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.
Sarah McDonnell
The One and Only Ivan. A kids book so a one night read. But you will cry, and cheer, and call people to tell them to read it at roughly 2am. I mean, uh... some people would do that. Not me. Um, no matter what my friends say.
Then follow up with Major Pettigrew's Last Stand to make yourself feel like a dignified grown-up, again.
Ooooo, so glad you are back.
Naomi
1. All My Puny Sorrows, Miriam Toews. Some similar themes to A Man Called Ove, but more intense.
2. Instructions for a Heat Wave, Maggie O'Farrell
3. Still Life With Bread Crumbs, Anna Quindlen
4. A Long Way Down, Nick Hornby
5. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand Helen Simonson
Karen
Love Nick Hornby. ~ karen!
Melinda
I knew the chickens were just a cover for your true dignified self:) I recommend Lab Girl by Hope Jahren. And The Keillor Reader by Garrison Keillor.
Gwennie
One of the best books I have read in the past 5 years is a children's book called Mr and Mrs Bunny: Detectives Extraordinaire. I read it out loud to my kids and we all loved it.
The best books I have read lately: These books are all over the place in type.
Hit By a Farm by Catherine Friend
Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
No One Would Listen by Harry Markopolos (written by the man who discovered Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scam)
Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen
Braving It by James Campbell (his daughter is an alumni of my kid's school)
The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick
Some of these I might have heard about here from prior lists and replies!
Patricia
The first book that ever grabbed me was My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George. The second was Little Women. I thought I had discovered Louisa May Alcott and thought it my duty to tell the world about her writing.
The books I read over and over because of their humor, characters and just great charm are the Mitford Series by Jan Karon. Uncle Billy is my hero.
Barbara N Kahl
I would recommend Ahab's Wife;Or, The Stargazer; A Novel by Sena Jeter Naslund. Apparently it is a love it, hate it book. My friend loathed it. I loved the main character so much I missed her when the novel was done.
Heather
I will be checking out David Sedaris, because I love to laugh. And my recommendation is that you read Sarum by Edward Rutherfurd. All his books are excellent but Sarum is in a class by itself.
Sabina
Here’s my short pile of favorites! The Last Train to Memphis The Rise of Elvis Presley, The Last Cannoli, New York The Novel and I just finished The Family Corleone. Now I’m on a hunt for a copy of The Godfather.
Jan in Waterdown
Room by Emma Donoghue will grab you by the heart strings and not let go until you finish it. And even then, I couldn't bring myself to see the movie in case "they" ruined it.
Catherine Gibson
Oh, and don't forget your towel.
Catherine Gibson
If you read anything in your life, read the complete and totally not organized "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", along with the maybe sorta canon of "So Long and Thanks for All the Fish."
And you are fore-warned, do NOT read these books while drinking beverages of any kind. Particularly milk. Sinuses and milk should not know one another. Long shudder.
shannon
I could.not.stand Confederacy of Dunces... but that was in 8th grade, so maybe I should give it a chance again.
But I *love* A Prayer For Owen Meany by Irving. I have it on my list to read again this year too because it's been about a decade. But I still remember it as one of my favs.
In any case, I *loved* A Man Called Ove! So much that I went out immediately and read another book from the same author, My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry. It was equally (if not a smidge more) wonderful.
Other books I think are great:
~~The Book Thief by Markus Zusak - Such a great perspective about a dark topic, no idea how it measures to the movie bc I didn't see it.
~~A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles - What relationships would you create if you could never step outside your house?
~~The Art of Racing In The Rain by Garth Stein - You MUST promise to commit to reading the whole thing...do not stop at the hard part. I promise it's worth it.
~~The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin - Note: this is fantasy-ish but stay with me, it's mind bending at the end, the world-building is amaz-balls and the characters are for real.
Cussot
Have you read The Tin Drum by Günter Grass? John Irving has said that A Prayer for Owen Meany was an homage to Grass. It's a monster of a book and pretty darn wonderful.
Tanya Januszko
Karen!! I have Amityville Horror Story trivia nobody knows about except a small handful of people.
During my 7th grade year, a new boy joined our class in our small beach town school in Southern California. He was quiet. An out of towner. It was the 1978-79 school year...back when Leonard Nimoy hosted a super popular TV show called "In Search Of". Do you remember?
As the school year came to a close, we had our yearbook signing picnic. I remember Danny Lutz, the new kid, signed my yearbook. We were all abuzz about the "In Search Of" episode that was going to air soon...an episode about what REALLY happened at the house in Amityville.
Danny Lutz didn't show up to school after that episode aired. Turns out he was the son of Amityville Horror family. I never saw him again.
Steph
I just finished Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance by Ruth Emmi Lang . I recommend for anyone who enjoys magical realism- I really enjoyed it. I've been meaning to get to Lonesome Dove for years, and I can second the love for Plainsong. I just had to hold that book for a while after I finished it.
Artt Vernon
Fredrik Back, (writer of 'a man called Ove') also wrote "my grandmother asked me to tell you she's sorry" . It's a wonderful story about a very intellingent
almost 8 year old and her loud seemingly bat-shit crazy Grandma and her
secret multifaceted past and the unlikely people from it.
I love it!!! Art
Judy
I also loved A Prayer for Owen Meany, and Widow for One Year. My favourites include All the Light You Cannot See, Cutting for Stone, and The Alice Network. Have you read any Martha Grimes? I’m addicted to her Richard Jury series. A good book is delicious - you hate to see it end!
Jcrieff
Thanks! I just refilled my queue on my library website.
I just read "Nightingale" by Kristin Hannah. A page turner for sure.
Beth
A Gentleman in Moscow - Amor Towles
The Mistress of Spices - Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Year of Wonders - Geraldine Brooks (all her books, really)
shannon
Geraldine Brook, yes! I still think about the Year of Wonders, after reading it 10 years ago (!!)
...haven't tried The Mistress of Spices, so it's going on my list now.
emily welker
You grabbed me by the throat at Owen Meany. John Irving’s Hester is life goals for me.
Since moving to the frozen tundra I think I’ve yet to read anything to top Louise Erdrich’s Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse. All her stuff is good, but that one....it made me laugh and cry, sometimes simultaneously, and wonder at the beauty she prises out of this bleak landscape and its difficult lives.