Good books you have read

[[Da...]]

Hi:

 

I live a little out of the way, and don't have an English book store nearby, so I would like to start a thread for BB members to recommend books. The last book I read was Maeve Binchy's Light A penny Candle, quite a light read, about peoples lives between 1940 and the 60's it takes place in Ireland and England. The two main characters  are young girls, one an evacuee from the bombs in London, the other an Irish country girl, it's quite a story and the distraction works. Please add your books. Best David

[[ih...]]

What sort of books do you enjoy? If you like a bit of factual history mixed with a psychological mystery, I can recommend most of the works of Robert Goddard: [nobbc]http://www.amazon.com/Robert-Goddard/e/B000AP9FRO/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1349517697&sr=1-2-ent[/nobbc]

or Joseph Kanon:

[nobbc]http://www.amazon.com/Joseph-Kanon/e/B000AP7HA6/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1349517843&sr=1-2-ent[/nobbc]

 

 

Edit: commercial link deactivated

 

 

[[Da...]]

Hi ihope

 

My reading is quite catholic, but I am not really into best sellers, one of the last books that I read was: the man who mistook his wife for a hat. Oliver sacks. Another one: phantoms in the brain. Vs ramachandran MD.  I also read Jodi Picoult. Also like Jewish writers like I.B singer. Bernard Malamud, Saul bellow..........

 

I actually just ordered the first book you recommended by Robert Goddard, the blurb seems quite interesting, and was given 4 stars, I am going traveling from Wednesday and it would be great to have something worth reading and distracting. I'll let you know how I get on.  Tks Dd.

[[ih...]]

That's one of the few Goddard's I haven't yet read, so look forward to hearing your opinion.

[[Da...]]

Ihope, thks.

 

I just read your signature, seems you and your husband have really been through hard times, glad things are better for you.  Best Dd.

[[ih...]]

Thanks so much, David. The toughest of the lot has been the bz wdwl so very much looking forward to a hiatus from dramas of all kinds.

[Guest [St...]]

David, if you want something truly inspiring and awesome to read, try tony Christiansen's 'Attitude Plus!.  He is a man who lost both legs when he was 12, he has climbed Mount Everest, is a licencesed pilot, drag car racer, sat on top of Mt Kilimanjaro and is a signwriter by trade.  I have had the pleasue of hearing him speak on the public speaking circuit, he is the most inspiring individual I've ever seen.

 

I guarantee you that you won't be able to put the book down.  He let's nothing stop him from accomplishing his dreams, despite having no legs. 

 

Staffy x

[[Da...]]

Thanks, will check that one out! More creature pictures later  Dd.

 

[[Ho...]]

What a great thread....I love to read and have not been able to for 18 months or so due to the benzo w/d.  About 4 months ago I started reading really light material and it is so wonderful to be distracted through books.  I belonged to two book clubs but had to give them up..  Still, at times, I am not able to focus enough to read but it is getting better.  The last book I read was "Caleb's Crossing" by Geraldine Brooks...historical fiction takes place in the 1600's ....about the first native American who went to Harvard...

    Look forward to hearing about other good books....

Hoping2BFree

[[os...]]

Jonathan Kellerman - Over The Edge.

 

Brilliant read, i could not put it down.

 

Oscar

[[ih...]]

Other favourites are:-

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak;

The Bottom of the Sky: A Novel by William C. Pack;

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese;

Black Cross by Greg Iles;

The Blue Afternoon by William Boyd & anything else by Boyd;

Wolf Winter by Clare Francis;

So Much for That by Lionel Shriver;

Gone Girl: A Novel by Gillian Flynn, (very very dark); and

All the Wally Lamb novels.

 

 

 

 

 

[[mp...]]

I just ordered So Much for That by  Lionel Shriver, thank you for the suggestion.

 

I have been reading again, but I can't remember titles. I can barely remember the details of the pages, this is sad for me, but the skills of comprehension and retention are coming back.

 

So although I would like to be able to recommend all the wonderful books that I've read in the last several months, I really can't remember them!

 

I do remember what I read 15, 20 to 30 years ago though.

 

I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb

The Hotel New Hampshire by John Irving

A Prayer For Owen Meanie by John Irving

The World According To Garp by John Irving

Nearly everything by Michael Crichton

All the historical novels by Gore Vidal

Exodus by Leon Uris

QB VII by Leon Uris

The Count of Monte Christo by Alexander Dumas

A Tree Grows In Brookly by Betty Smith

The Other Side Of Midnight by Sidney Sheldon (pure trash, just loved it!)

 

Oh yes, I just remembered, I read the "The Girl Who............." trilogy from the Swedish author who's name I couldn't remember to save my life. I had some difficulty with these books as they were the very first books I read in recovery Last Year!! It was strange. I was able to read these three and then I wasn't able to read again for many months. I went to see the movie and it was very hard on my system, but worth it.

 

Best of luck to us all getting back to our beloved books.

 

M. 

[[Wa...]]

How many books you gonna read about North Korea?  I suggest "The Orphan Master's Son"  by Adam Johnson. This is an incredible read which blew me away. Some reviews -

 

Mr. Johnson has written a daring and remarkable novel, a novel that not only opens a frightening window on the mysterious kingdom of North Korea, but one that also excavates the very meaning of love and sacrifice." - Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

 

"RIch with a sense of discovery...The year is young, but The Orphan Master’s Son has an early lead on novel of 2012." - The Daily Beast

 

"This is a novel worth getting excited about." - The Washington Post

 

[[aD...]]

one of the last books that I read was: the man who mistook his wife for a hat. Oliver sacks.

David,

 

That book is awesome. I read it when I first started withdrawal and, besides being insanely interesting, it really put into perspective how trivial our neurological symptoms can be when compared to such rare conditions. I'm gonna pick up a copy of "Phantoms in the Brain" which you mentioned.

 

I'm currently reading "A Beautiful Mind" by Sylvia Nasar. I'm sure a lot of people are familiar with the movie. It's the story of Noble Prize winning economist/mathematician John Nash -- a man whose mind was so troubled by schizophrenia yet so capable of remarkable insight and innovation. A good read so far, and while I was a little afraid of it being esoteric on the math, it is remarkably accessible and readable.

[[...]]

i just finished stephen king's "11/22/63", thought it was very good, couldn't put it down.  i'm not usually into stephen king, but this one was different.

 

Z

[[ih...]]

i just finished stephen king's "11/22/63", thought it was very good, couldn't put it down.  i'm not usually into stephen king, but this one was different.

 

Z

 

Read it last Christmas. Also not at all into supernatural/ stephen king genre but agree that  it was very captivating for such a long read, the characters were very relatable & it really captured that small town ambience.

[[mp...]]

Hey, thanks for reminding me about 11/22/63. Of course I had forgotten about it, but now I'm off to order it. 

 

M.

[[Da...]]

Wow, lots of tips out that for reading material. Right now I am reading : Unorthodox, the scandalous rejection of my hasidic roots, by Deborah Feldman, published this year.  Not read that much yet,  it is in English but the author's first language was Yiddish, this is only going back 30 years or so and the setting is New York! I guess the Hasidim still very much practice a form of isolationism....... Interesting reading.

David

[[ih...]]

I heard her interviewed on radio, she is courageous to have broken away from such an insular environment.

[[Da...]]

Yes, a brave lady, now she is an apostate and banished!  A book she mentions is The Chosen by Chaim Potok a real good read! David

 

[[le...]]

i just finished stephen king's "11/22/63", thought it was very good, couldn't put it down.  i'm not usually into stephen king, but this one was different.

 

Z

 

Hi Z,

 

First SK book I've read and I LOVED it.

 

 

[[sa...]]

I recently finished Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner.  I really got immersed in it, just loved it. I totally identified with the main character. 

 

So now I'm working on Marking the Sparrow's Fall, also by Stegner.  It's a collection of reminiscences about his life in the Western U.S.A.  The writing is absolutely beautiful, and sometimes really funny. 

 

I've also found that reading well loved novels from my childhood is really comforting.  I've re-read some of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, and I've started back into the Anne of Green Gables books.  I like them on the days that I'm anxious or foggy, they make me feel better.

[[...]]

Have not read for a while but I love mainly autobiographies and these are some I have read.

 

Dave Pelzer all of his books

 

Richard Pelzer all of his books

 

Cilla Black she is well known in U.K

 

Tuesdays With Morrie- Mitch Albom and this is a tear jerker.

 

Deric Longden all of his books that are about his life,he lives in the U.K not that far from me actually.Funny brilliant books.

 

Torey L Hayden's books

 

Evelyn - Evelyn Doyle -A True story

 

Betty Driver well known actress in U.K was in Coronation Street until she passed away.

 

to be honest have read loads and have lots more to read.

 

 

 

 

[[No...]]

Read the whole series of the Hunger Games, Fifty Shades of Grey, Steig Larsons Triology.

I also read : The Talmud, The Holy Bible, Angelology.

[[ih...]]

Halfway through Follett's Winter of the World. Very engaging characters & some interestng history about Stalin that is new to me.