Good Reads for Summer?

[CeeCee's Mom]

I am reading..."The Best of Friends" by Mariana Pasternak. A book about Martha Stewart by her ex-best friend. Martha is at times CRAZY!!! That is all I am going to say.

Fixing to read..."Roses" by Leila Meacham. This is about 3 generations of a family in East Texas......sort of on the theme of "The Thorn Birds"

I have had "Under the Dome" by Stephen King for a while, haven' gotten around to reading it yet....I do not necessarily like his books exept for "The Stand"......loved that. I like the synopsis of this one~~~

I am like Sophia, unually I read non-fiction but Roses came highly recommended~~~

[Nikki's Mom]

Originally Posted by CeeCee's Mom

I am reading..."The Best of Friends" by Mariana Pasternak. A book about Martha Stewart by her ex-best friend. Martha is at times CRAZY!!! That is all I am going to say.

Fixing to read..."Roses" by Leila Meacham. This is about 3 generations of a family in East Texas......sort of on the theme of "The Thorn Birds"

I have had "Under the Dome" by Stephen King for a while, haven' gotten around to reading it yet....I do not necessarily like his books exept for "The Stand"......loved that. I like the synopsis of this one~~~

I am like Sophia, unually I read non-fiction but Roses came highly recommended~~~

I liked The Stand as well.

[Snowbody]

I used to love Stephen King -- The Shining, It (really gave me the heeby jeebies) Christine, Carrie, etc. But when I read Misery that was the end. I couldn't take it and thought it was so gratuitously violent. I never read another book of his after that. Was The Stand before or after that?

[Nikki's Mom]

Originally Posted by Snowbody

I used to love Stephen King -- The Shining, It (really gave me the heeby jeebies) Christine, Carrie, etc. But when I read Misery that was the end. I couldn't take it and thought it was so gratuitously violent. I never read another book of his after that. Was The Stand before or after that?

The Stand was published in 1978. I didn't read the others. I don't know when they came out. I enjoy sci fi and dystopians but I don't like horror or gratuitous violence in movies or books. The Stand was a post-apocalyptic epic story. Not too much horror and violence - well, not too much for King, lol. Very well-written, imo.

I grudgingly read his Cell a couple of years ago. Hated it.

[Hunter's Mom]

Reading is one of my favorite things to do and since I spend 50% of my week reading letters, emails, articles, etc on the computer or phone I love nothing more than to curl up with a great book. Kindles seem great but to me it wouldn't feel like I was reading a book, just a long email!

I haven't created a summer reading list so this is a great post. I will say that I love books by John Grisham and Nicholas Sparks.

[MaryH]

Some have already been mentioned, but here are some of my favorites (not all current) ...

Water for Elephants - Sara Gruen
Three Cups of Tea - Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
The Art of Racing in the Rain - Garth Stein
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini
The Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd
Don't Stop The Carnival - Herman Wouk
The Shipping News - E. Annie Proulx
The Mists of Avalon - Marian Zimmer Bradley

I just started reading The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett and like it so far.

And last, a book that I didn't like, or at least I think I didn't like it, but long after I finished it I still can't "get over it." To me, it seemed more like reading a poem ... and the only word I have to describe it was GRIM. But I'm still amazed that a person could write, and the main character could speak, so few words and have them say so much ... The Road by Cormac McCarthy.

[Ladysmom]

Originally Posted by MaryH

Some have already been mentioned, but here are some of my favorites (not all current) ...

Water for Elephants - Sara Gruen
Three Cups of Tea - Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
The Art of Racing in the Rain - Garth Stein
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini
The Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd
Don't Stop The Carnival - Herman Wouk
The Shipping News - E. Annie Proulx
The Mists of Avalon - Marian Zimmer Bradley

I just started reading The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett and like it so far.

And last, a book that I didn't like, or at least I think I didn't like it, but long after I finished it I still can't "get over it." To me, it seemed more like reading a poem ... and the only word I have to describe it was GRIM. But I'm still amazed that a person could write, and the main character could speak, so few words and have them say so much ... The Road by Cormac McCarthy.

I keep toying with ordering Water for Elephants, but am too afraid. I'm not sure I can handle a book about circus elephants.

I have read Sara Gruen's Riding Lessons and Flying Changes. Light, fun reading for horse lovers of any age. I loaned them to my mom, sister and now am passing them on to my daughter!

[Snowbody]

Originally Posted by MaryH

Some have already been mentioned, but here are some of my favorites (not all current) ...

Water for Elephants - Sara Gruen
Three Cups of Tea - Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
The Art of Racing in the Rain - Garth Stein
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini
The Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd
Don't Stop The Carnival - Herman Wouk
The Shipping News - E. Annie Proulx
The Mists of Avalon - Marian Zimmer Bradley

I just started reading The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett and like it so far.

And last, a book that I didn't like, or at least I think I didn't like it, but long after I finished it I still can't "get over it." To me, it seemed more like reading a poem ... and the only word I have to describe it was GRIM. But I'm still amazed that a person could write, and the main character could speak, so few words and have them say so much ... The Road by Cormac McCarthy.

This is scary Mary. You mentioned some of the books I did and I loved Water for Elephants and The Kite Runner on your list. And I felt the same way about The Road. It was haunting, grim indeed and really tough to read but it stayed with me too and I found it fascinating in a strange way. My DH read Pillars years ago and liked it a lot but it was very long and detailed. So I definitely have to read the ones from your list that I haven't already since we seem to have very similar taste in books. Hope you try some of mine.
I'm so excited about everyone's choices. I don't like to go with the popular books on lists or the ones I see at Costco. I love recommendations.

[sophie]

Some of the best summer books I've ever read are Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum novels. The first time I ever laughed out loud reading a book was while reading hers.

I also love Dean Koontz and Stephen King. And, absolutely love any type of series books. I just never want a good book to end! lol

I received the Kindl as a gift and thought I would love it, but like many have mentioned it's not the same as holding a book and feeling the paper and the smell. I really do miss those things. I also love a really LONG book and with the Kindl it's hard to tell how much farther you have to go till the end and it really does take some of that "don't want it to end" excitement out of the book.

Linda

[Ladysmom]

Originally Posted by sophie

I received the Kindl as a gift and thought I would love it, but like many have mentioned it's not the same as holding a book and feeling the paper and the smell. I really do miss those things. I also love a really LONG book and with the Kindl it's hard to tell how much farther you have to go till the end and it really does take some of that "don't want it to end" excitement out of the book.

Linda

Oh, yeah! I did that with The Help. I kept checking how many pages I had left because I never wanted it to end.