ModCloth's Shelf Life discussion

Hey Book Smart Members! Tell us what book your parent(s) have recommended to you by 11:59 p.m. on July 31st, and you’ll be entered to win a free copy of August's Books Smarts pick of the month! Just reply to this discussion.

My father recommended that I read Girls by Frederick Busch. It was interesting, and it took place in the specific area of Upstate New York where I grew up. Not a bad book at all.

My mom and I trade back and forth books all the time, usually lighthearted, "beach reads". My dad doesn't read as often, but he usually has his hands on the latest Dan Brown book before I do, then passes it on to me when he's done.

My mom recommended 'Five Quarters of the Orange' by Joanne Harris (the author of 'Chocolat'). It's a really good book that takes place during WWII in France. Harris is a great writer who has a particular knack for describing food.

My mom handed me The Phantom Tollbooth and Harriet the Spy as a kid. They're still two of my favorites.

My mother recommended to me White Oleander by Janet Fitch. Apparently Astrid's personality reminded her of me, and I guess that doesn't bother me too much. It was a great book, it really made me appreciate my life.

My mom always recommends books. for a long time, i was hesitant to read "the honk and holler opening soon" by billie letts and then she got me to read it and i loved it. same with "second glance" by jodi picoult. recently, she got me "have a little faith" by mitch albom.

My mom and I love to trade chick lit - our favorite author is Jennifer Weiner for that. A book that my mom recommended to me that will forever has a place in my heart is A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle. A Wrinkle In Time is a book about a girl Meg (I was actually named after her!) who is going through normal adolescent angst, but takes a fantastical journey with her brother, and ultimately, comes of age. I love this book.

I have read and reread Secret Garden & Miracle Worker due to my mother's influence, as well as spy and Civil War novels, due to that of my father. I never read a romance novel without thinking of my grandmother, and humor boooks a la George Carlin or Bill Cosby, are part of my grandfather's legacy to me.

My mom always recommended books to me (and still does), the ones that stick out the most growing up are: The Secret Garden, Ella Enchanted, and Amy & Laura.

At first I couldn't come up with anything since my Mom isn't much of a reader. Erma Bombeck my mom loved her and I've read most of her books and they are so wonderful and funny. My dad gave me a copy of The Hobbit but it was a very long time ago I read it. May have to re-read it!

My grandmother is always buying me books...she got me to read Nicholas Sparks and really wants me to read Nora Roberts (I'm not into the love stories). But, when I was younger she bought me To Kill a Mockingbird. I LOVE reading just like her and my mother.

My parents are not really readers and therefore I tend to do the recommending instead of the other way around. My grandmother, however, was a HUGE reader and have me some great recommendations! She recommended Wuthering Heights and The Thorn Birds to name a few. I only wish she was still around to converse with me about my great books finds!

My mom is Korean, so she recommends a lot of Korean books for me to read, but I never get through them because they're too difficult for me to get through (they're written in Korean, and I only learned how to read/write Korean in college a few years ago, so my level is about that of a 3rd grader). However, the only English language book she's recommended to me is the classic Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, which I have also yet to read. I should get on that!

It was always important to my parents for me to read "To Kill a Mockingbird." I first had to read it for school, so, of course, I hated it! It took being an adult and rereading it for me to be able to appreciate what my parents thought was so great about it.

My dad hardly reads, but he loves Adventures of Huck Fin. A guy favorite, it is very much a classic every American should read!

My stepmom gave me The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl Who Played with Fire. I am eagerly waiting for her to finish reading the third in the series. My stepmom also got me hooked on The Cat Who mystery series when I was younger. She always buys hardback copies which are always my favorite!

My mom gave me her collection of Nancy Drew books to read as a kid, they are my favorite books and make for a perfect summer read (even though I'm 20!). There's nothing like a good Nancy Drew mystery!

My dad gave me Fast Food Nation a while ago. I thought it was fine but I think I was a little young at the time and didn't really understand it. I read Upton Sinclair's The Jungle last year, though, and am interesting in revisiting FFN.

My mom and I have completely different tastes in books. She has told me for years to read the Lord Of The Rings trilogy but I haven't gotten to them yet. I am more likely to recommend a book to her. My dad is not much of a reader, but my step-mother recommended The Book Thief to me which I loved. Such a sad, sad story!

When I was a child, my mom recommended that I read the Nancy Drew series. I'm so grateful that she did, because those are still some of my favorite books and Nancy is a personal heroine of mine.

My mom recommended I read Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen after reading it for her book club.

When I was a teenager my mother gave me the book Demian by Herman Hesse saying that every person of that age should read that book to see that all the feelings and the angst was common to all human beigns. I loved it, and for a long time it was my companion everywhere I went.
My father, on the other hand, just when I entered in college gave me Ulysses by James Joyce saying that it was his favorite book, the must chalenging reading of his life and the one that he would read once and again all the time. I must admit I've read it just once, but every time I see it in my bookshelf it reminds me of my father.

My mother has always recommended A Separate Peace.

My mother has always recommended A Separate Peace.

I've been a big reader since I was a kid, so though I can't think of any specific titles, I know a lot of my family members have recommended great books to me.
These days I tend to do more of the recommending, but my mother recently suggested that I read The Red Tent and I really enjoyed it.

My mom is always recommending books to me because we both are a couple of novel nuts; although her taste tends to run toward the macabre and mine does not. But despite her love of a good mystery her favorite author is actually Amy Tan. She recommended I read "Saving Fish From Drowning", but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

My mom is a huge reader just like me. She's recommended many, many books to me, including The Chosen (Chaim Potok). She told me to read it in 9th grade, and it's been one of my favorite books since!

My dad's recommended some books, but not as many. More often I'm recommending books to him. He didn't read a lot as a kid so i'm trying to make him read my favorite books from when i was little, like The BFG. He's reading Harry Potter now!

Most recently my parents recommended the Foundation series by Isaac Asimov. I'm planning to read it soon as my parents have recommended some great books to me in the past and I love classic sci-fi.

my mother actually recommended reading the hobbit by j.r.r. tolkien when i was a kid, and of course loved it. then moved on to the lord of the rings trilogy. great books by a great author and then turned into great movies. i'm excited that there making the hobbit into a movie. will definitely be checking that out, maybe even taking my mom to see it.

My mom was the one who encouraged me reading anything when I was a kid. On sundays she would buy a newspaper for herself and then a book for me.

So far I remember reading Paula, Jane Eyre, and some Elisabeth Kübler-Ross because she prompted me to do so.

It's funny how the roles have changed, now she's the one asking me for advice on books. Any way, I'm eternally gratefull because if it wasn't for her I might not have liked books, and then I would have missed one of this world's greatest pleasures. Thank you Mum!

I just realized that my mother gave me my first Harry Potter book (before all the hype). Now I'm a huge Harry Potter fan. I reread all the books on a fairly frequent basis. Of course now I have so many other books I want to read...

My father gave me Anne Rice The Vampire Chronicles. Now those are GREAT books... the FIRST vampire books and the best!

The Holy Bible. My parents are conservative Christians but I think growing up as the rebellious daughter has loosen them up a bit. In respect, I have matured into a relatively well-adjusted young adult due to their upbringing. I now see the Bible as a fascinating study of religion and traditions. Interestingly enough, I have moved around a lot and I feel like I need my Bible with me not for its religious factor but because it reminds me of home.

THINGS I WANT MY DAUGHTER TO KNOW, Elizabeth Noble has been recommended to me by my aunt and mother. I haven't gotten around to reading it yet, but it sounds like something very hand-this-to-my-childreny (:

When my mother was alive, she loved Stephen King. She told me Bag of Bones was right up my alley but I've yet to read it. It's on my to-do list still.

My mother and I share books all the time. It's a running joke with her than I sneak into her room when I visit home and borrow books without her knowing, only to forget that they were hers and pass them on to others later.
She has actually suggested several books for our bookclub. The best, and most memorable was Janette Walls' The Glass Castle. I used it for my pick, and it has been our book club's favorite book so far.
My mother has also introduced me to David Sedaris, made me read Water For Elephants and has a constant list of books for me to read.

my mother just recommended a book called "technical virgin" i just started reading it and its already caught my attention.i would personaly recommend any teenager to read it.

I've always read a lot more than my parents have. It didn't frustrate me much until recently when I became a librarian.But, as a kid my mom always encouraged me to read and always ordered me books from the ads the teachers sent home with us. My favorite of the books my mother ever picked out for me was a book called Five Minutes Peace. I still think it's the cutest to this very day!

Oh, so many!

The last book my mum recommended was Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood. I can see why she loved it so much.

I'm older than most of you, but when I was a pre-teen, my Mom gave me her copy of "The Sheik" by E.M. Hull...it's the book they made a movie out of, that MADE Rudolph Valentino's career...he was a silent movie star, died of an appendix attack when what we think of as routine surgery, was still iffy. Woman all over the world killed themselves out of grief! I think he was probably the first international romantic star? Anyway, the second book was "Sons of the Sheik". They are pretty standard romance stuff...but back in the day when they were written, they were considered shocking, with pre-marital sex and everything! Pretty hot stuff for my Mom to give me at that age!

the dictionary! my mother has at least five different dictionaries in various room of the house. i'm always thumbing through them and looking up random words that i like but don't know the definition of. =]

I'm going to be a business major at USC in the fall so my dad recommended that I read The Richest Man in Babylon, which is an awesome book about financial success that reads like a story rather than one of those self-help books. It's truly inspiring. :B

My mom suggested that I read Sense and Sensibility, and now I am addicted to Jane Austen :)

My mom recommended the book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll and I loved it. Reading the book inspired me to re-watch the Disney version, which was a childhood favorite.

My dad is the one who got me to read Alice in Wonderland as a child. Thanks dad :).

My parents have recommended so many books, but I think that the ones that I have reread over and over and over were the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

My mom recommends books all the time. One that I still haven't gotten around to is A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius - it has been on my long to-read list for years. The recommendation that I most remember is Dune, which I read in 6th grade. It was my first adult sci-fi book and for a long time I couldn't get enough of the genre.

My mom generally suggests self-help or religious books to me. I actually read The Shack because I was intrigued by the premise. It was an interesting story.

Every single room without a sink in my parents' house has a huge bookcase. If I ever asked for something to read, Mom or Dad would be quick with an enthusiastic recommendation. And they're always spot-on with their suggestions. My dad recommended Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day, I chose it for a book club, and it was a huge hit! Scones + cucumber sandwiches + heated discussions about English butlers and Nazis = A GREAT TIME.