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. barbara says…
    07/21/2010

    Last book I finished was The Art of Racing in the Rain...really enjoyed it. I loved the perspective of the dog's voice. So creative. I'd really recommend it, especially if you're a dog person!

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  2. Adriana P. says…
    07/21/2010

    I LOVE the Tales of the Otori trilogy - it appeals in so many ways - adventure, feudal Japan, romance. Across the Nightingale Floor is the first one. I can't wait to get my hands on The Passage - it looks wonderful.

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  3. Evelyn says…
    07/21/2010

    Ali, I love that you've gotten this huge discussion of books going! I love when people promote literature and swap suggestions for books (I actually wrote down a couple that people have been suggesting on the comments :D)
    I finished Her Fearful Symmetry a little while back and was like you, just flipping through it for the sake of finishing it. It didn't capture me the way Time Traveler's wife did. The book was really creepy...and sad how she sought through any means possible to keep the love of her life, and yet lost it forever because of her actions.
    Love hearing about stuff you're reading!

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  4. Karen G says…
    07/21/2010

    A few of my favorites lately are The Host by Stephenie Meyer,(haven't read her vampire books and won't but this one had a great moral dilema) Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See, Look Again by Lisa Scottoline and Burned Alive by Souad (nonfiction). I am reading Josie and Jack by Kelly Braffet a young adult novel and would not recommend it. It is dark and creepy.

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  5. robyn says…
    07/21/2010

    Look Again and Barefoot are great vacation choice. Both were hard for me to put down.

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  6. Karen G says…
    07/21/2010

    I really any of Kristin Hannah's books. If you enjoyed Firefly Lane you may enjoy Winter Garden

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  7. Staci @ tales from the s*crap*room says…
    07/21/2010

    I just finished reading Henry's Sisters by Cathy Lamb. Loved it.

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  8. Trisha says…
    07/21/2010

    Just finished Midwives and LOVED it.
    Totally recommend it.

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  9. Angie says…
    07/21/2010

    I read Little Bee this spring and it was one of the best books I have read in a really long time. I just finished this week "One Day", by David Nicholls. It is the story of 2 best fiends from college, every year on the same day, for 20 years. Very moving book on how our lives change. I also just read "Shanghai Girls" by Lisa See. A great story of 2 sisters who leave Shanghai in the 1930's for Los Angeles. It reflects on sisterhood, love, imiigration and is a great historical book as well.

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  10. Kath says…
    07/21/2010

    So funny~I just finished the Steig Larssson trilogy (loved, loved, loved) followed by Little Bee. Time Travelers Wife was another one of my favorites (and I was intrigued but not enamored by Her Fearful Symmetry). I am just starting The Piano Teacher (Janice YK Lee)...I'll let you know what I think!
    Have you read The Book Thief? It's awesome!

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  11. Rachel Briggs says…
    07/21/2010

    Ali a few of my all time faves have been:
    Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafasi
    Marley & Me by John Grogan
    True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by AVi
    Memoirs of a Geisha

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  12. jennifer.cook@comcast.net says…
    07/21/2010

    reading little bee, so far, so good. love it.

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  13. Ali Edwards says…
    07/21/2010

    Yes on the Book Thief - totally loved it.

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  14. Ali Edwards says…
    07/21/2010

    I so love those Harry Potter stories.

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  15. Ali Edwards says…
    07/21/2010

    Loved The Book Thief and have The Help on my table to read as well :).

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  16. Ali Edwards says…
    07/21/2010

    I started The Road awhile back and ended up moving on to something else. Might have to give that one a chance again another time.

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  17. Artist says…
    07/21/2010

    Hm-m, never saw this book before. Thank you!

    Reply 0 Replies
  18. Amy says…
    07/21/2010

    I just finished Alana's Stewart's My Journey With Farah, about her friendship with Farah Fawcett and her cancer battle. I was a good book about girlfriends and their true closeness.
    The Girl Who Played With Fire is one of many that I have requested from the library...looking forward to getting that one.

    Reply 0 Replies
  19. dawn says…
    07/21/2010

    I love this photo Ali, just beautiful!!

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  20. Beatriz from spain says…
    07/22/2010

    When I started reading it cost me a lot, did not understand that others are hooked, I'll tell you after the first few chapters, it was definitely a revelation could not stop reading it, the second part as well. Now I'm reading the third most quiet (which struck me so much about a book called "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" I was very curious, when surprise, in Spain are called another way, your translation is "The Girl love women "and the second part" The girl who dreamed of a match and a can of gasoline "(funny no?).
    For the summer I always recommend:
    Agatha Christie books, but the old edition with yellowing pages, is like a riddle, I love them.
    For having fun Books by Marian Keyes (Sushi for Beginners ").
    I love the Pillars of the Earth and its sequel.
    The five books of the "Clan of the Cave Bear" by Jean M. 1986 Auel, excellent.
    If you can read Gabriel Garcia Marquez, I love "Love in the Time of Cholera" and "100 Years of Solitude"
    Greetings from Spain.

    Reply 0 Replies
  21. darlene says…
    07/22/2010

    I so need a non guilty way to catch up on ProjectLife. I started out great and it has fizzled with all the commitments we have with time.

    Reply 0 Replies
  22. Sandi says…
    07/22/2010

    Just finished "Dragon Tatoo" & "fire"--I found the first to be a little tough to get into, but was glad I read it & devoured the second. Have to wait for the third as I bought it for my daughter a few weeks ago & won't see her for a bit. I have mixed feelings about these being the only 3 books- at least I don't have another author that I'm collecting everything they ever wrote!! I will have to check out "Little Bee" as I have heard a lot about that one.

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  23. ginny says…
    07/22/2010

    Love getting new book recommendations. Last summer, I read The Help, Three Cups of Tea, and The Glass Castle. Those are still on my favorites list. This summer, I'm on a fantasy kick, and I am waiting for Mockingjay to come out--the final book in the Hunger Games trilogy. I finished reading the 39 Clues series with my sons (I bet Simon would like that one!) and am starting the Percy Jackson series.

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  24. telisj says…
    07/22/2010

    I just finished the non-fiction book The Girls From Ames---great book about girls/women and friendships.
    Also, for historical fiction The 19th Wife and Shanghi Girls are also great books.

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  25. Elizabeth says…
    07/22/2010

    I finished the Stieg Larrson triology (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, etc.) and loved the books. I then read Elizabeth Berg's Home Safe, and Janet Evanovich's Finger Lickin' Fifteen. Janet's books always make me laugh out loud. I just got a Nook for my birthday and it makes reading so much easier.

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