STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

ayo · Coach

Any good book recs?

twinkle · Coach

have you read The Crimson Petal & The White? Reading it now & loving it. I'd also recommend The Other Boleyn Girl.

squishy · Coach

based on what you've listed, i recommend white teeth by zadie smith, a confederacy of dunces by john kennedy toole, and middlesex by jeffrey eugenides... sorry i can't think of more (my brain's already gone out for the weekend)

depending on your tastes, i think you might enjoy books by david sedaris, roald dahl (his short stories are nothing like his kids' books... they're much darker), paul auster and maybe chuck palahniuk (the fightclub guy... his other books are in the same vein with a very similar narrator, though)

blubirde · Chanel

I'm reading The March right now by E.L. Doctorow. It won all kinds of awards and it's about the Civil War - a fictional account. It's really, really good. He also wrote City of God, The Book of Daniel, and Ragtime, if you know any of those.

If you liked the Time Traveler's Wife, you might like Possession by A.S. Byatt. I read that recently and it was similar, in terms of a love story and jumping from past to present. The book is on a few lists of best books by female writes (that type of thing). It was a little slow to get into but I never once wanted to put it down. I had to see what happened.

mikacat · Coach

My recent book clubs (i am in two) and other reads are:

Night by Elie Wiesel (sad but I liked it)

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan-- I really liked this one

Single Square Picture -- About an adopted Korean woman looking for her mother and gmother back in Korea

Why we Shop--(very interesting but really more for work)

Everyone Worth Knowing by Lauren Weisberger (by the woman who wrote Devil Wears Prada) It was practically the same as Devil W P and I didn't really like it

currently reading Zorro

AllieGurl · Marc Jacobs

I love to read (just dont have enough time!) Here are some of my fav authors (all there books are good!)

Harlen Coben - Suspense

Emily Giffen - chick lit in a grown up way

Sophie Kinsella - FUNNY books about shopping

Wally Lamb - Deep books very drepressing

Marian Keys - Irish Lit ( her books are all so great !)

Janet Fitch - Paint it black. (her second book after white oleander. )

Dizzy · Marc Jacobs

House of Sand and Fog - really good, and similar to the others you've liked. Also, "Prep," by Curtiss something. And, maybe, "While I was Gone." Oh, and squishy, I'm reading a confederacy of dunces right now!

scarlett · Marc Jacobs

I just read "The History of Love," by Alison something (I think), and "March" by Geraldine Brooks, which is a story told from the perspective of the father in "Little Women." He's off being a Chaplain during the Civil War, so this is similar both in title and content to Doctorow's "The March," which blubirde recommended.

shopgirl · Kenneth Cole

I just finished "The Contortionists Handbook" by Craig Clevenger about a man who keeps changing his identity. It was very good, if not a bit wierd.

I'm currently reading "Among the Thugs" by Bill Buford. It is about England football fans. I've wanted to read this book for years and I finally got around to buying it last month. So far, it is good.

halleybird · Hermes

I agree with the following previous recs for Middlesex, White Teeth, House of Sand and Fog and The Crimson Petal and the White. I like Wally Lamb's I Know This Much Is True but am not fond of his others.

Others that are of a similar vein to those you mentioned:

I haven't read the following, but they came highly recommended:

mikacat · Coach

halleybird wrote:

I agree with the following previous recs for Middlesex, White Teeth, House of Sand and Fog and The Crimson Petal and the White. I like Wally Lamb's I Know This Much Is True but am not fond of his others.

Others that are of a similar vein to those you mentioned:

I haven't read the following, but they came highly recommended:

Ayo-
I have angelas ashes-let me know and i will send it to you.
My sister read the Red Tent and liked it.
I read the Glass Castle last month. Pretty good. Disturbing that parents could treat their kids that way.
Devil in the white city is my next pick --It is about Chicago

mikacat · Coach

scarlett wrote:

I just read "The History of Love," by Alison something (I think), and "March" by Geraldine Brooks, which is a story told from the perspective of the father in "Little Women." He's off being a Chaplain during the Civil War, so this is similar both in title and content to Doctorow's "The March," which blubirde recommended.

Scarlett- what did you think about History of Love? I read that for book club about 6 months ago.

jacL · Coach

The Reader by Bernhard Schlink is a good book.

I also liked Geisha, a Life by Mineko Iwasaki. It is written by the geisha whose life Arthur Golden based his Memoirs of a Geisha on. She was unhapy with how he depicted geisha life, so wrote her own book.

You will probably like Lucky: A Memoir by Alice Sebold if you liked The Lovely Bones.

I have also enjoyed The House of Sand and Fog, The Kite Runner, and The Red Tent.

ETA more books.

-- Edited by jacL at 17:14, 2006-09-23

-- Edited by jacL at 18:45, 2006-09-23

-- Edited by jacL at 19:03, 2006-09-23

NCshopper · Hermes

I also recommend The Other Boleyn Girl. It was excellent.

I just got done reading I Am Charlotte Simmons and I really liked it. Now I'm reading The Tipping Point and I'm going to pick up The Black Dahlia as well.

poptart · Coach

From what you've mentioned, the first thing that comes to mind is The Center of Everything by Laura Moriarty. I think it's better - less cliched and better written - than this review implies.

Amazon.com
Laura Moriarty's debut novel is a simple story, but effectively told. Ten-year-old Evelyn Bucknow lives with her not very responsible young mother, Tina, on the outskirts of a small Kansas town. The Center of Everything follows a clean arc: How Evelyn, a gifted but poor student, negotiates the pitfalls of her background to become a college student. The book shows the scary tenuousness of poverty. When Tina's car breaks down, their life falls apart like a flimsy cardboard edifice. Evelyn can't get to school, Tina can't get to work, and unseemly relationships with men who own cars develop. The novel's other theme is the importance of teaching; when one of her teachers tells her she's gifted, Evelyn's life is changed. "She takes off her glasses, still looking at me. I take off my glasses too, because for a moment I think she is going to place them on my eyes, the way you place a crown on someone's head when they become queen. Welcome to being smart." As she heads into adolescence, Evelyn sees her best friend fall in love and become pregnant, just as Tina did when she was a teenager. Evelyn resists these traps, not without some lovelorn, lonely moments. The Center of Everything careens dangerously near fingerwagging at times, but the book's salvation comes from unexpected quarters: Evelyn's mom Tina. At the outset, she seems beleaguered and lost, but as the book progresses she develops a wry resiliency. We get to watch Evelyn and Tina grow up together, and it's a rare sight. --Claire Dederer --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

scarlett · Marc Jacobs

mikacat wrote:

scarlett wrote:

I just read "The History of Love," by Alison something (I think), and "March" by Geraldine Brooks, which is a story told from the perspective of the father in "Little Women." He's off being a Chaplain during the Civil War, so this is similar both in title and content to Doctorow's "The March," which blubirde recommended.

Scarlett- what did you think about History of Love? I read that for book club about 6 months ago.

Mikacat, I loved it. The only parts that dragged a little for me were the excerpts from his book, but I really liked how it all eventually tied together, and the idea of people escaping their loneliness. What about you?

luckyclover · Dooney & Bourke

After a recommendation here, I read Jenni Macarthy's "Belly Laughs". It was a good, short read. I'm going to read the next one when I get a chance.

erin · Chanel

i really loved "the myth of you and me" by leah stewart -- about best friends who had a falling out.

ayo · Coach

thanks guys!!

I've tried to read Middlesex on at least 3 different occasions..

I just could not get through the book. For some reason it was just not grabbing me..

Halley- I LOVED 'Love in the time of Cholera' probably one of my most favorite books EVER

AllieGurl- I've probably read all of Sophia Kinsella's books...I usually read her stuff when I want a light read.

you guys have helps me with my list for sure!

I'm going to pick up House of Sand and Fog first (because another friend of mine highly recommended it)

Mika- thanks for the offer! I may take you up on it

-- Edited by ayo at 16:42, 2006-09-25