Summer Reading List (fun or interesting books)

[spiderpete]

---

Members don't see this ad.

What's on your list to read this summer? Mine needs some help, but it starts with...

- Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson (and any Wheel of Time previews)
- The Road by Cormack McCarthy (highly recommended by friends and falling thru the cracks so far)
- The Social Animal, David Brooks (I lean farther left, but often agree w/ that the man has to say)
- finish House of God... Im about halfway thru.


Well, not much of a list, and that is why I enlist your help. Please, no Robbins and Netter, as much as Im a fan of pre-reading for classes, not this time.

 

[Pons Asinorum]

Wrapping up classes, starting to roll through The Emperor of Maladies. It's wonderful so far.

 

[Prncssbuttercup]

So, I watched The Road, and if it weren't for a friend saying the book seems to be better, I would put it as a maybe. The movie irritates me to no end... However, she said, "That is the problem with the movie and why I won't watch it. The beauty of the book was the relationship thriving in an unknown world. (Of course every reader wants to know 1) what happened 2) what the boys name is etc) The way the book... is written, the focus seems very different from what you describe. I always tell people that I hated every minute of reading the book but it is the one book I am so happy I have read and I consider it one of my favorites."

I have a bunch of audiobooks on my list (as I don't always have time to read, and I travel a lot, so I can listen in the car), as well being told the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo books are very good.

I am not sure I want to read House of God... I am not sure if it would irritate me or not... I don't like movies or books that make me want to smack the author... 😉

Pons, that is on my audiobook list... wasn't sure if I should get it yet...

 

[catswym]

"This won't hurt a bit" ~Michelle Au
"Health at every size" ~Linda Bacon
"Between expectations: Lessons learned from a pediatric residency" ~Meghan Maclean Weir
"The third life of Grange Copeland" ~Alice Walker
"the Carbon Diaries 2015" ~Saci Lloyd
"seed to harvest" ~ Octavia Butler (actually a collection of four of her books)
"great house" ~nicole krauss

That's just what I have on my nightstand at the moment to read.

 

[dawgbone]

Wrapping up classes, starting to roll through The Emperor of Maladies. It's wonderful so far.

+1. About 50 pages in and can't get enough.

The Road is a fantastic read if you can handle McCarthy's writing style.

The Healing of America by T.R. Reid is an eye-opening adventure into the healthcare systems of other countries.

 

[Scullery Maid]

Ooooh, I want to read Emperor of All Maladies and Healing America!

I have an unhealthy obsession with my Kindle. I am not ashamed. I want to read this summer:

Sherlock Holmes collection.

A bunch of 50s pulp fiction, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and HG Wells.

The Stand and the Gunslinger by Stephen King.

Eating Animals and Why We Love Dogs and Eat Pigs.

Elegant Universe by Brian Greene. (2 bucks on Kindle!)

Health at Every Size, Obesity Myth, and Fat Politics. I am interested in the idea that the obesity epidemic is exaggerated, not quite sure if I believe it is true, but want to learn more.

Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn.

Game of Thrones, first book.

Half-Made World, Johannes Cabal, Ex-Heroes, Monstrumologist, On Stranger Tides, Perdido Street Station, Ship Breaker, Sandman Slim...basically a bunch of urban fantasy/steampunk novels.

 

[teddy bear doc]

the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo books are very good.

DO IT. They were AWESOME!!!

 

[MommyMedStudent]

I will be reading nothing but school books .... boo!

 

[mauberley]

Infinite Jest. If I don't finish it by orientation, I never will. 😡

 

[MichaelBergen]

Michelle Au's "This Won't Hurt a Bit"

 

[Pons Asinorum]

Michelle Au's "This Won't Hurt a Bit"

Yeah, I preordered that one from Amazon. Waiting for it to show up just in time for finals to wrap up 😉

 

[spiderpete]

Infinite Jest. If I don't finish it by orientation, I never will. 😡

I met DFW in college (dated his sister). He was quirky and brilliant even then. I was greatly saddened by his death. If ever there was a troubled genius, it was David.

 

[spiderpete]

Adding "Emperor of Maladies" and "This Won't Hurt a Bit" to my list. Maybe they'll be my first Kindle-on-the-iPad reads. 🙂 And then I'll dig deeper into all these fine suggestions.

Highly recommend Game of Thrones, first two books especially! If that's your cup of tea, check out Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series.

 

[LegendaryPunk]

Right now I'm working on the Master and Commander series; currently in the middle of book 13, out of 20 total. Got a looong way to go, but I'm a fast reader and love never-ending series.

Sitting patiently on my bookself, waiting for their turn:

Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
Lord Jim - Jospeh Conrad
Last Night in Twisted River - John Irving

It's also rare that a day or two goes by during which I don't open up a Calvin & Hobbes book 😀

 

[n3xa]

Tina Fey - Bossypants
Dr. Joe Schwarcz - That's the Way the Cookie Crumbles

 

[wholeheartedly]

thanks everyone, my list just got substantially longer.... 🙂

 

[n3xa]

She Went to War: The Rhonda Cornum Story

 

[spiderpete]

?...
It's also rare that a day or two goes by during which I don't open up a Calvin & Hobbes book 😀

My favorite is the one where Calvin is whacking nails into the coffee table. "Calvin!! What are you doing?!!". Thoughtful pause. "Is this a trick question?"

 

[Prncssbuttercup]

Two others I thought of:

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
The Shack (good for people who are moderately religious or religious, prob not good for atheists)

 

[JKinSC]

Two others I thought of:

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
The Shack (good for people who are moderately religious or religious, prob not good for atheists)

+1 to both of these; and huge ups to LP for the Aubrey/Maturin series! I started those at the suggestion of an old high school friend, and devoured the first 12. He's got the rest; I just haven't had the chance to borrow them yet.


I've found that since I've gotten my Kindle, I've bought far fewer books thanks to all the free, out-of-copyright books available. So far, I've gone through Monte Cristo, Jane Eyre, Gulliver's Travels, and so many more that I missed out on in younger days. Truly the best gift I think I've ever gotten!

 

[Prncssbuttercup]

I have an audible account because I have an hour commute each way to work, and added some 'classics' to my list... I assume everyone else has read Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, but until this year, I hadn't. I have now been searching through some of the other cheap audiobooks to find more 'classics' that I never realized I was missing 😉

 

[TheNotoriousMPH]

I'm going to try to prepare my brain to become a memorizing machine by reading Moonwalking With Einstein by Joshua Foer.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/13/b...moonwalking-with-einstein-by-joshua-foer.html
Who really knows if it will help me learn better strategies for memorization, but at least I can trick myself into thinking I'm being productive so I won't go over the edge and read a USMLE review book.
Beyond that, I'm mostly trying to go through books that my friends have lent to me that I want to return to them- The Phantom Tollbooth, The Westing Game (yes, books I should have read at age 12), Drown (Junot Diaz), Biological Exuberance, Inferno (Myles), Wordfreak (another mental training story, except about Scrabble). A good mishmash.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is a fantastic, illuminating read.
If any of you all are into non-fiction (and are looking for something not strictly medical), I'd also suggest The Warmth of Other Suns. It's heavy, both in topic matter and in size, but so gripping and amazing, about the migration of African Americans from the rural south to urban centers in the north. It went down more easily than most novels, often made my jaw drop. It centers on the stories of three people of different education, class and destination. For the medical hook- one of the main characters, Robert Pershing Foster, was a doctor who moved to LA, became physician to Ray Charles, even had a song written about him by Ray. Really interesting to read about that doctor's experiences as a doctor in the military, in Louisiana, then struggling to establish a practice in a new city, LA. Anyway. Here's a review.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/05/books/review/Oshinsky-t.html

 

[stefspets]

I'm going to finish reading the Sookie Stackhouse novels. Then I might follow it with the Betty White memoir. I like to keep my reading cerebral. 😉

 

[ThreadStalker]

I'm going to try to prepare my brain to become a memorizing machine by reading Moonwalking With Einstein by Joshua Foer.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/13/b...moonwalking-with-einstein-by-joshua-foer.html

👍 Thanks for this. I heard him interviewed on NPR and totally forgot about it. Oh, the irony.

Other books:
Partner to the Poor Dr. Paul Farmer
Zorba the Greek Kazantzakis
Don Quixote Cervantes
A Confederacy of Dunces Toole

I'm on a classics kick this year.

 

[EdLongshanks]

👍 Thanks for this. I heard him interviewed on NPR and totally forgot about it. Oh, the irony.

Other books:
Partner to the Poor Dr. Paul Farmer
Zorba the Greek Kazantzakis
Don Quixote Cervantes
A Confederacy of Dunces Toole

I'm on a classics kick this year.

I was considering working my way through the collected works of Barbara Cartland.

 

[ruraldocmom]

My summer reading list is already too long. But I just added many of your suggested books to my list. Darn it. Here are a few on mine:

- Malcolm Gladwell books - the ones I haven't read yet. When I read Outliers I kept saying "whoa, did you know?" to my husband, who had already read the book. Clearly, he knew.
- The girl who did (whatever) by Stieg Larsson, finished book 2, next up: book 3.
- Local Travel books - hiking, weird & strange phenomenon, etc. I've got a nice stack from the library.
- Bossypants, Tina Fey
- History in a glass, 60 years of wine writing from Gourmet
- Mary Oliver poetry books
- A not entirely benign procedure, 4 years as a medical student (and about 10 other books about medical school--I'm curious if each offers anything new)
- Strength in what remains, Tracy Kidder
- The History of Tom Jones, A foundling by Henry Fielding
- Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
- by Sherwin Nuland, a couple of biographies on medical historical people

And some super-frivolous books, that currently remain undiscovered.

As for House of God, do you want to read it? I felt the gratuitous vigorously detailed sex bits were a little much--but the story itself was really awesome and you can see the changing of an idealist into a realist. It did dull my enthusiasm for medical training for about a week. But its good to work through some of that in small doses--feel a little more educated going in.

 

[ThreadStalker]

I was considering working my way through the collected works of Barbara Cartland.

I had to look her up. 723 published books plus 160 unpublished manuscripts?! All in all, though, that's a better use of time than other options. Atlas Shrugged comes to mind. I'd like to have that month back. 😀

 

[EdLongshanks]

I had to look her up. 723 published books plus 160 unpublished manuscripts?! All in all, though, that's a better use of time than other options. Atlas Shrugged comes to mind. I'd like to have that month back. 😀

Yeah 723 books and 3 plots.

I started on Atlas Shrugged once, but after 100 pages and no plot movement, I shrugged and put the book down.

I have a few conservative/libertarian friends who swear by Ayn Rand, but I would be more likely to swear AT her if I was forced to read her books. (and I don't even swear). This is a case much like Mellville and Moby Dick. No matter how many great minds tell me what a great book it is, I know better.

 

[Damia]

.

 

[ThreadStalker]

Yeah 723 books and 3 plots.

I started on Atlas Shrugged once, but after 100 pages and no plot movement, I shrugged and put the book down.

I have a few conservative/libertarian friends who swear by Ayn Rand, but I would be more likely to swear AT her if I was forced to read her books. (and I don't even swear). This is a case much like Mellville and Moby Dick. No matter how many great minds tell me what a great book it is, I know better.

I tend to not get along with people who are big Ayn Rand fans, though while I was reading it a friend told me "I'd never read that, I'm a communist!" and I thought "You know, I'm pretty sure they tried that somewhere, and it didn't seem to work out so well..." I guess I'm destined to be a middle-of-the-road type.
The best thing about it is that it now sits on my shelf like a trophy, the stuffed head of some horrible beast that I entered into mortal combat with and bested through sheer force of will. Moby Dick and War and Peace are on my lifetime reading lists for the same reasons. Someday, my book shelves will sag and creak under the weight of their decimated carcasses. Until then, they will taunt me.

 

[EdLongshanks]

I tend to not get along with people who are big Ayn Rand fans, though while I was reading it a friend told me "I'd never read that, I'm a communist!" and I thought "You know, I'm pretty sure they tried that somewhere, and it didn't seem to work out so well..." I guess I'm destined to be a middle-of-the-road type.
The best thing about it is that it now sits on my shelf like a trophy, the stuffed head of some horrible beast that I entered into mortal combat with and bested through sheer force of will. Moby Dick and War and Peace are on my lifetime reading lists for the same reasons. Someday, my book shelves will sag and creak under the weight of their decimated carcasses. Until then, they will taunt me.

I never understood the elevation of terrible books into immortality. Sure, I understand why one might struggle through a Calculus textbook; I get why someone might work their way through "The Voyage of the Beagle". I spent a year reading through the Bible (even the genealogies). You're trying to learn something. But, why in the world would anyone read Joyce's "Ulysses". These are novels; they are supposed to entertain. Apparently, the ticket into immortal ranks of great books is given only to stories that bore the reader into "highmindedness".

I'll stick with low fiction.

 

[wholeheartedly]

I'll stick with low fiction.

I'll second this. I had a psychology professor refer to recreational books as "brain candy" and I'd prefer to keep it that way 😛

 

[LegendaryPunk]

The best thing about it is that it now sits on my shelf like a trophy, the stuffed head of some horrible beast that I entered into mortal combat with and bested through sheer force of will. Moby Dick and War and Peace are on my lifetime reading lists for the same reasons. Someday, my book shelves will sag and creak under the weight of their decimated carcasses. Until then, they will taunt me.

I read through War and Peace a couple summers ago, as it was on my "books to read before I die" list as well. I ended up enjoying it...eventually. The first ~150 pages were rough. Really rough. So many introductions, foreign names that were impossible to remember, learning the hierarchy - it took me around six weeks to make it past that part in Book One, during which time I also read a couple other books on the side to keep myself sane.

For the remaining 1,000+ pages though, once things actually start happening, I enjoyed the book a great deal.

 

[EdLongshanks]

I'll second this. I had a psychology professor refer to recreational books as "brain candy" and I'd prefer to keep it that way 😛

Yes, there is some low fiction "brain candy" that has no value at all. But that doesn't mean that every valuable novel needs to make itself a chore.

A comparable argument would be in poetry. There is some doggerel that rhymes and has rhythm, and I suppose there is some great assonant poetry, but I'm with my Renaissance teacher who said, "They made it rhyme during the renaissance, why can't they make it rhyme now?"

A book can be entertaining and valuable fiction also. The Lord of the Rings isn't a chore to read and has a lot to say.

Even juvenile fiction - like the Narnia books - can have a lot to say without making the reader wade through quicksand and climb the high cliffs before reaching the yogi.

 

[EdLongshanks]

Yes, there is some low fiction "brain candy" that has no value at all. But that doesn't mean that every valuable novel needs to make itself a chore.

A comparable argument would be in poetry. There is some doggerel that rhymes and has rhythm, and I suppose there is some great assonant poetry, but I'm with my Renaissance teacher who said, "They made it rhyme during the renaissance, why can't they make it rhyme now?"

A book can be entertaining and valuable fiction also. The Lord of the Rings isn't a chore to read and has a lot to say.

Even juvenile fiction - like the Narnia books - can have a lot to say without making the reader wade through quicksand and climb the high cliffs before reaching the yogi.

Some more juvenile books that have great value are "Watership Down", the "Wrinkle in Time" series by L'Engle, "Jackaroo" by Cynthia Voight. Here are great books that teach great lessons and also tell great stories.

 

[wavewheel]

I read through War and Peace a couple summers ago, as it was on my "books to read before I die" list as well. I ended up enjoying it...eventually. The first ~150 pages were rough. Really rough. So many introductions, foreign names that were impossible to remember, learning the hierarchy - it took me around six weeks to make it past that part in Book One, during which time I also read a couple other books on the side to keep myself sane.

For the remaining 1,000+ pages though, once things actually start happening, I enjoyed the book a great deal.

I agree, War and Peace is a great book, you just have to power through the first couple hundred pages. Once I got into it, I liked it so much that I read it a second time (about a year after my first time through).

As far as medically-themed books go, I recently read My Own Country by Abraham Varghese and thought it was amazing. It's the story of a young, immigrant doctor (Varghese) who ends up as the de facto AIDS expert for Eastern Tennessee during the early years of the epidemic. I have a personal connection to the Southern Appalachians, but I think anyone interested in infectious disease -- or just getting inside the mind of a good doctor -- would find it fascinating.

 

[ThreadStalker]

I never understood the elevation of terrible books into immortality. Sure, I understand why one might struggle through a Calculus textbook; I get why someone might work their way through "The Voyage of the Beagle". I spent a year reading through the Bible (even the genealogies). You're trying to learn something. But, why in the world would anyone read Joyce's "Ulysses". These are novels; they are supposed to entertain. Apparently, the ticket into immortal ranks of great books is given only to stories that bore the reader into "highmindedness".

I'll stick with low fiction.

Well, I think there is an argument to be made for dense literature, though I'm not the one to make it. I've never made it more than five pages into anything by Joyce, but my friends with English degrees tend to love him. As for myself, I'm kind of a sucker for scale. I also find it nice to understand the allusions and references made in other works or conversation. I get a little more from Rage Against the Machine's "Ghost of Tom Joad" now that I've read The Grapes of Wrath. Of course, this isn't meant to condescend to people who just aren't into it, either. To each their own. If we all didn't have our own reading preferences, we might all be sitting around watching Jersey Shore reruns ad nauseam.

Lately, I've really gotten into "How Doctors Think". I'm really into all of the pop-neuroscience titles like Deep Survival, Blink, Predictably Irrational and Black Swan. Thins one brings a lot of that same focus to the medical field.

 

[teddy bear doc]

I like to keep my reading cerebral. 😉

LOL! Me too. I might just re-read the Harry Potter books while I'm at it. And... (oh God this is embarrassing)... the Twilight books.

To be fair, I also love "literature" type books (anything from Shakespeare to Salman Rushdie) and some nonfiction too.

I'm about a quarter through The House of God right now, which I figured was basically a prerequisite to med school. I'm not discovering anything new. I have had some clinical experience in a nursing home, and basically the entire book sums up how I felt about the situation for most of the clients (tragic to the point of absurdity, feeling powerless to help, etc). But minus the whole wanting to gratuitously bang the busty nurse part. 😉

 

[spiderpete]

Ayn Rand. Not for me. Apparently Paul Ryan likes it alot. 'nuf said.

LOTR - I don't know what lessons I got out of it, but it must have been a lot. I read it ten times.

Damia - Have not heard of your far future suggestions. Can't wait to try 'em out! For a written-in-the-far-past-about-the-far-future, Asimov's Foundation series and Herbert's Dune must be on one's list.

As for the light vs. heavy literature debate, I guess I tend toward light for fiction and relevant (to my life as-of-now) non-fiction. Melville, Shakespeare, and the lot got left at school some decades ago, for better or worse. I'll have enough serious stuff to read this coming Fall. 🙄

 

[stefspets]

In theory I'd like to read classics so I am well read, but my problem is that some of them don't deserve to be classics. They're boring.

I did read Jane Eyre recently and I enjoyed that. In general though I'd rather pick up something that I can get into quickly and that's fun to read. I'm too busy with studying and work to bother with anything more difficult. At the moment, at least.

 

[wholeheartedly]

I think in the light vs. heavy debate I tend to go in cycles. Right now in the post finals brain overload stage, my idea of reading consists of some light and easy brain candy while I hang out in a hammock in the backyard sipping lemonade in the sunshine.

Later this summer though I'll probably be ready to enjoy reading the following: "Elegant Universe" "Warped Passages" and "The Tao of Physics" which have all been sitting on my book shelves for at least a year. I've had Elegant Universe since undergrad and keep getting sidetracked, thanks whoever reminded me of that one 😉

I would like to read more of the classics though and I love discount books. They used to have a sale in my hometown that was books by the pound. Like 10 cents a pound for paperback and 30 cents a pound for hardcover. It was AWESOME. I've found some really great gems off the 2 dollar rack.

 

[Scullery Maid]

I read My Own Country several years ago, it really is a great book.

When I was in my teens I devoured Ayn Rand books. Not because I believed in her philosophy in any way, but because they were wriiten like a cross between Harlequin romance and those 1950 propoganda films.

 

[QofQuimica]

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Great read. I highly recommend this one. 👍

I tend to not get along with people who are big Ayn Rand fans, though while I was reading it a friend told me "I'd never read that, I'm a communist!" and I thought "You know, I'm pretty sure they tried that somewhere, and it didn't seem to work out so well..."

If you're going to read an Ayn Rand book, read "Anthem." Besides the virtue of it being relatively short, it's much better written, with no ninety page philosophical harangues in the middle of it.

Some more juvenile books that have great value are "Watership Down", the "Wrinkle in Time" series by L'Engle, "Jackaroo" by Cynthia Voight. Here are great books that teach great lessons and also tell great stories.

Love these, along with the Narnia series. But my favorite children's book is "The Phantom Tollbooth" by Norton Juster. Very clever, one of those stories written on two levels where adults get a lot more out of it that kids miss. I'd also add "The Princess Bride." For those who have seen the movie but not read the novel, please, read the novel. The movie tries, but it just isn't the same.

For those who want adult books, here are my suggestions:

Medically themed: "The Nazi War on Cancer," by Robert Proctor. Will absolutely make you reexamine your beliefs about public health, Nazi policy, and the intersection between them. His other book, "Racial Hygiene," is also excellent.

Nonmedically themed: "But for Birmingham", by Glenn Eskew. Can be kind of dense in places, but still pretty riveting if you're interested in civil rights history. I met Shuttlesworth once and got him to sign my copy.

Fiction: Has to be "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams. If you haven't read this book, you've seriously deprived yourself. For something more literary, try the "Arabian Nights" by Burton or some other translator.

Edit: I forgot to add what's on my list, which is "Sleights of Mind" by Stephen Macknik, and "Sometimes a Great Notion" by Ken Kesey (same guy who wrote "One Came Over the ****oo's Nest"). Would also like to read "The Natural Selection of the Chemical Elements" by Williams and da Silva.

 

[ruraldocmom]

I second the Dune. I reread it every few years. Last year I even read one of the sequels. But I made myself stop with 1 sequel. Because I am easily addicted. And 14 seems a bit much.

For juvenile books, I'll add the Susan Cooper books. I was obsessed with those as a kid--light and dark, good and evil. And Arthurian legend, which I'm a total sucker for.

And, of course "Once and Future King." I tell my kid bedtime stories from that book. Hilarious. Only the first part though. The whole Lancelot thing gets a bit depressing.

My Own Country is on my bookshelf, and I still haven't picked it up. Y'all make it sound awesome. I vow to rectify that immediately!

 

[ruraldocmom]

Damia, just added a few of your books to my hold list at the local library. Soulless sounds ridiculous. And probably awesome.

 

[kraskadva]

I'm currently re-reading Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series.
The main characters are an ex-combat nurse from the 1940s and a Scottish Highlander from the 1740s. She accidentally goes back in time, meets him falls in love...and away they go. Well written and well researched, so if you're interested in historical fiction it's a pretty good read- there's also quite a bit about medical practices in the 18th century in there.
Entertaining, easy to read, informative, and the books are fat (~1000pgs w/ 7 published so far), so you'll have something to read for a while.

 

[Gko]

I never understood the elevation of terrible books into immortality. Sure, I understand why one might struggle through a Calculus textbook; I get why someone might work their way through "The Voyage of the Beagle". I spent a year reading through the Bible (even the genealogies). You're trying to learn something. But, why in the world would anyone read Joyce's "Ulysses". These are novels; they are supposed to entertain. Apparently, the ticket into immortal ranks of great books is given only to stories that bore the reader into "highmindedness".

I'll stick with low fiction.

Is entertainment the only purpose of novels? If so, why bother with the form and function of the written word? Words would be taken at face value, with no regard for the beautiful nuances that language provides. This shouldn't be taken lightly. No, novels are works of art done through the medium of text. They can reach you emotionally as Franzen and Martel do. They can challenge you intellectually as Joyce and Wallace do. They can walk that fine balance as I've found from Marquez. Challenging books especially, provide a wonderful rewarding experience on par with any difficult piece of work. I was about to write more but just now I realized I should probably be studying right now. So I'll just leave behind my favorite novels I've read through this past academic year.

Love in the Time of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The best love story I've ever read.

Watership Down - Richard Adams
A great commentary on politics, society, and the intricacies of teamwork packaged into a gripping story.

and this summer is going to an Infinite Summer for me. Hopefully I can find the free time to read this behemoth of a book.

 

[proclus]

i second the dune. I reread it every few years. Last year i even read one of the sequels. But i made myself stop with 1 sequel. Because i am easily addicted. And 14 seems a bit much.

For juvenile books, i'll add the susan cooper books. I was obsessed with those as a kid--light and dark, good and evil. And arthurian legend, which i'm a total sucker for.

this

 

[artsydoc]

Just finished Forbidden Journeys (Victorian Fairy Tales) and The Thirteenth Tale, just starting Remarkable Creatures, requested at library book 2 of Game of Thrones and Some Tame Gazelle. Favorite medical related anything by Oliver Sacks (except Musicophilia-that was a dud) and Every Patient Tells a Story. All time favorites Middlemarch, Silas Marner, any novel by any Bronte sister, Anna Karenina, Love in the Time of Cholera. Was lit major but not always quite so high-brow these days, haha 😉 Great thread my list just got much longer, yay!

oh yeah for young adult can't beat I Capture the Castle and His Dark Materials (don't let bad movie dissuade) , Hunger Games not great writing but couldn't put it down anyway

 

[EdLongshanks]

Just finished Forbidden Journeys (Victorian Fairy Tales) and The Thirteenth Tale, just starting Remarkable Creatures, requested at library book 2 of Game of Thrones and Some Tame Gazelle. Favorite medical related anything by Oliver Sacks (except Musicophilia-that was a dud) and Every Patient Tells a Story. All time favorites Middlemarch, Silas Marner, any novel by any Bronte sister, Anna Karenina, Love in the Time of Cholera. Was lit major but not always quite so high-brow these days, haha 😉 Great thread my list just got much longer, yay!

oh yeah for young adult can't beat I Capture the Castle and His Dark Materials (don't let bad movie dissuade) , Hunger Games not great writing but couldn't put it down anyway

I love this thread also. My son who is deploying to Afghanistan stole my kindle, but I discovered the new Android kindle app, so I am still buying kindle books at the rate of a couple a week. I was having a hard time finding good books, but you all's suggestions are great.