Any good summer reads?

I'm finally done with summer school and I'm looking for a couple good books to read?!

Any recommendations?

If you're into heavy russian literature, you should give The First Circle (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn) a shot.  It's fantastic.  Well I haven't finished it yet, but it is so far, anyway.

I feel like I give the same suggestions everytime one of these threads comes up. It really depends on what you're into...
My favorites are:
1. David Sedaris/Augusten Burroughs for a fun read that'll make you laugh.
2. The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
3. The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri (I've heard her short story collection is fantastic)
4. Untouchables by Narenda Jadhav (I'm really into Indian culture which is why I like 3 and 4 so much-- If anyone has any suggestions for these sorts of books, lemme know)
5. Atonement by Ian McCellan
6. Three Cups of Tea
7. Little Children
8. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
9. I Am America (And So Can You) haha

Just books I've read over the last few months or so that I've really enjoyed... not sure if you would though. Check amazon.com for a synopsis of them.

Water for Elephants

anything written by Alice Hoffman or Jodi Picoult

Snowflower and the Secret Fan

Nightlife, Moonshine, and Madhouse, all by Rob Thurman

eat, pray, love

 

 

Original Post by alibuch:

1. David Sedaris/Augusten Burroughs for a fun read that'll make you laugh.

 Have you read the new David Sedaris book?  I downloaded the audiobook and haven't had a chance to listen yet. 

I BET IT'S HILARIOUS

Pandora's Daughter is really good.  If you like romance and fantasy, then I would highly recomment the After Dark Series by Kersely Cole.  That woman is semi pornographic but you barely notice.  The stories are so good that the semi porn stuff just blends right in and is completely appropriate.  Go figure.  So if you like the idea of a Valkrie marrying a Demon, a phantom marrying a Vampire or a Witch marrying a Werewolf, these books are great. 

Have you read the new David Sedaris book?  I downloaded the audiobook and haven't had a chance to listen yet. 

No, not yet. There's a pretty big delay on release of books here in Korea. My sister is coming in like 7 weeks to visit so I'm making her give me her copy to read. I'm definitely looking forward to it though. Lemme know how it is.

ali, you can download one of his or his sister's books onto your ipod.

How?!


edit: I see it's up for sale at a foreign bookstore here so I'm gonna order it.

Blindness by Jose Saramago - this is a Nobel Prize winning work

Instance of a Fingerpost by Ian Pears - great mystery ala Umberto Eco

Lymond Chronicles by Dororthy Dunnett (starts with A Game of Kings) - best historical fiction out there IMO - there is a guide by E. Morris (I think that is her name) which is helpful.  If you aren't ready for a long series, try King Hearafter by Dunnett.

A Song of Ice and Fire by George RR Martin (starts with A Game of Thrones) - fantasy, but with a decidely political intrigue bent

Discworld Series by Terry Pratchett (starts with The Color of Magic) - just fun light reading and there are lots of books in the series, but no carry over, so you can start anywhere and just pick one up when you need a bit of light-hearted fun.  I especially enjoy the books in the series that center on the character DEATH.

Omnivores Dilemma by M. Polan (sp?) - fascinating non-fiction work

Yes, Terry Pratchett! I highly recommend him, quite witty.

Original Post by cheree89:

A Song of Ice and Fire by George RR Martin (starts with A Game of Thrones) - fantasy, but with a decidely political intrigue bent

 

THIS.

A Song of Ice and Fire is my favorite fantasy epic ever written.  That may be a little premature, considering there are three books yet to be written, but unless Martin has a severe fall from grace or kicks the bucket, I have very high hopes.

Ali~  Can you help me understand why Atonement was a good book (or movie for that matter if you saw it).  SO many people have read and loved it...I thought it was an incredible waste of my time.  Out of respectful curiosity, is there a way you can tell me why you liked it without giving too much away to prospective readers?

Sharpshootinstar~  Totally ditto Water for Elephants...and God bless Jodi Picoult!!  She's been my favorite author for some time now.  I have all her books and have made all of my co-workers read them too.  GREAT storyteller, although most  of her books are pretty depressing.

Cheree~  I bought An Instance of the Fingerpost many years ago and started it several times.  Maybe got 100 pages or so in and lost interest.  I'll try it again soon if you promise it's a worthwhile cause.

I'm reading Stephen King's The Stand, the complete version.  It's over 1000 pages, so it could be your entire summer reading project, OP.  So far so good.  A few people I've talked to said it gets old after awhile.  Has anyone here read it?

 

 

 

osugrrl - I don't think every book is for every person, but I really enjoyed the stylized period speak, as well as the presentation from several points of view (the book is split into parts whereby each character tells the same story from their POV).  Not until you have all POVs do you uncover the mystery.

Here are the Amazon reviews:

http://www.amazon.com/Instance-Fingerpost-Nov el-Iain-Pears

Thanks for the link, Cheree.  I couldn't agree more that every book is not for every person.  I just typically like that sort of British, historical fiction as well as murder mysteries.  I was motivated by the review that described it as "Tough, but rewarding".  I'll give it another chance, although after reading The Stand it may be a few months before I pick up another lengthy book.

You could just read The Onion.

http://www.theonion.com/content/index

It's free and has enough smart aleck humor for everyone.

They have a few books, too.

Anything by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (100 years of Solitude, Love in the Time of Cholera, The General in His Labyrinth)

Old Isabel Allende novels, The Infinite Plan, House of the Spirits, The Stories of Eva Luna

I liked Tom Robbins in college, Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues

 

Michael Chabon - Mysteries of Pittsburgh and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay

I am madly in love with Margaret Atwood, but she isn't for everyone. My favorites are The Handmaid's Tale, The Blind Assassin, and Cat's Eye.

Louise Erdrich - my favorite is The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse, but all her books are pretty fantastic.

I recently read The History of Love by Nicole Krauss and I was actually surprised by how much I loved it.

Let us know what you're into (novels, mysteries, fantasy) and I'm sure you would get some very specific recommendations.

Ali, I also love books set in India or about Indian-American life. Jhumpa Lahiri is awesome, but I also love Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Bharati Mukherjee, Vikram Chandra and Kiran Desai. I haven't read the other author you mentioned, so I'll have to check that out.

I don't read much but I'm reading Just Play Ball by Joe Garigiola its a light hearted look at baseball