Summer Reading


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I've been on a reading binge again. It's one of my favorite things.


Last night I finished Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger. I picked it up at the airport when we were coming home from Italy after finishing The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (which I consumed in a couple days on our trip - definitely worth reading).
She's the author of The Time Traveler's Wife (which I completely loved).


I remember hearing not so great reviews about her newest book but decided to give it a chance. It's a strange tale - life and death and ghosts and in-between places. It's dark. It wasn't one that I would say I really liked - I definitely felt at a certain point I was just wanting to "make it through" - but there's something about it that kept me going and wanting to know how she was going to bring it to a conclusion. Often if I'm in the middle of a book and not enjoying it I'll just set it aside for another time (or just set it aside completely). With Her Fearful Symmetry I did want to know what happened and felt satisfied when I finished it late last night (even though the ending is definitely not what I was expecting).


Another book I have been reading (started before leaving for Italy and decided to leave it home because it's hardback) is The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. I'm completely fascinated with and engrossed in this non-fiction story and it's not the kind of book I normally find myself reading. It's the story of a woman, her cells, the history of cell research, her family, and the way it's all been weaved together over time. Highly recommended


Up next for me is most likely The Girl Who Played with Fire (the next one in the series following The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) or Little Bee which I picked up this past weekend at the coast.


What have you read lately that you love (or didn't)?


Dottedline


FOLLOW-UP : I see that
Project Life by Becky Higgins is back in stock at Amazon.You can see how I've been approaching this album here and planning to play catch-up (in a non-guilty way) soon.

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275 thoughts

  1. donaB says…
    07/21/2010

    Read recently and loved:
    The History of Love, by Nicole Krauss - a story from several different perspectives that weaves itself all together in a surprising way at the end. My book group unanimously loved this one.
    Tallgrass, by Sandra Dallas - about a Japanese internment camp in Colorado, told from the perspective of a young girl living on a sugar beet farm near by. Lovely sense of place and time.
    A sweet but possibly hard to find book that had been in my to-read stack forever - A Country Year, by Sue Hubbell. It is a quiet, softly spoken book that carries some weight and which will stay with you a while. A collection of essays that turns through a year of seasons by a bee keeper living in the Ozarks.
    Another vote for The Help.
    And not great literature, but a fun read - I, Mona Lisa, by Jeanne Kalogridis. I read it while recovering from a bad flu. Great distraction without requiring too much attention.
    I love the used book section in my local bookstore!

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  2. karen says…
    07/21/2010

    I just finished The Forgotten Garden and really liked it. Before that I read Lonesome Dove (totally not my genre usually) but it was amazing. When I looked it up on amazon I was surprised by how many people claimed it as one of their favorite books of all time. right now i am reading aimee bender's "The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake" not done yet but I am really loving the story and specifically her writing. quite different and truly spectacular.

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  3. Vivi Vinci says…
    07/21/2010

    I love when the topic is summer reading -- I get some of the best suggestions! I just finished reading Get Lucky by Katerine Center. It is cute, light, and funny. And I just got caught up with Janet Evanovich's series and finished Plum Spooky and Sizzling Sixteen.

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  4. pam says…
    07/21/2010

    I'm currently reading Stolen Lives: 20 years in a desert prison. It's depressing because of the deplorable prison conditions, but gives great insight into living in Morocco. Also read Outlander which is the 1st book in the series by the same name - really interesting fiction of Scotland in the 1700's. Would recommend The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Settlefield - really wonderful writing.
    I could go on and on as I'm a biliophile now that I'm retired.

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  5. MaryAnn Kearns says…
    07/21/2010

    I stumbled onto Kristin Hannah this summer too....really great NW writer....I loved Firefly Lane, True Colors and reading Winter Garden.........
    also a fun quick read was " The Second Time Around" -- you would like it Ali.

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  6. pam says…
    07/21/2010

    I really loved that one, too.

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  7. pam says…
    07/21/2010

    Loved Sarah's Key - my daughter loaned it to me.

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  8. LisaZ says…
    07/21/2010

    Just finished reading 'Summer on Blossom Street' by Debbie Macomber. I'm loving the Blossom Street series and I'm looking forward to reading the latest installment, "Hannah's List", later this summer.
    BFF gave me a book by a local author about Mackinaw Island romances...that will be my next read. I love reading things about Mackinaw because I'd really love to take the boys there sometime. It was one of my favorite summer time treats to go there when I was a kid...I'm hoping my boys would like it there, as well.
    ~pino

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  9. Sarah K says…
    07/21/2010

    Two recent favorites of our bookclub were "Beneath a Marble Sky" by John Shors, and "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" by Mary Ann Shaffer. Both are AWESOME!

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  10. Deonne says…
    07/21/2010

    Not a this summer read, but I highly recommend "The Art of Racing in the Rain" to anyone who liked "Marley and Me". Am currently listening to "The Middle Place" by Kelly Corrigan (see her amazing YouTube video too) and just finished "Stolen Innocence". Also reading "The Bishop" by Steven James. Have read and enjoyed "One Thousand White Women" with my bookclub and like another commenter, I'm in LOVE with "A Girl Named Zippy" and have gotten part way through the book about her mother "And She God Up Off the Couch". And count another vote for "Water for Elephants." Will definitely have to check out the Henrietta Lacks book next.

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  11. Deonne says…
    07/21/2010

    "Operating Instructions" by Anne Lamott is also very good.

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  12. Leigh Penner says…
    07/21/2010

    I felt the same way when reading Her Fearful Symmetry. I too finished it, but only to find out what happened. Very dark and disturbing. (And wierd. I mean, just move away from your twin and live your own life.)
    I reread Sophie Kinsella's Shopaholic series, in preparation for book 6's release in Sept. Great at the beach reading!
    Right now I'm reading Eat. Pray. Love by Elizabeth Gilbert.

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  13. karen says…
    07/21/2010

    ditto on The Art of Racing in the Rain. I thought it was much much much better than Marley and Me.

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  14. gina f. says…
    07/21/2010

    With 5 kids home for the summer I haven't had time to read books. I have Living magazine and Cloth, Paper, Scissors, as well as a quilting magazine on my night stand that I am trying to get through. I want to puck up Eat, Love Pray and read it before the movie comes out.

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  15. Myra says…
    07/21/2010

    Very similar tastes in books here! My alltime favorite is Pillars of the Earth, which is a mini-series on Starz starting on Sat. YAY! Other favorites are: The Help, The Forgotten Garden, The Physicks Book of Deliverance Dane, The Kite Runner and Three Cups of Tea.
    I read Her Fearful Symmetry and can't decide whether I liked it or not. Weird for me, as I'm usually highly opinionated about books.

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  16. colleenrossi says…
    07/21/2010

    Just finished reading The Help which will remain one of my FAVORITE books...the book actually brought me to tears...what an emotional journey, but well worth it to read. I also am re-reading Eat, Pray, Love in preparation for my MOVIE party and MOVIE event. :-) Colleen

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  17. Jennifer says…
    07/21/2010

    I am currently finishing No Place Like Home: a memoir in 39 apartments by Brooke Berman.
    One I read in the last 6 months that I LOVED is The Birth House by Ami McKay. Amazing, unforgettable book.

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  18. Christine H says…
    07/21/2010

    Have been on a non-fiction and get healthy kick for about a year now. Loved all the Malcolm Gladwell books. Picked up nutrition info from Michael Pollan, Jonny Bowden, Tosca Reno, Eat this/Not that books, Flat Belly Diet (not following any plan, just gathering info and recipes to eat healthy), Jillian Michaels, Women/Food/God (so-so), Mark Bittman, Eat This and Live. Like I said, not following any one plan/idea. Just making better informed choices.

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  19. pattiQ says…
    07/21/2010

    Great question, I love talking about books! I just finished The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff; Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon; Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford; the Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson and The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean. All were great reads. I belong to 2 bookclubs so get to read alot of books! Thanks for the post Ali, I love your blog and your work!

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  20. pattiQ says…
    07/21/2010

    Loved the Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Society, great book!

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  21. pattiQ says…
    07/21/2010

    Book thief was a great read, I was surprised that it was a young adult novel.

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  22. Wendy says…
    07/21/2010

    I read Firefly Lane AWESOME book!!

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  23. Natalie says…
    07/21/2010

    I'm reading Little Bee and I'm loving it. Can't put it down. I'd love to know what you think after you're done with it.

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  24. cindy b. says…
    07/21/2010

    Oh..I just picked up those "The Girl with"...at Target. Got the first two since they were in paperback and on sale. Can't wait to start those. Two books I recently finished were INFECTED, followed by the second book CONTAGIOUS. Now, the Infected book was a paperback I had picked up years ago at Borders and found it in my nightstand. It's not a book I would normally read so I was admittedly like..."why the heck did I buy this book?" However, once I started this book I could NOT stop!! It was very suspenseful and had me earning for more as soon as I was finished. (I didn't even know there was a sequel book). Anyway, it is a science-futuristic suspense thriller and I really enjoyed it! If you look it up on Amazon and think you'd like it just let me now...I'd be happy to send both books to you!! I love reading so I always enjoy your posts about what you are currently reading.

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  25. Wendy says…
    07/21/2010

    Cecelia Ahern is one of my favorite authors.( author of P.S. I Love You) I LOVE the Harry Potter books, Traveling Pants series, Memoirs of a Geisha, anything by Debbie Macomber. I loved the Twlight series too. I am currently reading the True Blood series. I have the Percy Jackson series up next. I'm always looking for a good read so thanks for all the great ideas!

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