Good Books to Read! **UPDATED first post**

[annie2186]

Hey!

Since falling down the rabbit hole so to speak, of this Self Publishing / Indie Author world I have found out there are SOO many good authors not getting noticed. 

Obviously sometimes the writing is bad in a self published book since there is no one "blocking" them. But there are ALSO amazing ones that you just have to find!

I, for some odd reason, feel compelled to use my incredibly extensive social media and internet marketing knowledge to help them. 

I honest to goodness am not charging anyone or am I making any money (I don't even have ads on my blog.......I don't know why I don't have ads on my blog - something needs to pay for the hosting! LOL) Oh, and I don't even have my own self published book! Maybe one day 

So, if you love reading and want to find new books, check out this blog!

http://www.indieauthoranonymous.com

If you have a kindle device / app I also have free kindle books daily 

Thanks ladies!

It seems that everyone I know is always looking for the next good series or book. I know I always am!

So, I am trying to get a master list of all the best books people have read. You can do any genre or subject. 

Feel free to include *no brainer* books (for example, Harry Potter) but I am more interested in the less known books. 

For me, it was the Fever Series by Karen Marie Moning. Although it seems to be more popular now, I was the first in my circle of friends to suggest it. Everyone else loved it too!

So please share!

Also, if you are on FaceBook please like the page I am making to serve the same purpose!

http://www.facebook.com/IndieAuthorAnonymous

Thanks for any leads ladies! 

Edited by annie2186 - 8/28/12 at 10:30am

[annie2186]

Subbing! 

[MarieP]

I have a long list of favorite books, but one of my all time favorite series is the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon.  

[annie2186]

Originally Posted by MarieP 

I have a long list of favorite books, but one of my all time favorite series is the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon.  

Thanks! I looked at the series and it sounds like a good read. I will have to put in on my wish list.

[AmandaT]

The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan/ Brandon Sanderson

 An amazing fantasy series. Writing it spanned 20 years, 14 books and just over 4 million words and the last book is coming out 1/2013

Game of Thrones by George R R Martin

Also fantasy, not quite as long and waiting for 2 more books to come out

[MarieP]

I'm not a big fantasy fan, but I loved Game of Thrones and I just put the first Wheel of Time book on my Nook to read.

[annie2186]

Originally Posted by AmandaT 

The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan/ Brandon Sanderson

 An amazing fantasy series. Writing it spanned 20 years, 14 books and just over 4 million words and the last book is coming out 1/2013

Game of Thrones by George R R Martin

Also fantasy, not quite as long and waiting for 2 more books to come out

OMG - I think I remember my older sister reading "The Wheel of Time" series! I remember her saying that she thought it was never going to end. Do you think the book coming out in 2013 will really be the last?

[annie2186]

Originally Posted by MarieP 

I'm not a big fantasy fan, but I loved Game of Thrones and I just put the first Wheel of Time book on my Nook to read.

[AmandaT]

I really do, yeah. There were only supposed to be 12 books EVER but there were so many unresolved things the manuscript was over 1800 pages long (lol). The way the new author (the original author died a few years back but left a lot of the ending part already written out) described it was a last novel in 3 parts. 

That's not to say there will never be an epilogue book (they did release a prequel) but I think that its finally about to wrap up. 

I'm honestly more concerned with GRRM never finishing his series- I think at the current "speed" of writing his last one wouldn't come out until 2026 hah. 

[sillygrl]

Originally Posted by MarieP 

I have a long list of favorite books, but one of my all time favorite series is the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon.  

Love, love, love this series!

[artekah]

Originally Posted by sillygrl 

Originally Posted by MarieP 

I have a long list of favorite books, but one of my all time favorite series is the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon.

Love, love, love this series!

Third!!!

[homeschoolingmama]

I LOVE reading but I seem to be the only one who couldn't get into the Outlander series!  I tried so hard and it just didn't work. :(

They aren't series books but I loved The Kitchen House and a book called A long way from Home (or something similar)  by Connie Briscoe I think it was.  Great books!

I am reading a trilogy called The Heritage of Lancaster County Trilogy by Beverly Lewis and I am enjoying it.

Loved Mark of the Lion series by Francine Rivers.  Awesome!

[artekah]

For anyone who loves Diana Gabaldon, check out Sara Donati's Wilderness series. I just started the first book and I'm hooked. It's a very similar feel to the Outlander books.

[kathymuggle]

Books I have enjoyed in the last couple of years:

The Help  (yeah, yeah, but I did ).  In a similar vein:  Secret life of Bees.

The Thirteenth Tale

Still Alice - Left Neglected is also good

The Guernsey Literary and  Potato Peel Pie Society

Birth House

For total fluff I would recommend Sophie Kinsella's Undomestic Goddess or I've got Your number.  

I could relate to the Woman who went to Bed for a Year - although I found it a little long.

[Holland73]

The Sandcastle Girls & Midwives by Chris Bohjalian

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

SERIES:

Pillars of the Earth series by Ken Follett

In Death series by JD Robb

Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris
 

[nyssaneala]

Originally Posted by MarieP 

I have a long list of favorite books, but one of my all time favorite series is the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon.  

I just got the first 3 from the library. I am finishing up another book right now, but can't wait to start the series!
 

Delving back over the years, these are my favorites that quickly come to mind.

- Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

- anything else by Margaret Atwood. :-)

- House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

- Any of the Miss Marple books by Agatha Christie

- Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

- Excellent Women by Barbara Pym, especially if you enjoy British humor

- The Book Thief - Markus Zusak

- Dirt Music - Tim Winton

- The Bone People - Keri Hulme

- The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

- The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger

- The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

- Astonishing Splashes of Color by Clare Morrall

On the non-fiction front:

- Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

- Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi

- Open by Andre Agassi

- The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman

- The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan

- Blue Latitudes - Tony Horwitz

- Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing

- Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond

- A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson

- My Life in France by Julia Child

Ok, I guess I'll stop there. I just love thinking about books. 

[ACsMom]

The Ender series by Orson Scott Card.  It'll change your life.  You don't even need to read the first one (Ender's Game) IMO.  Also Octavia Butler's Xenogenesis trilogy. :)
 

[mum5]

I am currently reading the Hunger Games Trilogy, and am very excited about finishing it.

Yes, I know it came out a while ago, but I am a little slow off the mark!

I also love:

I know this much is true - Wally Lamb

some Wilbur Smith novels

Red Dragon - Thomas Harris

[spughy]

If we're plugging self-published authors, I really like Debora Geary - she writes modern "witch" fiction.  There's a lot of it out there and not much I like, but I do like her stuff.  It's very light and fluffy but a good read when you just want something entertaining and nice.  And she can actually write.

If you like fantasy and history, you HAVE to read the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik.  FANTASTIC.  The best series I've read in a long time, and yes, I've read the Game of Thrones series.  Novik's books are just way more fun.  It's a revisionist history of the Napoleonic wars - how that era would have played out if dragons were real and formed essentially aerial combat troops for each side.  Only, they're aerial combat troops who are just as intelligent as humans, but decidedly non-human in their priorities and judgement, and different countries have different human/dragon relationships. It's great.  I can't wait for the next book - there are 7 so far (I think) and they're ALL good, not a dud in the bunch.  The dragons are just such wonderful characters.  The humans are good, too - but Novik really nailed the concept of human-level intelligence (and variety) in something that is a loooong way from human.  (Novik isn't self-published, her books are put out by a big publishing house so the e-book price reflects that (although they TOTALLY got me by offering the first one free a few years ago.)

Another self-published author I really like is Macaulay Hunter.  Not so much his looooong stuff, but his short stories are GREAT (look for "Mother's Little Helpers" on Amazon) and his short(er) novel "Toys" was really, really good, especially if you're not such a fan of the pat, forced "happy ending".