Summer Reading


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I've been on a reading binge again. It's one of my favorite things.


Last night I finished Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger. I picked it up at the airport when we were coming home from Italy after finishing The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (which I consumed in a couple days on our trip - definitely worth reading).
She's the author of The Time Traveler's Wife (which I completely loved).


I remember hearing not so great reviews about her newest book but decided to give it a chance. It's a strange tale - life and death and ghosts and in-between places. It's dark. It wasn't one that I would say I really liked - I definitely felt at a certain point I was just wanting to "make it through" - but there's something about it that kept me going and wanting to know how she was going to bring it to a conclusion. Often if I'm in the middle of a book and not enjoying it I'll just set it aside for another time (or just set it aside completely). With Her Fearful Symmetry I did want to know what happened and felt satisfied when I finished it late last night (even though the ending is definitely not what I was expecting).


Another book I have been reading (started before leaving for Italy and decided to leave it home because it's hardback) is The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. I'm completely fascinated with and engrossed in this non-fiction story and it's not the kind of book I normally find myself reading. It's the story of a woman, her cells, the history of cell research, her family, and the way it's all been weaved together over time. Highly recommended


Up next for me is most likely The Girl Who Played with Fire (the next one in the series following The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) or Little Bee which I picked up this past weekend at the coast.


What have you read lately that you love (or didn't)?


Dottedline


FOLLOW-UP : I see that
Project Life by Becky Higgins is back in stock at Amazon.You can see how I've been approaching this album here and planning to play catch-up (in a non-guilty way) soon.

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275 thoughts

  1. Lisa Aukeman says…
    07/21/2010

    Picked up the 3rd book - The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest..... I so don't have time to read this BUT I want to see the end of the story.

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  2. tammy g says…
    07/21/2010

    Finished the 4th book of the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. I am so in love with Jamie Fraser! :)

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  3. Shelly P says…
    07/21/2010

    Just put down the book "Handle with Care" by Jodi Picoult...I usually love anything by her. It's older but borrowed from our public library (saving money for scrapbook supplies...lol).
    I'm actually a closet "junk book" reader...my husband says I'll warp my mind, but I LOVE to read practically anything. From the other comments I think I should probably start reading other subject matters ;)

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  4. Cynthia B. says…
    07/21/2010

    I totally agree w/ you about Audrey N's books. Time Traveler's Wife was much better than her second.
    And I'm sort of reading backward for Stieg Larsson - I checked out The Girl Who Played with Fire from the library and am enjoying it now...so now I have Dragon Tattoo on reserve at the library and will read it next.
    I've just finished The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, two in a young adult series by author Suzanne Collins. Good reads, both of them. The third book is out in August, and I'll be one of the ones waiting in line.

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  5. kelly purkey says…
    07/21/2010

    let the great world spin by colum mc cann is one of the best books i've read in a long time. i can't say enough about how good this book is.

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  6. Amy K in FL says…
    07/21/2010

    I just finished Janet Evanovich's Sizzling Sixteen. I love this series and am always anxious for tne next one. It makes me laugh out loud, which is a great stress reliever these days.

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  7. Dianne K. Nelson says…
    07/21/2010

    I loved the whole Millennium series--I'm sure you will enjoy it too!
    I also just finished "Friday Night Knitting Club" which was better than I thought it would be, and a lovely little YA jewel by Eoin Colfer called "Airman."
    Enjoy!
    Dianne

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  8. jenniferwoodbury says…
    07/21/2010

    I recently finished Cutting for Stone and loved it. Would definitely recommend.

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  9. Paulette says…
    07/21/2010

    Ali, you MUST read Little Bee now, really. We read a lot of similar books this little gem is so well written, it's still with me (I read it months ago!).Oh my... Thanks for sharing some more possibilities as I head to Cape Cod :o) Happy day!

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  10. Lori says…
    07/21/2010

    Oh, I too, am devouring books at the moment. Just finished 3 that I can recommend: The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon; The Elegence of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery; and The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak. Enjoy!

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  11. Tammy B says…
    07/21/2010

    Wow! This is so great Ali! I get to read all these posts and get some ideas of books to read over the summer and beyond probably. I recently read Dune Road by Jane Green. One of those just-have-to-get-through-so-I-can-say-I-finished it books - not so great. Yesterday I just finished To My Dearest Friends by Patricia Volk. It was interesting - a short, don't really have to think about it too much book. I'm starting Possession: A Romance by A.S. Byatt. I have several books in a pile waiting to be read including Pillars of the Earth. Might have to do that one next!

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  12. Robyn Grieco says…
    07/21/2010

    Read Little Bee and found it interesting also. The Reliable Wife was an interesting story. Has anyone read The Passage yet? If so, what did you think? I have it sitting on my nightstand but I keep looking at the size and don't want to lug it around this summer. Lisa Unger has a new book out and hers are good thrillers.

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  13. Nancy says…
    07/21/2010

    Just finished the Girl with the Dragon Tatoo and am in the middle of The Girl who Played with Fire. Haven't picked up the third in the series but probably will before I head on to another book. It will be great to review this list for recommendations.

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  14. Lindsay says…
    07/21/2010

    I recently decided to start reading some "classics" and books I feel like everyone has read but me. I started with One Flew Over the Cuckoo Nest and like it so far. I just finished "BE" and "DO" by A.C. Ping and liked them. They weren't what I was expecting, but made me stop and think. I also just started Living Simply With Children....I usually tend to have a fiction and a non-fiction book going at the same time.

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  15. jamie says…
    07/21/2010

    The Help was one of the best books I have read in a LONG time. I couldn't put it down. It actually kept my mind off of flying which is not easy to do! The characters were believable. The issues were real. I love it when it could have really happened that way. (Same with movies-I'm not as interested if it could never really happen.)

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  16. Gretchyn says…
    07/21/2010

    I've been doing a lot of reading this summer -- just finished "The Help" (which was really great), and John Adams by David McCullough. "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" is next on the stack on my bedside table, and I'm in the midst of reading another one called "The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry" about a woman who goes to take cooking classes at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris after she gets downsized in her job. Pretty good so far.

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  17. Tammy B says…
    07/21/2010

    Loved The Birth House too. I borrowed it from a friend but might have to get my own copy!

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  18. Pauline says…
    07/21/2010

    I've just started reading "In Search of Adam" which was recommended by a friend. I spotted one today in the bookstore by Mitch Albom - http://www.amazon.com/Have-Little-Faith-True-Story/dp/0786868724/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1279766855&sr=1-7 which is on my to read list now!

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  19. coachk says…
    07/21/2010

    I finished Little Bee very quickly. If you get to page 100, then you will might finish the rest of the book in one sitting... I could not put it down.
    This book definitely has changed me and my perspective on life forever.
    I have recommended this book, and even given away my copy.

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  20. m says…
    07/21/2010

    The Help - so good.

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  21. Tania says…
    07/21/2010

    I've been devouring everything by Marlina Marchetta: Saving Franchesca, Looking for Alibrandi, Jellicoe Road, and Finnikan of the Rock. They are YA novels, and Finnikan is a Fantasy, but they are all SO worth the read. Can't wait until her latest is released in the US (she's an Aussie). I'm reading The Pillars of the Earth right now in anticipation of the mini-series coming out. And I've got the Girl with A Dragon Tattoo on reserve at the library and I'm 350 in the queue as of last week, so I'm not holding my breath on reading it any time soon.
    I'll have to look up the book you read, thanks for this post!!

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  22. Jessica D. says…
    07/21/2010

    I'm doing my annual reread of the entire Harry Potter series... something I've done ever summer for the past few years. Other books that I'm reading or have recently read (or reread) are: The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, Blink by Malcolm Gladwell, Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross, and all of the books in The Secret History of the Pink Carnation series by Lauren Willig. I'm going to have to check out some of the books I've read about here!

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  23. Courtney says…
    07/21/2010

    I'm about to start The girl the kicked the hornet's nest. I love those. Little Bee is good as well, but I was kind of expecting great. I read A City of Thieves a few months ago and loved it. It's a little gory, but very good. Oh and Forgotten Garden... very good.

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  24. Rachel Briggs says…
    07/21/2010

    I LOVED The Art of Racing in the Rain too. I got it for Christmas and finished it in like a month. That is the fastest I've finished a book yet.

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  25. Adriana P. says…
    07/21/2010

    Try Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater, a fantastic read about a girl's relationship with a wolf who lives in the woods behind her house. Of course, The Hunger Games trilogy (#3) is a fabulous, heart-pounding summer read. I recently read another wonderful YA fantasy called Finnikin's Rock, which is engrossing and terrifying and everything that a book should be between the months of June and August. My review shelf on GoodReads is here: http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/9686?shelf=read

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