bobbie

Recently there was a thread about great books where I discovered Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth and Corelli's Mandolin and loved both of them, hated finishing them, you know what I mean? I wouldn't have discovered them without this thread. Ruth Reindel was also suggested and I was wondering if there were other suggestions? I love everything by Anne Tyler and Jane Hamilton. Who are some of your favorite authors and books?

Beth Anderson

Bobbie, you are not joking about Corelli's Mandolin. I don't remember having that much of an emotional response to a book before. It's been nearly a year and it still makes me weepy when I think about it. (I was one of the ones who DEMANDED that everyone drop what they were doing to go out and purchase this book immediately)

I had bought that book due to a recommendation on a WWII book suggestion online board - didn't get a chance to read it for MONTHS...

I then visited Normandy with my travelin' buddy William and as we toured the sites he went on and on about this book - he had made a detour on his summer travels to go straight to Cephallonia and his been there twice since... I still have not had time to make it there. Perhaps this summer...

do you know there is a book called Captain Corelli's Cephallonia out now? It is out in the UK at least - might be hard to find in the States. It is all present day photos of the sun drenched island.

makes me wonder what I am doing sitting here in a cube in Arlington VA, waiting for the winter...

argh.

Beth

elvira

I am a fan of Trevanian, and every book he's ever written. Colin Dexter (Inspector Morse) and John Mortimer (Rumpole AND Lord Titmuss). Arthur Conan Doyle, Edgar Allan Poe, the Dumas boys, James Patterson, Anya Seton...and the whole gang that wrote Naked Came the Manatee.

lin gitterman

Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver is a wonderful book about Africa. Also try A Confederacy of Dunces, set in New Orleans - brilliant works, both of them.

bobbie

Beth, you may have been the one to get me started on Corelli's Mandolin, a bit slow but then so enchanting. Elvira, I should have known you'd be a mystery buff, I'll have to try Naked Came.... Lin, I read Poisonwood Bible and thought that was great, rather unsettling like all her books so I'll have to try a Confederacy of Dunces, especially since my son is going to school in New Orleans, what a city! thanks for the suggestions.

gina

I'm the one that started that thread last spring that got so many responses. I sure did appreciate the suggestions. Bobbie, I know what you mean about really being sorry that a book is done. A book might be great, but it's a special category when you are really sorry when you run out of pages. In that category I recommend Beach Music by Pat Conroy, The Laws of Our Fathers by Scott Turow, and Centennial by Michener. Incidentally, didn't you just want to shoot Corelli in the end? Those of you who have read it know what I mean. I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't.

MED

I love historical fiction. Two of my favorite authors of this genre are Margaret George and Edward Rutherford.

Since you like Anne Tyler and Jane Hamilton you may also like Maeve Binchy, Anne Rivers Siddons and Pat Conroy. I manage a bookstore and for some reason it seems that if my customers like one or two of the above authors mentioned they like them all.

lisa

Bobbie: I too am a big Anne Tyler fan (Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, and the Accidental Tourist are my two favorites of hers -- I've read all of them) and recently discovered Elizabeth Berg whose writing reminds me of Tyler's a bit (kind of quirky and funny). So far of Berg's I've read Open House (out only in hardcover so far), and Joy School (paperback), both of which I really enjoyed.

For people who like Ruth Rendell, they might also like the Patricia Cornwell mysteries -- my favorite of hers is "Cruel and Unusual" (paperback) but you need a strong stomach for all of them. They are addictive.

One of the best books I read this year was "Plainsong" by Kent Haruf which is out in paperback now, about people leading very separate yet interconnected lives in a small Colorado town.

I loved "The Poisonwood Bible" too! Although I then went out and bought another Kingsolver book, "The Bean Trees," which wasn't half as good.

Recently finished the Pulitzer-prizewinning short story collection "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri, which I loved -- it is so evocative.

Earlier this year I enjoyed "The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing" by Melissa Bank, which is out now in paperback (it's fiction -- ignore the title).

One of my favorite authors is Michael Chabon, who wrote my all-time favorite "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh" and also "Wonder Boys." He has a new one out called "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Klay" which has received fantastic reviews, but which I am resisting because I'm not sure I'll be able to get into a story about escape artists and comic books -- if anyone out there recommends it though, let me know.

Gina -- Did you end up reading "The Power of One" and if so, what did you think? Be honest.

OK, everyone has raved so much about "Corelli's Mandolin" that I may have to go get it, even though historical fiction doesn't usually do it for me -- but you all seem to have good taste, so I trust you.

gina

Lisa, no, I have not read THE POWER OF ONE yet. The copy I bought was just too big to take in my suitcase and since I got back I've had others to read for my book club. I'll get to it as soon as possible. Just finished DISGRACE by somebody Coetzee--great for discussion and learning about South Africa.

lisa

Gina -- That is certainly understandable -- it is a very fat book and I don't blame you for not taking it with you! I heard about "Disgrace" but haven't read it yet. So many books, so little time!

Ed

You like books? I do too. We sell 'em at www.twenj.com. Happy reading.

kk

Now, Ed, you know better than that. Naughty naughty!

xxx

I think Ed is the victim of a troll who got fed up with his constant plugs for his website. You'll see several messages like this (some kind of funny) sprinkled across the board today. I did a check and saw that he mentioned his website more than 500 times (got tired counting). Some of them are fairly ingenious, like when he says "It's not a good idea to book your hotel over the web. Wondering why? See my website". Othertimes he simply signs his post with his website address. He claims that the site is non-profit but he sells books through amazon.com and gets a percentage of total sales. No telling whether that adds up to anything, but it probably doesn't. Still, it's wrong. For what it's worth, the site is a pretty good one, with lots of lists, links, etc. But you gotta wonder about this guys credibility.

Robin

I just finished Barbara Kingsolver's new book, The Prodigal Summer. It was my first by her, so I can't compare to previous, but I THOROUGHLY enjoyed it.

nancy

Lisa,
I have enjoyed Elizabeth Berg's books for a while.
I encourage you to read her earlier ones,
Talk Before Sleep (depressing subject- great story)
Range Of Motion
Pull of the Moon (this you may or may not get into, I am close in age to the character, and at the time was going through similar feelings in my marriage, but it has great insights into women)
Also, the those who have read recent Barbara Kingsolver's
Read her first two books, esp. Bean Trees.
Nancy

edie

I LOVE these book posts!
lisa, so funny that you didn't like the bean trees as much as poisonwood. my best friend and i read all the earlier kingsolver books years ago, and loved them, we were obsessed with them. then poisonwood came out. she read it, i didn't for some reason. probably b.c she said it didn't grab her and was nothing like bean trees, animal dreams, et al. then my book club chose poisonwood, so i had to read it. i LOVED IT. was sad when it ended, totally still think about it, get jealous of those who have yet to read it! nothing like her previous work, almost as if it's another author altogether. i am waiting till paperback to read Prodigal summer.

nancy, i like elizabeth berg as well. your comment about relating to the main character of pull of the moon is right on. i am 29 and didn't love it, but women in their 40s-50s seem to relate to the character more. it speaks to older women in a way it doesn't to younger ones.

also like Kay Gibbons, and loved the ya ya sisterhoood books. as always i must mention The Red Tent. it is a must read, along the lines of poisonwood and geisha. not that the books are similar, but if you liked those, you'll like this.

pam

DAvid L. Lindsay (in the same vein as Patricia Cornwell); The Flanders Panel by Arturo Perez-Reverte; Beach Music by Pat Conroy (have read it 3 times); Wallace Stegner (particularly Crossing to Safety, All the Little Live Things, Spectator Bird; all of Elizabeth Berg; Divine Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood; Madeleine L'Engle's Crosswicks journals.

nancy

Edie,
Interesting to read your comment on
Pull of the moon.
Have stayed away from poisonwood, because I did not want to risk being disappointed, but must try it now.
I am currently reading Mattanza, which is a non-fiction book about the the tonnaroti of Favagnana ( the tuna fisherman on the island of Favagnana, off the coast of Sicily.)
It is part history of the area, and part travel/personal story of the author, Theresa Maggio.
I am finding it interesting because it is about a part of italy that still exists, but for how long?
(And because the author lives in the area I do)
nancy

Linda

Since I'm an Oxford lover I immediately think of Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited which made me fall in love with that city. Of course, once you get there you have to read Zulieka Dobson (I have no idea who wrote it) and the Inspector Morse books by Colin Dexter. And Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy which uses Oxford as the imaginary university city.

Also anything by Thomas Hardy to evoke the English countryside. I wanna go!!!!!

Thyra

Just had to get out there and say how much I loved Corelli's Mandolin! I started reading it on a yacht in Greece and couldn't put that sucker down. One of my cherished life memories will be laying on a teak deck with the blue sea all around me, the warm wind blowing the sails while turning those succulent pages!