Looking for Good Books to Read

[wicked woman]

Originally posted by sheath
Sample Chapter and Reviews

That link takes you directly to the printer's outlet page, which has a link for 'read a sample' and a link to reviews.

S.

Thank you so much sheath....I can't wait to read the rest...I will read the rest *promise FF *

 

[wicked woman]

Originally posted by sheath
*quietly raises hand from the corner of the room*

S.

*see your hand and raise you one....hand*

 

[midwestyankee]

Oh...here's another good one.

"Night" by Elie Wiesel.

Wiesel won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986. When he was a teenager, he was taken to the Auschwitz concentration camp and then on to Buchenwald. He lost his entire family, and all he could do was watch it happen. The book is his story.

It is a very short book...you can read it in one night. He delivers his story with a stark realism that cuts to the core. By the end of it I was shocked at the sheer brutality humans can achieve...but I was also soothed by the spirit of goodness that triumphs over evil, even in the most unforgiving of circumstances.

I had the good fortune of hearing Wiesel speak. It was at a small college in Eastern Kentucky, and he was there to speak for two hours. The place was packed, people were standing in the aisles. They set up speakers outside for hundreds more. The man got up there and quietly began to tell his story...and for two hours, nobody moved. At the end of that two hours, nobody moved.

Wiesel said into the microphone, "I have used up my time" and one person in the back said, "Tell us more." Not one person moved. We sat there for four hours. You could have heard a pin drop the entire time. We were sitting in the presence of one of the few people who could tell us, with all honesty, what humankind is really like. He ended that time with the simple wish: "My friends, be good to each other."

The book is like that. It is something that holds you captive from the very first word.

S.

I had the privilege of teaching Night to high schoolers in a school that was dominated by upper-class Jewish students. It was a humbling and uplifting experience at once.

Elie Wiesel is one of our world's true giants.

 

[shyly curious]

You can't go wrong with either "DaVinci Code" or "Angels and Demons". But when you're done with what everyone else read, here are a few other summer readings (that's appropriate isn't it?) ...

Any of the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child ("Persuader", "Tripwire", "Running Blind" ...)
Almost anything by Vince Flynn ("Memorial Day" a little weak, the others good)
Michael Connelly's books - a bunch of good ones, but start with "City of Bones"
Jefferey Deaver ... if you don't mind a "rougher" story

the Jack Reacher stories are great, as are Connelly's books, also i offer the "Prey" series by John Sandford

and John Dunnings series about bookseller / detective Cliff Janeway

 

[firefighter02]

*see your hand and raise you one....hand*

I think Im gonna need two pair of handcuffs...

S..can you ask the dude with the gun if I can borrow his? He'll have to wait in the car of course.

 

[sheath]

I think Im gonna need two pair of handcuffs...

S..can you ask the dude with the gun if I can borrow his? He'll have to wait in the car of course.

Sure. You'll just have to reassure him that the screaming from the house doesn't mean anyone is hurt...it's all just normal for the situation.

S.

 

[firefighter02]

Followed by the quote, "OMG, I don't think my legs will work" ?

Read any good books lately?

 

[sheath]

Followed by the quote, "OMG, I don't think my legs will work" ?

Read any good books lately?

You actually went there. LMAO

S.

 

[sheath]

We were talking about books, weren't we?

This isn't a particular book, but a particular author: LaVyrle Spencer. She writes romance, but the books all have a substance you don't usually find in your typical romance novel.

Books like "Bittersweet", the story of an affair..."Forgiving", the story of a prostitute looking for a better life..."Home Song", the story of a man who discovers he has an eighteen-year-old son he never knew existed...

They are really great books. I love them for long, lazy days at the beach.

S.

 

[wicked woman]

Originally posted by firefighter02
I think Im gonna need two pair of handcuffs...

S..can you ask the dude with the gun if I can borrow his? He'll have to wait in the car of course.

What? Sheath doesn' t have her own pair? I was taught to be prepared


ok back to good books...thanks for the suggestions everyone...had some fun picking a few up in the book store tonight.

 

[curious2c]

Depending on what you want or like...lately I have read all of Dan Brown's books can get my hands on...The DaVinci Code drew me into his world. I have found him to be a great writer and like the way he leads you through his work. A good story teller for sure.

 

[Willing and Unsure]

Oh...here's another good one.

"Night" by Elie Wiesel.

S.

Kind of strange, but I just got a chance to head back here and was going to add this book. I read it in high school for english class and after reading it went out and bought my own copy it was so good. To this day, it's the only book that has ever made me cry just a little bit (never dropped a tear for any other book).



A couple others.

1984. George Orwell
I loved this book, despite it being a little strange. Anyone that hasnt read this should, just to get a full understanding of the phrase "Big Brother is watching us"

The Princess Bride. William Goldman
This is definitely even better than the movie. I've read it about 6 times and still have the desire to read it again.

 

[sheath]

1984. George Orwell
I loved this book, despite it being a little strange. Anyone that hasnt read this should, just to get a full understanding of the phrase "Big Brother is watching us"

Oooh...VERY good one. I find some new slant on it every time I read it.

S.

 

[sheath]

What? Sheath doesn' t have her own pair? I was taught to be prepared


ok back to good books...thanks for the suggestions everyone...had some fun picking a few up in the book store tonight.

I do have my own pair. But I'm starting to get the impression he needs more than one pair!

S.

 

[Somme]

Anything by Bill Bryson.......(it does help to have an empty bladder, especially if read in public....)

 

[Guest]

 

[assister49]

Many of the great suggestions posted I have read - and agree they are very good. I will have to check out "Night" suggested by Sheath and others.

Just finished "Flying Crows" by Jim Lehrer. An interesting read of what things were like before anti-depressents, etc.

Starting now on "Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination" by same author as Briget Jones Diary (which I did not read or see movie). Too early yet to tell.

Not much into hard sci fi - although I did like the 2001 - 2010 series and Contact. About the only fantasy I have read is Hobbit/Lord of the Rings, which I read 30 yrs ago. Somehow the movies didn't quite do it for me.

Spent a lot of time reading James Mitchner, but then got burned out and also he seemed to fall into a bad writing habit toward the end of his career and his books seemed to loose something - personality or something.

Another of my all time favorite books is "Replay". An old book about a guy that keeps living his life over and over (different than the Groundhog day movie). Also, a more recent one of a similar theme is "The Time Travelers Wife". That was pretty good.

Now I just have to figure out how to make a list out of this thread to take to the library with me.

 

[midwestyankee]

Many of the great suggestions posted I have read - and agree they are very good. I will have to check out "Night" suggested by Sheath and others.

<snip>

Spent a lot of time reading James Mitchner, but then got burned out and also he seemed to fall into a bad writing habit toward the end of his career and his books seemed to loose something - personality or something.

Another great book by Elie Wiesel is Dawn.

As for Michener, one that many readers in this thread might enjoy is a short one he did later on which was quite different from most of his books, and which did not suffer in the way that assister describes above. The one I have in mind is called The Novel. It tells the story of the development of one novel through the eyes of three interested parties: a life-long reader, a critic, and the author himself. This is all woven around another story of intrigue in the Pennsylvania Dutch country. I enjoyed it immensely and I think others who love to read will enjoy the behind-the-scenes elements of the book-publishing world that it shows.

 

[DirtyJJ]

If you like historical fiction at all, a wonderful book is "Sarum" by Edward Rutherfurd. It takes place in the region of Salisbury, England and goes from the time when the first man discovered the area to the present day. It's told through the eyes of many interesting characters and families, and while those people are fictional, much of the detail that unfolds throughout the book is realistic and accurate. One of my favorite books of all time.

"London" by the same author is also good and carries the same concept to the history of that city.
DJJ

 

[SlvrTongueDevil]

the Jack Reacher stories are great, as are Connelly's books, also i offer the "Prey" series by John Sandford

and John Dunnings series about bookseller / detective Cliff Janeway

Yes, definitely the John Sandford "Prey" series ... read every one and enjoyed each. Will have to try the Dunnings series.

 

[sheath]

If you are into realism, biographies...

"Fighting Back" by Robert Davidson.

The back reads:

"Long before there were abuse hotlines and shelters for battered women, June Briand shot four bullets into her husband's head and was sentenced to fifteen years to life. This is the shocking true story of survival--and the intense bond June shared with her pathologically violent husband, a monster who physically and sexually tortured, degraded, and dominated her so relentlessly that she refused to believe he was dead even after she killed him.

What kind of woman would slay her own husband? What kind of man would drive her to it? Why didn't she just leave him? Based on extensive interviews with June Briand, "Fighting Back" explores those difficult questions while exposing the twisted dynamics of a relationshp that enslaves a woman--and drives her to kill."

A friend gave this book to me when I was struggling with the fallout of an emotionally abusive relationship...the book details the escalation of abuse, from the snide comments and little innuendos made in the beginning, all the way to the brutal rape and threats of death that came at the very end. The book is chillingly honest, but NOT an easy read.

S.

 

[wicked woman]

Originally posted by sheath
I do have my own pair. But I'm starting to get the impression he needs more than one pair!

S.

my aren't you both lucky...would offer mine but I'm not quite that generous


*wondering if sheath or hersixstring will bother waiting for a special occasion ....but then again based on the WFMS thread every day is a special occasion.*

 

[sheath]

Good job, baby girl!

S.

 

[wicked woman]

Originally posted by DirtyJJ
If you like historical fiction at all, a wonderful book is "Sarum" by Edward Rutherfurd. It takes place in the region of Salisbury, England and goes from the time when the first man discovered the area to the present day. It's told through the eyes of many interesting characters and families, and while those people are fictional, much of the detail that unfolds throughout the book is realistic and accurate. One of my favorite books of all time.

"London" by the same author is also good and carries the same concept to the history of that city.
DJJ

Yes I agree Edward Rugherfurd's books are delightful...but I think the one you selected "Sarum" is his best.

 

[wicked woman]

Originally posted by hersixstring
I know I am biased so take this however you like.

sheath's book is extraordinary. If you like what she writes here on this board you will fall in love with her novel.

I will not say any more. The reviews speak for themselves.

Good job, baby girl!

Agree you're biased but I have no doubt you speak the truth. I was serious in my compliment...I don't give them lightly. I don't think I can put into words how sheath's writing touches me...I just know it does...and like no other. Remarkable indeed.

As for those reviews...God they couldn't be better if an immodest person wrote them themself!

Repeating your comment 'good job'....but I'll leave the 'baby girl' for you.