Archive for the ‘Book Recommendations’ Category

Audience Picks: Top 100 ‘Killer Thrillers’

Thursday, August 5th, 2010

Audience Picks: Top 100 ‘Killer Thrillers’ : NPR:

The results are in!

The NPR audience nominated some 600 novels to our ‘Killer Thrillers’ poll and cast more than 17,000 ballots. The final roster of winners is a diverse one to say the least, ranging in style and period from Dracula to The Da Vinci Code, Presumed Innocent to Pet Sematary. What these top 100 titles share, however, is that all of them are fast-moving tales of suspense and adventure.

And menace. Critic Maureen Corrigan, who served on the advisory panel of experts for this project, was surprised by how dark many of your choices are. ‘Even the [Agatha] Christie pick, And Then There Were None, is one of her creepier novels.’

 

How many of these have you read? I weigh in at 40.

And no, having seen the movie doesn’t count if you haven’t also read the book.

Happy 50th Birthday, “To Kill a Mockingbird”

Sunday, July 11th, 2010

Harper Lee’s famous novel To Kill a Mockingbird was published 50 years ago today.

Top 10 books of 2010… according to Amazon

Thursday, July 8th, 2010

Top 10 books of 2010… according to Amazon – CSMonitor.com:

Here’s a list of Amazon’s top 10 “must read” books for the first half of 2010. The article also contains links to a few other Amazon lists: a Top 10 fiction list, a Top 10 nonfiction list, and a Top 10 kids and teens list.

In addition, Christian Science Monitor book reviewer Marjorie Kehe adds some of her favorites that didn’t make Amazon’s cut.

And here I thought that “best books of the year” lists only came out in December. . . .

Killer Thrillers: Your Nominations, Please!

Thursday, June 10th, 2010

Killer Thrillers: Your Nominations, Please! : NPR:

NPR (National Public Radio) seeks your help in compiling a list of thrillers for summer reading. Drop by this site, leave your nominations in the comments section, and see what books others have recommended.

March Madness reading list: 10 best books about college basketball

Friday, March 19th, 2010

March Madness reading list: 10 best books about college basketball / The Christian Science Monitor – CSMonitor.com:

If you’d rather read about basketball than spend hours watching in, Marjorie Kehe offers her list of the 10 best reads.

I can’t help but notice, though, that, although the title of this article is “10 Best Books about College Basketball,” what you really have here is a list of books about men’s college basketball. College women also play basketball–and very well, I might add. They also have an NCAA championship tournament, complete with brackets and a Final Four extravaganza (to be held this year in San Antonio, Texas, the same weekend–though on alternate nights–as the men’s championship showdown). Where are the books about their game? Any writers out there searching for the next big project?

Benny and Penny’ tops 2010 Geisel awards list of best books for beginners

Saturday, March 6th, 2010

Books | ‘Benny and Penny’ tops 2010 Geisel awards list of best books for beginners | Seattle Times Newspaper:

A list of recipients of the Geisel Award for beginning readers: “The award, presented annually by the American Library Association, is named for the man better known as Dr. Seuss.”

Books | Great historical fiction Part II — international titles suggested by readers | Seattle Times Newspaper

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

Books | Great historical fiction Part II — international titles suggested by readers | Seattle Times Newspaper:

In a follow-up to an earlier list, here’s the lists of historical fiction suggested by readers of The Seattle Times.

Books | Lit Life: Historical novels — reader faves, Part I

Monday, February 15th, 2010

Books | Lit Life: Historical novels — reader faves, Part I | Seattle Times Newspaper:

Seattle Times book editor Mary Ann Gwinn asked readers in her Lit Life column to recommend historical novels and received so many responses she’s reporting the results in installments. This week: historical fiction based in the U.S. Next week: historical fiction with an international setting.

Top book picks for 2010

Monday, January 4th, 2010

Top book picks for 2010 / The Christian Science Monitor – CSMonitor.com:
“The experts tell us what they are excited about reading in 2010″

Oh, good grief. A “best books of the year” list for 2010 already, and it’s only January 4.

At any rate, here are recommendations from some book store owners about books set to be published in the next couple of months. Note that the page linked here is the first of two.

Best Books Read in 2009

Friday, January 1st, 2010

Now that 2009 is officially over, I can decide which of the 50 books (exclusive of textbooks) I read this year were my favorites. All the published lists of best books of the year refer only to books published during that year, but my list is of the books I read this year, regardless of when they were published.

Here they are, listed alphabetically by author:

  • Corrigan, Kelly. The Middle Place
  • Didion, Joan. Slouching Towards Bethlehem
  • Friedan, Betty. The Feminine Mystique
  • Genova, Lisa. Still Alice
  • Hoffman, Alice. The Story Sisters
  • Larsson, Stieg. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
  • O’Connell, Carol. Bone by Bone
  • Sarton, May. Journal of a Solitude
  • Stockett, Kathryn. The Help
  • Zaslow, Jeffrey. The Girls from Ames

Honorable Mention

  • Shaffer, Mary Ann & Annie Barrows. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
  • Strout, Elizabeth. Olive Kitteridge
  • Woolf, Virginia. A Room of One’s Own

Best wishes to everyone for a Happy New Year and a productive year of reading good books!