Any Good Books Read Lately?

[Kelly71]

I am looking for a good book to read over the holiday break from school. Any recommendations? My last book read (for pleasure) was The Red Tent. I loved it!

Peace to all,
Kelly

[miasmom]

I really enjoy Mary Higgins Clark, she has a lot of books out all are great. They are murder mysteries but are very clean.

Jan Karon has the Mitford series out they are heartwarming.

I am reading John Grishams books at the moment. Sometimes it is hard to find new authors that I think are worth my time.

[3 little birds]

I read a lot of books while nursing ( I don't know what I would do without the public library), and I too, am cautious about new authors because many times the book is boring or poorly written.
I just finished a book called. The Nature of Water and Air by Regina McBride. It is her first novel and I was very impressed. I could not put it down. It takes place in Ireland and has an intensely interesting and heartbreaking story. There is lots of great breastfeeding though and it explores the importance of relationships between mothers and their children.

I also just finished a great book called Pasquale's Nose by Micheal Rips. This is his first book also. It is sort of a travel/memoir and it is hysterical. It is the experiences of the author living in a small town in Italy as an outsider.

I am always looking for book suggestions, so keep 'em coming!

[mellie-bellie]

I've been quite the book worm lately, especially since we did away w/ the TV about 2 weeks ago and I needed/wanted something to do w/ all my extra free time. I've finished reading "Living Joyfully with Children", I thought I needed to get a jump start on how do deal w/ children since my 1st and only child just turned one and he's not quite a baby anymore. This book is an AP must IMO. I'm currently reading "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenence", which is kinda philisophical, but it's intertwined in a plot...I'm reading this on just for fun, but it's also helping me view things in different ways. I'm also reading "A Mother's Guide to Homeschooling", just to get a jump start on things since we're planning on HS, and "How Children Learn", which from the little that I've read, seems to be a really good book.

[babynell]

I'm reading the Red Tent now and I'm enjoying it. I recently read a book called The Ladies Auxilliary Tova Mirvis it's her first book and I LOVED it! My friends that have read it also like it a lot. It takes place in an orthodox Jewish community, but the book is more about the relations between mothers and daughters in a small changing community. There are a lot of Jewish details, but you don't have to be Jewish to enjoy it (I'm Catholic).

For those of you that like funny fiction, I highly recommend the Janet Evanovich series, starts with One For The Money. These books made me laugh out loud and often!

Cheers!
Marilyn

[3girls1boy]

"Expecting Adam" by Martha Beck

true story about when the author was expecting her Down Syndrome child, Adam. Not really a book about a special needs child though. Both she and her husband experienced many mysterious and magical things when she was carrying her boy, and also about how what was important to them changed.

Felt almost sad when I finished it, like I was saying goodbye to some wonderful friends.

[SoHappy]

I just finished "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" by David Eggers. If you want to laugh and cry and be touched by wit and wordplay, I recommend it. He's very clever as he tells the story of his life while parenting his younger brother after they were orphaned.
For a light read (interesting story, but not really "literature") I liked "The Prizewinner of Defiance, Ohio -- how my mother raised ten kids on twenty-five words or less" by Terry Ryan. It tells how a mom in the '50s kept her family going by winning jingles contests, often providing for her family when her alcoholic husband was incapable of it.
I also read "The Magus" by John Fowles this summer. Don't bother. With a 700 page investment, I expect a bigger payoff. I felt jerked around by the author, even tho' I know the book has a bit of a cult following.:
Keep the suggestions coming -- I'm quitting my job at the end of the year and will have more time to read!!

[3 little birds]

SoHappy, I also read David Eggers book, and I thought it was great, too. Very funny, but heartbreaking too. I was suprised by how young the author is.

[jtsmom]

Robert Morgan, Sandra Dallas, Wally Lamb.

I also read In the Fall by Jeffery Lent, it was really good, his only book that I know of. Robert Morgan and Sandra Dallas write about turn of the century housewives, which I love, Wally Lamb has two books out that take place in more modern times but are beautifully woven together.

[Elphaba]

.

[lilzmama]

I love this discussion, as reading is one thing I do have the energy for these days. I just finished Having Faith, by Sandra Steingraber, an ecologist writing about her experience with maternity, birth, and breastfeeding. She writes from the perspective of herself as an ecosystem, and , since she researches and otherwise writes about environmental toxins, a large part of the book is about environmental influences on the fetus. Fabulous book. It opened my eyes to the vunerability of nursing infants and the incredible levels of toxins fetuses of even the most careful moms are exposed to. It also looks at fetal growth on a microscopic level, detail by detail --just what i wanted to read when i was pregnant.

[SoHappy]

Shoshanna's Mom -- I loved Confederacy of Dunces, too! It's one of those books you either love or you hate. I'm always suspicious of people who hated it "Oh, my valve!" I like your other choices, too, so I'll have to check out The Lucky Gourd Shop.
Lilzmom, good for you for reading Sandra Steingraber! She's awesome. We just did an interview with her at work. What an amazing woman. If only more people would read/listen to what she has to say.

[Julie]

LOL I feel bad...all Ive read lately is fluff, free fulff from eharlequin. Im currently rereading Clan of the cave bears, Im going to read the series again because the new one is suposed to be comming out in May, its been 10 or 11 years since the last one!

[glh]

Good Books

I read the latest Anne Tyler book "Back When We Were Grownups" and really enjoyed it. I recommend it, especially if you have previously enjoyed any of her books. "Breathing Lessons" by Tyler is one of my all time favorite books. Also enjoyed "The Red Tent" and "Bee Season" very much.

I also heard that two new books, "The World Below" by Sue Miller and "Blue Diary" by Alice Hoffman (two of my favorite authors) are very good. They are next on my reading list.

[peggy]

These are all great suggestions!
If you are looking for something light and funny I would recommend David Sedaris. I am reading his book "Naked" right now, but my 21 yr. old says his earlier work is even better.

peggy

[LEmama]

Recent awesome reads...

Mittens Strings For God - Reflections for Mothers...?/Katrina Kenison

Blackbird/Jennifer Lauck

The Poisonwood Bible/Barbara Kingsolver

For 'lighter' reading, try Mothers Who Think - a collection of essays from salon.com edited by Moses and Peri.

[dfoy]

A few good books I've read lately:
The Saving Graces by Patricia Gaffney (one of my favs!)
The Pull of the Moon by Elizabeth Berg
The Hours by Michael Cunningham (won the Pulitzer)
Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach (a great way to look at life!)

[saganaga]

Online book club

Would anyone be interested in joining an online book club? It's called Journey Through Books, it's for reading, sharing & discussing books, go to:
http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/journeythroughbooks

[Corriander]

I loved the Red Tent!

I've also recently read A Prayer for Owen Meany, Wicked, Confessions of an Ugly stepsister (by the same author as Wicked but not nearly as good), Plain Truth (sort of a murder mystery set in Amish country, very good).

Now I'm really into mysteries

[jfatton]

due to an unexpected (and unwelcomed) reduction in hours at work, i read a book last week....first one in a year or so. Corriander, you would like it if you liked "Owen Meany". It is "The Fourth Hand" by John Irving.

Joe