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Hi there! I am so happy to be presenting another installment of my new series, Can we talk? Last week it was all about makeup (and boy did I get some incredible information) and today’s post is for all you book lovers and I know there’s lots of you out there! I feel pretty certain this is a subject that a lot of us love to talk about and have definite opinions on. Sadly, I do not read like I used to. I used to be what some might call a voracious reader, as in the minute I was finishing a book, I was already starting another. Those days (at least for now) are behind me. Now its one book at a time, and not quite as often as I would like…….
Just too much going on and by the time my weary body hits the pillow at night, I am asleep faster than you can say “turn the page”. That said, I still do love to read and get excited when I find a new book to delve into. I have read many great books over my lifetime and a few not so great and I thought this would make a fun topic for all of us to gab about and share! So here are some top picks from the last year or so, and I definitely want to hear your ideas!! I am looking for a few great new suggestions.
Have you read any of these? A few are older, and a few brand new reads. All I thoroughly enjoyed for different reasons. How about you? Whats your favorite genre? Book? Author? Your turn…cannot wait to hear what’s on your nightstand! Enjoy your day and until tomorrow…..
Hi Tina, great idea to talk about books. I loved Gone Girl too, just finished it. The Help will always be one of my favorite stories, have to look into your other picks.
For me, I really liked Defending Jacob and Broken Harbor, both riveting and sit on the edge of your seat kind of books.
I look forward to seeing what others come up with.
I LOVE “The Help.” Such an inspiring outcome sown from a lot of pain. I have so many things I want to read but no time! AHH! I don’t know how you do what you do, Tina, but you always inspire!
Much love, Anita
Tina… I can’t tell you how much I love this series you are doing. Favorite books: Gone Girl, Defending Jacob, Beautiful Ruins, Barbara Walters autobiography, The Book Thief, Sarah’s Key, Mrs. Kennedy and Me. All time favorite – Beach Music by Pat Conroy. Have a great week!
Loved Cutting for Stone, The Help and really really recommend Wild, it is an incredible and inspirational story/memoir, that we read with our book group. Very powerful. I think this is such a good idea, for us all to get good book suggestions.
i’m reading THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD, PARIS I LOVE YOU BUT YOU’RE BRINGING ME DOWN, and lots of old testament stuff for a bible study on Kings. variety! favorite authors include Anne Lamott and David Sedaris.
hard for me to stick with fiction since what i love is humor, essay, memoir, spiritual, self help…
best to you.
michele
I loved Cutting for Stone and The Help! Two of my other all-time favorites are Mudbound by Hillary Jordan (make sure you don’t have plans for 48 hours if you’re going to start reading this because you won’t come up for air!) and The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. Based on your picks, I trust your judgment and just ordered Apologize, Apologize! Thanks for the suggestions!
Ok – based on your and your readers recommendations, I just ordered Apologize Apologize and Mudbound. I also ordered The Kitchen House for my bookclub. It is supposed to be very good. I’ll let you know. 🙂
Loved Cutting for Stone, and The Help….found Gone Girl a bit disturbing. Someone mentioned Kitchen House….I enjoyed that too. recently finished The Kashmir Shawl…..great.
I confess, I don’t read for quite some time! I love reading, but I can’t find time for it lately. Well, you know how quiet time can be a rare thing when you have three small children. 🙂
Having said that, I really want to by “Prof of Heaven”. I think it will be interesting.
Wishing you a great day, sweetie.
xo
Luciane at HomeBunch.com
Funny Gone Girl is on my desk to read (for book club). One book I read was good was This is how you lose her and maybe the best book I read lately was Beautiful Ruins, loved it. I do not read as much as I used to either, I have gone back to school to pursue my masters and have two middle school aged children but reading is definitely a great escape when I can steal the time.
This is a favorite topic, it’s always fun to see what others are reading, get recommendations, and add to the stack beside the bed! At the moment I am deep in Penny Vincenzi’s “Sheer Abandon,” 600+ pages of stellar plotting and well-drawn characters, it has proven a great escape from the daily grind.
Have a splendid day Tina!
tp
I do not do too much reading unless it is about food, decorating, or painting. When I do read for, ‘fun’ the other topics are fun for me but you get the idea, I head for a classic. Something from Austen, or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. At the present, I am reading Moby Dick. I’m not trying to come off as a book snob. I’ve just always wanted to read the classics. I’ve also read, The Wind in the Willows and absolutely loved it!As a lover of period films, I also love the way the books from these times were written. The, voice, of the book is what intrigues me. No one talks like that any more and to my ears, it sounds like a song.
Books that took my breath away…The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, The Crimson Petal and the White by Michael Faber, Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres (please don’t judge this one by the movie), Katherine by Anya Seton, The Winds of War by Herman Wouk, The Meaning of Night by Michael Cox…..somebody please stop me! All of these are beautifully written and will transport you to another place and time.
Oh my, how could I forget to add The Shadow of the Wind to my below list?? Soooo good. Visual, haunting, thrilling…add my vote!
Thought apologize apologize was such a fun and entertaining book and cutting for stone is one of the best I have read on years! I have been only reading college prep books for my daughter haha! I am taking lots of notes though ‘
I hated Gone Girl. Well, that’s not totally true. I loved the first 25% of the book, couldn’t put it down. And then it got a little too Lifetime movie for me. I’ve been trying to do more reading in the past few years. Read the Hunger Games trilogy, read the first 2 books in the Divergent trilogy (LOVED the first, the 2nd was just OK). Have you read ‘Unbroken’? By far my favorite book of the past year. So amazing!! Right now I’m reading Pat Conroy “South of Broad” but I just started, so too soon to have any feelings about it either way 🙂
I read South of Broad before a vacation to Charleston. Loved the parts of the story that take place there!
This is a great topic–love hearing what everyone recommends. I totally get stuck in a rut and read my favorites over and over. Recently, I picked up an old book by Deepak Chopra, “Ageless Body, Timeless Mind. One of my favorite parts of the book is when he states studies show that most folks who live to be very old definitely drink coffee.
Another old, old book that I picked up recently is Johnathon Livingston Seagull. I live by the beach and enjoy watching all the bird activity. In Richard Bach’s famous book, he reminds me that life is brief and I want to grow into the best person I can.
The author who has had the greatest impact on my life is Alexandra Stoddard. She is the reason I attended Design School. Her writing set my life on the course that it’s on today. She has so many books that I could recommend, but the one that started it all for me was “Living a Beautiful Life.”
I think this is such a good idea. I am an avid reader and read Gone Girl last month, I actually thought it was really good, and hard to put down. I also enjoyed The help and Cutting for Stone was fabulous, I went to his book signing.
A few others I really liked this past year were-
Private Berlin
Proof of Heaven
The best of me by Nicholas Sparks was a tender great read.
I look forward to going over everyone else’s recommendations, fun idea.
Hello Tina,
I too used to be a voracious reader, but lately I have too many things on my plate. I still read a book a week but not more than that.
There are so many books and too little time!
Thank you so very much for your kind words and comments, they were greatly appreciated.
Have a good day
Another great topic! I love reading and now that the kids are older, I finally have more time to really disappear into books. Cutting for Stone is one of my all time faves, sigh. Can’t wait to see what others suggest.
The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom:(952 reviews 4.5 stars) Epic, movie-like novel about an orphaned white girl who is brought to live among the house slaves of a Southern plantation. The characterizations have great depth and emotion. Like Cutting for Stone, my friends forced me to read this one and they were so correct.
Rules of Civility by Amor Towles:(505 reviews 4 stars) Young girl from the midwest who comes of age in NYC in the time of Great Gatsby and crosses paths with some of its wealthiest.
Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley: (513 reviews 4.5 stars)Picked this up by chance and absolutely loved it. Very unique point of view where the main character is a writer and she begins to “see” the experiences of a female relative from the 1700s. It’s also a romance but it’s warm vs saccharine.
GREAT POST:)
Your blog is so wonderful…do you have bloglovin???
If you want some cute swedish decor inspiration…check out my blog:)
Have a great week dera
LOVE Maria at inredningsvis.se
(sweden)
Tina I LOVE this series! I went back to the makeup one last week and ordered the concealer and the Nars stick. I can’t wait to try them! For this week, I’ve only read Gone Girl, and I loved it. I wish I had some great book recommendations to share, but I haven’t read anything great in a while. Thank you for this awesome series!
Stacy
Hi Tina, I too, love this series. Reading Cutting for Stone was great and I truly loved The Kitchen House, recently read Mudbound and couldn’t put it down along with Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey. It was a book club selection and would not have picked it up otherwise. The book club all agreed it was the best book we’ve read in a long time. Warning the first chapter is a downer but just get past that and its terrific.
Hi Tina, great topic! Before I started blogging I read two books a week…not nearly as much time now! A couple of my favorites are Sarah’s Key, The Reliable Wife, The Historian, anything by Lisa See, Elizabeth Berg, Sara Jio….I loved Gone Girl and The Help…I haven’t read the others you mentioned but have Cutting for Stone in my queue…also, The Paris Wife is excellent! Happy reading!!!!!
xoxox
As a child, teen and young adult I adored classical fiction by authors such as Dickens, Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Hans Christian Andersen, etc. I loved reading the Dictionary as well! The origin of words are stories in themselves! As a young adult I also read what I call “junk fiction” like Stephen King…good stories but nothing more than entertainment value.
I am a voracious reader of books on the topics of economics, by contemporary authors such as Thomas Sowell, Peter Schiff, Lawrence Reed. I love the “old school” economists too! Frederic Bastiat is a favorite, as is Adam Smith. I also love Voltaire and Rousseau, Locke and Hobbes and De Tocqueville for their ability to see past the stifled mores of their time and into a future rich in freedoms; economic as well as social, that had been previously unheard of! It absolutely makes me giddy!
Since I home school, we have been concentrating on biographies as of late, as well as classical stories like “Nancy Drew”, “The Secret Garden” and “The Hobbit”.
I could discuss this topic all day! We are avid readers and there are at least three open books, per person, at any given time in this house!
xo
Andie
I had to chime in on this post…. I too have been far too busy and tired to read books regularly, but I do have a few great recommendations:
ON THE ISLAND – by Tracey Garvis Graves (author’s debut novel) fictional story of Anna (30 yo) and TJ (16 y.o.), two strangers whose small plane goes down in the Indian Ocean…. the story of their survival will keep you up late at night and early in the morning. Took me less than 2 days, my mother less that 24 hours… even my husband read it on his commute to work. Just an amazingly well-written book. The characters you will love from the beginning and that for me is so important. I read the movie rights were purchased by MGM studios.
YEAR OF WONDERS – by Geraldine Brooks. Historical fiction set in 1666 rural England, when the Plaque descended upon a small isolated village. The story of tragedy and survival in the life of Anna Frith, a young mother…. such an page-turner, I loved it so much I started a book group over this book.
LET THE GREAT WORLD SPIN – by Colum McCann. Historical fiction set in 1974 NYC, a book with an ensemble cast of characters… all sort of revolving around the mysterious tight rope walker who crossed between the twin towers. The author shares so much wisdom, heartache, grace and selflessness in the lives of everyday people. I think I am going to read it again, it’s been too long…. and this time I am going to use my highlighter and note the poetically perfect phrases the author uses to explain life’s ups and downs. I loved it.
And most books (but not all!) by the English author Douglas Kennedy (actually a New Yorker living in London)…. THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS, LEAVING THE WORLD, STATE OF THE UNION, A SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP, and THE BIG PICTURE. Amazingly wonderful books – I love the writing, the suspense, the characters… pick any one of these and you will love them!
And yes… Cutting for Stone and The Help were two top top favorites. I never wanted them to end.
I have read “The Help” as well and really liked it. Also “Winds of War” and then the sequel, “War and Remembrance” by Herman Wouk were outstanding. I read all the time; either on my Sony Reader, Kindle on my Galaxy Tablet or just plain books! It is a wonderful escape and so relaxing! Of course books like “To Kill a Mockingbird” “The Kite Runner” and “The Catcher in the Rye” will always be top of the list! I love Sue Grafton’s books also!
I have ‘Gone Girl’… all loaded up and ready on my Kindle… 🙂
The others I enjoyed so much, especially The Help… Great post and I liked reading everyone’s suggestions… xv
“Sadly, I do not read like I used to. I used to be what some might call a voracious reader, as in the minute I was finishing a book, I was already starting another. Those days (at least for now) are behind me. Now its one book at a time, and not quite as often as I would like…….”
Have you ever tried listening to audiobooks? I’ve been doing this during my daily commute, and it has changed my life! I’ve read/listened to so many books I never would have read on paper. For some reason, there are certain kinds of books that I love to listen to but would probably never read in hard copy. History, especially, some classics, and some modern fiction. I’d been meaning to reread Wuthering Heights for years, but never got to it. Then I listened to an unabridged recording, and it was fantastic. The main narrator, Janet McTeer, is a great actress who comes from the Bronte area, and I hung on every word she spoke.
Tina: I look forward to reading some of your suggestions. Here is a couple of books I just finished (well, the second one I’m not quite done) and I would highly recommend them. I also like to read books that are either self-help or with a spiritual lesson to be learned. I found myself in both of these books, mostly because their a sequel.
The author is Francine Rivers and the title is: “Her Mothers Hope” and the sequel is “Her Daughters Dream”. Very well written, love, love, love.
Blessings,
Donna
I’m reading Girl gone right now. I just finished all 19 of Anne Rivers siddon’s books. I thoght Unbroken was very good as well. Thanks for post the books!
Tina you should read Unbroken, you will love it. I can see we like a lot of the same books, I loved Gone Girl, The Help and funny my mom gave me Summer in Tuscany to read on the plane when we went to India, and I really liked it so much, she knows how much I love Tuscany! And it was a wonderful book.
Cutting for Stone was excellent. I also enjoyed Sarah’s key though it was quite sad. I wish I had more time to read, but do it whenever I can. I am going to get a pen and paper to jot down all these great recommendations!
Thanks for this.
Defending Jacob was very hard to put down. Rules of Civility was a very good story as well.Devil in the White City was a fascinating story and my all time favorite Shogun! All of these are 5 star in my book!
When I finally have time to read for pleasure again I know exactly where to go for book recommendations! I’m reading about colleges in my spare time.
Just finished Gone Girl for book club–I wasn’t a fan–our group seemed to either really love it or totally hate it! Our next book is the Red Book by Deborah Kogan–looks good!
One of my all time favorite books is Housekeeping, by Marilynne Robinson. It’s one of the most sensitive, beautiful books I’ve ever read. Another favorite is the eighteenth century novel Dangerous Liasons by Laclos. It’s clever, wicked, and thouroughly entertaining.
More recently I read and enjoyed Brooklyn, by Colm Toibin, and Life at Home in the Twenty-First Century, an anthropological study of the way modern middle class families live. Other than that, it’s mostly been junky supernatural-creatures-ripping-each-other-to-pieces books, which I read when my brain needs a break.
Just found your blog, love the decorating pics! Also appreciate good book reviews! Thanks!
Loved The Help. Cutting for Stone was one of the best books I had read in awhile, so I highly recommend that. i just finished The Madonnas of Leningrad and loved it too! Will get Girl Gone after reading all the positive comments!
Have a great day!
xo
S
Love this series, thank you! My recent favorites have been Gone Girl and Sharp Objects also written by Flynn. Fair warning, Sharp Objects is even darker than GG but it was fascinating and I could not put it down. You should join Goodreads. It lets you rate books you have read and gives you recommendations based on your ratings. It also lets you have an ongoing “to read” list of books you plan on picking up one day. You can connect with friends and see what they’re reading and what they’ve rated. Some other favorites are Bloom by Kelle Hampton, The Handmaid’s Tale, and The Time Traveler’s Wife.