Looking for a great book to read are you? Who isn't! 5 I've read, 5 I'm gonna read and reader recommendations.
Grade 6 was as good a time as any to become a woman. There I was standing in the grocery store aisle, long blonde hair pulled into two ponytails secured with big pink bobbles looking down at my dirty running shoes. I had no idea what I was doing. Before me was row upon row of unusual choices, none of which seemed to make any sense to me.
But I was a grown up now and I had to pick something. I'd asked around a little bit so I had a few recommendations but ultimately this was going to have to be a personal decision. All I knew was I didn't want some product marketed to kids, I wanted the adult version.
As it turns out, the decision I finally made changed my life.
I went with The Amityville Horror. The first grown up book I ever read. It was absolutely terrifying. There's no way in hell I should have been allowed to read that thing in grade 6. But I'd finished all the Judy Blume's so ....
That little paperback from the local grocery store scared the SHIT out of me. Because of The Amityville Horror, my first job wasn't eating other people's potato chips and babysitting like every other teenager, it was slogging away packaging sunglasses for a friend's father. Who did not provide potato chips.
Babysitting? Stay in a stranger's house while their kids slept? Um, no. I mean, I knew things now. Houses could not only be haunted, they could try to kill you.
You see, at the time, The Amityville Horror was marketed as a true story. It was based on the real life experiences of a family who moved into a home where the previous owner went nuts and shot 6 members of his family. Enter the next family to move into the house and cue the paranormal activity. Rooms filled with flies, people levitated, glowing eyed pigs romping through the house. It was quite a step up from The Bobbsey Twins; Secret at the Seashore.
That book did two things. It really did scare me to the point that I knew I was going to require therapy later in life.
And it made me understand what a page turner was. The book was so scary I knew it was scarring me, but for some reason I couldn't stop reading it. I was compelled to read it every chance I got, mental health be damned.
I'd say every 3 or 4 books I read now are ones I consider page turners. The kind of books you find yourself thinking about throughout the day wondering when you can acceptably get in your pajamas and go to bed to read.
These next 5 great books are all page turners, but one of them is a STAND OUT.
5 Great Books (I've read)
1. A Prayer for Owen Meany - This book captivated me when I first read it. I can't remember when that was but it was probably 30 years ago. ACK. What a horrible thing to say. That's when the book was originally published. As is often the case with John Irving novels, this one is based around a very unique character; Owen Meany. An incredibly small boy with a squeaky voice who believes he is a conduit of God. A Prayer for Owen Meany is my second favourite book of all time. My favourite book is the Pulitzer Prize winning Western, Lonesome Dove. It took me 3 or 4 cracks at it before I could get through the first chapter but once I did? Wow.
2. A Man Called Ove - Here we go. THIS is the book. The page turner, the exceptional, the STAND OUT. I read A Man Called Ove after watching the movie based on it. The book follows the life of Ove, a cranky older man. It is funny, touching, insightful and sad. If you can only buy one book make A Man Called Ove the one.
3. Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls I love David Sedaris. If you like funny you'll love him too. Sedaris has a dry humour that can sometimes bubble up from nowhere until you're crossing your legs praying not to pee yourself. His books are usually a conglomeration of autobiographical short stories. Essays. If you *haven't* read David Sedaris before start with Me Talk Pretty One Day.
4. Manhattan Beach This was a, Yeah, it's a pretty good book, to me. It got great reviews and according to the amount of stars it has on Amazon people mostly loved it. I did look forward to reading it every night but ... it was just missing something for me. Not a lot. If it was a person it wasn't missing a major organ, just ... maybe some necessary fluids.
5. Middlesex The most critically acclaimed novel on this list, not only did Middlesex win the Pulitzer Prize, Amazon readers give it close to a 5 star rating. The book, published in 2007, which is when I read it, focuses on Callie a young Greek girl who at the age of 14 discovers she's Intersex (formerly known as a hermaphrodite). It's then that she becomes Cal.
5 Great Books (I'm gonna read)
1. A Prayer for Owen Meany Yup. I'm gonna read it again. Like I said, it's been almost 30 years since I originally read this book and declared it one of my all time favourites. I feel like it's time to read it again. I've reread lots of books, but this one I'm rereading on purpose so I won't be surprised when I get halfway through it and think "Hey. I feel like I know *exactly* what's going to happen. HEY. I'VE READ THIS BOOK ALREADY!"
2. Eventide This book was on my books to read list LAST TIME. I keep saving it. It's one of those "I want to save it books". Not everyone is an "I want to save it" kind of person, I realize. I was also the kid who would still have Halloween candy by mid-June. Eventide is the follow up to Kent Haruf's Plainsong. He has a quiet, subtle voice that allows even the most dramatic scenes to be told with a whisper, not a scream.
3. A Visit From the Goon Squad Written by the same author who penned the aforementioned "yeah, it's a pretty good book" Manhattan Beach. I'm giving author Jennifer Egan another go with this, the novel that won her the Pulitzer Prize. It's about an ageing punk rocker and record executive. Based on that, chances of me not liking this novel are very slim.
4. Sing, Unburied, Sing Set in Mississippi's past and present, Sing, Unburied Sing, is the portrait of a struggling family and the hope we all have to continue on no matter how miserable things get. This is one of those critics darlings novels which can go either way for me. I'm usually on board when it comes to critically praised books but most critically acclaimed movies leave me with the dry heaves.
5. Theft by Finding I mentioned that David Sedaris writes autobiographical short stories (essays). The reason he can do this so accurately is because he began recording his life in a diary at the age of 20 and hasn't missed a day of writing since. Last year he published Theft by Finding, the first half of his edited diaries (1977-2002). Yay!
I'm super-dignified in case you were wondering.
I just wanted to mention as a side note, that the people who lived in the Amityville Horror house? The ones who claimed to have had all these paranormal experiences in the house? Well, a couple of years after the book was published and people started to suspect it wasn't actually true the couple agreed to take lie detector tests. The husband and wife submitted to tests performed by 2 of the top Polygraph experts in the United States. There was no indication of lying.
EeeeEeeeeekkkkk!!!!
O.K., you know what to do now. It's time for you to give us your book recommendations. Feel free to include the first book that really grabbed you. Metaphorically speaking of course. I hope.
Have at it.
G-L
A Prayer For Owen Meany is my all-time, ever and always favorite. I read it when it was first published and read it every few years. While dating my (now) husband, he attempted to read it as a way of understanding what made me tick. Halfway through the book, he gave up and said it was as much a mystery as me and maybe that’s what God intended. I’m mysterious. I like it.
A horrific version(animated air quotes) of the book was turned into an awful film adaptation years ago. Simon Birch was the offending name and it was an awful, disjointed, and just plain yucky version with a screenplay NOT written by John Irving. Hopefully he sued someone. Anyone.
I digress. AMAZING READ.
Alena
The best book I read in January is The Last Wave by Gilian (?) Best. Only when I was done with it I found out the author grew up in Waterloo (she now lives in the UK).
Barb
I'm loving all the great book suggestions! Making a list right now. I love a good mystery and started reading Ruth Ware when I saw one of her books was going to be made into a film and the other into a mini series. Was curious - Got hooked, read all three of her books and loved them all and now waiting for her 4th book to come out. Her books are In A Dark, Dark Wood, The Woman in Cabin 10 and The Lying Game.
Also liked The Girl On The Train ( haven't see the film) by Paula Hawkins and am reading another mystery by her Into The Water.
Karen - Have you read another book by Jesmyn Ward called Salvage the Bones? A hard book to read but very good and it really stuck with me long after I was done.
jan upton lloyd
Books I read before the movie (all beautifully written) :
"The English Patient"
"Remains of the Day"
"A River Runs Through It""
Also, anything by Malla Nunn, great apartheid era South Africa detective series.
lmc3104
I stole my first adult book from my (much older) sister's suitcase when she was home for a visit from college. It was "Coffee, Tea or Me?" a best selling memoir supposedly about two "exuberant" stewardesses..... and I was 7 years old. (Yeah, I was one of those kind of little sisters.) Boy, was that ever confusing! I clearly remember deciding if that is what you had to do to be a stewardess, then I was going to be a pilot instead : )
Encyclopedia Brown never tried to join the mile high club, did he?
Wendy Heath
Shantaram!!
Dru
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara rocked my world. So incredibly written and all consuming.
Fonda
Your Amityville Horror = my 'Salems Lot. Could really happen, y'know.
Carol Odenweller
One of my favorite authors is Louise Penny, who writes a mystery series located in Montreal and a fictional, but idyllic little town south of it called Three Pines. Her characters are intriguing, the storylines complex, and she has a magical way of revealing the deepest parts of the fascinating characters she's created. Love her books!
Jan in Waterdown
Hey Carol, I was just about to recommend these books but you beat me to it! It's kinda cool to have some great murder mysteries with Canadian references and Quebecois flavour. If you haven't signed up for her monthly newsletters, I highly recommend it. Her writing is so lovely that it helps to fill in the gaps between books.
Jan in Waterdown
Also meant to ask, have you read Ian Hamilton's Ava Lee crime/mystery series? Totally different from Inspector Gamache but also really good. The main character is Chinese Canadian living in Yorkville (Toronto) but she solves crimes, mostly involving money, all over the world. Really a kick-ass heroine! If you decide to try them, I recommend reading them in order. Cheers!
Carol O
I read ALL of my series in order, much to the amusement of my friend who turned me on to Louise Penny, Laurie R. King (the Mary Russell series), and Julia Spencer-Fleming. She prefers the confusion of jumping around in a series. I will add the Ava Lee series to my list. Thanks for the tip.
Kipper
Anybody remember R.F. Delderfeld novels? I read all of them. Now my favorite book is The Shepherds Life by James Rebanks. He is a shepherd in Cumbria, amazing writer and his Twitter feeds have amazing photos and tweets.
Laura Brown
Cujo was the first adult book I read. I was about the same age. My mom's bf was reading it so I would read it when he wasn't. Freaked me out and hooked me on King. Irving is so fantastic.
I reread The Night Circus last fall. Also gifted it to a good friend. Thanks for that one!
shawn
Morning! Second to "Lonesome Dove" as my favorite book of all time is, "West with the Night," by Beryl Markham. Her memoir is so beautifully written. She was quite accomplished for a woman, at the beginning of the 20th century. I've given so many copies as gifts throughout the years. Her short story collection, "A Splendid Outcast," is wonderful, too.
J
So glad you are back-and don't you look el-e-gnt!!
Sonya
Hi, Karen,
1. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle is my all-time favorite book, but some people don't like YA books, so A Severed Wasp (also by L'Engle) is a good "adult" novel. An elderly concert pianist meets up with an acquaintance from her youth, and becomes involved with the lives of several families. If you ever read L'Engle as a kid, you'll like this one because it reintroduces some of her teen characters as adults.
2. I teach AP English Literature, and my students always enjoy Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. Traces the life of an African-American woman in the 1920's through her three marriages. It's a lot better than it sounds!
3. My kids also like Beloved by Toni Morrison, which must be one of the BEST books EVER written. Sethe and Paul D. try to come to terms with the brutality they suffered when they were slaves. Includes a ghost and a girl who seems to be something otherworldly.
4. To Kill a Mockingbird (of course). I bought the sequel but couldn't bear to read it....
5. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte -- Neglected orphan Jane goes to teach the ward of a sexy and mysterious man. But something strange seems to be going on in the house....
My Amityville Horror is Red Dragon by Thomas Harris. I read this waaay before The Silence of the Lambs came out in movie theaters, I was also in high school (and listening to Duran Duran like someone said in an above comment!), and it scared the crap out of me! To this day, whenever I see someone's car with the little stick figures announcing to everyone around how many people are in their family, I shudder. Think of the serial killers lurking in their cars, wondering who their next victims will be!
Mary Jane
My favourite book of all time is "Ruth" by Elizabeth Gaskell. The book is about a single mother in the 1850's. I read that book about every 5 years.
Wendy
I loved "Middlesex."
Try "Until I Find You," also by John Irving. I laughed out loud many times, and also found it so sad.
Karen Jeanne
Check out The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish.
Marlene Eastman
Totally forgot about Owen Meany!!! Read it many years ago. Love John Irving books. Loved Until I find You. I also love biography books, peaking into peoples past! My hubby says I read books by the pound. Now that he has retired, there are about 5 books stacked beside him ..... got him hooked :)
susan
Nonfiction- RUST, you will never feel the same about it. One of the costliest mechanisms in the world. Understand it, appreciate it. And PACIFIC, Simon Winchester's wide ranging book on the cultures, geography, events and inventions embraced by this ocean.
Kaysi Rose Hunsaker
Ya, I tried to read The Ammityville Horror book at the same age as you. I couldn't get past the first chapter when the lady looks in the mirror and her face becomes old. My mother, God bless her, has a foot washing baptist mentality when it comes to paranormal, ghosty, scary shit. She caught me engrossed in the book, read the situation accurately and literally threw the book in the fireplace that had a roaring fire going with me trailing her complaining at a fever pitch. Up in flames went poor Ammityville but in retrospect I do thank her for that as the book, IT really scarred me for life concerning bathtubs and clowns. Another thing she did that I DON'T thank her for was several years later she was driving my brother, sister and I to our new country home after school and I had the rare opportunity to be chosen to sit shotgun AND play the music in the car. I ALWAYS had my favorite Duran Duran tape with me in my handy, portable, always with me walkman (HA!) and I popped my trusty tape in the car stereo. Hungry Like the Wolf blasted through the BMW sound system. I was swaying thinking of Simon Le Bon and Bon Bon's and out of nowhere she ejects my tape and throws it out the window into the unknown country wilderness. I was SO PISSED and was literally crying and screaming (while my brother in the back seat semi secretly laughed his head off, my sister being a toddler didn't care) but her excuse was that Diane Downs listened to that song when she killed her kids therefore it must be a possessed song and that's all there was to it. C-YA Durran Durran~Peace! As I look back it's rather funny but I was weeks miserable about that lost tape. Thank you for your wise and humorous posts, a girl after my own heart:)