Desperately Seeking Reading Material

 

 

 

 

Post #203 February 5, 2013

 

I have always been a reader - I was one of those people who never went anywhere without a paperback stuffed in my purse. As a kid, I would go to the library and take out 10 books a week (starting with Little House on the Prairie, moving onto Barbara Cartland and then finally getting into bodice rippers at the age of 12). My biggest fear in life is being stuck on a plane without anything to read - no matter how many pages I had left in my book, I always had a back-up.

So, it's been a surprise to me (and to my bookish husband) that my reading habit of one to two books a week has slowed to one to two a month. Yes, I can still rip through the latest Peter Robinson detective thriller in two nights....but my interest in reading novels has greatly diminished. I even joined a book club and couldn't get around to reading the first selection (which was my pick) sigh.

I need to jumpstart my reading and so I am reaching out to my online connections for reading recommendations.

I love a good crime drama/thriller - especially British ....I am not interested in shopaholics  or anything to do with the colour grey.

I love to read contemporary women authors with a strong female voice.

As most of my friends and all of the members of my previous book club know, I do NOT want to read books with themes that include dwarves, India or the circus....I am also thinking of adding books with a strong mystical realism thing with animals.

So, with that in mind, I beg of you to send me your suggestions, recomendations and favourite books. They don't have to be new I'd love to hear about anything you've read that you've loved and want to share.

Some of favourites over the year (aside from the obvious classics)  have included Middlesex by Jeffery Eugenides, Bel Canto by Ann Patchett, Kate Atkinson's detective series, and so on and so on.

Not only do I need something to read tonight, I have a beach vacation coming up in April (more to come on that) and I will need books to read while lying by the pool....

So please...help me withdraw from my TV addiction and get back to the written word.

 

Comments

[Susan]

thanks Janet - I read East of Eden years ago and remember really loving it - I still have a copy and I will have to go back and re-read. I will check out your other suggestions as well.

[Susan]

Hi Carol, thanks for the recommendations - I've read both and really enjoyed them. Ann Patchett is one of my favourite authors and Gone Girl was a great read. Keep those suggestions coming!

[Janet S.]

I'd suggest going on Amazon or Good Reads and reading reviews of books. But, my picks:
East of Eden - John Steinbeck
Unbroken - Laura Hillenbrand
Breakfast with Buddah - Roland Merullo - does not take place in India
State of Wonder - Ann Patchett

[Carol]

I was thinking the same thing so I got a Kindle and read at 3 am which seems to be the time my body wants to be wide awake lately. Two books I think you would like are: State of Wonder by Ann Patchett and Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn both are twisty mysteries.