Good Fiction Novel Recommendations

Sue Monk Kid- The Secret Life of Bees & The Mermaid Chair- totally not what you might think from the titles & just fantastic!
Jodi Pacoult- My Sister's Keeper- Oh!!
Nancy Atherton- The Aunt Dimity Series
Alexander McCall Smith- The #1 Ladies Detective Agency Series
Janet Evanovich- Anything!!!! Esp. numbered Stephanie Plum Series-funny/ mystery

Need More????? ;)
D.

OH! Yeah... Kite Runner, Three Cups of Tea & Reading Lolita in Tehran!

One of my husbands all time favorite, "Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follet. Sequal comes out next month.

I absolutely love everything I've read that was written by Francine Rivers! The first one that I read was called Redeeming Love, and I immediately thought it was the best book I'd ever read. But then I read A Voice in the Wind, followed by the other two in that series (the series is Mark of the Lion), and I was equally impressed. This is life-changing, spell-binding fiction.

You should switch up the theme of the book each reading. For example one month do chic lit, the next suspense, the next drama,historical romance,futuristic mystery,etc....
I just read Swapping Lives(Jane Green) and loved it. It makes you appreciate what you have. The moral of the story is that although the grass may look greener on the other side, that doesnt necessarily mean it is.
It definitely makes for great conversation. Now I'm reading the Adultery Diet.
Sisters by Danielle Steele is supposed to be good and next on my list. Summers Sisters and Wifey are also both great and light easy reading(Judy Blume).
For comedy, I recommend My Horizontal Life by Chelsea Handler. I fell off my chair laughing several times.
On a more serious note,I LOVED the book Memoirs of A Geisha. The movie was not nearly as good but the book was incredible.
The Kite Runner is AWESOME as well. Here are others that are tearjerkers or the type of book you just can't put down: The Year of Magical Thinking,The History of Love(Nicole Krauss),Snowflower and the Secret Fan, Eat Pray Love(Elizabeth Gilbert), and I Feel Bad About My Neck(Nora Ephron).
You can't go wrong with any of the above mentioned books! Sorry if I've given you too many but I read a new book once a week. :)
My personal favorite is Amy Tan(Joy Luck Club). She's also written The Bonesetter's Daughter and The Kitchen God's Wife which are both great books as well.

Oh and if you liked the DiVinci Code, check out The Historian or The Time Traveler's Wife.

Get a book called Tell me lies by Jennifer Crusie. It is so funny you'll cry from laughter. It's a wonderful, funny story.

K.

If you haven't read already....

The Kite Runner
The Secret Life of Bees
Snowflower and the Secret Fan
The Glass Castle (Non-fiction, but WORTH it)

These are a few really good ones....Good luck!

Here are some that our book clubs have read that had good responses:

Water for Elephants -- I loved this one
Jody Picoult books are pretty popular such as Sister's Keeper
The Memory Keeper's Daughter
Devil in the White City -- not fiction but nobody could put it down
Fortune's Rock
History of Love -- really well written
House on Mango Street
Middlesex -- you may have already read it

My Sister's Keeper by Joci Poccult. The best book so far that I have read. I lent it to my sister and she called one night after finishing it crying so hard she could barely breathe. Where you are still sobbing after you quit crying. Need to read it!

I definitely agree with the recommendations here that My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult is a wonderful book. I read it on the plane last week while I was traveling, and I was just sobbing while I was reading it. (I'm not that emotional of a reader either.) But it's a wonderful book that really gets to you -- especially if you're a mother, and a sister. I also agree with the Outlander recommendation -- that's wonderful series. Just don't let the extreme size of the books intimidate you. They're worth it! ;-)

Anything Phillipa Gregory!!! She's awesome! Her books based during the times of Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth are great. They are consider faction because although the story lines of the characters are made up, much of the happenings in the story were based on historical facts(such as the executions commanded by Queen "Bloody" Mary).

I enjoy books by Stephen White. He has a series with a psychologist who solves murders.

I am a voracious reader and even when I work 16 hour days I sneak in 30 minutes of reading before falling asleep. I love historical novels,like Phillipa Gregory writes, but there is a series that I havent heard mentioned here that is FANTASTIC. It is the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. There are 6 books in the series but each one completes itself but builds on the previous adventures of a young nurse at the end of world war 2 that gets transported back in time 200 years previously in scotland. She thinks it is a movie set or something because who would believe what has happend. Soon she is forced to concede she really is in Scotland and knows, historically what is about to happen. She becomes attached to a highlander and the novels are about how they work thru the times. It is fantastically written and absolutely spell binding.
enjoy,
K. @ The Nestingplace

All Patricia Cornwell books are great! You need to go in order though. She has a series and then a few books that are unrelated. I also have read lots of books by Janet Evanovich- again a series that you have to read in order. The Stephanie Plum series are lots of fun to read. Do you like legal/drama- try John Grisham. He has lots to choose from! Looks like you have gotten looks of good recommendations. Good Luck

Here are some books that I'be read and my bookclub has reviewed:

How and Why Men Cheat- Michael Baisden
The Secret - Rhonda Byrne (I think her last name is Byrne)

I was also a member of a book club and the book we read that I liked the most was "Hissy Fit" by Mary Kay Andrews. It was a great and FUN book to read! If you have members who like the suspensful novels, perhaps "Cross" by James Patterson. Have fun! I love and miss reading!

Dean Koontz is the master of suspense and psychological thrillers. I have read a lot of his- I enjoyed Intensity, like someone else mentioned. But, I think Odd Thomas is one of his best. And there are sequels, Forever Odd, and Brother Odd. The first is the best, though. I also really liked Velocity. Angels and Demons by Dan Brown is awesome also. It is the prequel to The Da Vinci Code, but I think it is way better- really suspenseful.

I heard Kite Runner and its sequel are great books.
L. T

Hi S.,

I don't have a book specifically to recommend because finding time to read is next to impossible for me right now but I always see plenty that sound very interesting when I read book reviews in the People magazine. They are usually new releases so no one should have read them yet.

I agree that My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult is AWESOME. I just read it for the 2nd time. You really pick up on more stuff the 2nd time around.

Also by Jodi Picoult is
Nineteen Minutes - it was good. Definitely a book that will have lots to talk about.

Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog by John Grogan is HYSTERICAL, but probably most book clubs have already read it.

I had a friend tell me that One for the Money (Stephanie Plum Series, Book 1) by Janet Evanovich is good as well as all the other books in that series.

"Peace like a River" by Leif Einger
"No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" Alex McCall Smith
"Sugar House" by Laura Lippman

I second the vote for "Peace Like a River." It is excellent and will stay with you.
"Water for Elephants" is good too. At first glance it doesn't look like much, but it is very interesting.
"Wicked" by Gregory Maguire is a good read. It is the Wizard of Oz from the Wicked Witch of the West's perpsective, with more background. Very entertaining, with lots of mysterious elements.

I love to read and could go on forever, but those are my first three picks that came to my mind.

Excellent suspense series by:

James Patterson
John Sanford
Lee Child
Harlen Coban

"A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith.

You can check out the reviews on amazon.com - it's wonderful.

We're currently reading Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. I'm a little more than half-way through, and I like it so far. Not really suspenseful, but definitely interesting and not the norm.

One of my absolute favorites we did was The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillipa Gregory. (Really, anything by Phillipa Gregory is good.) It's historical fiction, but Gregory is such a good researcher and incorporates her tales so well with the historical facts that you feel like you're reading an incredibly good history book!

I also really liked The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. It's a good mystery novel with an unexpected twist at the end. It's not really "suspenseful," but it's got a supernatural element that will draw you in!

We also recently read The Manny by Holly Peterson. It's a "fun" look into the lives of Park Ave moms in NYC who can't wait to get their hands on the new "manny" on the block!

If you like suspenseful, Dean Koontz's Intensity is one of my all-time FAVs!! It's not gory or scary....just really, really intense (duh!) with a great heroine. There's also a movie for that one, so ya'll can do a movie night after you've met about the book. The movie practically follows the book word-for-word, so you know it's good.

my two cents:
Dirty Girls Social Club and any others by Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez. Great "woman" book and very funny.
The Kite Runner is awesome.
anything James Patterson is great!

i have been wanting to read this book but havent gotten to the store to look for it yet...it is called "darkly dreaming dexter" by jeff lindsay.
it is the base for the show dexter on showtime. it is about a serial killer who is a forensic analyst (cop).
let me tell you though that the show is very dark & psychologically disturbing (for the faint at heart). so this may not be for everyone but looks very interesting.

The only author I read is Maeve Binchy. I love all of her books and she has a way of just reeling me in and I can't stop reading. Circle of Friends, the movie, was based on her book, Circle of Friends. Good luck.

I enjoyed all the books by Adriana Trigiani. Rococo would be a great book club read! Another fantastic book I read was Eve's Daughters by Lynn Austin. If you want lighthearted and funny, read any of the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich.

S.,

Dee Henderson is a good thriller author. Good luck.

I totally second Dee Henderson & Francine Rivers!! Both are fantastic.

I read a lot of Anne Rice novels - the new one is called "Christ - Out of Egypt" or something like that. Also, Morgan Llewellyn is a great author. She takes true events and turns them into fictional novels. I just got done reading "Etruscans" and I'm now working on one called "1921."

I love to read every kind of book... but one of my favorites for a fun, exciting read is Orson Scott Card's Enchantment.

The Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult (Any book from Jodi is very good :) )

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

These would be classified Chick Lit but after dealing with little ones all day I personally don't want to read heavy stuff. Carpe Demon, California Demon and Demons are Forever by Julie Kenner (or Kennar - I can never remember). They are funny, witty, and entertaining. They are best described on the cover, "What would happen if Buffy the Vampire Slayer got married and had kids." I don't know if your book club is coed or not but my hubby read the first two and was mildly entertained.
Good luck!!