As some of you might know I'm a avid reader & whilst I did get some good books for crimbo it's not gonna be long before I've worked my way through them.  So I'm consulting my good friends of CDworld & am asking for some good book recommendations - I will warn you though I read a lot but it's very varied. The ones I was bought all feature on the Man Booker shortlist so if you could avoid these that would be great. 

To give you an idea of what I've recently read - I'm 3/4 of the way through The Bolyen Inheritance after seeing The Other Boleyn Girl, have read both Khaled Hosseini book's, not really into chick lit anymore although I have read & enjoyed all of Dorothy Koomson's books.  I have been known to work my way through the RNJ bookclub lists when they existed.  I'm not really into the tragedy tale books e.g Tori Hayden

HTH's & looking forward to your suggestions (whilst the sales are on!!) :) :)

Have you read any of Conn Iggulden's books? Would really recommend them!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/qid=1231431168/ref=sr_kk_1?ie=UTF8&search-alias=aps&field-keywords=conn%20iggulden

One series is about the life of Genghis Khan and I couldn't wait for the next one to come out. The ones I'm reading just now are the life of Julius Ceasar. The aren't 100% historically factual as they are written more like novels and not stuffy old text!

Would also recommend John Grisham.
Cheers

I read at least 2 books a week, and my favourite authors are:

James Patterson
Peter James
Michael Connelly
Faye Kellerman
Jonathan Kellerman
Dean Koontz
Stephen King
Cecilia Ahern
Jill Mansell
Catherine Alliott
Sophie Kinsella

So a lot of detective/mystery/horror/chick lit. These authors I note down on my calendar when every new book is going to be published and buy the the same week, would not miss any. :) I love it when I discover a new author I like as I can then buy the old books on Ebay for next to nothing. :) :)

I've probably recommended all my favourites to you on previous threads already LOL.

Haven't read anything much that has gripped me lately, I confess - with the exception of this, which my husband bought me for Christmas and I thought looked far too chicklit for me, but I actually really enjoyed it.

M.

> I'm 3/4 of the way through The Bolyen Inheritance after seeing The Other Boleyn Girl

well, the other phillipa gregory ones in the tudor courts are good, e.g. the queens fool or the constant princess. there is another author called alison weir who is good, 2 books in particular "the lady elizabeth" and "innocent traitor" are good. she's a historian and so things ring quite true in her books, the lady elizabeth is about Elizabeth tudors life before gaining the crown and innocent traitor is about Jane grey, the "nine days queen".

if you want to indulge your slightly teenage fantasy side i rather enjoyed the twilight saga

continuing on a historical vein i love all of Conn Iggulden's stuff, he did a great quadrilogy on caesar and is in the midst of one on ghengis khan.

have you read the "His Dark Materials" trilogy (Northern lights, the subtle knife and the amber spyglass)? they are listed as kids books but have a lot of depth and are a really good read. the third one is guarenteed to make me sob every single time i read it!

and possibly my favorite book is Good Omens, which is a comic fantasy

Have you read any Lee Child books? His main character is Jack Reacher- and let's just say, the ladies want him and the lads want to be him. If you haven't read the books then I highly recommend them (I haven't met one person who hasn't LOVED each and every book). I can't wait for the latest one to come out... actually there might be a new one now... I will check! HTH.

The only book that I have read in a long while that I found difficult to put down was actually the Booker prize winner 'White Tiger' - not a comfortable read though is it.  I long for a good book that I can get wrapped up in - where have they all gone?   I do like fantasy and have read most of what Tad Williams has written.  I have read his last book which is one of a series (Shadowmarch) - he just takes ages to write the next one so don't recommend anyone starts reading the series until he has actually finished!  Told him that at a book signing once but I still go on buying them.  :-(

Have you tried any Garrison Kiellor?
I remember, as a smoker, reading one of his thinking....hah how far fetched!!!!

Karen :)

If you enjoyed the other Boleyn Girl and the Boleyn inheritance, then you'd likely enjoy.....

The Girl with the Pearl Earring

Winter in Madrid - by C J Sansom
Dissolution        -        "
Dark Fire           -        "
Sovereign          -        "    Loved all of these :-)

I've also recently read In Cold Blood by Truman Capote which was amazing and am now working my way through A Capote Reader - which contains everything he ever wrote - just about, apart from In Cold Blood ;)  Very enjoyable, but not a book to be read from cover to cover, more to be dipped into :)

Well recently I bought a book as recommended on here (might have been you gembo?) - the Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold - I thought it was fab and can hardly wait for the movie to come out this year! Also recently loved those by Khaled Hosseini, so my recommendations would be Gregory Maguire's trilogy of Wicked:the life and times of the Wicked Witch of the West, Son of A Witch and A Lion Among Men. (well you did say varied choices) I love everything by Joanne Harris too especially Holy Fools and Coastliners. Oh yes,also like Anita Diamant (The Red Tent, the Last Days of Dogtown)

I'm more of a thriller reader myself and to add to Marianne's list of authors (Marianne, if you've not read any books by these authors you may enjoy them) are:

Karin Slaughter
Mark Billingham

HTH

Simone :)

> favourites to you on previous threads already

I know I do read a lot & when I run out of good books I tend to try & get some recommendations on here! Maybe you'll pick up a few too!

> Booker prize winner 'White Tiger'

Good to hear ceejay, this is my next one to read!

> Winter in Madrid - by C J Sansom
>

Thanks Dill, I'll try the Pearl Earring book, was this also made into a film?

No about Winter in Madrid - this almost never happens to me but I couldn't finish it, I've started it a few times now & can't seem to get past the first few chapters, do I need to try again?

I couldn't finish Winter in Madrid either, I thought it started off well but then just seemed to be going nowhere and taking a very long time to do it all leading to a predictable ending.

> Sophie Kinsella
>

MarianneB - you might be interested to know that her first book has been made into a film, Confessions of a Shopaholic with Isla Fisher playing Becky Bloomwood & it's out in the UK on Feb 20th.  I've just seen the trailer on you tube!

> I know I do read a lot & when I run out of good books I tend to try & get some recommendations on here! Maybe you'll pick up a few too!

Oh yes, always pick up some good ideas.

Just in case I haven't recommended any of them before, or for people who haven't been on one of these threads before, these are my all time favourites which I read time and again:

Take Me With You: A round-the-world journey to invite a stranger home - Brad Newsham (I recommend this SO often, has anyone else ever read it?)
The Woman In White - Wilkie Collins
We Need To Talk About Kevin - Lionel Shriver (but do not assume this means all Lionel Shriver good LOL!) - a bit of a boring start, but stick with it
The Prince of Tides - Pat Conroy (haven't read a Pat Conroy that I didn't like yet, I love the descriptive way he writes)
Memoirs Of A Geisha - Arthur Golden
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

Also liked A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian (Marina Lewycka) - nothing like I expected it to be.

Have enjoyed every Robert Goddard or Dean Koontz book I have read.

Have you read My Family And Other Animals by Gerald Durrell?

Finished Lottery by Patricia Wood last night. Quite different and nice really.

M.

Some excellent recommendations there Lily Mc!

> We Need To Talk About Kevin - Lionel Shriver   - an excellent book but agree the rest of hers aren't so good.

> The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini   - life changing as is Thousand Splendid Suns, hope he writes more soon!

I'm gonna look at the others you've recommended now, I've got Memoirs of a Geisha on DVD but not got round to watching it yet, might read the book first & see how it compares

Tell us what you order then Gembo, and whether you like them or not.

I also love The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins.

I'd watch the film of Memoirs of a Geisha first, if I were you, I think the book far better as they often are.

The film of The Kite Runner was absolutely fabulous though.

M.

Just order Woman in White as it was only £2 on Amazon & the Brad Newsham one, whilst I was on there I discovered Richard & Judy have set up a book club for 2009 so I might have a look at their recommendations too, they always recommend a good book.

Have a look: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/feature.html/ref=amb_link_82855733_16?ie=UTF8&docId=1000257973&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=16NHD659Z5WXY9QT7VQG&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=464965513&pf_rd_i=13302671

You've got me looking and shopping now ...

Bill Bryson always a good read too. I particularly like Notes From A Small Island and Neither Here Nor There: Travels In Europe as I like travel writing even better when you can relate to the places.

Another good one I've remembered from looking at the R&J list: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Have you read The Time Travelers Wife by Audrey Niffenegger? This is one that seems to split people in to love it/hate it camps. I found it dull as ditchwater!

M.

> I love everything by Joanne Harris

Ooh, I'd forgotten about Joanne Harris, Honeybee. Have loved lots of hers. Have just ordered myself The Lollipop Shoes.

Minette Walters is always a good read too.

M.

the new jackie collins is a good read for a bit of fun time.
Stephen Kings last book of short storys was good also.
Paul O Grarys Bio it another one if you are nosey like me.

You havent read Patricia Cornwall? I have evrything written by S. King!! your list mirrors my own apart from Ms Cornwall & Bernard Cornwall as well.

Also I have Terry Pratchett I think his Discworld novels make me laugh out loud, I have read most on this list but earmarked a few, this is an excellent Topic for readers.

> the new jackie collins is a good read for a bit of fun time

I managed to convince myself I was above Jackie Collins/Jilly Cooper type stuff for a while. What a waste! Was given a Jilly Cooper to take on holiday last year and had forgotten how strong the characters are and what a good fun romp they are.

M.

> Jilly Cooper

I used to love her books, still partial to re-reading Riders every now & again! She does create some great characters even if she is a bit raunchy!

I have read Time Travellers Wife & even though I struggled a bit with it, I loved it!

Some really good reads coming out of this thred, I'm taking notes all the time! Cheers guys!

Oh, and another one remembered - Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See.

Fascinating insight into footbinding, apart from anything else, for those who (like me) knew of the practice but didn't realise how horrible it all was.

M.

Read it & loved it, think it was featured on a bookclub thing on here a while back, thats where I got my recommendation.

Ooohhh gembo point me in the direction of that You tube trailer.....I love shopaholic Ive read them all would be very interested to see it on screen.Cheers
Philly x

Here you go:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=qwAv00EZ-nM

R.J. Ellory - A Quiet Belief in Angels - my top pick of my 2008 pile..

I've started 2009 off very lightly with an American book "A widow, A chihuahua and Harry Truman"  it just appealed to me ;)

ooohh thank you...ill look forward to seing that looks ace
:)

Oh, and another one remembered - Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See.


Got to be one of my fave books ever! LilyMc did you read Peony In Love by Lisa See? Different to Snowflower but just as good. I'm reading On Gold Mountain by Lisa See at the moment - not a novel but an interesting tale of how her family came to live in America.

Yes, liked Peony In Love too, although preferred Snow Flower.

M.

>> I'm gonna look at the others you've recommended now, I've got Memoirs of a Geisha on DVD but not got round to watching it yet, might read the book first & see how it compares

films decent, books great :)

Agree Astarte. Think films are often a disappointment when you've really liked a book, so I'd rather watch the film first.

M.

> Think films are often a disappointment when you've really liked a book

usually, or if not a disappointment not quite right in some way... eg. the film adaptation of Twilight is actually very good and true, but... for me Bella should be softer, Alice should be smaller etc...

of course there are some that the films better (rare, but some) like (tin helmet time, wheres my foxhole??) Lord of the Rings. the books are dull!! there, i said it!

I love crime/thriller books,, my favorite is MARTINA COLE, but i must say i think her last few are not as gripping, not yet read her lastest, also KAREN ROSE her books her fab., i received JULIE WALTERS, PAUL O'GRADY AND DAWN FRENCH for christmas just finished J.WALTERS i thought it was very funny and a really good read,

Anything by.......

Jennifer Crusie
Janet Evanovitch
C L Wilson
Stephen Coonts
Clive Cussler
Katie Fforde
Kristen Britain
and
Elisabeth Chadwick

Aren't books wonderful!! My favourite pastime!

I frequently use a website which lists all authors and their past, present and future releases and has reviews too to help me compile my evergrowing book wish list.

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/

hope you find it useful!

Can I add Harlan Coben to my list of thriller authors?  His books are good if you like an easy to read thriller.

I was a bit under-whelmed with the Dawn French - what did you think tessisbest? Very good in a few areas, but the rest of it a bit blah and the Madonna bits frankly irritating.

M.

Good Link Starmutley thanks!

Just read The Reluctant Fundamentalist too - Mohsin Hamid - it is the sort of book that would be good for book clubs - interesting to discuss what others have made of it.  Last book I read was Joanna Trollope - Friday Nights - It was OK.  Now on a Pat Barker book - always well written I think. 

> is the sort of book that would be good for book clubs

now there is an idea! an champdogs book club!

we could read a book then have a thread!

I will add Tess Gerittsen to that list - fantastic books :)

we used to have a book club, it kind of fizzled out.

Im reading Russel Brands "my booky wook" at the moment - absolutely hilarious !!

Now dont laugh but I love the novels written by Edwina Currie. Favourites are Chasing Men, Parlimentry affair and She's leaving home. Also I loved Julie Walters Autobiography. Now come on, stop laughing!!!!

i love tess gerriston, her books are fab, met her once at a book signing in glasgow, shes lovely.
my favourite authors are
stephen king
dean koontz
nicholas sparks (for romantic love stories)
cecilia ahern
jodi picoult
nicholas evans
tess gerriston
jonathon kellerman
fannie flagg

I love Reading - so also try
Charlaine Harris
Stuart MacBride
and the Love Reading website for new releases