Rec 3

Here's a pic of the last three books I've read:



I picked up the trade paperback of Jeal M. Auel's The Shelters of Stone at a neighbor's yard sale for fifty cents so definitely a bargain. I lent out my own copy a few years back and the borrower never returned it, so this was really a replacement buy. I also wanted to read it again before I order the final book to finish up the series (all I have left now to read is The Land of Painted Caves, book six.) This book really couldn't compete with my favorite, The Valley of Horses, but I thought the author did a good job moving the story along with it.

I paid full cover price ($28.95) for Bill Bryson's One Summer ~ America, 1927, a lively look at the historic folks and events of that particular season in our country. If you really like baseball and aviators and Presidents, you may find Bill will smash to bits most of your illusions about them. Still, he does so with his usual good-natured glee, and that in itself is admirable in its cheerful cheeky audacity and complete contempt for the history taught (past and present) to American kids. I also happen to think Bill Bryson is one of the finest writers of this century so doubtless I'm 100% biased.

Beautiful Sacrifice by Elizabeth Lowell was a remaindered hardcover I picked up for $5.98 at Barnes & Noble on my last trip into the city. This was a random buy; I was looking for something to read by an author I trust to deliver. The story was interesting, different, and well-written if somewhat outlandish and probably quite implausible. I've written a book with many elements like this one, only with Aztecs instead of Maya, so I felt right at home in the story and could personally appreciate the amount of research the author had to do to get it all right.

I'd recommend all three books as good reads for anyone who is interested in prehistorical fantasy, history, and/or romantic suspense.
What are the titles of the last three books you've read that you'd recommend to others? Let us know in comments.