What are some of your all-time favorite books?
I'm needing to solidify the book choice for our March Relief Society Book Group. I've had a couple of recommendations that I'm going to browse through. Maybe you've heard of one and can give me some feedback. Maybe you know just the perfect book that you LOVE and want to share. Please tell me!!
I'm currently re-reading one of my all-time favorite books, Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. This is my second time and I love it just as much (if not more!) than the first time I read it. How can Tolstoy be so observant and descriptive of real-life conflicting emotions? I love that his story is anything but cliche. It's a tad long, and viewed by some as one of those "depressing Russian novels", both qualities that keep it from being an A-List book for our particular group of women.
We want to keep things G- or PG- rated, without always being in the Young Adult genre. Here are the books that have been brought to my attention:
* A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park
*The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
*America's Women: 400 Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines by Gail Collins
*Christy by Catherine Marshall
*Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
*The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America's Wealthy by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Denko
Thanks for any feedback and recommendations!
Here I am!
2 years ago
14 comments:
I just finished re-reading The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom, and wow did it impact me more this time around! Fantastic message!
And then just for pure comedic enjoyment I love the Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy. Many have seen the movie/play, but the book is even better.
And I love Fire of the Covenant by Gerald N Lund. This one is long but SOO good.
I have to admit that a lot of my favorites are YA novels now. They are just a safer bet.
Good luck and let us know what the final decisions are...I love knowing what other people are reading!
Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - Barbara Kingsolver
The Princess Bride - sorry I guess it is YA
Kingbidgood's in the Bathtub - Woods (ha ha, this would be more for your child #2's book club)
I really liked The Richest Man in Babylon ... something everybody should read sometime
I really loved, Five People You Meet in Heaven, by Mitch Albom. Thought-provoking and moving.
Hope you don't mind me commenting on your blog- I'm a friend of Erin's and I love your blog!
I'm currently reading Anna Karenina for the first time (verdict's still out- it is really long!)
I would vote for The Hiding Place, A Thousand Splendid Suns, or Tears of the Desert: A Memoir of Survival in Darfur.
You've got me curious about the ones you mentioned.
Patty, I read the translation of Anna Karenina by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, and I hear that makes all the difference!Let me know what you think!
I just read a really funny book called - Can't Wait to Get to Heaven by Fannie Flagg (author of 'Fried Green Tomatoes').. Hilarious story about a small town in MO with lots of religious overtones - and tons of characters that just cracked me up. The moral of the story is one that any good Christian/Human should appreciate and live by.
I've also like a series of books by Alexander McCall Smith called 'The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency' - each title is different but since they are a series - it's still lumped into that name. I think there are at least 5 total so far - maybe 6?
Happy reading!
Ok, you know that I vote for Guerney but Tuesdays with Morrie is great too - Mitch Albom's first book; I liked it much better than 5 People - no offense to Sarah& Tom. The Hiding Place is also very, very good. #1 ladies Detective Series is wonderful.(Smith) didn't we read the first one? I just finished "A House in Fez" by Susanne Clarke. enjoyable. Ok, now have to add to more to my want-to-read list. Karenina and Pimpernel. I tell ya, will NOT live long enough to read all I want to read!
I just finished reading 3 Weeks With My Brother by Nicholas Sparks. It is about his family, growing up, and a three week trip around the world with his big brother. He's the author of Message In A Bottle, A Walk To Remember, The Notebook. Very good!
I also like the book Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn. It is YA about a fictional island of the US Atlantic coast that prides itself on it's use of the English language and honors the man who wrote "The quick red fox jumps over the lazy brown dog". When letters from that sentence start falling off of the memorial, the councilmen see it as a sign to stop using those letters and ban them from their written and spoken language. The story is told through a series of letters between the characters as they slowly loose their language. It is very cute!
We did a book club once with Pride and Prejudice. I know, I know...everyone's probably read it 10 times already. But, it is so much fun to talk about all the characters.
I just finished reading Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and I thought it was amazing! A great action suspense, a little romance and a lot about humanity.. Totally loved it. I also love the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series by ALexander McCall Smith
Hey we're coming out to St. Louis April 24th-May 2nd.
I'm reading Anna Karenina right now. My first time, and it's a little slow going. I've always enjoyed your writing, I'm going to subscribe to get more of it. So glad we reconnected. Even though FB is a terrific time-waster, there are many blessings which have come to me. Re your post about FB, I accept anyone as my friend that I remember. You can always elect to not see as much of them if what they write is offensive. Although I haven't done that ever.
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