Wednesday, November 5, 2008

The Library


Books to feed the Amazon one-click frenzy?

I think we can all say that Moonrat has done damage to our book budgets. Let's return the favor.

This one isn't a contest. But feel free to discuss, in the comments section, any books you think are absolute MUST READs.

18 comments:

Daniel Powell said...

The best books I've read in 2008 are Neil Gaiman's American Gods and Jeffrey Ford's The Shadow Year. These are amazing, dedicate-your-weekend, up-until-2:00, screw-doing-the-laundry type reads.

moonrat said...

it's mutual, though! i don't know how many books i've bought because you people went on and on about them.

precie, i'm currently reading WHEN ELEPHANTS DANCE, because you damaged my book budget with your glowing review. it's really, really hard to put down.

cindy said...

moonie, i'd still suggest the blood of flowers by anita amerrezivani. it was one of my top 5 reads last year!

Anita said...

Recommended by a woman who reads several novels per week and is, incidentally, starting a new column featuring book recommendations for the Colorado Springs Gazette (look for the column in two weeks):

Horace by George Sand, published in 1841.
This book is perfection on pages.

Andromeda Romano-Lax said...

My bookshelves tend to be male-heavy (Philip Roth, Michael Chabon, Ian McEwan, Kazuo Ishiguro, plus lots of early 20th century guy stuff). But I've recently fallen for two great contemporary women writers, both of them witty and darkly humorous: MEG WOLITZER ("The Wife" is her best; also "The Position") and LIONEL SHRIVER ("We Need to Talk About Kevin" was my favorite, also "Post-Birthday World.") None of these are flawless books that will appeal to every reader, but they're all the better for that. They're great books for discussion and contemplation.

Josephine Damian said...

I'm still waiting for you all to jump on THE GIFT OF RAIN BANDWAGON - not only literary, Asian, but also a foodie novel - all Moonie's favorite things.

Just started THIS SIDE OF BRIGHTNESS by Colum McCann - outstanding.

Happy blogiversary, Moonie!

Josephine Damian said...

I'll ditto Andromeda on THE WIFE.

writtenwyrdd said...

The Curious Tale of The Dog In The Nightime

Anything by Terry Pratchett

Dune

To Say Nothing of the Dog

cindy said...

i second american gods. i <3 NG!

Precie said...

Ooh, I would ditto The Curious Tale of The Dog In The Nighttime...but I simply assume you've already read it. I also assume you've read Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.

If you haven't, you should.

Andromeda Romano-Lax said...

Hey, let's hear it for Anita, who I assume is speaking about herself when she describes the person starting a new Colorado Springs book column. Boy, do we need local newspapers to run reviews more than ever! That's great news. She deserves some gourmet cheese just for that.

Linda said...

I just loved THE FEAST OF LOVE by Charles Baxter - many facets of love interwoven, lush prose, and lots of emotional highs and lows. THREE JUNES by Julia Glass was an amazing story as well. She really paints NYC (the area around Columbia) very well. Lots of food refs, too. I still think about Fenno, her MC, and wonder how his bookstore's going and if he finally found love... Peace, Linda

ORION said...

um...mine?

Ello - Ellen Oh said...

I love Patricia Wood's The Lottery!

Yes - I am sucking up to Orion.

:o)

But I do! I loved that book!

Ello - Ellen Oh said...

Oh I loved When Elephants Dance! I absolutely adored that book! I think I reviewed it too!

And Silk = too beautiful for words. You must read it if you haven't yet.

Anonymous said...

DIVISADERO, Michael Ondaatje. You can't put it down AND it's a literary masterpiece.

moonrat said...

cindy--i bought BLOOD OF FLOWERS; it's one of the books on the pile next to my bed that's trying to kill me.

Anita--you still haven't explained how you finish several novels a week!!

ARL--I know what you mean. I love the boys because they tend to be what's available, prizewinning, and perfect. That means we have to break the girls out by supporting them (and reading them!).

JD--I've read THIS SIDE OF BRIGHTNESS. I don't know anyone else who's read it!! Let me know what you think.

oh my god. i'm not even commenting on anything else. there goes my credit card.

Anonymous said...

GOULD'S BOOK OF FISH By Richard Flanagan
The best book I have EVER read! Magic brilliance.