A Bookworm in Need!
The other day I was saying I’ve had blog growing pains. Lately, it seems I’ve been having a rough run of reading woes too. I’m a bookworm in need!
At the beginning of this year, I set out to read 50 books for 2013. It was the same goal I made in 2012 that I fell short on. The nice thing about this sort of goal is even in not achieving the final number of read books I wanted, it’s still a win because I’m knocking items off my reading list and (mostly) enjoying the books I read.
According to my goodreads reading challenge counter, I’m 7 books behind in reaching my goal. But lately, I haven’t had a good run of book choices. I read Where’d You Go Bernadette, and really enjoyed it a lot. Same with Tina Fey’s Bossypants. I took Chris Cleave’s Little Bee on vacation to Amsterdam with me, but I didn’t love it and found it really tough to get into. Currently, I’m trying to get through Edith Wharton’s Age of Innocence and also reading Julia Child’s letters to Avis DeVoto.
Usually I’m a reading fiend, often with 2 or 3 titles going at the same time, but for some reason– lack of interest? Too much else going on?– I can’t seem to get into the reading swing like I used to. I am also finding that I tend to devour a book far quicker when it’s from the library than one from my personal bookshelf, so I’m sure that says something about me needing a 2 week deadline to read in than anything else. Mostly, I think it’s not just because the titles I’ve been picking haven’t wowed me, but also that my interests and energies have been elsewhere in life, mostly with house projects and social life, as well as a new obsession with watching every amazing BBC/PBS show ever made ( PS why didn’t anyone tell me how awesome Sherlock with Benedict Cumberbatch was? I’m LOVING it).
So all that being said, I’m looking for some GREAT reads for the summer time. My reading list is miles long, but I’ve been thinking about deleting it entirely and just going on recommendations from friends, family, colleagues, and not so much on the random reviews I read online or in magazines. I want a book that captivates me, something that I don’t want to put down and can read in a weekend or a few weeknights. Fiction or nonfiction welcome and if you sell it well enough, I may even read things outside my normal interest area like fantasy or vampires!
Give me your best book recommendations!
Life By Kristen 
I recently read Wild. It was sad, but good. I also enjoyed Wonder. That’s a kids book, but it’s excellent. Oh, and Daring Greatly by Brene Brown was good too. I just graduated and am now getting into book reading again now that I have time, so you may have already read those books. Good luck in finding gems. 🙂
I’m a little obsessed with British TV. Sherlock is AMAZING. Have you watched them all? Because OMG. I’m just thankful they’re filming series 3 now. Unfortunately, it’s not set to air here until December/January.
ANYWAY. If you’re going to delve into the world of fantasy I’d go with the Hunger Games series. I was fully enthralled and you’d definitely get through each in a few days. Also, Harry Potter. I’ve been meaning to reread both of these series.
My summer reading list includes: Z, Ms. Kennedy & Me and Lean In. But I’ve also been in a major reading rut lately, so please share if you read anything great!
I’m loving “Hemingway’s Girl” right now. It’s a great summer read.
Ohhhh, Wild! I definitely agree on that one.
You also need to check out the Millennium Trilogy (Steig Larsson) if you haven’t already. I took a long time to read these, as the books seemed too popular to actually be good, but I loved them all, the second in particular.
Also, Ken Follett’s A Dangerous Fortune and Lie Down with Lions. A Dangerous Fortune is typical of one of his novels, about 1,000 pages long, but Lie Down with Lions is a much quicker, really enthralling read.
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. It was at the top of the NYTBS for a reason – you won’t believe how many twists and turns there are in the story.
Jeffrey Eugenides (sp?), Middlesex. If you haven’t read this yet, put it at the top of your list!
Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro. If you’re into futuristic and dystopian, that is. There is a terrible movie made from this book with some great actresses, Kiera Knightley and Carey Mulligan, if memory serves, so avoid that at all costs.
I could keep going forever, but check out my bookshelf “five star favorites” on Goodreads, as well. There are some Nora Roberts (!) novels on there, but they’re actually really good, she’s branching out from her typical romance trash and it turns out that she’s a decent writer. Those you will actually read in a weekend, whereas the others I just told you about will take a bit longer, but are all books you can really sink your teeth into.
Thank you all for the recs- definitely a bunch I’m going to check out 🙂
Oh my gosh, I definitely recommend Wild – I think you’ll really like it!
Also, I second what leastudio said above about Gone Girl, but stretch it to include all of Flynn’s novels out so far. Her books can definitely get a little creepy, but they’re smart and page-turners.
If you haven’t read anything by Ann Patchett, she’s written some amazing novels. State of Wonder is one of my favorites, and Bel Canto and The Magician’s Assistant are fantastic too.
Another amazing author is Chris Bohjalian. He wrote Sandcastle Girls, which might have been my favorite book that I read last year, and I recently read his book Midwives. I’ve heard great things about his book Double Bind as well, and its on my to-read list.
Finally, also Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter. I read it early this year, and it was a Goodreads Best Fiction of 2012 nominee and it did not disappoint!
You can also check out my goodreads page too – so many more there!