You guys, I am in a reading rut. I’ve got one book I’m kind of poking along with, but I need a really good read. A page turner, people! Some of my favorite books have been A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Half Broke Horses, Daring Greatly, and Sarah’s Key. What would you recommend?
Leave a Comment
I am reading “Wild” by Cheryl Strayed and am really enjoying it.
I should have mentioned that, Donna! I loved Wild- definitely one of my favorite books of all time.
I just finished “The Aviator’s Wife”…. wonderful. Other favorites this summer…. “The 12 Tribes of Hattie” and “Me Before You” and “Tell the Wolves I’m Home”. All excellent. Good luck!
I read Sarah’s Key too, so so good. I haven’t read the others you mentioned so I will have to check those out! I recently read The Fault in Our Stars by John Green….amazing!!
xo, Courtney
shabbyloveschic.com
I was in one of those recently, too. I’d recommend The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak-I’m nearly finished with it, and it’s great! Plus, I believe a movie is being made and going to come out around the holidays sometime this year-always fun to read the book first
I loved Tell The Wolves I’m Home too! I thought it was the most heart-breaking and beautiful book.
Others that I’ve loved recently are Wonder by RJ Palacio, The Fault In Our Stars, Eleanor & Park, Crazy Rich Asians, and The Good House - all of which are very fast reads. The Yellow Birds and The Art of Hearing Heartbeats are both very touching in different ways too.
I’m currently reading The Universe Versus Alex Woods. It’s so clever and has great discussions about religion and life & death.
I’d love to follow more readers on GoodReads for suggestions, so if anyone is interested in being my friend, I’m Cathy5124!
Totally agreed-Tell the Wolves I’m Home was just beautiful. And Wonder, while super quick, is absolutely a new classic. I loved Eleanor and Park too!
I’d also recommend a couple modern classics like The Handmaid’s Tale (blew my mind), Never Let Me Go, I agree with Lauren on The Booke Thief, and The Story of Edgar Sawtelle.
And, some recent goodies were: The Round House (coming of age on a reservation), Life After Life (weird premise, but totally good-not a book you can read a couple of pages before bed though, best in chunks), and The Light Between the Oceans (super sad premise, but the book wasn’t as sad as I expected and was beautifully written).
Good luck!
Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner - an all-time favorite & one of gifted to many friends over the years.
definitely a favorite!!
Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner - an all-time favorite & one I’ve gifted to many friends over the years.
I wish I had a book to recommend, but I never ever get a chance to read now! Love that pic though!!!
You have got to read ‘Gone Girl’ by Gillian Flynn. A total page turner!! I loved it and couldn’t put it down:)
I just finished ‘And the Mountains Echoed,’ by Khaled Hosseini. It was a really really good book. It is a big book but there are little stories within the book so it goes fast.
Two excellent books by liane Moriarty - what Alice forgot and the husband’s secret
I’m currently reading “The Age of Miracles” by Karen Thompson Walker and am liking it.
I loved Blood, Bones & Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton - I am such a sucker for food novels, though :).
I also recommend The Book Thief; best book I’ve read in a long time!
I have a feeling that we don’t necessarily have the same taste in books (I’m more of a Hunger Games kind of girl), but you’ll definitely have to share if you find anything good! I’m in a rut too
The girl who fell from the sky by Heidi Durrow-thought provoking and heartbreaking.
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss is my all time favorite book, and also everything by Jonathan Safran Foer (Everything is Illuminated is my fave of his) and Jeffrey Eugenides (Virgin Suicides & Middlesex, so good). I saw Never Let me Go in a comment above, looooved that too. Also got hooked on Gone Girl (it’s a quick page turner). And Gabrielle Hamilton’s book (chef memoir, also mentioned above) is great.
The History of Love is my favorite too! Strongly recommend.
I just finished Lionel Shriver’s Big Brother in a couple of days-I loved it. Also I recently recommended Sister by Rosamund Pike to someone and she said she was enjoying it. I thought it was a definite page turner! Let us know if you find anything great.
You will love “the Light Between Oceans” by M L Stedman
another good one “The End of the Point”
I think this is going to be my book! Thanks so much, Denise
The Chaperone — the story of a St. Louis woman who escorts a teenaged Clara Bow on her first trip to NYC in the 20s. But much more to it than that and one of the loveliest final paragraphs ever.
The Curiosity — a frozen man from the 19th Century gets “reanimated” into contemporary Boston. Told from the perspective of four different characters. A beautiful book.
River of Doubt - the true story of Teddy Roosevelt’s exploration of an unmapped tributary of the Amazon. Non fiction, but written as a novel — I cannot put this book down.
Enjoy!!!
I’m having a similar problem. Ever since I read “The Time Traveler’s Wife” I haven’t made it more than 20 pages into any other story… nothing else is nearly as captivating to me! I absolutely love it - I somehow even managed to get my boyfriend to read it too, and it moved him to man-tears. (Don’t tell him I told you.)
I’m reading a good one now: Food For Marriage
I’m in the same rut. My friend recommended What Alice Forgot - It seems like I would enjoy it, so wil be getting it before the end of the week! Tell us what you end up choosing!
I’ve had a few good ones - The kindness of Strangers by Katrina Kittle, Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly Mcreight . Hope you enjoy!
Sarah`s Key haunted me for a long time.
I loved Painted Girls by Cathy Mary Buchanan. Fiction about one of the dancers that Degas painted. Another story that stuck with me for a while after reading it.
While reading this post, I was thinking of suggesting exactly this book - Painted Girls.
I just finished up “Beautiful Ruins” by Jess Walter and absolutely adored it! It’s funny, has a love story and the backdrop between Italy and Hollywood is quite nice to daydream about. It tells a full story from when the character were younger until they grow old which I always enjoy. It paints a full picture for you. Highly recommend this as a novel to get lost in, it was one of those books I couldn’t wait to get into bed at night to read!
Hi Dawn- I loved Beautiful Ruins! I read it over the summer while I was at the beach… so good!
I recommend you “1Q84” by Murakami, I love it!
Love story, misterious, parallel worlds (?¿)… It’s worth it! 
i second gone girl if you haven’t read it, i really enjoyed it. i just finished the racketeer by john grishom but i love JG books. easy “reads” in the car while i go to work. i finished on vaca recently then came you by jennifer weiner and i really liked it (and book 2 and 3 of 50 shades!). i’ve just started the lace reader which was recommended to me by someone at work but i’m not far enough into it to comment yet. i need to read time travellers wife as i have heard such good things about it.
I loved “Where’d you go, Bernadette?”, by Maria Semple.
I finished The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty a few months ago…a ‘fictional biographical’ account of Lousie Brooks in the 1920s, similar to The Paris Wife. Light read and interesting too. I’m also reading Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams, Sylvia Plath’s journals. A nice peek into her mind + short stories, essays and sketches. And you can read it any which way, n order! And two thumbs up for Lidia’s suggestion- Where’d You Go Bernadette is precious! And hilarious.
Defending Jacob.
I have just written down all of these suggestions in my notebook! A few I read in the past few months, The Corner of Bitter and Sweet, Silver Star, The Island, Reconstructing Amelia, In the Kingdom of Men, To Love and To Cherish. I am about to start The Girl in Times Square.
A Street Cat Named Bob by James Bowan is excellent. I couldn’t put it down. Heart warming. Bob is James’ inspiration to get his life together. If you love animals you will love this book.
The Orphan Master’s Son! You’re not going to be able to put it down. xx.
I am in such a rut, too. Loved catching up on this list, and just downloaded Food for Marriage based on the comments. I’m just getting into The Husband’s Secret, which I’ve been seeing pop up on lots of reading lists lately.
Pingback: On My Bookshelf | October | | Channeling Contessa
Pingback: Fresh Bean Salsa
Pingback: Fresh Bean Salsa | The Recipe Roll