I'm doing a 52-in-52 reading challenge for myself and keeping track of it on Goodreads which is a wonderful site for that sort of thing... I just finished "The Gathering" by Kelley Armstrong a YA fantasy fiction novel which is actually quite good, before that recently read books include "The Torment of Others" by Val McDermid - fantastic thriller, very disturbing in parts, though I liked the first in the series (The Mermaid Singing) better; "The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes" by (obviously) Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, "Tree and Leaf" by JRR Tolkien (which I recommend to any and all Tolkien fans!), "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins, and "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman.

Great to see other book lovers here! And Dick Christensen - how was One Hundred Years of Solitude? I've read one of Marquez's books (Chronicle of a Death Foretold) before and keep meaning to read another, either One Hundred Years or Love in a Time of Cholera...

Hey meridok! Good to see another SCer also addicted to reading. If you are into writers like Neil Gaiman and Tolkien you should find "One Hundred Years of Solitude" easy going. In some ways it's like a Russian novel. Not in subject matter or style, but in how the reader is forced to continually look back to assure himself that the current character is the one he thinks it is. There are a myriad of characters and many have the same or similar names. The story takes place in a mythical country although you kind of get the impression that it might be roughly analogous to the author's native Colombia. You can expect humor, disgust, sadness, confusion and wonder. It's a pretty amazing story. I hope you enjoy it.

Thank you Dick! That sounds quite promising, I'll definitely be keeping my eye out for it.

I need some reading for the summer days and I just heard of the author Harlan Coben.
Now I must admit that I get the feeling that you nice folks here at SC are much wiser
than myself. This old wardog along with my kat buddy lying on my desk right next to me
were WAAYY around the block when it came to brains being passed out, But I think I
could do some reading and enjoy it. Has anybody read Coben,he has been on best seller
list a few time right? In what order should I read his books? I Thank You Kindly.

Franco - I love Harlan Coben! First book I read of his was Tell No One. It's a wonderful jumping off point. I also enjoyed Darkest Fear and Gone For Good. Hope you enjoy him as much as I.

bigone4u - Atlas Shrugged is one of my all-time favs - don't you feel like every word she uses is just the most perfectly chosen? My biggest struggle reading Rand is savoring it rather than devouring.

I thank you kindly jdp

I love to read and do so every day for as long as I can. I love Amish Stories and like most of the writers. I also read Love Inspired Romance and Historical Romance. I am new here. I live in VA and am 75 years young, Patti

If you're looking for some good summer reads, here are a few titles that may interest you:
"The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine" by Alina Bronsky - this book has less to do with the Tartar cuisine and more to do with a narcissistic mother and her unfortunately imperfect daughter;
"The Wild Braid - A Poet Reflects on a Century in the Garden" - by Stanley Kunitz with Genine Lentine - If you like poetry and gardening you'll love this little book;
"Red Phoenix" by Larry Bond - For those who like non-stop action this is one of those "can't-put-it-down" novels. It's about a supposed second invasion of South Korea by North Korea. It's a bit dated but it's still a good read if you like a fast paced action packed story;
"Beijing Coma" by Ma Jian - The author, having experienced the Tianenmen Square incident first hand chose to write about the experience from the standpoint of one of the victims. The book is a very clever reading of the mind of a person who is in a coma as a result of injuries he received in the crackdown at Tianenmen Square. The story takes you back and forth from the narrator's personal history to his current experience as he lay in a coma. A very intriguing book...
"The Wave Watcher's Companion" by Gavin Pretor-Pinney - Everything you ever wanted to know about waves of every kind. From the ocean to the physics lab to the athletic stadium and back again this book takes you on a light-hearted journey that most of us probably never think about.
Have a good summer! Happy reading...

Hi #1Grndma if you like books set in England during war time you just have to read the books by Katie Flynn she also writes as Judith Saxton im in the middle of First love Last Love and its devine Also try Val Wood.

I finished reading a few good books. For those who like non fiction, In the Garden of the Beast, Erik Larsen, about the American ambassador and his family in Germany when Hitler came to power. For those like me, love historical fiction, The Hotel on the cover of Bitter and Sweet, Jamie Ford. Wonderful story about lives during WW II and the Japanese internment. For those who enjoy a fairy tale for adults of sorts, The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern, is a wonderful, mysterious work of fiction. I am waiting for 11/22/63, Stephen King and a some other books I have reserved that I don't remember the names! Guess I will know when I get the notice from the library.

Here a a couple more books I've read recently that you may enjoy. "The Alchemist" by Paolo Coelho - a wonderful story about following your heart; "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy - dark post-apocalyptic story about determination, love and loyalty; "The Lost Symbol" by Dan Brown - another thriller by the author of "The daVinci Code" and not his best effort... I'm finally reading "The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo" by Stieg Larsson. I think everyone I know who likes to read has read this book and/or has seen the movie. It's not the kind of book I usually choose to read. But I have to say that it's very captivating so far, but I've only read about 150 pages...

have you read this triology by CS Lewis: Out of the Silent Planet, Pearlandra, The Hideous Strength ( I am not sure this last title).

It's called "That Hideous Strength" - yes I have read the trilogy. It was one of my favorite reads and really got me started reading. I read it in the early 60s when I was in the Army. I had never been much of a reader up through highschool, but when a fellow GI gave me his copy of "Out of the Silent Planet" I was off and running. Although all of C. S. Lewis's writings have a basic Christian good vs. evil theme, the first two books, "Out of the Silent Planet" and "Perelandra" are beautifully written science fiction. The last book of the trilogy, "That Hideous Strength" is a little more preachy and dark and not nearly as inventive as the first two. Hope you enjoy reading them as much as I did.

I have been reading Hermon Wouk - I am about half way through War and Remembrance. Really well done.

I read Wouk's books in the 80s - I agree, they were well done - hard to put down - thanks for reminding me of a good experience...

@Dick Christensen - I read Stieg Larsson's trilogy several years ago. Once I made it past the first chapter or so I was hooked (took me a while to read that first chapter though - I kept thinking, "where is this going?". The Swedish movies are fun - saw the 2011 version when it came out - REALLY good.

I finished the first Stieg Larsson book about a week ago. Although I wouldn't say it is a great book, it is a great read! I spent several nights reading into the wee hours - very hard to put down. I'm looking forward to seeing the movies. I've heard the casting in the American version is better than the Swedish - it will be interesting to compare them.

I hope everyone has had a good summer of reading. Here's what I have been reading since my last post: "I Curse the River of Time" by Per Pettersen - about the relationship of a man and his mother in Norway and Denmark; "Jackdaws" by Ken Follett - based on a true story about a group of women from England who work in France with the resistance during WWII; "Tales from Firozsha Baag" by Rohinton Mistry - a group of related short stories about several people who live in the same apartment complex in Bombay; "The White Tiger" by Aravind Adiga - an interesting look at class differences and attitudes in India; and "A People's History of the United States (1492-2003) by Howard Zinn - anyone interested in the history of the U. S. should read this book. You'll learn much about the experience of the ordinary people in this country since Columbus - things you never learned in school. It gives you a different perspective from the traditional. A very good read.

Oh it's been a long long time since I've been here!! Interesting reading all the posts. I belong to two book clubs and have to offer suggestions at one of the clubs. After reading all the latest book reviews, I think I have decided on "The Surrendered" by Chang-Rae Lee...... Thanks you!!!!