Good Book

Ooh, I loved both of those :)
Try Jeanette Walls (sp?) The Glass Castle.
It's an autobiography but it reads like one crazy piece of fiction, I think you'll like it!

I've breezed through the first 5 books of the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series by George RR Martin. Awesome fantasy genre books, and I do NOT read fiction, especially not fantasy fiction! The books are huge, but they are so engaging that you can thunder through them.

Okay don't laugh, but this is a really good book... in which I read the first one (it is my daughter's), then I HAD to get the other books in the series.
It is for young readers 8 and up. My daughter is 9.

But even adults enjoy this book and it is a New York Times bestseller etc., and has like 400-500+ pages.
It is a GOOD book. Fiction. Easy fun read. About gifted kids and their adventures.

Here is the link for it & you can read the reviews of it by kids and adults!:
http://www.amazon.com/Mysterious-Benedict-Society-Trenton...

It is called "The Mysterious Benedict Society" and there are 4 others in the series.
I love this book series.

I LOVE Ken Follet, he's my favorite author of all time! The Pillars of the Earth is the best, but others are pretty good too. I am currently reading The Alienist by Caleb Carr (about NY's first fictional serial killer in 1890) and its pretty good. I am also working on Harry Potter #2 and its good too. Also, Nora Roberts or her JD Robb books are pretty great too depending on which ones you like. I personally like both.

I'm reading Fall of Giants by Ken Follett. It's very good.

Your subject line just made me think about the "good book", which is the Bible. It would be a good summer accomplishment.
All of us need to read it more than once.
It's always nice to be able to say you've read it. It's been in the top ten of the best sellers list for a very long time.

I'm reading "My Life in France" by Julia Child - its a great summer read! Such fun!

The Thirteenth Tale
Midwives
Memoirs of a Geisha
About a Boy
UnDomestic Goddess
Twenties Girl (so cute!!)
The Stephanie Plum books by Janet Evanovich
Shopaholic books
The Scarpetta Novels

So, that's all I can think of off the top of my head that is a great, easy but entertaining read! The last three are series of books by different authors but all are great entertainment and mindless fun! The Scarpetta books are mysteries as the main character is a medical examiner. I also loved The Help and Water for Elephants, so I think you'll enjoy these too!

I'm just finishing up Diana Abu-Jaber's 'Bird of Paradise'. All of her books are good. :)

Next up: The Marriage Plot by Jeffery Eugenidies. I can't wait!

If you liked those, you'll like:

The Healing by Jonathan O'Dell

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin

Mudbound by Hillary Jordan

Hi C.-

I have to second books by Diana Abu Jaber...she was my college room mate my freshman year!

I also enjoyed the Hunger Games...and the other books in the trio.

I have enjoyed Jodi Picoult books...they often seem to center on a moral/social issue...and are generally a quick read.

Also, as some of my kiddos are still in HS...I enjoy picking up a 'classic' from their list...perhaps 'new' to them...but good for discussion.

I also have enjoyed the "Girl with the Dragon Tatoo" trilogy.

Happy reading!
michele/cat

Any of the 4 novels by John Hart. Down River was good, but The Last Child was my favorite.

Sarahs Key is great. I read it several years ago then recently got the movie from the library. The movie was ok, lots of subtitles, but I always love seeing the visual version to see if it matches what I imagined as I read the book!

The Pillars of the Earth everyone keeps mentioning is also a several part mini series I saw last winter. Its a big time investment, but I think also worth the visual portion after reading the books. I high recommend that for winter viewing after reading the books.

My daughter has me reading the Hunger Games now. Lately she (almost 18 and book store Junkie), is my own personal librarian! Not a bad thing for a teenager to be! She gets me to read books I never would have found and they can be very thought provoking, even if intended for a young adult audience (like Hunger games, etc).

Happy Reading!

I'm reading The Help right now. Such a good book. I've also read Water for Elephants and it was a good book.

The Traveling Pants Series by Ann Brashares (there is 4 when they are younger and then a newer one with the girls grown up)
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo Series (I've only read the first one)
Memoirs of a Geisha (I just re-read it)
Best Friends Forever - Jennifer Weiner
A Northern Light - Jennifer Donnelly
Stephanie Plum Series (I've only read the first one)
One Moment, One Morning - Sarah Rayner
The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger

I read a lot! :)

The Lucky One - Nicholas Sparks
Nora Roberts - anything

Anything by Nora Roberts, especially if you like romances. If you like fantasy, then Mercedes Lackey.

nice easy reads for summer??.. hmmm
I would suggest checking out Lauren Willig
The secret history of the Pink carnation Its alot like the Scarlet Pimpernell ( romantic enlish spy during the french revolution) but funnier.

gabriels Brides by diane Noble pyligamy in the old west.
very intersting to see why people thought it was a good idea and why it actually wasn't.

I'm currently reading The Queen of Big Time by Adriana Trigiani.

The Memory Keeper's Daughter
The Red Tent

When I used to read for leisure (ten years ago, before fulltime work and two kids), I loved books by A. Tyler, by Marge Piercy, and by Barbara Kingsolver. Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible is magnificent--a family of four girls move with their mother and missionary father to Congo in 1959. It's told from the perspectives of all five female characters.

All these authors have all been writing for decades, I'll admit, so they aren't on the Bestseller list, however they produce great novels. I'd love to go back to A. Tyler, now that I'm a middle-aged woman with kids. Enjoy!

I am reading "The Queen's Fool" now and I love it. Just finished "The Other Boleyn Sister" and it is my new favorite book.
Other books I loved are anything by Ken Follet especially "Pillars of the Earth" and "World without End". Anything by Wally Lamb especially "This much I Know is True"
The Glass Castle
Sarah's Key
Picking Cotton