Books that you just have to read! (That may not be classics)

[holly rose]

Forgive me if this is a repeat: The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery. I generally don't "highly" suggest a book to another because it is so disappointing to have that person say "ehh, it was okay" or "what was great about it?" This time I don't care: I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book. :)
It is beautifully written. I laughed, I cried, and I felt the characters emotions. One of my favorites, if couldn't already tell. :)

[Sandra]

I'm reading it this month in another book club; haven't started it yet. It's a translated book, correct, Holly Rose?

[holly rose]

Sandra wrote: "I'm reading it this month in another book club; haven't started it yet. It's a translated book, correct, Holly Rose?"

I believe so. I hope you enjoy it! I must have "pushed" this book on so many people! Please keep me posted on your thoughts!

[HeatherIlene]

One of my favorite books of all time is Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita. It has a lot of depth. The book was originally written in the 1930's in what is now the Ukraine, but wasn't published until the 1960's -- it was thought to have been destroyed.

[Travis]

For history or non fiction readers No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt

[LaLaLa Laura]

I just Finished Closet Full of Coke

It was FREE on my Kindle app and wouldn't have read it otherwise. But, it was a pleasant surprise. The above is my review of it on the CWAtC blog!

[Janine]

I just finished The Swan Thieves and really enjoyed it. I also agree with Bianca (#6) - loved the Book Thief and Shadow of the Wind.

[Tad]

I really enjoy The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes. It evokes memories of my own past, which I wrote about on my blog a while back: http://www.tadcrawford.com/2012/07/31....

[Karena]

I just finished Life After Life and really enjoyed it

[HeatherIlene]

These aren't fiction but I read them, loved them, and recommended them constantly:

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime

[HeatherIlene]

Evana wrote:

A couple I have been recommending are The Kappillan of Malta by Nicholas Monsarrat..."

I'll have to check it out. Malta is one of the places my husband and I went on our honeymoon. We were so surprised by it -- and didn't really want to leave!

[Angel]

Ansichten eines Clowns, from Heinrich Böll has always been my favourite, was translated as The Clown into English. A bit sad, but very telling of the german society.

[Natalie]

Three Men in a Boat (not to mention the dog) by Jerome K. Jerome, written in 1889... My all time "pick-me-up" English comedy

[Jessica]

The Fault in Our Stars and Looking for Alaska are two of the best books I have read lately. While they are Young adult, they are two of the most truthful and beautiful books written about the pain of loss. It has become my, personal, mission to tell everyone about these two books. John Green brings you or takes you back to the life of a teenager. But he doesn't sugar coat things, and his stories are not filled with angry and pubescent teenagers. He made me feel emotion and it reminded me that I am human. I like a writer that can do that.

[Alana]

If I made a list of "must-reads" it would be way too long...

I read lots of books that I highly enjoy and recommend to others, but the one that absolutely blew me out of the water, is the best book I've read in several years and is in my top 5 of all time, is Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption. It was so incredible, and if it were a work of fiction instead of a thoroughly researched biography, I would blast it for being so outrageously unrealistic for all of those things to have happened to just one person. I listened to it on audio and while most books of that length take me several days to get through on audio, I blew through this one in under two days. The story was so riveting I could not stop. Highly recommended to anyone, whether you love history or adventure stories or biographies or just reading a book at all.

[Chiara]

The Great Gatsby is probably my all time favorite book. I've read it twice this year alone. I love the story, the criticism, the symbolism and especially Fitzgerald's writing style.
Pride & Prejudice is enchanting. There's no other way to describe it. It's sweet and I love reading Mr. Darcy and Lizzie get over their pride and prejudice. I love how Jane Austen shows her characters feelings and describes them.
The A Song Of Ice And Fire series leaves you craving more and more. There are so many plot twists that it's not uncommon to end up throwing your book at the wall. It's really well written and also very compelling. I've lost count at how many times I've ended up re reading a paragraph a thousand times, wide-eyed, unsure if I really read that or not.

[Baheya]

Pride and Prejudice
The Great Gatsby
Fahrenheit 451
A Thousand Splendid Suns
1984
Any Sherlock Holmes story.

[Ana Lu]

Chiara wrote: "The Great Gatsby is probably my all time favorite book. I've read it twice this year alone. I love the story, the criticism, the symbolism and especially Fitzgerald's writing style.
Pride & Prejudi..."

It's true. Pride and Prejudice is a beautiful story. Jane Austen is a lovely writer. A Song of Ice and Fire is also a terrific saga. I've just started to read it and it is amazing.

Jessica wrote: "The Fault in Our Stars and Looking for Alaska are two of the best books I have read lately..."

The Fault in Our Starts is one of the most beautiful and heartbreaking stories I have read in a while. It totally exceeded my expectations. It made me laugh for hours, cry, shout and smile a lot, and you identify completely with the characters. I really recommend it.

[Everyman]

On the lighter side, I can heartily recommend Christopher Morley's Parnassus on Wheels. It's available free from Gutenberg to be read either in your browser or in almost any e-book format, including Nook and Kindle.
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5311

Also, A House Boat on the Styx, by John Kendrick Bangs, also available on Gutenberg
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2618

On a more serious note, many of the short stories of Somerset Maugham, particularly his South Sea stories, are very enjoyable. Try his story titled, I believe, "The Book Bag." But be warned, some of them are a bit depressing.

[Carolina]

Well, there is a book I've got just for coincidence that I think everyone should at least give a small look, because it was franky a desperate and angry description of how there where few options for women to excel and earn a living in those times and, after finishing it, this novel turned out to be one of faves from all times. It is 'The Tenant of Widefell Hall', written by Anne Brönte

[Alexander]

I came across this book that was just released on Kindle and it seems to have the allure of chilling, weird, and ominous so if you are into those types of things in your book then this might be a good weekend read. It's called House of Bathory and it is written by Linda Lafferty. It's relatively cheap, or you can borrow it if you are a member of Amazon Prime. Just thought I would share that with you guys. I think I am going to read it once I am done with the Atlantis Gene.

[Karena]

I just ran across that one myself. Looks interesting, but then again I have a soft spot for these kinds of subjects. I actually have another of Linda Lafferty's on my soon to read list The Drowning Guard: A Novel of the Ottoman Empire that sounded intriguing.

[Naynay]

An epic suspense novel. Disturbing, yet emotionally captivating in its prose.

[Ayan]

I loved pillars of the earth and world without end by Ken Follett

[Ayesha]

Martin wrote: "Okay, so here's my story: I picked up a copy of this book from the New Releases section of this little indie bookstore like 15 years ago. It was called "Wicked: The Life and Times of The Wicked Wi..."
Oh so true, I had still read very little when I read that book and it hit me, It was so different than anything else I had read. I'm not even sure that I liked the story- I still don't know the answer to that question but it stayed with me because of how unique it was...

[Quirks59m]

Ayan wrote: "I loved pillars of the earth and world without end by Ken Follett"

You might also like The Heaven Tree Trilogy by Edith Pargeter. Originally published in the early 1960's.

[Karena]

The Buddha in the Attic is one of the best books I've read this year. I devoured it. I still think about it months later.

[Karen]

Karena wrote: "The Buddha in the Attic is one of the best books I've read this year. I devoured it. I still think about it months later."

I read The Buddha in the Attic earlier this year and absolutely loved it. Many people object to the incantatory style of writing but that is what made the book for me.

[Karena]

Karen wrote: "Karena wrote: "The Buddha in the Attic is one of the best books I've read this year. I devoured it. I still think about it months later."

I read [book:The Buddha in the Attic|10464..."

I completely agree. I was thrown at first since it's not a common style, but it definitely made the story even more empathetic and heartbreaking. I want to read Otsuka's other book about the interment camps as well.

[Robert Dylan]

I have just finished Wuthering Heights and I was turning over my reading Pride and Prejudice; yet having been told that it is a highly acclaimed novel, it was revealed to me that it may not be a perfect read for a 16 years old boy. To conclude, do you think I would appreciate it?

[Abigail]

Hi, Robert Dylan, I think the pleasure you take in reading Pride and Prejudice might depend on how you approach it.

A lot of people make the mistake of thinking that Jane Austen’s novels are romances; but in fact, the romance is a little bit beside the point. They are social comedies—mocking the silly behavior and vanities of the characters—and, on the serious side, they examine a person’s ethical responsibility to herself and to society.

So they’re more humorous than Wuthering Heights and more about one’s place in the world and relationships with others. There are plot twists, but not a lot of exciting events or adventures. If you like beautiful language, Jane Austen writes some of the most perfect sentences ever, in my view.

You might also enjoy Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey, which is about a younger heroine (about seventeen years old) and her struggles with a lot of misunderstandings and manipulative people.

[LobsterQuadrille]

I highly recommend "The Chronicles of Prydain", a kids/YA fantasy series by Lloyd Alexander. The characters are so wonderful and the storytelling is thrilling but also very emotional at times.
Another one of my personal favorite books is "The Long Secret" by Louise Fitzhugh. It's a sequel to "Harriet the Spy", but mainly revolves around Harriet's friend Beth Ellen Hansen. I love how this book is so subtle but also has so much emotion packed into it.
I also love the Macdonald Hall series by Gordon Korman, about Bruno and Boots, two troublemaking young boys. This series is definitely light reading, but they are hilarious, cheerful, and so much fun to read!

[Alex]

I read wuthering heights also earlier this year and great book Books with more of a dramatic focus I would suggest include Tess by Hardy and Madame bovary. Plenty of plot twists and superb writing

[LobsterQuadrille]

Alex wrote: "I read wuthering heights also earlier this year and great book Books with more of a dramatic focus I would suggest include Tess by Hardy and Madame bovary. Plenty of plot twists and superb writing"

I read Hardy's "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" a couple of years ago. I found it kind of depressing at times, but it had some good moments and a good plot twist at the end.

[Abigail]

I recently read The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd, and I thought it was an Uncle Tom’s Cabin for modern readers—really important work to help us understand America’s original sin, slavery.

[Beth]

I just finished The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty. I truly could not put it down. The movie was great, the book even better. For such a horrific subject, it is elegantly written and aside from the demon himself, the characters are good likeable people. Blatty hasn't written much else but it was one of my favorite books all year. I had just finished The Shining and much preferred Blatty's style to Steven King's. I will say though that I lost sleep for a few nights after and I could not bare to read stories like this very often.

Other great reads: The Book Thief and Eye of The Needle.