As much as I enjoy the insightful, deep literature I read to Avery everyday from Mother Goose or Dr. Seuss ;) I am yearning to escape into a good book. One of those books that leaves me completely inspired or one that I even have to read during red lights because I can't put it down. Any suggestions?Too bad there isn't any vampire books coming out (I know Collin is so disappointed about that!) heehee
I did this page about a year ago for Creating Keepsakes--still love those little piggies.
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100 comments:
If you're in the mood for a vampire, the Blue Blood series is pretty good. It's a bit more racy then the Twilight series though, but it's as really interesting take on vampires.
Just curious, how far in advance do you prefer booking photo shoots? My two year anniversery is coming up in June and I'd like some current photos of us and think it would be fun to come down to PG and do them with you and Collin.
I am reading "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls. SO HARD to put down! I highly recommend it!!
P.S. You always have the COOLEST music on your blog!
Hmm no recommendations on books. The only ones I can really claim to have read are the Twilight Saga and the Harry Potter Series. But I'm always up for a good vampire story.
I know someone who loved the Anne Rice (sp?) vampire books, but I believe they are pretty racy too.
Sandra Kring, Lesley Kagen, Fannie Flagg, Jojo Moyes :)
I could not stop with any of them :)
Suggestions? Oh boy do I have some for you!!! I have recently read and LOVED the following [and YES! I LOVE TWILIGHT] ;)
Uglies Series [Uglies, Pretties, Specials, Extras]
City of Bones
City of Ashes
Wake
Friday Night Knitting Club
Evermore
The Hunger Games
I am getting ready to read the sequel to "Wake" called "Fade"- starting that one tonight as soon as I sew a few more camera strap slipcovers. :D After that, I will be reading "Skinned"... It's not what you think!! ;)
*Shey*{B]
Well if your looking for something Vampire related .. I would recommend the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris .. it's the series of books that the hbo tv show 'True Blood' is based on. Really good books.. there are currently 8 books out and the 9th comes out in May, so it could keep you busy for a while. But Twilight is still good the second time around! (or in my case the 3rd!)
I agree with Shey B, read The Hunger Games, it's the best book ever! (Stephenie Meyer herself recommended it) I could read it over and over and over and over...
Hey Elizabeth-- a GREAT book to read is The Shack by William P. Young. It is fascinating.
And since you posted this layout, I had to share my full-on scraplift that I did in October of this same layout. It's remarkably similar, so I guess this is a bad time to ask how you feel about people lifting your ideas... hope you like it!
http://paperpalsdesignteam.blogspot.com/2008/10/mmm-more-memory-mixer.html
The Sookie Stackhouse novels seem to be the go at the moment, a little bit more, mmm, shall we say adult, than Twilight but still a fun read. She throws a little comedy into her books too which is good. The first novel was ok but after the second one I actully became a little hooked. I'm up to seven at the moment. Love the layout.
Cheers,
Sue.
My faves are the Harry Potter books, Twilight saga, and anything by Nicholas Sparks. Those are the only ones I can really recommend.
I just finished the three first books in the Vampire Academy... Unfortunately I have to wait for the following 2 - but hey - they're worth it! They're by Richelle Mead.
Love the LO! :D
The diamonds are so cool. I'm gonna have to try that!
While I really enjoyed the Twilight series I normally DO NOT like vampire stuff - too scary!
The books I'm recommending are totally different but among the most addictive books I (and many of my friends and hubby) have read. Warning - don't start reading unless you are able to do nothing else until that book is finished (or at the very least do things that require one hand and little attention).
They are crime thrillers and COLLIN should love them too. The first book is called Killing Floor (don't let the title put you off).Let me know what you think!
Other authors I love Tess Gerritsen, Robert Crais, Michael Connolly etc, etc.
If you're looking for a love story, you should read The Time Traveler's Wife. My favorite love story ever...and you WON'T put it down!
Also, someone above recommended The Glass Castle. Another great book!
I just finished a book last week that was so good I recommended it to my husband (who hasn't finished a book in a while due to his busy schedule). He picked it up and finished it in three days. :)It is called Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen. Two other books I've read recently were O Little Town and The Thirteenth Tale.
Check out goodreads.com They have a place to catalog books "to read", "read", and "currently reading" so that you can keep track of the good suggestions you get, and see other people's reviews/get ideas of books you may want to read. :) Have a great day! :)
For a GREAT laugh: "A Girl Named Zippy".
A couple I have loved
The 13th tale
A thousand splendid sons
The good Earth
What?! Nobody has recommended Jodi Picoult (any book, they are all good) or Janet Evanovich?? Picoult's titles are thought provoking and Evanovich makes you laugh but also admire a regular woman who makes things happen. I highly suggest these authors.
Love your blog!
If you are a pet lover I would totally recommend "Marely and Me."
If you want something to spark creativity; anything by SARK is perfect. My faves: Inspiration Sandwich, Living Juicy, Succulent Wild Woman, Change your life without getting out of bed: the ultimate nap book.
If you are looking for non-fiction; "Reading Lolita in Tehran" by Azar Nafisi was awesome.
If you are looking for something about motherhood but non-fiction I would recommend "Little Earthquakes" by Jennifer Weiner.
My all-time favs...The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver), I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb), Thousand Splendid Suns, Saving Fish From Drowning (Amy Tan I think...it's bizarre but good).
Love the diamonds on that layout - I think I'll have to scraplift that. :-)
I love the series The Goose Girl, Enna Burning and River Secrets. They are by an LDS author, Shannon Hale. Loved them!
Thanks to Carol - anything by Jodi Picoult. Just finished her new one, Handle with Care. REALLY sucks you right in...
Be careful with some of hers, they have sad endings, but the books are so wonderful you realize they couldn't end any other way!
Three Wishes by Liane Moriarty is good. It's a fiction about the lives of triplets. It's a light read, and really good.
And I agree with Rachel - anything by SARK is very inspirational. She always has fun creative stories to tell. One time she was at a posh hotel, and she sat on a chair in the lobby reading a book, with a sign next to her saying "Artist Available for Dinner".
http://www.planetsark.com
Jodi Picoult and Elizabeth Berg are good for quick page-turning reads. I also loved Water for Elephants (though my sister hated it). She just read the other Boleyn Girl and couldn't put it down. I'm not into the whole vampire scene, though I may have just been convinced to read Twilight for the love story. Happy Reading!
I love any book by Jennifer Weiner. I can never wait to see what happens next but at the end I'm sad the book is finished.
I agree with some of the other recommendations (Thousand Splendid Suns, Jodi Picoult, Time Traveler's Wife) and I'd also add another one to the mix...Pillars of the Earth.
It's a big book and the beginning takes a little bit to get into, but once you are sucked into the book you won't be able to put it down. I found myself reading until the wee hours of the morning because I couldn't stop myself! It is a MUST READ!
Oh my gosh...you HAVE to read the Mark of the Lion series by Francine Rivers. There are three books in the series and they are each soooooooooo good. Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers is also really good. Finally, Eve's Daughters (can't remember author). Each of these books are super good but Mark of the Lion Series is the highest recommendatin I could EVER give.
Hi Lizzy,
Have you read The Host by Stephanie Meyer yet? So good.
Note to Self if an awesome collection of women's essays about overcoming humilation, heartbreak and loss. It sounds depressing but it totally the opposite.
I also started A Wrinkle in Time. It's a young adult book but so what, it's awesome.
i just finished reading "The Godmother" that I picked up from Target - I too was longing for another book to read about Bella and Edward - but this story is about a woman named Tessa King who is much like the bridesmaid, never the bride... she wants to have children and fall in love... anyway the story is about her and her friends and their ups and downs in their lives - I couldn't put it down.. and there's a second read "The Stepmother"...
I also recommend "Something Borrowed", "Something Blue", "Baby Proof" and Love the One You're With" by Emily Giffin - nothing too heavy but fantastic chic lit!
Glass Castle is a great book - it seems like fiction, but it's actualy a true story. Also, Dreaming With God by Bill Johnson is an amazing book.
Love your blog, love your scrapbook pages, love your photography . . .
Amy
Here are a couple that I really liked:
Mrs. Kimble by Jennifer Haigh
Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross
Come Back by Claire Fontaine
Many of the others mentioned are great as well!!! Love that LAYOUT. I remember seeing it in CK and I still have it in my inspiration folder. I love the use of the diamonds.
A New Earth (for inspiration)
A Thousand Splendid Suns (can;t put down)
Green Eggs and Ham is my favorite Dr. Suess book-----Sam I Am
Hey Elizabeth, you should check out Someone Knows My Name. I am a voracious reader and it is one of the best fiction books I have ever read. It won TONS of awards two years ago when it came out.
Here's a few suggestions of some I've been reading! All very good :)
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by: Jonathan Safran Foer
The Book Thief by: Markus Zusak
Everything is Illuminated: A Novel by:Jonathan Safran Foer
Someone already recommended Shannon Hale . . . I second. I've loved all the books I've read of hers. The Goose Girl is my favorite.
I also recently read A Room With a View for the first time and loved it. If you're in the mood for a classic, it's a good one.
Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos is another book I've read recently that I really liked (there's a sequel called Belong to Me that's also really good).
I am so glad you wrote this post! I have been craving a good book lately and was having a hard time coming up with a new author I wanted to try out. I am excited to check out some of these!! I also agree that GoodReads is a great resource!
I am currently "reading" (and by that I mean listening to on CD because I have a newborn, 2 year old and 4 year old) "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn". It's a wonderful story!
As some others have commented, I would recommend "The Glass Castle" - I loved it almost as much as the Twilight series (ok, maybe not THAT much!)
Great motif on that page! I love that pattern you created and how you used one of them for journaling!
As for a book... I am reading Jane Austin's Persuasion right now and I really like it. But Sense and Sensibility is my favorite.
I'm so glad someone mentioned "The Book Theif". That is such a good book. One of my favorites.
life is incomplete without at least one book on the go :)
(writer's bias)
here's a link to my suggestions
http://reviews.alibris.com/4466/2083440/profile.htm
On Donna Downey's blog a while back she recommended A Bite with a Stranger by Christine Warren. I have it on reserve at the library and it's been a month and it's still not destined to be mine!!! DD did mention that it was rather sexy.
I remember this layout very well. It has always been one of my favorites.
My favorite book is an oldie but goodie "Freak the Mighty" by Rodman Philbrick. I read it to my students every year. Then we reward ourselves by watching the movie "The Mighty" with Sharon Stone.
i totally blog stalk you. hope you dont mind. :0) we're sort of involved right? I'm married to a miles like ash and i grew up with Emily. Also, i'm totally scrap-lifting those diamonds. you are an incredible scrapbooker!
ps, all my sisters have liked a series of books called like "the uglies" or something like that?
Just so you know, The Time Traveller's Wife has tons of bad language and detailed sex stuff in it.
The Host by Stephenie Meyer was awesome too. First couple of chapters you're like "what?" but then it gets really good. I cried and cried. Such a beautiful book!
I love Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice is my favorite, I think.
Have you read Gerald Lund's the Work & the Glory books? They are a LDS MUST! I'm reading them for the second time right now. Love them! There's another series everyone seems to rave about right now... Something "thunder" (thunder brothers?). Novels about pre-existence etc. Many people have told me they're awesome.
I loved The Time Travellers' Wife, Marley and Me is cute, EAT PRAY LOVE is inspiring, The Kite Runner is a tear jerker but impossible to put down, and I am re-reading Geek Love for the 4th or 5th time with an online book club thru Twitter with Girl Gone Child.
I forgot... If you haven't read The Little Princess yet, you must! I know it's a book for young girls but everyone should read it. I loved it. Author: Frances Hodgson Burnett.
And I know you didn't ask but make sure you don't miss these movies: Ghost Town, August Rush and The Illusionist. :)
I recommend anything by Jodi Picoult. She has a new book out this month called Handle With Care. Also Stephenie Meyer, authour of the Twilight series, has an adult novel out calles the Host, a little Sci-fi but good romance too. I alos love the classics. A few favorites are Dicken's Great Expectations, Austen's Pride and Prejudice, and Wharton's Age of Innocence.
Happy spring reading.
IF you want inspiring, check out Karen Kingsbury. Her Redemption, Firstborn and Sunset series are about the Baxter family (it's a collection of 13 books). But any of her stand alone or small series (3 books) are fantastic. They make you really want to be a better person and make the world a bit kinder too.
I'm also a fan of Barbara Kingsolver. I loved the Bean Trees.
Have you read the Outlander Series? It's a bit of a guilty pleasure but for me it was one of those "red light" books!
I haven't read it, but it's next on my list because everyone has said it's their recent favorite. Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah
You would love anything by Jodi Picoult. All really great reads. In terms of a great Vampire read...The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. It is a great book about a girl searching for her father who is on a quest to find the real Dracula. It is quite a long book but filled with history, suspense, love, etc. It is a great book. The entire Fireside Book Club would highly recommend it!
Angelica Rajewski
What a cute page! I love it. I would like a good book to get lost in too. I'll have to go back and look through what everyone is suggesting.
By the way, I STILL laugh out loud when I think about Collin's "Twilight" post:)
if you want a good romance, "The Lucky One" by Nick Sparks is amazing. I read it in two days because i couldnt put it down.
If you want a spirital book, read "Captivating" by John & Stasi Eldredge. This book will really show you how beautiful you are and after you are done it will be like your beauty will just pour out of your soul!!!
Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos is the best book I've read in a really long time. It takes a few chapters to get "into" it but then you'll be hooked.
Then, read the follow-up called "Belong to Me"
Both are SO good!
Popped in to say hello! I adore your blog!
Alene Roberts is one of my all-time favorite authors - She's old fashioned romance and values all the way.
If you want funny added in read any of Sierra St. James books. She is AWESOME!
I love to read your blog! Here are some of my most recent favorite reads: The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks
The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom
A Great and Terrible Beauty (The Gemma Doyle Trilogy) by Libba Bray
These is my words by Nancy Turner
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
and Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns, I was required to read it in High School, but love it now!
Happy Reading!
Anything by Jodi Picoult, though if you want some life inspiration read "Tuesdays with Morrie." Amazing.
HUNGER GAMES!!! Can't wait for the next one to come out. I think I may be taking some of your commenters suggestions. You still up for running?
I've heard great things about "The Great and Terrible" series. They are written by Chris Stewart. I actually haven't read any of them yet, but they are on my list.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society was absolutely charming and I loved Water for Elephants....your blog (and family) is so sweet!
I just finished the reader by berhhard schlink. a bit of a hard hitter but very good! or, on the softer side how about p.s I love you by cecelia ahern?
great blog!
If you love the twilight series, then get a hold of the Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris. Soooo good! The HBO series "True Blood" is based on her books. They are NOT books for teens, like the Twilight series... much more "racy" but really good.
HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins. A must read! Came recommended by SM herself and very good! It's the first of 3 books and is in the works to become a movie next year. Read it!
Also The Thirteenth Tale
Goose Girl, Enna Burning, and River Secrets by Shannon Hale.
Happy Reading!
I loved Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah. I just couldnt put it down. That is the latest one I have read. I wish there were more vampire books too!
Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert...its amazing and so inspiring. And funny.
Hi Elizabeth,
I can endorse a number the books mentioned above including the Time Traveler's Wife, Pillars of the Earth, and Thousand Splendid Suns ... all are different, yet amazing 'can't stop reading them' books.
One I just finished and loved was the Thirteenth Tale. Its a fiction story about a biographer and an author, and unfolds with just enough intrique and mystery to leave you yearning for more of the story with each turn of the page.
Do let us know what you choose and what you think!
Colleen
Some of my favorites are The Mercy of Thin Air, The Time Traveler's Wife, and My Sister's Keeper. All great reads!
I love this LO! So sweet. :)
I too love your blog music! I just come by your blog up when I am cleaning or just want to chill because I love the music-it makes me feel good. Some of the stuff on Oprahs book club is good. I like Historial fiction...I liked "Daughter of Fortune" (Allende) a lot, and "Love in the Time of Cholera" (Garcia-Marques) was good too.
After reading one of your posts a year ago about goodreads.com I started my own account there & have been reading like crazy again... my current favs (non-vampire sorry)
anything Jodi Picoult...
but her new book HANDLE WITH CARE was amazing... another fav was 19 minutes by Picoult. Catching Genius by Kristy Keirnan was great. Love the Big Gap series by Adriana Trigiani there are SO many my goodreads acct is on my blog duckmomma5.blogspot.com for more favs... good luck and let us all know what you decide on!
Okay, if all these recommendations don't keep you reading all summer, I don't know what will. I loved the Twilight books, but the ones that will forever and always remain my favorites of all time have already been mentioned:
The Mark of the Lion series by Francine Rivers--READ THEM, DEVOUR THEM, LOVE THEM!
Gladiators, slave girls who fall in love with the master, and the love of God, what more could you ask for?? I will warn you not to start the first one without the second one close at hand, you will need it for the cliffhanger ending on the first one ;)
I have got to make this post stand out
I've got to make it better than the rest
Because chickadee the books you've gotta read (and anyone else reading this)
just happen to be Janet Evanivich---the Stephanie Plum series. I downloaded them on my ipod and couldn't stop listening to them. They are the best of the best---read or listen during the red lights----realize it's 4am and you have to function in 2 hours----I am going to escape to the restroom and let my husband do the dishes kind of really good book.
I have got to make this post stand out
I've got to make it better than the rest
Because chickadee the books you've gotta read (and anyone else reading this)
just happen to be Janet Evanivich---the Stephanie Plum series. I downloaded them on my ipod and couldn't stop listening to them. They are the best of the best---read or listen during the red lights----realize it's 4am and you have to function in 2 hours----I am going to escape to the restroom and let my husband do the dishes kind of really good book.
'The Other Boleyn Girl' by Philippa Gregory was that for me. Long, rather dark story, but steeped in history. I couldn't stop until the end. Way better than the movie, much more complex. I could google practically everyone in there after I read it, and actually find them in history!
Lauren H.
No book suggestions... feels like it's been 5+ years since I read a book... probably because my oldest is five and a half! BUT, I just had to comment and say that this LO is absolutely so amazingly rocking gorgeous. Phenomenal! Thanks for sharing.
Between baby number 1 and baby number 2 I hadn't read a novel in A LONG TIME! But my husband an I went on a mini trip to the beach-minus kids-and I brought along A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS.....and I read the entire thing the first day! It was THAT good! From the same author as THE KITE RUNNER, which I also loved! Enjoy whatever it is you get to read!!
Here are few favorites:
*The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom
*The Persian Pickle Club (about quilting friends in the Depression)
*Marley and Me
*My Brother's Keeper by Nicholas Sparks (it is a non-fiction, but awesome!!)
The Secret Life of Bees was an excellent movie and I've heard the book is even better. It is on my list. Escape is a very interesting book about the FLDS religion. The 13th Tale is also really good.
I can read any Jane Austen book over and over, but I also loved the Lord of the Rings series (I read all three massive novels in one week - CRAZY!). There's Harry Potter, of course. (My husband and I read the last few out loud to each other.) After the HP series, we looked for another junior-reader type book that would be easy to read outloud to each other and we found the FableHaven series, by Brandon Mull. They are fantastic and book #4 comes out next Tuesday!
OH I LOVE LOVE LOVE a good book. Are you on Goodreads? If you are we can be friends and you'll see a Loooooooong list of books from me.
I like to go to Amazon and type in a book that I really liked and then look at the suggestions Amazon gives you of what others bought or looked at from that book does that make sense).
Currently reading the Anne of Green Gables series.
I think you'd like A Great and Terrible Beauty and anything by Shannon Hale (the Goose Girl series rocks).
Seriously though if you want a lot of my suggestions just email or find me on goodreads.
p.s. Saw someone mention the Uglies series...it was okay. Each book (at least for me) got more and more disappointing...not my favorite, but an easy and fast read.
Read any books by Janette Oke. Such wonderful wonderful stories. I love them all.
not shockingly, i LOVE that page and i'm dying over the book page. i need one like NOW.
also, come over to studio calico. tina cockburn started a book club. we are reading hotel on the corner of bitter and sweet for our first month, it's very very good so far!
I also have been trying to find something since the Twilight series. I've read a few, but nothing as captivating. I did pick up Wuthering Heights b/c I never read it and Bella refers to it in the Twilight series. Also, anything by Jodi Picoult is good, her stories usually have some sort of legal case. I really liked The Pact and 19 Minutes.
Awesome idea, looking for new reads! One of my all time favorite books is "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles. Anything by Jane Austen is good; I read them all. (I love, love the classics.) The Harry Potter series is always good. I have heard nothing but good reviews on "The Shack." My cousin loves anything Janet Evanovich.
Good luck finding a new book to read!
Have you read "The Historian" by Elizabeth Kostova? It's about Vampires and was on the NY Times Bestseller list, I think. Really good, complex book.
Also, not vampire related, "The Time Traveller's Wife." The most amazing book I have ever read, hands down!
Happy reading!!
Lara
***********************************
First, thanks for such an inspiring blog!
**********
Now, log off this computer and RUN to the bookstore and buy Jodi Picoult's newest book "Handle with Care" It is a total pageturner..one you pull out at redlights and anyother time you have 20 seconds to read a bit!
**********Beth
I get so excited over books! The HAVE TO reads I was thinking of have been mentioned, so I will just second/third/forth...Hunger Games, Friday Night Knitting Club, Garden Spells & Sugar Queen!
Sure is nice to know I am not the only red-light-reader! ;)
A couple of other people recommended this already but I have to tell you again! Water for Elephants - this is one of my very favorites and I read a lot!
:) Love your blog!
I love all the book ideas! I think you should read a book about knitting. It'll be a great read and it'll inspire you to knit! Friday Night Knitting Club was good and so was The Shop on Blossom Street (series).
I just discovered Kristin Hannah - have liked most that I have read. Remind me alot of Nicholas Sparks books (which I LOVE!) - good, clean, page turners:)
LOVE, LOVE your blog and your srappin. Your blog really makes me want a "bind it all" Someday!
Janna
Hi - My daughter and I both read "Water for Elephants"...fabulous story! I have passed the book on to 5 friends who have all loved it. Well read - great tale - not your typical love story.
I hope some of the suggestions from others are good... I'm going to pick up a few of their books.
Love a good book! But a 4-book series is even better! TWILIGHT!
LOVE LOVE LOVE Time Travellers Wife-my fav of all time. Also loved Water for Elephants, Secret Life of Bees, The Host (almost better than Twilight...what?!?!?), The Glass House (SO GOOD!), Perks of being a Wallflower, hmmm also loved Angels and Demons-which you totally have to read before the movie comes out. But seriously, Time travellers wife...I bawled and laughed and felt good all over when I read it, and then I thought about it for weeks after, and still do from time to time.
I love this layout! You have inspired me to take some cute pictures of my son's feet while they are still so little!
My latest fav was The Shack. Read it in 2 days b/c I couldn't put it down. It's actually on my list to read again ~ it was THAT good :)
thanks for all the book suggestions... hopefully this weekend I'll have time to dive into some of these! :)
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