Fast Running Blog

It seems to me that a thread like this is past due! I just finished reading my last book and am gearing up to start the Oh so famous Twilight. I am looking forward to finding out what all the excitement is about. And it occured to me that other bloggers may have an interest in other book suggestions as well. So, avid bloggers meet avid readers! Share your other favorite books, authors etc.  What you enjoyed about it, why you suggest it etc.

I will start a few, but keep it short for now! I can ramble on sometimes...(okay most of the time)
As a child, I was raised on green jello and Lord of the Rings. My dad would read it to us kids every night before bed. Some of my most fond memories of my father are listening to him read about Mordor and Frodo. So, naturally, these books are classics in my collection and have been reread many times.
Imagine my surprise when I found a connection between Tolkein and my other personal favorite CS Lewis. I stumbled on this literary giant in college (suggested by a friend) and have had a passion for ever since. I would recommend any/all of his works including his biography (forget which one, will post that later). HIs writing style is so smooth and clever.
Other favorites of mine include Jane Austen and all three Bronte sisters and would recommend their works. I enjoy the Mystery series by Charles Todd if you are interested in a well written mystery novel. Doestovesky (sp?) is another classic that got me through the graveyard shifts and beyond. I will actually stop there for now. Just wanted to get the ball rolling! Hope others are interested in posting.    :D

Anything by Vonnegut is great. I also really love "Catch 22" by Heller. I guess I like the post-modern stuff.

okay so i love Nicholas Spark books...all of them!!! they are soo good.  i need some ideas for what to read next now that i am done with Eclipse.  I am not like most of you..i can't read the same book over!

I love all the Jane Austen books and re-read them all about once a year. They are classics! I've recently been reading a few "spin-offs" from the Austen books like Mr. Darcy's Diary. My cousin reads a ton of them and lets me know the good ones. I can also enjoy a good John Grisham legal thriller and loved all the Harry Potter books, although I generally don't like that kind of stuff. Right now I am still stuck on the Twilight series.

Bethany, if your literary tastes are like mine, it may take a while to really get into Twilight.  Right after I read it, I wasn't sure I would even recommend it--too mushy.  But after I was done,  I couldn't stop thinking about the characters, and wondering what they would do etc.  I love the characters in the series.  We'll see how much you like it when you get to New Moon.  If you can stand to take longer than 48 hours to read it, you are a better woman than me. :)  Hey, guess what I just got from the library? Yup.  "Out of the Silent Planet" on YOUR recommendation.  I'm excited!

Paul, that's cool that you like post-modern stuff.  I always thought they invented post-modernism just to torture high school sophmores.  (He he.)  Just kidding.  Post-modern is great unless it gets TOO existential.  (I'd rather clean the sidewalk with my tongue than read Camus' "The Stranger" again!)  I have a feeling you'd like "The Life of Pi".  It doesn't get philosophical until the end, but it leaves a lot to chew on.  Starts a little slow, so be warned.  I've never read anything by Heller, but I've read all about him. 

Marci?  Is that you?  M@r(!  I've never heard of Nicholas Sparks...what kind of books are they?   I guess I could just google it, but I have a thing against Google even since their team beat Marathongis at Relay Del Sol last year.  (Darn them!)

Personally, my favorite kind of book is a memoir--preferably by someone who has been imprisoned for half their life or survived the holocaust.  He he.  Not exactly light reading, but I love to be inspired!  Nothing is as inspiring as triumph over suffering.  That's why I took up running...JK...a little.

Lybi- Nicholas Sparks wrote Message in a Bottle, The Notebook, etc.
And Twilight is mushy, but there's so much more to it than that!

M@rc! (cute) I have read one Nicholas Sparks book- but I cant remember the title for the life of me! The one about the paranormal reporter that went to investigate "ghosts/lights" in a cemetary and fell for the local librarian. anyway, I enjoyed it. It was pretty "sentimental" but that is a welcome change. What other books by Sparks would you recommend?

I have never heard of either the authors that Paul mentioned. I need to look into that. I have read "life of Pi" and enjoyed it. Had an interesting cover story for philosophy.

I am excited to start Twilight, but unfortunately there is a long list of holds at our limited Logan library. I can either wait it out or stop by Borders one of these days.

Lybi: if you enjoy memoirs, I would recommend "Night" by Elie Weisel (a very short memoir of a holocaust survivor) or "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Wood or "Left to Tell" by Immacule Illibagiza ( a survivor of the Rawanda conflict, incredible!)
A fiction but nonetheless spectacular read is "The Book Thief" but Markus Zuskas (not totally sure on the last name actually)
Let me know what you think of Out of the Silent Planet. It is a different style of book for sure.

MikL: Love Jane Austen. Have you read any of the Bronte Sisters? Jane Eyre, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall or  Wuthering Heights. all are in the same vein as Austen- victorian novels. I enjoyed them all.

i love Jane austin also.  i haven't met many girls who don't!
Nicholas Sparks...i recommend all of them...they are mostly just plain good love stories!
i also enjoyed Catch-22 which paul recommends.
Bethany-i have twilight if you want to read it..is you don't mind a one years olds' teeth marks in it.
what books should i read next??

Oops Lybi, The Glass Castle is by Jeanette Walls. Sorry!

Marci
I would love to borrow your copy! Thanks! (1 year old bite marks are no problem, as long as the saliva is dry)
Depends, what genre of book do you like best?

I have read the Glass Castle it is a good book.
Also "Night" is good but I can't think of the author.
I love the Memoir books also.  There is one I read that was so good I will have to think of the name.

This memoir is probley one of the best I have read. It is Left To Tell By Immaculee Ilibagiza
Also I just finished A Shining Season By William Buchanan.

When I was younger, I drank up any fantasy/fiction series I could , but now I'm so tired of the (much) less quality ones, though I still love LoTR, the Wheel of Time (Robert Jordan - far too wordy, but good characters and plotline) and of course Harry Potter is a fun quick read. Although I have far too little time to read for pleasure nowadays, I have lately enjoyed Robert Cormier's books and even (gasp) a lot of the required reading for my English classes. Also, I've always loved to pick up one of Roald Dahl's books, especially because they're so short and hilarious!

(BTW ktjo, Night is by Elie Wiesel)

Oh, how can I forget? I give Lord of the Rings a read about once a year. It never gets old.

Apparently I am the only man who reads. Or pretends to anyway.

Paul,

I love to read as well.  In order to give this post a little more testosterone, I love the Clive Cussler books.  They are the same but never get old.  An old sunken ship with some sort of treasure or fancy device to save the world is on it and Dirk Pitt and his trusty side kick Al Giordino go and find it before the evil guys get to it!  Always on the edge of my seat when I read these books.  Clive Cussler is the one that wrote Sahara.  The ladies might remember the movie based off of the book with Matthew McConaughey in it!

I am a die-hard reader as well as my wife.  The difference is that I like to read Fiction and not the classics.  I am a lot like Logan and LOVE Clive Cussler books.  My favorite for many years was Sahara.  The movie was ok, but nothing compares to the book.  I have read almost every Cussler book.  I have a bookshelf of about 25 of them if anyone wants to read them.  I basically grew up with Dirk.  I also like Cussler's Oregon Files novels as they are not so predictible as a Dirk or Kurt Austin series. 
I am also a fan of Dan Brown.  My favorite book by him is Digital Fortress. (I liked it better than the DaVinci Code).  I have also read all of the John Grisham novels and a whole hoard of Tom Clancy.  I have gotten sick of how political his books have become (and full of fluff) so I don't read his new stuff, but I love the famous ones that have been made into movies.   Michael Crichton, Robert Ludlum, Jeffrey Archer, Stephen Coonts, and David Baldacci are always in the mix.

Hang on, now - I love to read as well!  I am a sci-fi/fantasy reader - I love David Eddings, Michael Crichton, Terry Brooks, also love the Harry Potter series, and yes, I love LOTR as well.  My dad used to read them to us (plus the Hobbit) when we were young.  About the only series from Tolkien I could not read was the Silmarillion.  I am the type that, if you put me in front of a really good book, I won't put it down until I am done (thankfully I am a fast reader).  When I was in school, I loved the Claire Bee series, as well as the Black Stallion books.  Also loved the Hardy Boys books.  For good LDS fiction, I love Chris Heimerdinger, and also enjoy books from Lund.

Cody- I'll borrow Sahara.  I love reading.

I like LOTR, and Wheel of Time series (sci-fi, easy but long reads).  Also Tom Clancy.  And most biographies and history books. 

For serious reads, I really like many of the classics (Tale of Two Cities, 1984, etc).

I also quite enjoy WoT, and am currently slowly meandering through them again. However, now that Robert Jordan's gone and died on us, I'm not sure how satisfying the last book(s?) will be, since he didn't finish the series. Before he died he dictated the plot and a group of other authors will be writing it - it had better be worth the ten thousand pages I've already read! (But still enjoyed- don't get me wrong.)

Agreed about Jordan.  Sad he died.  I had previously read up to book 9 a few years ago, now restarted and am just finishing 4.  Hopefully the last one will be out by the time I get up to it.  I guess his wife and brother (or cousin) are doing the writing and he was very specific with them on what should happen.  Hope it is good.

I am a fan recently of Brad Metzler, Nelson Demille, the Harry Potter Series (reading it to/with my 2nd grade son), David Baldacci and John Grisham.  Read "The Da Vinci Code" recently (ok) and "The Legend of Baggar Vance" which was interesting.  My problem with reading is once I get into a good book, it is hard to put it down and I become obsessed with it.

Ok, I really like to read as well but unfortunately do not do it as much as I would like. I prefer military history and such but also enjoy about anything. However, I hate to admit this but I might as well. I just finished reading the book that all of the women are raving about, Twilight. I mostly read it out of curiosity and also because my daughter is really into it and I figure it would give me something to talk about with my teen age daughter, which is not the easiest thing to do as a dad. Ok, let the heckling begin!

Well, I'm sad to say that my dad was the first one in my house to read it... WIERDED OUT!! I might give Twilight a go when I have some more free time - currently I have some time between 4:45 and 5:15 on Friday afternoons. Basically, it'll be a long while.

Okay Ted, I LOVE that you read Twilight! I'm very interested in what you thought of it. There are a few other guys on the blog that have admitted to reading it as well, so no worries!  ;)
I'm trying to find a book to capture my interest right now. I have been thinking of reading Wuthering Heights (yes, I got the idea from Eclipse), but I am pretty sure I read it in high school and didn't really like it? Maybe I'll have to give it another try since Bethany seems to recommend it.

I picked up one of the Twilight books and thumbed through it for a few minutes, but Marci demanded it back so she could read it.  So it is her fault I didn't read it more.

Mik'L : I would recommend Jane Eyre over Wuthering Heights if you are looking for an entertaining read. It took me a couple go at its with Wuthering Heights (it was good, but Jane Eyre is better).  I also just read Gone with the Wind and it was a lot better than I was expecting.
Wow, I am being passed by guys in reading Twilight. I will get around to it, I will. I laughed out loud when my mom emailed me and told me she had a book I just HAD to read. Yep, Twilight. That book is seriously everywhere.

Ooh fun-books!  I love all genres: fiction, current events, the classics, etc.  Some of my recent favorites: Les Miserables by Victor Hugo (truly amazing!), A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry, Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey, Thomas Hardy novels, Main Street by Sinclair Lewis, etc. etc.  I also enjoy nonfiction books that study different aspects of modern society, such as globalism, consumerism, the impact of TV, etc.  One fascinating book that I highly recommend is Bowling Alone by Robert Putnam (I think that's the author).  It talks about how important community is, how it improves our lives, and how we as a culture have lost community over the past half-century.  It's a dense read, though! 

I'll give to give these Twilight books a whirl next!

Mik'L: don't read Wuthering Heights unless you like reading about disfunctional families.  Blech!  If you want to read about dysfuntional love, I think Gone With the Wind is one of the more delicious reads on the planet.  Very engaging/fun to read.  Jane Eyre is beautiful and deep, but sometimes a little heavy.  Good book club book.

Shauna, I bet you would like "Watership Down".  Very engaging--and so different.  Covers community and government in an unusual way.  I'm not even going to say exactly what it's about because you'll laugh.  But it IS a great book.

And "Twilight" is a great book for guys to read!  It has a lot of action and suspense--especially the last 3rd of it.  Not to mention you get a secret view into what women really want.  Just try to emulate Edward.  Ha ha.  It should be noted that the hero, Edward, is an amazingly fast runner...

I agree, Watership Down was an engaging read.  Here are some more interesting books I have read in the last year: 

The Count of Monte Cristo (I really liked this book)
The Giver (interesting, bit odd of an ending)
The Mutant Message (wow, really interesting)

My mom read Watership Down and enjoyed it.  I remember the picture on the cover was a rabbit or something, and I thought it looked different.  I can't remember exactly what the premise is, but it was something very different.  I'll have to try it.  And I agree about Gone With the Wind-great book and great movie!

I bought War and Peace while on vacation in August, but I haven't started it yet.  That will take quite a feat to get through.  I read the intro and became intrigued....

I have read Les Meserables unabridged probably 3-4 times and it is truly one of the most excellent books out there.

Catch 22 is truly one of the greatest books.  It's hard to actually recommend it because of the language.  The language is true to the scenes, though and the book is great.

Ok, no one has mentioned Dickens.  All of his books are good but my favorite is not one of his most famous.  It is Bleak House.  It is wonderful.

Anyone read Ayn Rand?  I love her, though I can't fully embrace her objectivism.  I read The Fountainhead many years ago and just finished Atlas Shrugged.  Good stuff!

Other good reads over the years:  The Poisonwood Bible, The Good Earth, Jude the Obscure, Tess De Ubervilles (spelling?), As I Lay Dying, War and Peace

The prior posts have given me a couple years worth of reading, and best of all, I won't lose this list since it is online!

BTW, really bad book I read this summer:  Magic Mountain-so boring.

Another book you can all skip- (sorry for those who may have enjoyed it...) Cold Mountain. Just didnt make it for me.

Someone once told me to keep a list of all the books I read- when and if I liked it/disliked it. I just bumped into this list again- buried deep within my computer files. How cool to see all those great books I had forgotten about! I would recommend keeping a list and am recommited to being faithful to mine. Anyway, onto the point- Chaim Potok is an excellent author, I would recommend "My name is Asher Lev" or "the chosen" to anyone. The Alchemist is an all time classic (and a short read as well!) "The Darwin Conspiracy" is an excellent piece of fiction speculating on Darwin and his discovery, I really enjoyed this one. "The Jungle Law" by Victoria Vinton is a good fiction about Rudyard Kipling. "Germinal" is haunting and hard to forget- about Miners and the terrible conditions they have worked under for ages. "A place of shelter" by Jane Kirkpatrick is an interesting read about a cult and "destiny." And finally, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde was excellent. I never knew the full plot of this book and was really glad I read it.

As for suggestions from everyone else- I have seen the Wheel Of Time series around and am curious if it is worth diving into now that Robert Jordan has passed. I enjoy a good fantasy/sci fi fiction every now and then.  Is there anything else out there that is like the Wheel of Time? I also really enjoy historical fiction and am looking for some good suggestions for that genre too!
Thanks for suggesting Les Mis, I have overlooked this book- until now! I am currently trying Catch 22, so far it is excellent.

Michelle - I've read Anthem by Ayn Rand - it was really interesting and I enjoyed the read, but I don't really agree with her ideals as you mentioned.

Bethany - About WoT (Wheel of Time) the first half of the series were excellent, I would definitely recommend them, but just get somebody (or a website) who's read the end tell you how the rest of the books go.  And, unless you enjoy 800 pages of diplomatics, books 10 and 11 are basically unreadable unless you REALLY want to know how it ends (yup I'm in that category - it wasn't fun).
Historical fiction-wise, I've read a few of the books written by Jane Yolen and Robert Harris such as Girl in a Cage, Queen's Own Fool and Prince Across the Water and I really enjoyed them.

Update:
In Hawaii I read Slaughterhouse 5.  It was a good book but watch out for the language.  I liked his style and look forward to reading Cat's Cradle.
I read Main Street as suggested in this thread.  It is a good read.  It deals with the dissatisfaction we have with ourselves and others around us and trying to find our purpose in life, especially for domestic females in close knit communities.
I started to read A Fine Balance and it is really good but I forgot to pack it and now I am afraid I won't have time to read it at home :(

I have a couple more books to add to the pile - Eragon and Eldest, author is Christopher Paolini.  Got Eragon for Christmas, once I started reading it, was done in 3 days.  Then I had to go out and get Eldest.  Now I can't stand waiting for the next book to come out!  If anyone likes fantasy books, like David Eddings, Terry Brooks, etc., they will like these as well.

I just read a great (and quick) one. Light on snow by Anita Shreve. Its about a daughter and father that find an abandoned baby in the snow and all the consequences that arise from that. Interesting and heart wrenching for a mom who just had (well, almost a year ago now!) a baby girl.

Train To Potevka by Mike Ramsdell. He served in the LDS branch presidency in my branch in Moscow shortly after I joined the LDS church. The entire time I had no clue he was an undercover CIA agent fighting the Russian mafia.

Sasha, have you read 'The Charm School' by Nelson DeMille?

Some of my other favorites: Swan Song by Robert McCammon, Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card, 'Incarnations of Immortality' Series by Piers Anthony, Tom Clancy...

You know, I read this book.  It is an interesting story, but to me the book read like a self published book in that his prose was often unwieldy and not, shall I say, worthy of a repeat book.  Some people write because they have a good story to tell (like this one), or because they are good at telling a story, and then to me the best books are when the story is good and the writing is good.  In my opinion, this book falls into the first category.

No, I have not.

FYI, the fourth and FINAL book of the Twilight series, Breaking Dawn, comes out August 2nd.

There is an excerpt of The Host on Stephenie Meyer's website. I haven't read it yet, but whoever hosts that site thinks it is better than all the Twilight books. :)

Well Mik'L, we know what we will be doing August 2nd, don't we?

There is a new book out called A new earth awakening to your life's purpose. By Eckhart Tolle.  It is a pretty good book. I am reading it right now and there are some really good insights in the book. It is Oprah's big thing right now and so her and the author are offering a free online, interactive class starting March 3rd. You do have to register for it.   

Mik'L, I read the excerpt from "The Host" on Stephenie Meyer's website, and I am HOOKED!  I can't wait to get my grubby hands on that book when it comes out.

I love James Patterson.  I love Dr. Cross, although was disappointed with Morgan Freeman playing him in the movies, and I love the Women's Murder Club series.  1st to die, 2nd chance, 3rd degree, all the way to 7. A female sheriff, ME, reporter, and assistant DA work together to solve crimes.  An old die hard is Mary Higgins Clark, stong willed single woman, plays detective gets into trouble but figures out the "who done it"

And because of my dad I have read a few clive clusser books also.

Next up for me is "A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons: The beginnings of the English Nation" by Geoffrey Hindley. Since I expect to take a while parsing through the early history of the U.K. I will be mixing it up with Walter Burkert's "Greek Religion". My brain will surely explode before I am finished. ::)

I just finished Wicked by Gregory (?) Maguire.    It's the story of the Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz.  It was excellent!  It talks about the political history of Oz, Munchkinland, the Emerald City, etc.  I am usually not into fantasy-type stuff but I loved this book.

We are going to New York City next month, and I think we are going to see Wicked on Broadway too!!  Yay!

Shauna,
I didn't love Wicked the book, but I did love the musical!  I hope you get to see it!  I read the book first and then saw the musical.  It will be interesting what you think.

I've been watching this subject for a while waiting to see if anyone plopped down any books that I like but finally decided that I'd drop mine down and see if anyone reads the same stuff. Although I loved the LOTR series and read them numerous times, my true favorite genre is counter-culture. I love Henry Miller, Charles Bukowski, Anais Nin, Louis Ferdinand Celine, Richard Braughtigan. I also enjoy the Russians, especially Dostoevsky. I have a number of favorite books: Henry Miller's The Rosy Crucifixion (all 3 parts), Charles Bukowski's Post Office and my all time favorite Louis Ferdinand Celine's two part series Death On The Installment Plan and Journey To The End Of The Night.

Peace Like a River by Leif Enger is a great one.  It is one of the few books I have ever reread!

Other than that, all of the books I like are children's books (well, teenagerish).  I taught 6th grade in my former life, so those were the books I always read and they are the ones I have come to love!  That, and Nicholas Sparks---but that has already been mentioned.  I am a sucker for a great, easy to read love story!!  Any of you who like him and have not read The Wedding, it is one of the best!  Great advice on marriage!!

Oh, and I really like Give me a Break by John Stossel.  If you have ever watched his segments on 20/20, it is just a bunch of that but it was really interesting and FRUSTRATING!

Michelle, have you read David Copperfield?  I think the only Dickens book I have read is Hard Times.  And that is very sad, because I have a BA in English!

I also love the Thomas Hardy novels.  Jude the Obscure was absolutely haunting.

I have read The Fountainhead.  I enjoyed it, but I also agree with the other posters who didn't agree with objectivism.

I recently finished a book about people who died in the Grand Canyon.  It sounds horribly morbid, but it was fascinating, and I learned a lot.  Note: ALWAYS wear a life jacket on the river, and NEVER get in the river past your knees or you will be swept away and drown!  Right now I am reading Sons and Lovers by DH Lawrence.  I like it so far.

My vacation starts this weekend, and I will have LOTS of time to read!  Has anyone read the Chronicles of Narnia?  I read them as a child and might reread them next week.  I loved them, but it's been so long that I don't remember anything.

For all you Twilight fans (I haven't read any of her books), there was an interesting article on msn.com about the heroine (Bella?) and whether the books are good for teens.  One person thinks she is the greatest, and the other thinks she has no identity outside of pursuing and being with  the guy/vampire/werewolf.  I have no idea...but maybe you fans could debate this issue.  I'd be interested to hear other points of view!

I feel the need to confess:  I have read 4 books in the last 8 days, but the last one I finished is the only embarrassing one:  I just read my first Danielle Steel book.  I was upset about being laid up and thought what the heck, how about some mind candy.  It was sweet and nonnutritional as expected.  I am afraid my brain is atrophying with my legs.  I just started a new book by Thomas Hardy, "Far Fromt he Maddening Crowd".  I'll let ya'll know how I like it.

I read "Mutant Message from Down Under", one of the suggested reads on this thread and I thought it was good, but I did have a hard time believing some of her story.  I also read Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant (just ok) and I can't even remember the last book, so I guess it couldn't have been too good or bad.

Ok the 4th book I couldn't remember was actually good, it just slipped my mind Brave New World.

Since last post I have read Far From the Maddening Crowd (Harding, same author as Jude the Obscure and Tess D'Urbervilles, all excellent books), and reread My Antonia (Willa Cather) - its a great book.  I am now reading a book about a christian missionary God's Smuggler.  It is cool.

I'm currently reading "Lawrence in Arabia" by Scott Anderson. Good story about how the modern Middle East became what it is today.

At night I'm reading "The Picture Story of Hank Aaron" with Andy.

I'm also going to revive the message board here at the FRB.

You're trying to revive it singlehandedly, huh? If you post as many times as I did, you just might make it. I think I'm still second most. And will probably hold that title forever, even if I die.

:-) I have a lot of time over the summer.

How about some books?

I haven't read any non-kid books in a while, but I've got several in my amazon wish list- The Ultra Mindset by Travis Macy, Life at the Bottom by Theodore Dalrymple, and The Emerald Mile, by Kevin Fedarko.

You?

I read "From Lance to Landis" about the prevalence of doping in cycling. That has never been a clean sport it would seem. Perhaps Greg Lemond won clean, but there's always been doping. It's really not a matter of being clean at all. But Lance and Landis were just the best at getting the most out of their training and their doping. It's pretty sad.

On a more positive note, I'd definitely recommend Unbroken. The real story is missed by the movie, the fact that he came back from that and became a Christian and this gave him the ability to really forgive his previous captors.