https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/please-recommend-a-good-book-for-me Style Advice for Fashion Lovers en-US Fri, 24 Apr 2026 19:42:04 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 q https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/search.php https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/please-recommend-a-good-book-for-me/page/2#post-537199 Fri, 10 Feb 2012 03:46:23 +0000 HelenInCanada 537199@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Oh Mochi, that sounds like a fascinating but sad read. I'd been obsessed in the past with trying to understand how the population at large in Germany in the 1940's could allow the Holocaust to happen. This book sounds like a window into their perspective - I assume fear and submission were the basis. I watched a documentary series recently called Love Hate and Propaganda (produced by the CBC), about the Nazi reign of terror throughout WWII, and it chilled me to the bone. No other way to describe it. Just a shocking look at how the Nazis manipulated and "brainwashed" its citizens. Unbelievably horrific period in our world history. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/please-recommend-a-good-book-for-me/page/2#post-537170 Fri, 10 Feb 2012 03:12:36 +0000 Fruitful 537170@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Mochi, the Fallada book sounds important and challenging. Also, thankyou for describing "Out". There's a lot here to get stuck into! I rarely read fiction, I don't have the natural downtime built into my day (like commuting) and when I do read it I get consumed by it, so it has to be really worth it! And these sound worth it </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/please-recommend-a-good-book-for-me/page/2#post-536327 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:29:01 +0000 Mochi 536327@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I'm completely thrilled and impressed to see how many people have read Murakami. I haven't read his Wind Up Bird Chronicle and now will have to get to it soon. Fruitful, I only met with him for about one minute after a reading/discussion event he did in New York City. I attended a lot of lit events at the time I was living around there. I had also majored in Japanese in college, so I told him I read "Norwegian Wood" (which at the time was not translated) and he seemed to be touched by my efforts.</p> <p>(Our family is also big Miyazaki and Ghibli fans as well!)</p> <p>Fruitful, I haven't kept up with a lot of the newer Japanese writers like Banana Yoshimoto. One novel I did find impressive, and which has been translated, is "Out" by Natsuo Kirino. But the disclaimer is that it's overall a very dark novel and there are some graphic descriptions, more of the aftermath of violence than of violence itself (if I remember correctly). It's about some female co-workers on an assembly line who band together and help out one of the women, who's killed her husband after he violently beat her or something. Especially when you consider it's been written by a Japanese woman, it's extremely hard-edged and deals with criminals, blackmail, covering up crime, body dismemberment, etc...very compelling read. </p> <p>Oh, and I read Norwegian Wood and it was extremely moving and beautiful. I haven't read that much Murakami, but this is one of his earlier works and I suspect its theme is very different from stuff he wrote later on? </p> <p>On a completely different note, on the plane back from a trip to Berlin I read "Alone in Berlin" by Hans Fallada. (I think UK editions have a different title--"Every Man Dies Alone." I'll just take a quote straight from amazon.com: "(the book) is inspired by the true story of Otto and Elise Hampel, who scattered postcards advocating civil disobedience throughout war-time Nazi-controlled Berlin. Their fictional counterparts, Otto and Anna Quangel, distribute cards during the war bearing antifascist exhortations and daydream that their work is being passed from person to person, stirring rebellion, but, in fact, almost every card is immediately turned over to authorities. Fallada aptly depicts the paralyzing fear that dominated Hitler's Germany, when decisions that previously would have seemed insignificant—whether to utter a complaint or mourn one's deceased child publicly—can lead to torture and death at the hands of the Gestapo. From the Quangels to a postal worker who quits the Nazi party when she learns that her son committed atrocities and a prison chaplain who smuggles messages to inmates, resistance is measured in subtle but dangerous individual stands."</p> <p>Especially considering that it's based on a true story and very real (and recent) historical reality, the novel was incredibly haunting and emotionally intense. It's also a time period and scenario I knew basically nothing about (I'm Jewish and so have read almost too much about the Holocaust, but this was a completely different angle--the day-to-day anxiety and paranoia of life under the Nazis, where any wrong step could place someone in grave danger.) </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/please-recommend-a-good-book-for-me/page/2#post-536311 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:03:35 +0000 Sharon 536311@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Have just started reading 1Q84. Good to read that others have enjoyed it. I also enjoyed The Marriage Plot.<br /> I often find that when I am traveling I enjoy something a bit lighter and easy to read, so for that I would recommend the Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger. The first book is called Soulless, and the blurb describes it as Jane Austen meets P.G. Wodehouse. I don't think she is nearly as good a writer as either of them, but it captures that tone nicely and is a fun way to while away the hours. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/please-recommend-a-good-book-for-me/page/2#post-536301 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:25:25 +0000 Fruitful 536301@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Debora, Diana, Mochi and Parsley, you have not let me down! You are the first people I've met who actually read Murakami. I have to read more; I've read some of his short stories but no other novels. The Wind Up Bird Chronicle was lifechanging to me and remains a spiritual touchstone; I don't describe it like that for fear of giving a misleading impression.</p> <p>Mochi, how lucky you are to have met this incredible man.</p> <p>Diana, I've read some of Banana Yoshimoto's stories and loved them, I must read Kitchen.</p> <p>Mochi, I'd love to discover more Japanese writers. I read Kagi/The Key a while ago and was very much affected by it.</p> <p>Parsley, I sooo want to see Norwegian Wood, and read it of course!</p> <p>On a tangent, someone here must also love Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli? :)</p> <p>Lots of other intriguing suggestions in this thread, especially Game of Thrones. Since Trueblood I'm pretty interested in anything HBO does so it's good to hear recommendations on that.</p> <p>Hope you had a good trip Mochi! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/please-recommend-a-good-book-for-me/page/2#post-536070 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 02:13:40 +0000 Care 536070@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I enjoyed Amy Tan's biographical essays in The Opposite of Fate. She has a great sense of humor. On a lighter note, I read Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George and enjoyed it but I can't seem to get my daughter to read it. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/please-recommend-a-good-book-for-me/page/2#post-536015 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:20:05 +0000 Debora 536015@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Loved Faithful Place, my introduction to Tana French. I then went on the read her two earlier books - all good.</p> <p>Linda, love Ann Patchet - State of Wonder was great, and I also enjoyed her Bel Canto.</p> <p>Inge, I read Major Pettigrew's Last Stand. I think you recommended it in an earlier thread, and it was really delightful. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/please-recommend-a-good-book-for-me/page/2#post-535978 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:44:33 +0000 Parsley 535978@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I opened this thread and was amazed to see Fruitful's suggestion of The WInd-up Bird Chronicle- one of my all-time favorites! I'm crazy about Murakami. His book Norwegian Wood was just made into a film, released in the last month or so. I'm dying to see it.</p> <p>I also second the recommendation of Cutting for Stone. Disclaimer: It's pretty medical (so right up my alley), but my book group all loved it anyway. It's beautifully written. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/please-recommend-a-good-book-for-me/page/2#post-535964 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:33:36 +0000 Mochi 535964@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I'm fairly certain I'll really like it, Diana! And she's written a couple of others that are supposed to be great, too. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/please-recommend-a-good-book-for-me/page/2#post-535955 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:19:29 +0000 Diana 535955@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Ooh, Mochi, I hope you like Case Histories! (BTW, I love Tana French too, and I would definitely recommend picking up her books as well). </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/please-recommend-a-good-book-for-me/page/2#post-535942 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:03:53 +0000 Mochi 535942@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>That sounds vaguely familiar, and I remember hearing very good things about it. Thanks, Jyoti! I will eventually get to it! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/please-recommend-a-good-book-for-me/page/2#post-535939 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:36 +0000 Jyoti 535939@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Looks like you've picked up something already, but I'll leave my recommendation anyways!</p> <p>I don't read as much as I like lately due to school, but I just read 'Cutting for Stone' by Abraham Verghese and really enjoyed it! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/please-recommend-a-good-book-for-me#post-535930 Wed, 08 Feb 2012 23:52:41 +0000 Mochi 535930@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I'm excited to say that today I bought Case Histories by Kate Atkison (and was disappointed that the bookstore didn't have Tana French, because I'd heard great things about her writing). </p> <p>I hope this thread gets occasional bumps, or else similar threads come into being, because this one, and many of the others mentioned here, I would not have heard of otherwise--even when I have, it's a much stronger endorsement when a fellow YLF buddy says good things about it. </p> <p>Thanks to everyone! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/please-recommend-a-good-book-for-me#post-534270 Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:23:51 +0000 Inge 534270@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Great thread! Some of your suggestions are now on my to-read list:-)</p> <p>I too love the Jasper Fforde and the George RR Martin books.</p> <p>If you're in the mood for food-related non-fiction, I can also recommend "Toast" by British chef Nigel Slater.</p> <p>"Major Pettigrew's Last Stand", by Helen Simonson, a disarming, wonderful story about an English widower and his relationship with his Pakistani neighbour Mrs. Ali.</p> <p>Have a fantastic trip, Nancy! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/please-recommend-a-good-book-for-me#post-534263 Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:20:13 +0000 nancylee 534263@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I second so many of the suggestions here. I recently read both The Hunger Games and A Visit From the Goon Squad...loved them both.</p> <p>I also suggest The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar. The story line is somewhat similar to The Help but it's set in India, and the writing is more deft and beautiful. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/please-recommend-a-good-book-for-me#post-534165 Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:56:09 +0000 bella 534165@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I recommend both the Hunger Games and The Song of Ice and Fire series previously mentioned. I think Hunger Games is a must if you have teenagers.<br /> The worst part about George RR Martin's series is that it has no ending yet and he may not be able to complete it given how slowly he is writing. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/please-recommend-a-good-book-for-me#post-534149 Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:30:05 +0000 kellygirl 534149@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Love these threads. I'm reading "In the Woods" by Tania French. It's a murder mystery set in Ireland and very difficult to put down. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/please-recommend-a-good-book-for-me#post-534127 Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:15:01 +0000 Saretta 534127@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I am also an avid reader and read every day on the train, a half-hour ride to and from work. </p> <p>At the moment I'm reading A Game of Thrones. It's apparently the first in a series and I understand they've made a movie or tv series based on it, but I had never heard of it until a friend lent me the book. It will definitely make your 4 hour ride fly by - I'm always so engrossed that I'm afraid I'm going to miss my station one of these days! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/please-recommend-a-good-book-for-me#post-534114 Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:04:57 +0000 RandomThoughts (Andrea) 534114@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Probably my favorite book: Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. Funny, a little dark and definitely perverse. I recommend it highly. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/please-recommend-a-good-book-for-me#post-534109 Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:00:40 +0000 lyn* 534109@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I am in love with this book I recently picked up; "Very Classy!" an updated version on how young women should behave in modern society - it's like Miss Manners Updated :D</p> <p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Very-Classy-Exceptional-Advice-Extremely/dp/1595144382" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Very-Cla.....1595144382</a> </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/please-recommend-a-good-book-for-me#post-534104 Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:58:10 +0000 catgirl 534104@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I read ANYTHING. Just finished "11/22/63", the new Stephen King book about the JFK assassination. It will get through a 4 hour ride and more - but if you don't use an e-reader it will also be half your luggage! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/please-recommend-a-good-book-for-me#post-534039 Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:14:20 +0000 mrseccentric 534039@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>"Pocahontas: Medicine Woman - Spy - Entrepreneur - Diplomat" by Paula Gunn Allen. History from the indigenous/oral side of things. It'll blow your mind, and Ms. Gunn Allen (may she enjoy her rest with the old ones) is an incredible story teller. She takes on the task of not just telling us about how important past events were conveyed in oral traditions, she tells us about important past events in the manner of the oral tradition.</p> <p>Real food for thought and a helluva page turner (even tho 'we all know how it turned out'.)</p> <p>Have fun reading on your trip! steph </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/please-recommend-a-good-book-for-me#post-534014 Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:58:05 +0000 Linda 534014@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I just finished the Hunger Games trilogy and loved it! Also liked Anne Patchet's State of Wonder. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/please-recommend-a-good-book-for-me#post-533970 Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:33:27 +0000 chewyspaghetti 533970@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Water for Elephants (if you haven't seen the movie) or The Good Earth. If you haven't read the Harry Potter series- it's not just for kids </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/please-recommend-a-good-book-for-me#post-533968 Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:32:59 +0000 Amy 533968@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>This is a great thread! I'm so glad you asked Mochi! I'm adding to my reading list right now. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/please-recommend-a-good-book-for-me#post-533949 Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:12:29 +0000 Jilly 533949@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Ditto on Hunger Games - though I'm not as much a fan of the last one in the trilogy. And the Jasper Fforde series is fun if you like a little fantasy and humor mixed with your mystery! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/please-recommend-a-good-book-for-me#post-533857 Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:38:19 +0000 MNsara 533857@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Not a deep reader here, so consider the source, but I rather enjoyed "It's Hard Not to Hate You" by Valerie Frankel.</p> <p>"Hunger Games" is on my list too because all the kids I work with are raving about it - and I do love a book that can be easily devoured (pun maybe intended!)</p> <p>Oh, I really enjoyed "Orange is the New Black: My Year in Women's Prison" by Piper Kerman.. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/please-recommend-a-good-book-for-me#post-533855 Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:35:26 +0000 Astrid 533855@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>How about this one? The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde. It's the first in a series and I just love these books! </p> <p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Eyre-Affair-Thursday-Novels-Penguin/dp/0142001805/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&#038;qid=1328621793&#038;sr=8-3" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Eyre-Aff.....038;sr=8-3</a></p> <p>ETA</p> <p>Another favourite of mine, but a whole different kind of book: Night Train to Lisbon by Pascal Mercier. It's fantastic.</p> <p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Night-Train-Lisbon-Pascal-Mercier/dp/0802143970/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&#038;qid=1328623050&#038;sr=8-1" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Night-Tr.....038;sr=8-1</a> </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/please-recommend-a-good-book-for-me#post-533832 Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:07:45 +0000 Debora 533832@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Mochi, I just finished 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami, but at 900+ pages it might be a pretty hefty addition to your luggage! Another recent book I've read is The Night Circus by Erin Morganstern, a dreamlike novel that the Boston Globe described as "A Romeo and Juliet tale drenched in magic realism." </p> <p>Dianthus and Diana, The Hunger Games trilogy reeled me in this past summer - can't wait for the movie!</p> <p>For a sweeping post-apocalyptic read, I couldn't put down Justin Cronin's The Passage.</p> <p>Oh! And anything by Geraldine Brooks. Loved her Pulitzer Prize winning novel March and have most recently read Caleb's Crossing. I also enjoyed People of the Book and Year of Wonders by the same author.</p> <p>I'm looking for a good book to read on the train, so I'll be checking back with this thread. Thanks for starting it, Mochi. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/please-recommend-a-good-book-for-me#post-533824 Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:56:52 +0000 Diana 533824@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>ITA with Fruitful about the Wind-Up Bird Chronicles, right down to that one scene. I've been meaning to reread it one of these days. If you like Murakami, you might also like Banana Yoshimoto - more Japanese magical realism but a little more minimalistic and urban. </p> <p>One of my favorite authors is Kate Atkinson. Her earlier work is more magical realism, and her more recent books are a mystery series about a detective named Jackson Brodie (they recently had a miniseries based on these books on PBS' Masterpiece Mystery).</p> <p>The Millenium Trilogy is worth reading in my opinion, although I found the writing/pacing a bit spotty at times. (It may be just me, but I thought the first book went terribly slowly until midway through, but it did pick up). There are a few disturbing scenes of violence. </p> <p>I also love fantasy fiction (I guess I never grew out of my teenage nerd self, hee), although there is an awful lot of bad fantasy out there. Authors I love include Guy Gavriel Kay, Tolkien (of course), George RR Martin (if you've seen the HBO series Game of Thrones, you really should read the books but a warning - the series is not finished and he is a slow writer), Neil Gaiman, and Brandon Sanderson.</p> <p>Right now I am reading The Hunger Games trilogy... in fact that is likely what I will be reading on *my* bus ride down! </p> <p>Anyway, I'm going to stop now. I could go on for pages and pages about this! </p>