Recommendations

[Molly]

I don't think there is a thread like this..aside from individual recommendation threads by different people..but I thought we should have a thread where we can go to rather than creating a new one each time.

So I have a friend who doesn't really read much..but she really does like certain books. She pretty much doesn't like any classic literature or anything that is slow moving..(she couldn't get into The Book Thief and she is reading The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time and says its boring. I keep giving her all these recommendations that she doesn't enjoy so I figured I would ask her what she really likes in a book and than ask you all. She said she really likes something fast moving and likes fantasy kind of books too. Also some chick lit.

She LOVES: Harry Potter and Twilight..she devoured them all.

She enjoyed the Gossip Girls series, Peaches series, The A-List etc.

So any of you fantasy/chick lit lovers out there..help me out so that I can convert her to a reader!! :)

[Jamie (The Perpetual Page-Turner), The Founding Bookworm]

good idea for a thread!

Hmm I'm not a very good one to help on this one..as I don't read much of either genre. I hear that people love Neil Gaiman

[Molly]

oh and I totally forgot..she LOVED the Sloppy Firsts A Novel books.

[Lynnie]

What about Jennifer Weiner?
or Jen Lancaster?

[Tami]

Sounds like she likes the same things as my sister. I will ask her what others she enjoyed and let you know.

[Allison]

maybe try the sookie stackhouse series??
i'm not into chick lit or anything, so this series is the closest i've come to it, but i've really enjoyed it.

[Lyndsey]

If she liked those, she'll love Meg Cabot's Shadowland. The main character's about 16-17, but is totally kicking ass and taking names. It's a part of a 6 book series. If you're familiar with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, they're like that, but with ghosts not vampires.

The other one I'd recommend is also by Meg Cabot, When Lightning Strikes.

They're both supernatural teen mystery/romance, like Twilight, but it's not so much of the "OMG he's so perfect and I'm so inferior," and there's a lot a great humor to them too.

[Anna]

What about the Discworld books by Terry Pratchett?
Or the Anita Blake novels by Laurell K. Hamilton.

If she likes Chick Lit, the Shopaholic series is always a classic. I love the Sloppy Firsts, etc. books too. So good!

[Tahleen]

I bet she'd like Blue Bloods and its sequels.

[Emily]

I liked the Gemma Doyle series. I thought they moved fairly fast and the cover was completely deceiving. It was different than what I thought it was going to be. It had romance and magic in it. A good combination.

[S]

Has anyone read The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, by Edward Gibbon? It's a huge set of books, but I'm seriously thinking about buying it within the coming months, even though it will probably take me a lifetime to read it all!

[Jessica]

I want to try and find a book for my sister. She really enjoys historical fiction type books. Any suggestions?

[Lynnie]

how old is she? b/c immediately what popped in my head were more Children's and YA stuff (I was really into historical fiction growing up)
stuff like: The Little House series, American Girls series, Dear America series (those diaries)

[Caitlin]

Jessica wrote: "I want to try and find a book for my sister. She really enjoys historical fiction type books. Any suggestions?"

This is such an old thread, and I'm not sure if you still need recs for your sister, but if she's middle/high school age, try anything by Ann Rinaldi.

[Jen]

I'm going to be traveling this week and I am having the hardest time deciding what books to bring with me. I have an e-reader I'll be bringing with me but I also want to bring a couple 'real' books (mainly for that time when you're sitting on the plane and you can't have any electronic devices on).

What books do you like to read when traveling?

[Kirsten]

I like to read books that have almost a collection of topics, or are broader than just a single story or concentrated subject. That way it's like having more than one book along if you get bored.

[Emily]

It's also good to have books of short stories, or books where each chapter can be read independently. That way if you just have 20 minutes on a subway, you can put it down and move on. When I travel I like to be concentrating on where I am, not thinking about a book, or wasting time reading when I could be doing other things! Books I've recently taken traveling with me have been: Before the Mortgage, Naked and the Best American Traveling Writing (they come out with a new one each year, collection of stories from different authors)

[Tami]

I need help! Mom's birthday is coming up and I really don't have an idea what book to get for her. She loves all sorts. Some of her favorites over the last couple of years are The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo series, The Help, The Secret Life of Bees, and Fablehaven. So yes, she is all over the place. I was wondering what suggestions everyone would have. I think her most favorite was The Help so something along those lines would probably be best.

[Jen]

Tami wrote: "I need help! Mom's birthday is coming up and I really don't have an idea what book to get for her."

Sarah's Key
Little Bee
Saving Ceecee Honeycutt
Olive Kitteridge
The Kitchen House
Or how about one of Sarah Addison Allen's books? I really liked Garden Spells and The Girl Who Chased the Moon.

[Tami]

all those look great, thanks for the suggestions.

[Tami]

Jen, I ended up buying her The Kitchen House and she really liked it. Thanks again for the suggestions.

[Jen]

Yay! Glad to hear!

[Richard]

I didn't really want to create a new thread just for this, but I'm trying to figure out a book that I think was discussed in this group or maybe in another group. But I distinctly remember a witch making love to a spikey demon or something for ultimate power. I heard the books were good but can't remember the name.