Books - I need something GOOD to read!

Stars_And_Sunsets · 04-21-2004, 07:00 AM

Lately I've gotten bored with reading V.C Andrews books and Stephen King books, so I've pretty much lost interest in reading.

I'm looking for something a little different, maybe a romance novel with an actual STORY to it.

Or even another horror book, just not by Stephen King.

Can anyone recommend a good book for me to read?

Crossbow · 04-21-2004, 02:22 PM

Romance: I've been told Karen Robards has plots in her stories. Haven't read any.

Horror: Dean Koontz, False Memory.

Stars_And_Sunsets · 04-21-2004, 07:19 PM

Thanks [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

supergirlhero · 04-22-2004, 12:22 AM

If you want a good romance, read Nora Roberts books. I highly recommend Face the Fire, Heaven and Earth and Key of Light.

Other good books:

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho

- Alex - · 04-22-2004, 01:31 AM

well, it's not romance but I absolutely recomend The bonesetter's daughter by Amy Tan, the story amazes me every single time I read that book.

Dommie · 04-22-2004, 07:29 AM

i was thinking the same thing.....i needed a new book as well. A friend of mine happened to catch Oprah yesterday and told me the new book sounds very interesting.

The last really good book i read was Can You Keep a Secret by Sophie Kinsellas..if you to to the Fonfessions series thread we have talked about it a bit too. It really is a good [img]smilies/read.gif[/img] and lots of [img]smilies/lol.gif[/img] also below this Oprah thing..is another book recommended by People Magazine my sister told me about.

here is the information from Oprah's website

Book Selections The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter One Hundred Years of Solitude Cry The Beloved Country East of Eden Your Book Clubs Find a Book Club in Your Area Online Book Clubs Worldwide Discussions Tell Us About Your Club Featured Book Clubs Tips for Hosting a Book Club Make Your Own Bookmark Be on the Show!

NOVEL: The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter

So truthfully does this novel capture the American experience of it's time, it has earned an enduring place, along with greats like The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf, and Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, on the prestigious Modern Library's top 20 novels of the 20th-Century. Carson McCullers' stunning debut may be the smallest novel in the history of American Literature to make such a big splash. It enjoyed a meteoric rise to the top of the bestseller lists in 1940 and was the first in a string of works by McCullers to give voice to the rejected, forgotten, mistreated and oppressed. Never have the margins of society been so brilliantly illuminated.

Strange Bedfellows
This simple, straightforward book set in a small town in the South has an extraordinary cast of characters�a rag-tag bunch of misfits you'd never expect to talk to each other, let alone strike up friendships. At the novel's core is one of the most unique characters ever written: deaf-mute John Singer. Not only does Singer suffer from an often-misunderstood affliction, his demeanor and place in the social fabric of this intimate Georgia town speak of humanity itself. He is pensive, compassionate and genuinely caring, while at the same time confronted by the kind of tragedy even his gentle spirit cannot endure.

More Than a Lonely Hearts' Club
Singer is not the only character afflicted by a personal defect. Each of McCullers' characters grapples with something: adolescence, rage, insecurity, depression, prejudice or poverty. And every Georgian we meet is afflicted by their very time and place. We find ourselves moved by this unlikely circle of Depression Era townsfolk because in this journey to the heart of our country, the heart of the century, the heart of society, McCullers brings us face-to-face with our moral isolation. She reminds us that no matter how many people we are surrounded by, we are ultimately, tragically, unequivocally alone in our heart of hearts. Though this message is not unique in the fiction of America, never is it captured so realistically or felt so tenderly before The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter.

Carnival of Love and Loss
Each main character has a front row seat on an emotional rollercoaster of love and loss. There are drunken brawls in the middle of the night where men's fists seem drugged by the Georgia heat. These men move in slow motion and they sleep off heavy hangovers. There are liaisons, wacky mishaps, deaths both accidental and intentional, marital spats and racial tensions. We meet the lovelorn, the war torn, the evangelical, the righteous. Each character, in his-or-her-own way, searches for answers about life from the one man in town who can't articulate them. Talking to Singer is as good as talking to your own ghost or your own God. Behind her words, you can feel McCullers living the kaleidoscopic movements of this town. You can feel her fall in love with her eclectic band of misfits, fashioned after people she knew as sure as she knew her own blood. For all their lonely hearts, you can't help but fall for them too

__________________

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My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
The difficult choices a family must make when a child is diagnosed with a serious disease are explored with pathos and understanding in this 11th novel by Picoult (Second Glance, etc.). The author, who has taken on such controversial subjects as euthanasia (Mercy), teen suicide (The Pact) and sterilization laws (Second Glance), turns her gaze on genetic planning, the prospect of creating babies for health purposes and the ethical and moral fallout that results. Kate Fitzgerald has a rare form of leukemia. Her sister, Anna, was conceived to provide a donor match for procedures that become increasingly invasive. At 13, Anna hires a lawyer so that she can sue her parents for the right to make her own decisions about how her body is used when a kidney transplant is planned. Meanwhile, Jesse, the neglected oldest child of the family, is out setting fires, which his firefighter father, Brian, inevitably puts out. Picoult uses multiple viewpoints to reveal each character's intentions and observations, but she doesn't manage her transitions as gracefully as usual; a series of flashbacks are abrupt. Nor is Sara, the children's mother, as well developed and three-dimensional as previous Picoult protagonists. Her devotion to Kate is understandable, but her complete lack of sympathy for Anna's predicament until the trial does not ring true, nor can we buy that Sara would dust off her law degree and represent herself in such a complicated case. Nevertheless, Picoult ably explores a complex subject with bravado and clarity, and comes up with a heart-wrenching, unexpected plot twist at the book's conclusion.

From Booklist
*Starred Review* Expect to be kept up all night by Picoult's latest novel, but it's much more than a page-turner; it's a fascinating character study framed by a complex, gripping story. Thirteen-year-old Anna Fitzgerald walks into the office of lawyer Campbell Alexander and announces she wants to sue her parents for the rights to her own body. Anna was conceived after her older sister, Kate, developed a rare form of leukemia at the age of two, and has donated bone marrow and blood to her sister.... read more

[ 04-22-2004: Message edited Dommie ]

Crossbow · 04-22-2004, 08:49 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by supergirlhero:
<STRONG>If you want a good romance, read Nora Roberts books. </STRONG>

Oh, maybe I was thinking of Nora Roberts, not Karen Robard. I dunno. I've never read a romance, but I know all the authors from working in bookstores.

Gabriela · 04-22-2004, 03:50 PM

I like the book Summers at Castle Auburn by Sharon Shinn...it's an interesting story with a bit of romance mixed in.
Also, Winter of Fire by Sherryl Jordan is an awesome book - one of my favorites. There's a bit of romance in that too, but it's definitely not the focus of the story...

jennarose · 04-24-2004, 09:32 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Crossbow:
<STRONG>Oh, maybe I was thinking of Nora Roberts, not Karen Robard. </STRONG>

I haven't read too many of Karen Robards' books yet but I remember good plot in the ones I did read. Walking After Midnight was the first KR book I read and it's still my favorite. It's romantic suspense, so if you don't like suspense that wouldn't be a good one. Although if you like Stephen King, I guess that's not a problem. I think she has some that are straight romances but I haven't read those.

I'm reading Undead and Unwed by MaryJanice Davidson. The spine says it's paranormal romance but I'd call it chick lit. Chick lit usually turns me off but I really like this book. It's about a woman who dies and wakes up as a vampire. It's a fun book. It's going to be a series. It reminds me of the Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vamprire Novels by Charlaine Harris. Maybe not as good as those books, but good enough to make me want to read the next one when it comes out.

The only horror I've read are a few books by John Saul. They were pretty good but since he's the only horror author I've ever read (no, not even Stephen King!) I don't have anything to compare them to.

[ 04-24-2004: Message edited jennarose ]

Good_Day · 04-24-2004, 05:18 PM

P.S. the novel by Helen Schulman

See the film October 15th starring *Topher Grace* & Laura Linney...Read the book now. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Carol

[ 04-24-2004: Message edited Good_Day ]

**Periwinkles** · 04-26-2004, 03:02 PM

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I took note of a bunch of them. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Kwistina · 04-27-2004, 02:42 AM

For romance, Nora Roberts is good, but so is Judith Krantz or Linda Howard.

If you read Judith Krantz, read Scruples, and Scruples Two. They are the most popular, but all of them are great.

But my personal favourite book of all time is 'Coming Home' by Rosamunde Pilcher. It's an amazing novel and I've read it over and over a million times. If you do read it, let me know what you think.

JillyHalliwell · 04-29-2004, 08:59 AM

I'd have to suggest Where the Heart is by Billie Letts..here's a sample of it..

Bit of Where the Heart is By Billie Letts

SydneySummers · 05-01-2004, 06:50 AM

~*For horror John Saul is pretty good.

tu es mon ame · 01-02-2008, 03:26 AM

I recommend the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer, its absolutely amazing. Or if you want something more compelling, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, eloquent and moving.