobel house", "taipan" Clement, Blaize Coben, Harlen Conroy, Pat South of Broad" Cornwall, Patricia mystery Kay Scarpettas novels Coulter, Catherine: Regencies and suspense Davidson, Diane Mott, frothy mysteries with recipes Davidson, Mary Janice, undead and unwed-funny! Dawkins, Richard: The God Delusion - nonfiction Delinsky, Barbara DeMille, Nelson mystery Diamant, Anita : The Rid Tent Dibden, Michael: Aurelio Zen series Donati, Sara historical romance and adventure Evonovich, Janet Stephanie Plumm very funny Fitzgerald, F. Scott The great Gatsby Flagg, Fannie Follet, Ken historical fiction or mystery who none it Ford, Jamie Hotel on the Corner of Bitter & Sweet Gabaldon, Dianna series historical romance couldnt put them down-Outlander Gaiman, Neil: Coraline Gerritsen, Tess Rizzoli & Isles mysteries Gilman, Susan Jane Undress me in the Temple of Heaven Grafton, Sue read up thru "U" Giffin, Emily...chick-lit Gordon, Mary: Final Payments Hannah, Kristen Harris, Charlaine: Sookie Stackhouse series...hard to put down Henshaw, Susan mysteries with "Elected by Death” Herzog, Brad Turn left at the Trojan Horse Heinlein, Robert: The Moon is a Harsh Mistress Hoag, Tami have newest waiting for me "Deeper than Dead" Hosseini, Khaled The Kite Runner Irving, John Cider House Rules Karon, Jan The Mitford series Kaye, MM about india and their culture love story ,"The Far Pavillions" Kellerman, Jonathan for a good mystery...also his wife and son has good books. Kesey, Ken: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Kidd, Sue Monk: The secret life of bees Kohen, Kathleen historical fiction adventure "Through a Glass Darkly","And Now Face to Face" Krantz, Judith "Mistrals Daughter" her other books are great to Lamb, Wally "She's Come Undone Lee, Harper: To Kill a Mockingbird Leon, Donna: Brunetti series Lescroart, John - if you like a good, well-written mystery, start with 1st book Lively, Penelope Ludlum, Robert spy who done it espionage mystery" Bourne Iden tity" series Macomber, Debbie Markhan, Beryl: West With the Night Marshall, Catherine: Christy, A Man Called Peter Mason, Marion ?? writes about judge in NC??? Montgomery, Lucy Maud: Anne of green gables series and Emily of New Moon Murakami, Haruki: fiction and non-fiction Nabokov, Vladimir: Lolita (literary) Niffenegger, Audrey: The Time Traveler's Wife Niven, David: The Moon's a Balloon, Bring on the Empty Horses Page, Katherine Hall (8) with "Body in the Gallery" waiting for me Palahniuk, Chuck: Fight Club Parker, Robert (Spenser series are funny, mystery Patterson, James just finished reading the 9th judgement Perry, Martha writes about the Amish. i've learned a lot Piercy, Marge “Gone to Soldiers” Pigeon, Josie series and have 3 left there. Pilcher, Rosamonde historical family dynasty "Coming Home", "The Shell Seekers" Quindlen, Anna: Every Last One (Literary) Rice, Luane Roberts, Nora Runbeck, Margaret Lee: Time for Each Other, Our Miss Boo Sanford, John See, Lisa: Sunwflower & the Secret Fan, Shanghai Girls Setterfield, Diane The Thirteenth Tale Sedaris, Dave: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius Siddons, Ann Rivers Simenon, George: Maigret novels Smith, Alexander McCall Ladies Detective Agency series Smith, Betty: A Tree grows in Brooklin, kid or older book Smith, Wilbur ..family dynasty,s in africa, egypt "river god" and "7th scroll Steele, Danielle worthless and inane Stewart, Mary: Merline/Arthur trilogy Stockett, Kathryn: The Help Studdert-Kennedy, G.A. Swanson, Denise (11) with "Wedding Bells" waiting for me Tanenbaum, Robert mystery Trollope, Joanna TYheroux, Paul: travel books Whitcomb, Laura: A certain Slant of Light (literary) Woods, Stuart Wolzein, Valerie |
Some of my favorite books are -
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini Cider House Rules by John Irving Turn Left at the Trojan Horse by Brad Herzog The Help by Kathryn Stockett Undress me in the Temple of Heaven by Susan Jane Gilman The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald |
Diane Mott Davidson, frothy mysteries, with recipes...
Nelson DeMille, mysteries Alexander McCall Smith, Ladies Detective Agency series, wonderful books with a Botswana background You mentioned Baldacci..... he's really good! |
I value many, many books and authors that you each do! But I don't think I've ever heard of anyone else who has read Calico Palace! I dearly love it, and have re-read it many times over the years, along with Bristow's earlier book, Jubilee Trail. Bobbi, have you read that one?
Two of my newest favorite authors are Kristin Hannah and Diane Chamberlain. Great reads! |
I'm a voracious reader and there are so many good authors and books to read! :) Here are some of my favorites -
Jane Atherton - The Aunt Dimity mystery series Mauve Binchy - I've read all her books :) Wanda Brunstetter - stories about the Amish Barbara Delinsky Fannie Flagg Diana Gabaldon - her Outlander series were possibly the best books I've ever read! Kristen Hannah Jan Karon - The Mitford series Debbie Macomber Rosamunde Pilcher - I've read all her books, too! Luane Rice Nora Roberts - I especially love her trilogies and the newest quartet series Kathryn Stockett - The Help I'm also just getting into Jodi Piccoult and she's becoming another favorite. I want to check out some of Diane Chamberlain's book on my next trip to the library. |
Hi Jane its rosey from "GG" i read CalicoPalace and Jubilee Trail when i was in high school and have reread them again several times..loved them..:D
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Hi Rosey, aren't those books just the best! Sometimes I get the characters from them intertwined in my memory, lol. Orginally, I would check these books out from the library, then when I first found out about Amazon years ago, I snagged a copy of each. Nice to know you love them, too!
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I just updated the original list and made a new copy to take with me to the library.
Jane...I have Calico Palace on my list of books to read, I'm going to the library this afternoon and I'll see if they have it. |
hi, Just want to remind everyone, that if you use the library you can go online and order books. Our system has several library's that will send books to my library.
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For those with a Nook, or the free Abode Digital reader, and maybe other ereaders (Kindle), you can become a member of the Free Library of Philadelphia, and download "borrow" ebooks for free! They have a huge selection!
Bobbi - did they have Calico Palace? |
Jane...no, I got side tracked. A lady came in looking for mystery books and the 1st place the librarian took her to was the section where new books are kept. (Who Knew?) I didn't know they had a special section for all the new books.
I looked online for some of the books on the master list and didn't see some of them in our library because they were too new. Anyway, I followed them over to the new books and grabbed a couple and never did get back to looking for Calico Palace. I wanted to start at the top of my list, I did pick up Nancy Atherton's Aunt Dimity. I'm weird when it comes to book covers, if I don't like the book picture/title I don't always pick it up unless I've read the author before. The Aunt Dimity falls in this group, I didn't like the cartoon picture on front and would never have picked up the book on my own. I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised at Atherton's writings, she keeps my attention. I guess I'm a thriller/murder kind of person but am enjoying the book. I'm not fond of reading books on my computer, not that comfortable. Also I don't know what a digital reader is, how would I know if I had it? Quote:
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I love the Aunt Dimity Series, also M.C. Beaton's Agatha Raisen
Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum Sue Grafton's Alphabet novels Michael Dibden's Aurelio Zen series Andrea Camillari's Montalbano series Donna Leon's Brunetti series Paul Theroux's travel books Penelope Lively's novels Joanna Trollope's novels The Cardinal (read this when I was 15 and saw the movie again recently - it still stands up) Gone With the Wind (don't much care for the movie) The Thornbirds Dr. Zhivago Far Pavillions Marion Zimmer Bradley's Avalon novels The Millenium Trilogy Final Payments, by Mary Gordon the Maigret novels, by George Simenon I could go on. I notice the last few years I read mostly non-fiction or mysteries. I'm still working and don't have time to go to the library, but I discovered my library has a whole room filled with mysteries, so I will have much to read when I retire. |
Ohhhhh....The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd! The movie was nearly as good as the book, but nothing is ever quite as good as the book!
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Oh my, so many wonderful books! To the lists of you all I would add:
Laurie King: both her Mary Russel and Kate Martinelli series Peter Tremayne: the Sister Fidelma Mysteries Elizabeth Peters: Amelia Peabody Series Also, kid books or older books or series I still like Betty Smith: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Lucy Maud Montgomery: Anne of Green Gables Series, Emily of New Moon series Robert Heinlein: The Moon is A Harsh Mistress Agatha Christie Mysteries, any David Niven: The Moon's a Balloon, Bring on the Empty Horses Harper Lee: To Kill a Mockingbird Margaret Lee Runbeck: Time for Each Other, Our Miss Boo Catherine Marshall: Christy, A Man Called Peter Mary Stewart: Merlin/Arthur trilogy and many others Jane Austen: all Charlotte Bronte: Jane Eyre Catherine Coulter: Love her Regencies and newer suspense I better stop now. I could go on and on |
I just remembered a few other books that I really enjoyed -
The Red Tent, by Anita Diamant Snowflower and the Secret Fan, and Shanghai Girls, both by Lisa See Gail Tsukiyama also writes some really good books |
I have enjoyed G. A. Studdert-Kennedy's books tremendously.
And, though I haven't read it for many years, one I can also highly recommend is "West With the Night" by Beryl Markham. She was an aviatrix in Africa. The book is partly autobiographical, and partly her journal as she flew around Africa. She was a contemporary of Isak Dinesen. There are many books, as well as films, television and radio programs, at archive.org. |
Ooh! Ooh! I love talking about my favorite books :D
"Lolita" Vladimir Nabokov (Literary) "Every Last One" Anna Quindlen (Literary) "The Time Traveler's Wife" Audrey Niffenegger (Literary) "Wasteland" Francesca Lia Block (Young adult) "The Giving Tree" Shel Silverstein (Children's) "The Lorax" Dr. Seuss (Children's) "The God Delusion" Richard Dawkins (Nonfiction) "Stargirl" Jerry Spinelli (Young adult) "Fight Club" Chuck Palahniuk (Literary) "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" Dave Sedaris (Memoir) "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" Ken Kesey (Literary) "American Beauty" Alan Ball (Play) "Coraline" Neil Gaiman (Young adult) "A Certain Slant of Light" Laura Whitcomb (Literary) Booksbooksbooks! :dance: |
Cottagebythe sea and Rossetastone...guess what I just baked? I finished my 1st Aunt Dimity book and she had a recipe in the back for 'Miss Beacham's Raisin Bread'. I LOVE IT!... And it only used 2 Tablesspoon's of oil. I think I could even leave that out next time and substitute some applesauce. It didn't call for cinnamon, next time I make this, I'll add a tsp. of cinnamon to the batter.
Have you tried any of her recipes? P.S. I haven't had time to add the new authors to the list yet but I will. Thanks for contributing. |
All the novels of Emily Giffin. Great chick-lit. Also, the Sookie Stackhouse Series, by Charlaine Harris. I am on #9, it is hard to but them down.
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Bobbo - I've never tried any of her recipes. I don't cook much. I do, however, regularly pull out the monthly recipes in Martha Stewart Living just in case. lol.
Other books I love to read are anything by Haruki Murakami. He writes both fiction and non-fiction. |
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I am reading Snowflower... now. So far I am enjoying it very much - however, had to skip over the foot-binding part. Lynn |
I just finished a SF futuristic book that I LOVED - Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. He also wrote "Remains of the Day."
Book is about idealism vs. pragmatism; cloning; ethics; England; love; death; childhood; and relationships. A GREAT read. |
Bobbi, I kept meaning to try some of those recipes at the end of the Aunt Dimity books, but haven't gotten around to it yet. I think I have a recipe for sticky lemon bars from one of the books that sounded good. That raisin bread sounds really appealing, too. How do like that series? I've enjoyed every one of them and wish there were more to read. :)
Lynne, I'm glad you are enjoying Snowflower. But I agree on the parts about the foot-binding. I can't even fathom the agonizing pain those poor girls had to endure. |
Bobbi, thanks for doing this forum. I love to read and read so much that I sometimes run out of ideas.
I am erading a new series, at least to me, By Blaize Clement. They are about a animal sitter who is always finding dead bodies. I didn't expect to enjoy them, but I am. I'm almost trhough the entire series. Then, I have to find something else to read. Lots of good suggestions i look forward to trying. I've read all the Aunt Dimity books too. Never tried the recipes. Diane Mott Davidson also has recipes in her books. |
Freda...I was surprised we got so many favorite authors/books. I hope I can continue to add onto the list and not run out of room. If it keeps growing, I might have to put the books under sections like mystery, romance, thriller, etc.,each on a different post. That would be a lot of work and I'd need everyone's assistents that posted their favorite books.
Cottagebysea...The raisin bread recipe was wonderful, I only ate two slices of it......lots of calories. My hubby told me to keep this recipe, he loved it and ate the balance of the loaf. In answer to your question, did I like the book, yes. But I'm normally a murder/thriller book reader and this was nice and light for a change. (Aunt Dimity series) Quote:
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I just finished Undone by Karin Slaughter. If you like modern murder mysteries it's a good one.
ETA: Just remembered...my favorite fiction book..The Mirror. It's sort of a fantasy/horror...but not your usual of either. Hard to describe. It is about going back and forward in time so that gives you more of a clue I guess. I read it over again about once a year! Can't remember the author's name off-hand but it is Marilyn someone. I gave it away once for some reason and then had a terrible time finding it again. Finally had to pay a book sleuth to find it for me! :-) |
Almost finished with "Without Reservations" by Alice Steinbach. I am LOVING it. Alice is a Pulitzer Prize winning author who, in her fifties, decided to spend a year in London, Oxford, Paris, Milan, and Venice.
The book is a description of her experiences and thoughts during that year. I WANT TO BE HER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lynn |
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I just ordered Undone from my library. I cannot find "Mirror" by Marilyn. If I find, I will post the title and author. Any chance it could be "The Mirror" by Marlys Millhiser? Lynn |
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Bringing this back to the top for Kathy (Tapping Peony) some suggestions for you
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Just finished the new Lee Child book. They just made a movie from one of his books, "Jack Reacher" staring Tom Cruise. really surprised me that they would choose him for the lead. You will understand why if you read the books.
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Love, love books:carrot: I'll be sneaking in here for ideas. And sharing my favorites too. Thanks Gayle. Hello, Slim!
Kathy |
Finished the John Flanagan series, "The Ranger's Apprentice" from Australia just before Christmas. My son turned me on to it last year. He has written a "spin-off" series, so that is on my list of things to read.
Kathy |
I finished Keith Richards' "Life" last month. I'm a Stones fan, so the book was very interesting to me. I'm currently reading "Many Years From Now - Paul McCartney" By Barry Miles. I love biographies!
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my favorite books
Thx so much for making this list ! So nice of you to take the time to put this together. Since I read research and technical materials daily at work, I truly like to read on the lighter side of things for fun. This book is very light, easy reading ...and yet still has a great plot and doesn't move slowly. It's touching and funny. I love this book and have read it over and over many times through the years. Thx to all of you who shared your favorites.
Author: Jude Devereaux, Book: Knight in Shining Armor, romantic comedy based in time travel. |
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