Riding the New York Subway used to provide me with many occasions to glimpse into other people’s reading choices. In the seven years I spent there, I mastered the art of bending just enough to read the title without awakening the suspicions of the reader. I used to scribble the author or novel name in my palm and put it in my list to check out from the New York Public Library. I found many interesting, thought-provoking and varied writers using that method.
Even though it’s not as extensive as NYPL, the San Diego Public Library isn’t that bad. The problem is that, with the exception of New York Times Book Review, all my resources of finding new books have disappeared. I don’t usually have any problem hearing about the popular books, but without the bookstore people, the subway, and the prolific readers I was surrounded by, I am starving for some good recommendations.
I’ve recently finished and posted an except of The Secret Life of Bees and Mystic River. I have just started Amateur Marriage by Anne Tyler and I am looking for more fiction (and nonfiction) writers or books. To be fair, I’ll give you a list of what’s still on my shelf to be read in the next few months: NonZero, Bringing the House Down, Moneyball, A Thousand Years of Nonlinear History, QED, The Blind Watchmaker, The Meaning of Everything, The Awakening, The Creative Habit, How to Dunk a Doughnut and for ideas: So Many Books, So Little Time and BookLust. I can’t recommend them since I haven’t read them yet but they were recommended by people I trust or publications I trust. If you want more books, here is a list of and excepts from 75% of the books I’ve read in the last three years.
It may seem like I have many books on my list, but I read a lot and quickly so this list isn’t long enough for me. It also contains too few fiction titles. As much as I enjoy nonfiction, my true to love is fiction. I read anything besides horror and fantasy. So, please share with me. Tell me your favorite author. Your favorite book. Even a favorite site about books. Pretty please?
I am reading “Father and Son” by Edmund Gosse. Take a look at the cover of the Penguin edition at amazon.com and you’ll want to read it… It’s wonderful, moving and very lovingly written.
Give “Flags of Our Fathers” a try.
One of my absolute favorite pieces of fiction is The Memoirs of Cleopatra, a fictional “autobiography” by Margaret George. The basic premise of the book is that most of what we know of the famous Egyptian queen has been influenced by the patriarchal, ethnocentric views of Ancient Rome. It attempts to tell Cleopatra’s story as she might have told it–in her own voice.
I fell into your blog by chance and have been enjoying it very much. I’ve been on a fiction frenzy this last couple years and it seems, after browsing your list of books, that we have the same taste in fiction. I thought I’d recommend a few of my recent favorites: “Coastliners” by Joanne Harris, “Pasadena” by David Ebershoff, “Jewel” by Bret Lott and “Sea Glass” by Anita Schreve. I might add “The Professor’s House” by Willa Cather, for beautiful prose and “The Persian Pickle Club” by Sandra Dallas, for light fun. Many more on my shelves. I’ll return with more suggestions. Many thanks for your posted list of books, as well as your wonderful weblog 🙂
Karen,
I forgot to mention Dag Hammarskjold’s Markings as a possible read if you haven’t read it already.
It’s not a traditional book–neither fiction nor non-fiction; there isn’t even a plot of any kind. Rather, it’s a series of short meditations, random thoughts, questions, and the occasional poem about life and the world we live in. A great volume to turn to when you want food for thought.
James North Patterson’s book The Balance of Power comes highly recommended by President Clinton. I’m enjoying it as I’ve enjoyed his others.
http://www.dearreader.com/ is a web site where you are forwarded a chapter a day of whatever genre you select. I enjoy finding new authors and being able to see if the first chapter actually appeals to me. If it does, I won’t read the rest, simply add the title and author to my list.
I found Catherine Alliott this way. Light fiction, tinged with humor and a great plot. She’s written five books but the best was The Married Man.
Marian Keyes will keep you glued and since she writes huge novels set in Ireland, the read will last more than a day.
thank you so much for the recommendations, i have added them to my list. yey! 🙂
My favorite authors are Jane Yolen (fantasy/scific/poetry/young adult/adult/children/etc), Paula Volsky (fantasy/scific), Graham Masterson (horror), Anne Rice (fic) and Terry Goodkind (fantasy). If I have to choose one of these favorite authors, I would choose Jane Yolen cuz of her multiple talents with her writing for various audience. I highly recommend the book written by her called “Dear Mother, Dear Daughter”. After reading that book, I gave it to my mother, so we can have a heart-to-heart discussion after she finished reading. We did and it was wonderful oppotunity for us to open up and able to talk about the topics that we won’t dare/think about to bring it up…..check out the website: http://www.janeyolen.com
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