The Good Stuff

[CollegeReader]

You pick up a book to give it a shot. You can't put it down and when you're done, you have that great high from reading something spectacular. And you want to share it.

What are some books that you just think other people should read? Or maybe you just want to share about a book that changed you in some small way, inspired you or challenged you.

I'm a bookstore slut and I often pick up random stuff that I think just may be good ... or maybe not. It sits on my shelf and one day, I pick it up and see what happens. Things that Fall from the Sky by Kevin Brockmeier was one of those books. It's a collection of short stories and musings and it's pretty damn good (to my surprise). He has this knack for describing human emotion so poignantly and I couldn't get enough.

So let's hear 'em.

[knightss]

Some of my favorites:

Anthem by Ayn Rand
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

It's rare that i'll go into a bookstore and pick up an unknown book.. sometimes i'll pick up a book and read the first few chapters to see if i'm "into it" but besides that i get so many recommendations that my reading list is usually full.

[sleepydumpling]

I probably have lots, but I can only think of two recent ones...

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. I loved the strength of the characters in this story, and the beautiful descriptive prose. I was hooked right from the first chapter.

The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. Ever fallen in love with a character? Well that's what happened to me with several of the characters in this book. I just... connected... with this book. And I will warn you, the ending is so sad that I cried until I threw up!

[knightss]

did you really throw up...?

[sleepydumpling]

I did! Cried until I literally threw up and ended up with a migraine. It broke my heart that book.

[Anna]

Wow, sleepydumpling. Now I really want to read it.

The first book that I remember which really had an impression on me was The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay. I read it in my first year of high school (and yes, I cried while reading that one). It converted me from reading fantasy books to things deeper and more complex.
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Chrysler newport

[sleepydumpling]

It's a beautiful book Anna - but be warned the ending is sad. I only wish someone had warned me!

I have never really been affected by Bryce Courtenay's fiction, but I read April Fool's Day and it shattered me. That's such a heartbreaker that book.

[Laura Stamps]

Has anyone read White Oleander? Wow! I thought the book was a million times better than the movie, because they made some changes in the movie that I didn't think were good ones. But the book is actually very well-written and quite poetic, as it should be, because the mother was a poet (not an artist, like in the movie).

I read that book in a daze. It just grabbed me and wouldn't let go. Not only because of the writing style and story (which are gripping), but because I know what it is like to be raised by a dangerous parent (kind of like when I read the Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy for the first time...yikes!!).

After I finished White Oleander I emailed all my friends and told them they HAD to read it. Many did and were blown away by it too. It's that kind of novel.

[CollegeReader]

I will have to read it now =)

[complimentarymatters]

A book that is so sad it makes you throw up... I don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing.

I read The Time Traveler's Wife, and the ending is very sad.

[CollegeReader]

I read The Time Traveler's Wife, and the ending is very sad.

I finished that book earlier this month and wasn't as impressed as I thought I would be. In fact, I didn't even cry which means I didn't quite connect with it ... haha ... I always cry in good books

[Dori]

I won't recomment specific works; that would take while. As for authors:

Victor Hugo, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Leo Tolstoy, and Nathaniel Hawthorne.

The only book from the four authors (my favorites) that I recieved a "great high from reading something spectacular" was Les Miserables.