Friday, September 30, 2011

HELP! I Need a Good Book to Read - Best Book Lately?

Image is from Random House FB

I have been struggling for a year to find some fiction that captivates me as much as The Millennium Trilogy (Stieg Larsson) so I've decided to toss it out to the world and see if there is some great stuff I am missing. Help me find a good book to read - anything you like that's pretty well written and has a captivating story.

Here's what I've sort of read this past year:
1) The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
2) The Girl Who Played With Fire
3) The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
4) The Snowman

I know, these are all suspense  - suspense is good but I can read other things. What do you say? 


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13 comments:

  1. Kate GSeptember 30, 2011 at 11:27 AM

    Hi Judi,
    I'm reading Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier right now. It's about two women of different classes in England in the early 1800's who find, collect, and sell fossils. Their finds shake up the religious leaders, causes gossip, and astounds the scientific world. This is the author of Girl With A Pearl Earring. She's really skilled at conveying women, their achievements and friendships, and the world of long-ago times.

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  2. InfogypsySeptember 30, 2011 at 11:42 AM

    Wow, Kate! That sounds amazing! I will go right out and order it (actually from my library). I think I will keep a list and post the entire list to a blog if I get lots of suggestions - with your first name only!

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  3. Lilly GayleSeptember 30, 2011 at 12:11 PM

    Lynn,
    You can't go wrong with books from The Wild Rose Press. I heard your book, Leave No Trace was good. Guess you've read that one, huh? loll!

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  4. InfogypsySeptember 30, 2011 at 12:15 PM

    Thanks, Lilly - I am sort of romance booked out right now - read about five a week for the first five years when I started writing romance. But Wild Rose always puts out great books.

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  5. Taryn RayeSeptember 30, 2011 at 12:51 PM

    The Legend of Blackbeard's Chalice series by Maddie James. I just finished The Quest (the 3rd book) and enjoyed it tremendously.

    I know it's a book for Y/A but I just also recently reread The Thief of Always by Clive Barker to my 8 y/o daughter and rediscovered how much I enjoyed the story.

    I also enjoy the writings of Tanith Lee, more specifically The Tales From the Flat Earth and The Secret Books of Paradys.

    And I like Yasmine Galenorn's Otherworld series and her Indigo Court series.

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  6. InfogypsySeptember 30, 2011 at 1:59 PM

    Thanks, Taryn - I'll look for it - I heard of Clive Barker and of course I know Maddie. Will have to go beyond my resistance to fantasy (I was one of only a very few people in the world who did not like Harry Potter books) - but it probably will be good for me.

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  7. Lori LynSeptember 30, 2011 at 6:13 PM

    Check out this new review of one of my friends book and it will definitely make you want to buy a copy ASAP! It's an amazing historical romance.
    http://www.theromancereviews.com/viewbooksreview.php?bookid=3627

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  8. Monya ClaytonOctober 1, 2011 at 4:25 AM

    Lynn, I don't know if I can be of much help, since my taste in reading is fairly old-fashioned, and I'm not big on suspense. For sheer brilliant story lines and adventure, I'm currently reading my way through the Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian. Can't believe that I'd never stumbled across them before! I've read one of his non-Naval novels (hey, alliteration!), Testimonies, and it seems to me you would find it attractive.

    If you'd like to try ancient historicals, also brilliantly written and great stories, choose anything by Mary Renault. Particularly the stories based on the Theseus legend, "The King Must Die" and "The Bull From The Sea".

    Sneaky self-promotion: I have a historical romance, sweet, published by The Wild Rose Press. "The Pirate And The Puritan" wr/as Mary Clayton. (I know it sounds like a bodice-ripper, but it isn't, more historical fiction.) It's available as a download from Amazon at $4.99. Read the widely differing reviews there!

    I'm afraid I'm not at all strong on modern novels, so I really can't recommend anything recent.

    Good luck. Hope you find something that will suit.

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  9. InfogypsyOctober 1, 2011 at 8:03 AM

    Lori - thanks - I am checking out an excerpt even as I say this!
    Monica - will definitely check out the Patrick O'Brien books. I read Mary Renault 35 years ago - she was amazing - way ahead of her time and very literary in her craft.

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  10. Verna LaBountyOctober 1, 2011 at 8:36 AM

    Sister by Rachel Lupton is intriguing story of Bea's search to uncover the truth about her sister's disappearance. Written as a letter to the sister, the story has a surprising twist. It kept me turning the pages.

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  11. InfogypsyOctober 1, 2011 at 9:00 AM

    Verna - making a trip to my library with a list - will include Sister - sounds like a suspenseful book -

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  12. BetsyOctober 3, 2011 at 9:09 AM

    I've been indulging in the guilty pleasure of reading Daniel Silva's Gabriel Allon series, where a quiet, unassuming and highly talented artist is secretly a high-level operative for the Israeli Mossad. Very well written spy thriller series; guilty pleasure because it's at odds with my basic political stance on the Middle East. But the writing is *that* good: it makes me read on anyway. Or am I just a lit slut?

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  13. InfogypsyOctober 3, 2011 at 9:43 AM

    Sounds like a book that might be up my alley - I will add it to my list - thanks - and the list I am compiling for a future blog.

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