Favorite Books

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  • 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..
  • 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!
  • 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.
  • 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:
    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!
    Quote:

    Bobbi - did they have Calico Palace?
  • 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!
  • Quote: ..... Also I don't know what a digital reader is, how would I know if I had it?
    You'd know if you had one, because you would have had to either buy one, or download one. I have a downloaded version, (free) but don't really like it, and am waiting for Kindle or some other to come out with a version with a backlight. I have trouble with my eyes, and love the option to increase the font on an e-reader, but love to hold and smell a real book, lol. E-readers are wonderful for traveling, though!
  • 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