What Shall I Read? discussion

Which book have you just read that you have to shout about! And who would you give it to?

The Lifeboat - Charlotte Rogan - for anyone who can read as it will provoke so much discussion and thought about what one would do to survive and what memories we might suppress when forced to recall our past actions. It's such a simple narrative but really powerful and multi-layered. If I was rich I'd buy a copy for all my friends!

Teresa wrote: "The Lifeboat - Charlotte Rogan - for anyone who can read as it will provoke so much discussion ..."

I have heard a lot about The Lifeboat and what a glowing recommendation! Will add to my teetering TBR pile!

The Book of Summers by Emylia Hall, beautifully written, about growing up and love and loss. Would buy it for friends too.

Lindsay (Little Reader Library) wrote: "The Book of Summers by Emylia Hall, beautifully written, about growing up and love and loss. Would buy it for friends too."

I loved this book too - You can see a lovely interview with Emylia Hall on my blog

http://jaffareadstoo.blogspot.com/201...

I've got The Book of Summers in my TBR pile. I must get around to it as I've heard good things about it.

For anyone who enjoys crime/medical thrillers then I'd definitely recommend Catch Your Death by Louise Voss & Mark Edwards. It's a fast paced, edge-of-your-seat kind of read. In fact, I've interviewed one half of the author duo and I'm giving away 2 copies of the book on my blog (a signed copy for UK readers and an unsigned copy for international readers).

http://notesoflife.co.uk/2012/03/meet...

Nikki-ann wrote: "I've got The Book of Summers in my TBR pile. I must get around to it as I've heard good things about it.

For anyone who enjoys crime/medical thrillers then I'd definitely recommend Catch Your Deat..."

I would recommend that one too, I read it recently.

The one I finished last night was excellent!
The Witch's Trinity by Erika Mailman! If you like medieval witch trials, you'll love this! I'm a big fan of these kinds of books anyway, so knew it was going to be a good one!
If you enjoyed things like The Crucible, Gallow's Curse by Karen Maitland, then you'll like this one!

I find the witch trials interesting, read The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane last year which was very good.

Another recommendation of mine is When You Were Older by Catherine Ryan Hyde. Transworld will be releasing it on 29th March 2012 and it is a must read!

It will stir emotions and is one of those books that will stay with you for a while. I know I'm already missing the two main characters and I only finished the book last night.

If you're interested, my review can be found at http://notesoflife.co.uk/2012/03/when...

I think if you love Jodi Picoult then Catherine Ryan Hyde is a great one to pick up!

Lynsey, I enjoyed The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane too. I believe Katherine Howe has got another book coming out later this year?

I've not yet read any of Jodi Picoult's books. I'll have to try one.

I loved The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff - very interesting subject!

Oo new Katherine Howe I shall look into it! Not one of ours but always happy to talk about great reads!

Lynsey wrote: "I find the witch trials interesting, read The Physick Book of Deliverance Danelast year which was very good."

Ooh, that looks good too, added to the wishlist!!

Lynsey wrote: "I think if you love Jodi Picoult then Catherine Ryan Hyde is a great one to pick up!"

I really loved When You Were Older, a super book.

Natalie wrote: "Lynsey wrote: "I find the witch trials interesting, read The Physick Book of Deliverance Danelast year which was very good."

..."

Just to warn you that this was also published in the UK as The Lost Book of Salem as I almost bought the same book twice. I really liked it as well as The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent.

Teresa wrote: "Natalie wrote: "Lynsey wrote: "I find the witch trials interesting, read The Physick Book of Deliverance Danelast year which w..."

Thanks for the heads up Treez, that would explain why it sounded familiar, i'm pretty sure I have that on TBR, or poss on the wishlist, will have to check!!

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce is a lovely read, I think it's out tomorrow.

It is! We love Harold Fry here and are so pleased so many people love it!

I've just picked The Lost Book of Salem by Katherine Howe at the library...

Harold is on my wishlist, it sounds like a really charming read.

Jirina, hope you like the Katherine Howe.

Jirinka (sony08) wrote: "I've just picked The Lost Book of Salem by Katherine Howe at the library..."

I really enjoyed reading this - and then I got terribly confused by the change of title - why do they need to change titles so frequently?

Deliverance from Evil by Frances Hill is another good story about the Salem witch trials...

My recommendation would have to be The Fault In Our Stars by John Green which is just incredible...it made me laugh out loud and cry many many tears... I already can't wait to re-read it! Ohh and another relatively unknown one would be Sanctuary Line by Jane Urquhart... absolutely stunning and beautiful in every way :)

Does anyone have any good science fiction recommends? I want to read more of the genre, and love authors like China Mieville but don't really know where to go next....

Emma wrote: "Does anyone have any good science fiction recommends? I want to read more of the genre, and love authors like China Mieville but don't really know where to go next.... "

What type of science fiction are you interested in?
Ender's Game is quite popular as a starting point and has a YA feel to it (although it came out before YA was a 'thing'). Robert J Sawyer's WWW series is also good. John Scalzi's Old Man's War is also very enjoyable.

Then for more hard scifi:
Ben Bova, Peter F. Hamilton, Kim Stanley Robinson, Stephen Baxter, Greg Bear.

Teresa wrote: "Harold is on my wishlist, it sounds like a really charming read.

Jirina, hope you like the Katherine Howe."

I hope so - I've the reviews on here ad it's a marmite of a book! Reading it next though and lookin forward to it.

Crusader wrote: "Emma wrote: "Does anyone have any good science fiction recommends? I want to read more of the genre, and love authors like China Mieville but don't really know where to go next.... "

What type of ..."

Thanks for the recommendations! :) I was thinking some more classic sci-fi...and definitely no space opera! I'll check out your suggestions though!

Emma wrote: "I was thinking some more classic sci-fi...and definitely no space opera! I'll check out your suggestions though! "

Sadly that's on area where my science fiction knowledge is sadly lacking. I've read some Heinlein and Asimov, but I'm more focused on the modern stuff.

Emma I would highly recommend Patrick Rothfuss which is amazing, although more in fantasy than Sci-Fi. Will put my thinking cap on!

I've already read both of the Patrick Rothfuss books! Love him :) Eagerly awaiting another one! But yes that is much more fantasy... I read a fair bit of fantasy, it's sci-fi I'm lacking in! Thanks! :)

Emma wrote: "I've already read both of the Patrick Rothfuss books! Love him :) Eagerly awaiting another one! But yes that is much more fantasy... I read a fair bit of fantasy, it's sci-fi I'm lacking in! Thanks..."

Emma, just read anything by Philip K Dick. Particularly Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.

I've just finished reviewing Trapeze aka The Girl Who Fell From The Sky by Simon Mawer. It's due out in May both in the US and the UK.

Highly recommended if you like books set in WW2.It's a story of espionage, romance and war torn France. Fabulous - I loved it.

Jo(jaffareadstoo) wrote: "I've just finished reviewing Trapeze aka The Girl Who Fell From The Sky by Simon Mawer. It's due out in May both in the US and the UK.

Highly recommended if you like books set in WW2.It's a stor..."

Ooh, I received this over the weekend. Looking forward to it even more, now!

Ooh that does sound good Josie!

I can highly recommend The Mistress's Revenge. by Tamar Cohenit makes for really compulsive reading. Just had her new one in which I'm going to start next!

Dog Ear Discs wrote: "Jo(jaffareadstoo) wrote: "I've just finished reviewing Trapeze aka The Girl Who Fell From The Sky by Simon Mawer. It's due out in May both in the US and the UK.

Highly recommended if you like boo..."

I hope you enjoy it too - I couldn't put it down !!

Lynsey wrote: "I can highly recommend The Mistress's Revenge. by Tamar Cohenit makes for really compulsive reading. Just had her new one in which I'm going to start next!"

I really enjoyed that one too!

I've just read three books by a trio of authors who make up Triskele Books.

Spirit of Lost Angels by Liza Perrat
The Charter by Gillian E Hamer
Behind Closed Doors by J J Marsh

I've given all three 5 star reviews.

Reviews are on my blog

http://jaffareadstoo.blogspot.co.uk/

For those who enjoy dual time historical fiction, I can recommend Time's Echo by Pamela Hartshorne and The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton..

Without any doubts - this book http://www.amazon.com/crossing-drops-... . "a crossing or the drop's history" by Anatoliy Obraztsov . I'm not a spiritual but this book changed my mind in many aspects! And every month I reread this book and every time I find a lot of new!

Lynsey wrote: "I can highly recommend The Mistress's Revenge. by Tamar Cohenit makes for really compulsive reading. Just had her new one in which I'm going to start next!"

Agree! Good book!

John wrote: "Without any doubts - this book http://www.amazon.com/crossing-drops-... . "a crossing or the drop's history" by A..."

I think this author has all premises to be one of the best! Because his "a crossing or the drop's history" is pretty good!

David Hollingsworth

Hi All,

Im kind of new to goodreads and still trying to get used to how it works. As i am an independent author i thought i would just drop a post in here about my novel "The Party". This is the first book that i have published and so far i think im doing pretty well as i dont have an agent/publisher but have managed to sell over 7000 copies now and have actually featured in a few newspapers, magazines and blogs :) I am currently writing the follow up to The Party and hope to have it out by the summer and also have 2 other novels in first draft which i plan to release at a later date.

I have attached a link to my website where you can check me out and also a link to recent article written about me in the local press.

http://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/10076...


http://thepartybyjdcarter.com/

I would URGE everyone to read A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. No book has ever made me laugh and cry so much, I never expected a book to do that bit it did. I've read other works by Irving since and haven't enjoyed them nearly as much.

A Prayer for Owen Meany is indeed, a fantastic book!

Transworld wrote: "A Prayer for Owen Meany is indeed, a fantastic book!"

I read this one few years ago and after a slow start I quite enjoyed it !

A Sealed Fate


I can recommend A Sealed Fate for many reasons; one of which is, it's great to read a thriller which is not cop/detective based. This is really a very DIFFERENT thriller.

'A Sealed Fate' is not my usual kind of read and so I didn't expect much, but I was surprised to be hooked from the first chapter and devoured the whole book in one sitting!

I was impressed by the tightly plotted structure, unusual in a first novel, and even at the most shocking moment, everything still made sense. I have to be careful not to spoil the plot for other readers, but although I was completely surprised by the action of one character, I didn't have any trouble believing the event... the character was so fully rounded, and described so well in earlier chapters. I wonder if I would have been so shocked if a male character in a similar situation had done the same thing. Probably not, so I learned something about myself there!

Although the themes of the book are serious, Ms Gordon has a light touch and a rich vein of humour runs throughout. I laughed out loud on the train more than once. The story is thoroughly modern, but spiritual themes are woven into the plot and the motivations of the characters with a deft hand: a reader without an interest in these subjects would not be bored, but a reader with some knowledge might notice the cleverness of many little details in the writing... extra fun for me!

But the best thing about this book is the characters. The author understands so well how people hang together, how one thing in life relates to another, and how we tend to act in line with our personalities, no matter how perverse this may occasionally be! A real warmth shines through the writing... this author really cares about these characters and I really fell in love with the two main ones! I had a bit of a crush on the love interest too!

My one regret is that we did not get to find out more about Larissa's life beforehand, and I would love to know what happened next. I do hope that the author is planning a sequel, or even a prequel!