Last truly great book you read?

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  • mandamae1658
    mandamae1658 Posts: 4 Member
    i really love the book Home Before Dark by Susan Wiggs
  • World War Z by Max Brooks
  • marz42
    marz42 Posts: 223 Member
    The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman. It was one of those books that as soon as I finished I wanted to turn to the first page and start it again.

    I love Alice Hoffman. Her writing is so magical.
  • marz42
    marz42 Posts: 223 Member
    I just got into China Meiville. Have only read Un Lun Dun, but he is brilliant. Gotta read more... This is a month after I found Neil Gaiman and read about 5 of his in one month.

    I read most of the The City and The City (before life distractions happened and I forgot to finish it). It was a really fascinating concept
  • The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

    The Book of Lost Things by John Conolly

    Matched by Ally Condie

    Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella
  • Healthydiner65
    Healthydiner65 Posts: 1,479 Member
    Just finished XO by Jeffrey Deaver.It was awesome!
  • tcoxchristmas
    tcoxchristmas Posts: 9 Member
    Uncharted by Angela Hunt.
  • vhines5
    vhines5 Posts: 63 Member
    This series has been on my list for a while. Guess I'm going to have to bump it up. I know several people who've read and recommend it. Gonna have to see if I can get it on audio book from my library. I have an hour commute, each way, and "reading" makes the drive fly by!!!
    I love reading the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon! HUGE books that have covered over 25 years (so far) in the lives of Claire & Jamie Fraser. I've read the 7 current books many times and am anxiously awaiting the publication of book #8 - hopefully it will be released in the Fall of 2013... She has to finish writing it first - LOL

    Love the series also! I follow her on Facebook and heard the series was picked up for TV... hope it goes through! Love Jamie and Claire
  • rachmaree
    rachmaree Posts: 782 Member
    Some great suggestions for my next Book Club meeting!
    I also enjoyed The Book Thief, and the Game of Thrones book 1. Am currently reading the second book.
  • impyimpyaj
    impyimpyaj Posts: 1,073 Member
    I absolutely adored "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children." It was fantastic. And I liked the first three books in the Song of Ice and Fire series, although the fourth one was a little wah-wahhhhh. :ohwell:
  • traceface71
    traceface71 Posts: 45 Member
    I loved the Outlander series! I read (no, consumed) all of them as quickly as I could. By the time I finshed I was dreaming in brogue and referencing it at least a dozen times in my day to day....umm, obesessive? Also, loved the Game of Thrones series.Although I haven't read the last one because he started to p*ss me off by never giving me any conclusions. I mean, this is a hefty series...give me closure, give me SOMETHING!

    My most recent favorite was Gone Girl and before that The Night Circus.
  • SMarie10
    SMarie10 Posts: 956 Member
    When I think of good books, I loved, Loved... The Art of Racing in the Rain... Made me cry from beginning to the end. Also, Tuesday's with Morrie for another good cry.

    I am also a fan of Lee Childs "Reacher" novels, and the Thorn Birds series.
  • The Haunting of Hill House by Mary Shelly... Absolutely loved it when I first read a couple years ago. I literally had to force myself to put it down so I could savor it.
  • You're right, Hunger Games & City of Thieves were excellent. The "other" bests would be: Girl w/ the Dragon Tattoo trilogy, DaVinci Code, Outlander, Handmaid's Tale, the Forgotten Garden.....I could go on and on:)
  • Zaphyre13
    Zaphyre13 Posts: 51 Member
    Some great suggestions here! I love the dystopian genre! And I also loved The Book Thief.

    2 stand outs from my book club are:

    The Sisters Brothers by Patrick Dewitt - Modern Western?(not like any book I've ever read) inside the head of a gun for hire

    Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden - inspired by the legend of Francis Pegahmagabow the great Aboriginal sniper of World War I
  • What's the last great book you read -- other than the Hunger Games?

    The kind of book that you couldn't put down, or that you wanted to recommend to every person you know?


    It's ok if it was a long time ago! GREAT books are hard to come by :)

    For me, it was probably "The Book Thief" by Marcus Zusak or "City of Thieves" by David Benioff -- both the kind of books I would recommend to anyone. (Similar titles merely a coincidence!)
    I also really loved "Theophilus North" by Thornton Wilder, but I'd recommend that to someone who already loves and appreciates classics.

    'The Book Thief' is the next book I'm going to read, I do hope it's good! I just got it from the library yesterday and will be reading it straight after I've finished the final book in The Hunger Games series.

    I'd say the last really good book I read was 'The Diary of Anne Frank'. I just couldn't put in down and when I had finished reading it, I kept thinking about it. Very rarely does a book evoke such emotion.
    Another book that I loved was 'The Time Machine' by H.G. Wells which I read a couple of months back. An absolutely incredible sci-fi novel, especially when you think about when it was written.
  • cruisesguide
    cruisesguide Posts: 9 Member
    The first book that comes to mind for me is "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand. It's a biography/true story. Normally, I just read fiction, but "Unbroken" was one of the most memorable books I've read in years. I've read many of the books mentioned in this thread, but there are some new ones out there that I'm putting on my "to read" list. Thanks!
  • sarahz5
    sarahz5 Posts: 1,363 Member
    My top 3 that come to mind in the past few years are ...

    Colum McCann, Let the Great World Spin - a fantastic novel with interwoven stories centering around the high wire walk between the World Trade Center towers in the 70s

    Rebecca, Skloot, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - amazingly well-written nonfiction about the woman whose cells were used to create HeLa cells, with thought-provoking discussion of the ethical and moral issues raised along with heart-wrenching biographical stories

    Haruki Murikami, 1Q84 - I have fond memories of doing some of my early running training while listening to this as an audiobook. Mind-binding, crazy, but utterly human love story.
  • sarahz5
    sarahz5 Posts: 1,363 Member
    The first book that comes to mind for me is "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand. It's a biography/true story. Normally, I just read fiction, but "Unbroken" was one of the most memorable books I've read in years. I've read many of the books mentioned in this thread, but there are some new ones out there that I'm putting on my "to read" list. Thanks!

    I hear so many recommendations for this. Putting it on my list!
  • tikafly
    tikafly Posts: 184 Member
    Newsflesh Series by Mira Grant
  • stormtruck2
    stormtruck2 Posts: 118 Member
    Life and Death in Shangai by Nein Cheng about China during WWII and the communist take over. True story. I only can hope to ba as stron As Nein Chang was in the same circumstances

    Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand You can see that very story happening today in America

    Technical Analysis- A book about technical analysis of stocks and investment. Not a read for entertainment but for increased knowlege and wealth.
  • loudgls89
    loudgls89 Posts: 87 Member
    The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey - this was a fantastic book. I also loved Room by Emma Donoghue just for the completely different viewpoint on the story.
  • Oh, I am a HUGE Diana Gabaldon fan! Her "Outlander" series is amazing! I want a Jamie Fraser of my own! :heart:
  • Nerdphiliac
    Nerdphiliac Posts: 136 Member
    "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee!
    It is absolutely superb! I wish I had of read it sooner. :)
  • themommie
    themommie Posts: 5,033 Member
    The pact by Jodi Picoult
    The Book Thief
  • Lives2Travel
    Lives2Travel Posts: 682 Member
    Just re-read one of my all time favorites - A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving

    The Book Thief - Movie is coming out in December (I think)
    Cutting for Stone - Abraham Verghese
  • eys81
    eys81 Posts: 61 Member
    So many great ideas in this thread. I've updated my list to include several of the suggestions now I can't wait for this semester to get over so that I can start reading them!!

    Truly Great?

    Love in the time of Cholera -Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The story is good but the writing is heart achingly exquisite.

    Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Series- Stieg Larsson. Not only was the story well written but I fell in head over heels love with the characters. I was so sad to read that the author had passed and I won't be reading any more of his works.



    Just plain loved recently?

    Matched - Allie Condie - I devoured these books!

    Containment - Christan Cantrell - He's a new author and it shows but the book was fun. Dystopian genre. Kindle version is only a couple dollars :)

    The Song of Achilles - by Madeline Miller. Another newish author, her writing was pretty decent. I have a soft spot for all things ancient greek/trojan and I cried my eyes out reading this one.
  • robeff
    robeff Posts: 15 Member
    The last book I burned through in one sitting was Gaiman's "Ocean at the End of the Lane". I dunno how to define the last "truly great" book though. I recommend different stuff to different people. I just gave someone a copy of "Ask the Dust" which is about as great a novel as I can think of but it's not for everyone.. short story collection "Unaccustomed Earth" is pretty amazing as well..
  • sassymanatee
    sassymanatee Posts: 102 Member
    The Phantom of the Opera is pretty effin amazing. I gave it a try even though I'm not much of a classics fan and I fell in love.
  • Italian_Buju
    Italian_Buju Posts: 8,030 Member
    Devil's Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three - by Mara Leveritt


    Followed by

    Life After Death - by Damien Echols




    both on the same subject, more or less, and VERY VERY well done......
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