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Unfortunately, I must confess something.Today I starting 'promise me' by Harlan Coben, because earlier I read two page and I stop.Today I starting this book and I again meet Myron Bolitar and he adventure..I promise I finished this book a little days...now I on 40 page.... ^^
I just started re-reading "Hidden Cities" by Roger.G Kennedy , a fascinating book about the "discovery" of Native North American cities and beautiful architecture by colonists. I am also in the middle of "Foucault's Pendulum" by Umberto Eco , as usual a wonderful and fantastic read.
I've read all but #4 & 7. The only one I didn't enjoy was The DaVinci Code - it was just toooooooo improbable for me. Anne Tyler novels are great as are many of the recent Indian (subcontinent) books: Jhumpa Lahiri's short stories and her novel The Namesake, most of the books about Afghanistan (the Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns - incredible but hard to stomach -, the Bookseller of Kabul). Greg Mortenson's Three Cups of Tea is inspiring. A memoir about Iran: that made me think: Lipstick Jihad. I'm currently listening to Ismael Beah's A Long Time Gone - a horrific memoir from Sierra Leone that I can't stop listening to. Blood Done Sign My Name - racial injustice in North Carolina. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan was intriguing. My favorite novel about China is Wild Swans. I love all of Elizabeth Berg's novels and couldn't put down the Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory. There are so many great books out there that I could go on forever. I'll keep thinking about this.
"Jhumpa Lahiri's short stories and her novel The Namesake"
I too enjoyed both of these books. Another book of short stories about Indian immigrants I enjoyed is "The Unknown Errors of Our Lives" by Chitra Divakaruni.
Everything's Eventual; 14 dark tales by Steven King.
I've just completed a short story that (100+ pages is short for King) is part of the Dark Tower series. One of the stories was about a guy who goes golfing and wakes up and seems to be paralyzed and on a gurney, or is it the SLAB! They're about to operate on him and he doesn't think he's actually dead, but can't seem to convince them of that. His descriptions of what an autopsy might be like from the "other point of view" is rather teeth-wrenching. Imagine, if you'd like what it might be like to hear those human flesh snips rip open your chest and you lose sight as a hunk of flesh gets thrown across your face and thumps onto your bicep.
Sorry, I can't do SK justice. You'll have to read it for yourselves.
Anything by David Mitchell... the guy's been short-listed for the Booker for almost everything he's ever written, and was recently picked by Time as one of the most influential people in the world... of course, so was Nora Roberts, but whatever. Black Swan Green is brilliant.
The Americano by Aran Shetterly was surprisingly good. An American commandante in Castro's revolutionary army, eventually executed for treason by Castro. Awesome true story.
The Very Hard Way by Brad Dimock was awesome. About the legendary western river runner Bert Loper.
A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility by Taner Akcam
Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson is great original fantasy
Insect Dreams: The Half-Life of Gregor Samsa by Marc Estrin. One of the most intelligent and quirky-as-hell fiction writers I've ever read
I read A Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin once a year. It's that frickin good. It will make the world more beautiful while you read it.
Beasts of No Nation by Uzodinma Iweala is brilliant and will absolutely break your heart, as will A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah. Child soldiers in Africa.
Gregory David Roberts gets a bit wordy, but Shantaram is a helluva story. You'll all hear about this one next year when the movie starring Johnny Depp is released.
Of course, no serious reader can write out a list of modern authors and not mention McCarthy. Read The Road if you can get past all the press on it, but for the sake of your literary soul, you HAVE to read Blood Meridian. The masterpiece of late twentieth century literature.
Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier. Totally original (well, if stolen from African Folklore can be original) take on death.
Fires in the Dark by Louise Doughty. Gypsies in the Holocaust
Sky Burial by Xinran is so so beautiful.
The Seven Types of Ambiguity by Eliot Perlman is a work of genius, as is The Ballad of the Confessor by William Zink if you can find it. Went out of print within a year of its release.
... I work in a bookstore and get free books all the time...
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Great Books
