Ladies have you read a book lately that you couldn't put down?

[dixie]

I recently read the "Other Boleyn Girl". It is not the type of book I would ever pick up, but a friend suggested it. I couldn't put it down and it is over 600 pages. Another one that is a small book is "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan". Another one I would not have ever picked up.

So, what have you read that you absolutely loved. I am always looking for a good book!!

 

[Chrisky]

I recently read the "Other Boleyn Girl". It is not the type of book I would ever pick up, but a friend suggested it. I couldn't put it down and it is over 600 pages. Another one that is a small book is "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan". Another one I would not have ever picked up.

So, what have you read that you absolutely loved. I am always looking for a good book!!

I just love to read historical fiction. I've read some of Phillippa Gregory's other books. Just recently 'The White Queen', and I'm about to start 'Red Queen'. There is a series of books by Diana Gabaldon starting just before 1745 in Scotland. The novels are centered around 2 characters, 20th century English nurse Claire and her 18th century husband, Jamie Fraser. The novels involve time travel as well as historical fact. Her books are quite long, but I thoroughly enjoyed them.

 

[AwayWeGo]

Blatant Sex Discrimination ? Sheesh.

I recently read the "Other Boleyn Girl". It is not the type of book I would ever pick up, but a friend suggested it. I couldn't put it down and it is over 600 pages. Another one that is a small book is "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan". Another one I would not have ever picked up.

So, what have you read that you absolutely loved. I am always looking for a good book!!

Haven't read the book, but the movie version of The Other Boleyn Girl was pretty good.

Meanwhile, I found the book version of All The King's Men riveting when I read it recently. (I was supposed to read that in college way back when I was young & irresponsible, but I am pretty sure I didn't read much if any of it back then. That is, I would prefer to believe that I never read it when I was supposed to than to believe that I did read it & then forgot so much of it. So it goes.)

That only goes to show that it's not just ladies who can get engrossed in good books. Guys can also get hooked on books if you give'm a chance.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[DebBrown]

The Other Boleyn Girl is one of Philippa Gregory's best. I've read a number of her other ones but the most recent ones weren't as good. Her latest style is to jump around from one narrator to another with alot of whining but not much substance. Can you tell I was disappointed? LOL!

I also agree with the recommendation for the Diana Gabaldon Outlander series. I fell in love with these characters. Again, however, the most recent book was a disappointment. Maybe a series can only go so far? Still, read the first few and you'll be smitten!

I just finished Love Walked In by Marisa de Los Santos. It's definitely a love story but not a conventional one. It's also not as sappy as the title sounds. The author was a poet before turning to fiction and I love her style.

Another of my recent favorites is the John Hart book, The Last Child. It's the story of a missing girl and her young brother's search for her. It was excellent.

Deb

 

[Aussie girl]

Another vote for Diana Gabaldon and the Outlander series. I read them all in one go this summer. Drove my husband nuts, I pulled two all nighters. Now I am listening to them all over again on my ipod. Just love Jamie and Claire.

 

[DeniseM]

Diana Gabaldon and the Outlander series +1

This series has to be my favorite thing I've ever read! Can't wait for the next book!

Dixie, I will forwarn you that this series is quite "romantic."

 

[tashamen]

I just love to read historical fiction. I've read some of Phillippa Gregory's other books. Just recently 'The White Queen', and I'm about to start 'Red Queen'.

I'm listening to the Red Queen on my commute this week - it's as good as her others! Really great narrators too.

 

[jlwquilter]

I read the Other Boyln Girl maybe 2 years ago - I enjoyed it too. Didn't see the movie though .

I loved the first book of the Outlander series and the 2nd book was good. I only got a few pages into the 3rd book before I was turned off. The author seemed to have lost the magic... at least for me. Too bad as I was really so happy to have found a new series to read.

On another book thread here someone recommended Octavia Butler. So I've read a bunch of hers. I enjoyed the two Parable books the best. They are NOT romance books in the least though - more of a coming of age story.

 

[Luanne]

I could not get into "The Other Boyln Girl" at all and never finished it. Maybe I'll have to give it another try. Other than the last Harry Potter book (when it first came out), the only other book I can think of in the last few years I couldn't put down was Ken Follet's "Pillars of the Earth".

 

[DebBrown]

On another book thread here someone recommended Octavia Butler. So I've read a bunch of hers. I enjoyed the two Parable books the best. They are NOT romance books in the least though - more of a coming of age story.

I can recommend Kindred where an African American woman time travels into the times of slavery to save her ancestors. It's a wonderful story. I also read her Xenogenesis series but that is pure science fiction - still good.

Deb

 

[DeniseM]

I could not get into "The Other Boyln Girl" at all and never finished it. Maybe I'll have to give it another try. Other than the last Harry Potter book (when it first came out), the only other book I can think of in the last few years I couldn't put down was Dan Brown's "Pillers of the Earth".

I loved that book, too!

 

[BevL]

I could not get into "The Other Boyln Girl" at all and never finished it. Maybe I'll have to give it another try. Other than the last Harry Potter book (when it first came out), the only other book I can think of in the last few years I couldn't put down was Dan Brown's "Pillers of the Earth".

I'm not trying to be obnoxious but would Pillers be a Ken Follett's book? I googled the title and that's the author tha came up.

Just checking some of these out for our trip in January

 

[DeniseM]

I'm not trying to be obnoxious but would Pillers be a Ken Follett's book? I googled the title and that's the author tha came up.

Just checking some of these out for our trip in January

It sure is!

 

[mo1950]

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson, deceased 2004, a mystery set in Sweden. What a book! Am now starting The Girl Who Played With Fire by the same author. Will then go on to the last in the series, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest.

Here are some of the best books I have read this year:

The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver
The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls
Shanghai Girls, by Lisa See
Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston
Follow The River, by James Alexander Thorn
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, by Jamie Ford
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (novella) by Ambrose Bierce
The Devil Knows How To Ride (about Wm. Quantrill) by Edward E. Leslie
Gone For Soldiers: A Novel of the Mexican War, by Jeff Shaara
To The Last Man: A Novel of the First World War, by Jeff Shaara
Co. Aytch: A Confederate Memoir of the Civil War, by Sam R. Watkins
White Seed: The Untold Story of the Lost Colony of Roanoke, by Paul Clayton

Happy reading! Hope you find some good books to enjoy.

 

[Luanne]

I'm not trying to be obnoxious but would Pillers be a Ken Follett's book? I googled the title and that's the author tha came up.

Just checking some of these out for our trip in January

No, you're not obnoxious, you're right. I'll go back and correct my post.

And although I loved "Pillars of the Earth' I only "liked" the second book "World Without End".

 

[Carol C]

"The Year of the Flood" by Margaret Atwood, even available in Large Print paperback...highly recommended to Sci-Fi/futurist fiction fans.

 

[BevL]

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson, deceased 2004, a mystery set in Sweden. What a book! Am now starting The Girl Who Played With Fire by the same author. Will then go on to the last in the series, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest.

The Girl books are definitely on my to read list. I have to go pick up my new Kindle at our friends' in The States and I can start loading it up.

I love mystery type books.

 

[jlwquilter]

"The Year of the Flood" by Margaret Atwood, even available in Large Print paperback...highly recommended to Sci-Fi/futurist fiction fans.

Read that one too! Really liked it. I read her other books too (didn't like Tent but that's a series of very short works, not a novel). It's sorta like the Parable stories by O. Butler so you may want to give them a try.

BTW, I have Kindred sitting on my table ready to read.

I am definitely checking out some of the books listed here!

 

[Chrisky]

Diana Gabaldon and the Outlander series +1

This series has to be my favorite thing I've ever read! Can't wait for the next book!

Me too!! I read on a site that this summer a musical called 'Outlander' based on the book was performed in Aberdeen. There is some talk as well of a movie, or perhaps a series of them.

 

[BevL]

Denise, when you say that the Outlander series is "romantic", did you mean ripping bodices, assorted heaving body parts type romantic? Or . . .

Numerous pages of narrative of an "encounter" that has nothing to do with the plot irritates me. I'm not particularly prudish, and it's bugged me for a long time, so I don't think it's because I'm old - Ha. i just want to get on with the story.

So what did you mean by that comment?

 

[DeniseM]

There are some explicit encounters, that are very well integrated into the plot. It's not pornographic (in my opinion) and it is definitely not just "spicey sex to liven up a book that's not very good." The books have a compelling plot. I just am not sure how conservative Dixe is, and so I was referring back to her original question.

 

[BevL]

There are some explicit encounters, that are very well integrated into the plot. It's not pornographic (in my opinion) and it is definitely not just "spicey sex to liven up a book that's not very good." The books have a compelling plot. I just am not sure how conservative Dixe is, and so I was referring back to her original question.

Thanks for that added info.

 

[Deb from NC]

Another vote here for the Millenium Trilogy (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, etc.)
I couldn't put any of them down and hated it when I finished the last one, since I knew there would be no more from that wonderful author.... I just finished "The Brave " by Nicolas Evans
(author of The Horse Whisperer, etc.). It was good, not great-I liked his last one ("The Divide") better. But they ARE hard to put down. (Made the flight to Hawaii go quickly ) For a good mystery I really enjoyed "The Scent of Rain and Lightening".

 

[jlwquilter]

Denise, when you say that the Outlander series is "romantic", did you mean ripping bodices, assorted heaving body parts type romantic? Or . . .

Numerous pages of narrative of an "encounter" that has nothing to do with the plot irritates me. I'm not particularly prudish, and it's bugged me for a long time, so I don't think it's because I'm old - Ha. i just want to get on with the story.

So what did you mean by that comment?

I feel the same way. If a scene is vital to the story, fine, but gratuitous sex and violence is not what I enjoy... whether read or watched.

I felt the first book was excellent and what was there needed to be there. The 2nd book had more in it that wasn't quite necessary and the little of the 3rd book was even more so but I admit that I read only the first few chapter before stopping. And I didn't stop because of the sex scenes. I stopped because I felt the characters, so wonderfully done previously, where being short changed. But hey, that's what I think and YMMV.

 

[Gracey]

I am also reading the Outlander series on the 3rd book, problem is I am not getting my christmas decorating done!! Finally forced to put down the book today and my tree is finally up. Yeahhhh :whoopie: As soon as I get off the computer am going to pack up a box of healthy snacks for my daughter to send off to college. Finals coming up and thought I would surprise her with and Exam Cram package.