Summer Reading

I would reccomend anything from Jodi Picoult i love all of her books, not sure if you've read any of them though? her newest one House Rules was really good! i would highly reccomend that one, or any other's of hers!
i also started her fearful symmetry but did not get into it so i set it aside, maybe another time i will finish it.
Have a great week!
Megan P

Reading Little Bee too.

I am reading Water for Elephants and am loving it. I started to read The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo but I had a hard time getting into it. Everyone keeps telling me to give it another try so I'll have to make time for that.

One of my favorite books ever is Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner. If you have never read any Stegner you should definitely give him a try.

I, too, very much enjoyed Little Bee -- and was wondering if your ONE thing was similar to my ONE thing?

I could not stop reading the Girl who played with Fire. And had to immediately run out and buy The Girl who kicked the hornets nest. Both were awesome. I highly recommend them, but I did come into work a few days a little sleepy from staying up too late reading them the night before:)

I'm currently reading The Help and I'm loving it so far! I also have picked up the Dragon Tattoo series and I have lots of Jodi Picoult. One that I've been hearing is a beautiful book is A History of Love by Nicole Krauss. I've picked it up, but haven't started it yet. And I also have some Jennifer Weiner. Geez, I'd better get reading...

I am reading the book about Henrietta Lacks. Its very good.

Read it and loved it.

Loved Water For Elephants. Chris ended up reading it too and really enjoyed it.

I am currently in the middle of The Girl who Played With Fire. So good and very hard to put down. The Swedish film of the first book is really good.
I also loved The Time Travers Wife definately in my top 5. My favorite book of is The Life of Pi.

Ali, I thought of your words about storytelling and our Yesterday Today class a LOT when I read My Father's Heart: http://www.worldcat.org/title/my-fathers-heart-a-sons-journey/oclc/170203044. The author's family story parallels my grandparents/dad's story in years and the kind of town he grew up in. He did research and interviewed everyone still living who knew his parents and grandparents. It's an authentic telling of the stories surrounding the photos he's been handed down.

I just read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and absolutely loved it also. Fearful Symmetry was also enjoyable (though maybe not as much as TTW). Not sure what's next, maybe some Lee Child and his second Jack Reacher novel which I highly recommend!

I just finished The Hunger Games and it's sequel Catching Fire. They were really hard to put down. Loved them both--definitely had parts I didn't expect and made me think about things sometimes I'd rather not. The third book of the series comes out Aug. 24th.

I'm working my way through the last three books of a series I've been reading by Jacqueline Carey (The Kushiel series). It's a little steamy, but epic type fantasy novels that are loaded with interesting characters and intrigue. Nothing more satisfying that finishing a 900+ page book though.

Fun! I love talking about books...I guess as an English teacher that makes sense. I am currently reading One Day by David Nicholls- it was compared to Time Traveler's Wife (which I absolutely loved!) but I haven't really seen the exact connection yet. I am leaving for vacation tomorrow and have packed with me: Look Again by Lisa Scottoline and Barefoot by Elin Hilderbrand (looks like a good beach read from the cover!) and The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson (it's a young adult book)but I guess I should add The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo to my bag. I just finished Shanghai Girls for my book club and really enjoyed the story. My all time favorite these days is The Art of Racing in the Rain- by Garth Stein. Loved, loved loved it!

Little Bee is one that has stuck around in my mind even though it has been over a year since I read it. I loved The Help, guess we all do! I just finished Brooklyn, by Colm Toibin and i thought it was fantastic quick read- about a young irish immigrant in the 50's. Can't wait to get some of these titles the others have commented on!

I loved Little Bee and all the Millennium series books. I have recently loved The Help and Cutting for Stone.

I read the 3 books of Larsson last summer and I really enjoyed. After I've been reading some other Swedish authors (in Spain all of them are populars) but aren't the same. Actually I'm reading The last Cato from the Spanish Matilde Asensi. I recomend it. And after I will try with The Clan of the Cave Bear (?).

I read Little Bee (published as The Other Hand in UK - why do they do that?) but found it frustrating! I am part way through Her fearful symmetry.
Recent reads you may enjoy...The Secret Life of Bees; The Highest Tide; Talking About Jane Austen in Baghdad; Little Stranger
Next on my list is The Help
Maybe you'd enjoy some or all of them!
Chris x

I just finished American Music by Jane Mendelsohn. A poetic and literary novel about a massage therapist working to heal an Iraqi war veteran where stories of the past are released through his body as she performs her work. It covers a good part of the 20th century, the origins of American swing, and 17th century Turkey. Beautifully interwoven stories and characters.

I just read One Good Turn and When Will There Be Good News? (both by Kate Atkinson). I think I liked them rather than loved them. They were good reads but I just felt slightly dissatisfied at the end each time. But I still want to look out for Case Histories, also by Atkinson, and which features one of the same characters, so I must have liked them a fair bit!

Love this post and all of the comments! I'm currently reading the 3rd book in the Twilight series, really just so I know what all of the fuss is about. They are ok, but not on my top 10 list at all!
Next I'm going to start reading Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah - it is our book club selection for August.
Thanks for all of the book ideas - I have a lot of reading to do.

Melanie RIGHT ABOVE me beat me to the punch! I've been OBSESSED with The Hunger Games series! They are fantastic. They are YA books, so it's a bit of an "easy" read, but they are great and they go so fast because you CANNOT put them down!!