3.13.2010

recommend me a book to read!

I thought it'd be cool if I opened up the comments for you guys to recommend me books that you love. What book made you laugh or cry or jump up and down because it was just so AMAZING?

I'll try to keep up with the comments on whether I've read the books yet and what I'm TBR-ing.

READY. SET. GO!

38 comments:

Amanda said...

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. If you haven't read it, you need to. Trust me.

in which a girl reads said...

@Amanda: I have read it! I really enjoyed it, great urban fantasy series :)

Shweta said...

I think my favorite is Study Series by Maria Snyder.I can't seem to get enough of that world. Now I am obsessed with the Glass Series by her. Have you read these books?

Kari Olson said...

The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey
Diary of a Witness by Catherine Ryan Hyde
The Maze Runner by James Dashner
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
The Devouring and Soulstice by Simon Holt
After by Amy Efaw
Leftovers by Laura Wiess (All 3 of hers, actually)

Liam said...

Well...how about Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver? And I can't remember if you've done The Girl With Glass Feet, which is sort of between YA and Adult, but is AMAZING. I cried so hard, like I did Shiver.

Going Bovine by Libba Bray? I'm debating buying it...

And I have no idea if you've done these or not, so...

Unknown said...

Feel free to (virtually) slap me when (notice how I didn't use if) go overboard:

ANY book by Melina Marchetta (one of my favorite authors ever)
Red Glass by Laura Resau
North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley
The Iron King (one of the most fantastic paranormal books out there)
Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston (Same thing applies to this one!)
Lament by Maggie Stiefvater (I liked this one way for than Shiver even though Shiver was pretty good)
Dream Factory by Brad Barkley and Heather Hepler (a tad corny, but I LOVED IT)
A Match Made in High School by Kristin Walker (it was pretty good, REALLY funny)
Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev (SA-WOON WORTHY)
Practically everything by John Green
Practically everything by Elizabeth Scott
And I hear Before I Fall is really good too!

If you go bankrupt buying these books... I'm sorry ;D

Unknown said...

One more, I swear (at least for today): The Mediator series by Meg Cabot. That book series = AWESOME!

Okay, now I'm done.

in which a girl reads said...

@shweta: I just looked those books up and they sound amazing! Especially the poison-taster part, that really peaked my interest. Thanks for the rec :)

@Kari: I haven't read any of those except The Knife of Never Letting Go (It was AMAZING). I particularly interested by The Monstrmolugist because I heard it won a Printz honor. I have AFTER sitting on my nightstand, I'm just about to start on it :)I've heard good things about Weiss so I'll definitely try her out and The Devouring looks fab. And I looked up DIARY and it sounds very powerful so definitely on my TBR list. Thanks!

@Liam: I'm dying to get my hands on BEFORE I FALL, but haven't had the chance yet. And just amazon-ed THE GIRL and Holy wow, lots of good reviews. And I'm trying to get my hands on Going Bovine--the printz means it must be fab :)

@Catt: I LOVE Melina Marchetta. (Jellicoe Road is so amazing).

Wondrous strange was great (one of the better faerie books I've read) & I liked the writing for Shiver so I'll check Lament out. Iron King sounds amazing. And I just looked up Red Glass and it has so many awards! Wow.

JOHN GREEN= AMAZING! *loves*

Eyes like Stars has been on my TBR list forever, I really need to read it! A Match Made in High school sounds like a fun read. And corniness can be cute so I'll check out Dream Factory.

I've only read Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott, but I'll try for some other books.

I have North of Beautiful on my nighstand, about to read it :)

Meg Cabot is so fun! I've read the Princess Diaries but not the Mediators...on my TBR list now :)

Unknown said...

My powers of persuasion have worked (if only it worked on my math teacher to raise my grade xD)!

Lament is her first book, might not be as happy as Shiver but still VERY INSANELY GOOD.

Eyes Like Stars is really creative and has amazing characters, I think you'll like the premise.

Some of ES's books are a lot more light than Living Dead Girl (though Love You Hate You Miss You is in the vein of LDG), so be prepared.

And yay about the NB and Mediators! And Red Glass totally deserves the many awards it gets! Happy reading =D

P.S.
John Green and Melina Marchetta fan girls unite!

Little Miss Becky :) said...

Have you read London Calling by Edward Bloor? So good! One of my favorites!

Kurumi said...

How about Spell Hunter and Wayfarer by RJ Anderson? I just finished both books and am totally in love with the characters! :)

Mystica said...

The Makioka Sisters for a slow moving book set in the early 20th century about four sisters - very different to the usual reading. And! Susan Howatch Glittering Images (Anglican bishops, cathedrals and vicars!! ) Have done reviews on both books on my blog. Would love if you could go visit.

Anonymous said...

I love the Bard Academy novels by Cara Lockwood.
The books are Wuthering High, The Scarlet Letterman and Moby Clique, and they are SUPER AWESOME.

The protagonist is a girl named Miranda who discovers she's part fictional - related to Cathy from Wuthering Heights - and well, the rest is spoilerish. But there is a super hot guy involved.

Amy said...

Hi it's me again (Amy), from your favorite books post tehe! Pity I don't have a blog- I'm just a book-crazy blog reader :) Here are mine (in order of most-urgent to a-bit-less-urgent):

THE QUEEN'S THIEF series by Megan Whalen Turner
-(The Thief, The Queen of Attolia, The King of Attolia) Yes I already recommended them in the comments in a previous post but still- they are such wonderful books! They are a bit hard to find though; best to probably order online! (x

EVERLOST & EVERWILD by Neal Shusterman
-OMG these are amazing amazing amazing books, like, if-I-could-I'd-shout-my-praises-from-the-mountain-tops kind of amazing :) Beautiful writing magnificent world-building captivating characters and the like- I'd be so overjoyed if you read and review it :D Dying to know what you think of them!

THE IRON KING by Julie Kagawa
-Normally I dislike the paranormal genre but oh man this is a real gem! Think of it as a epic quest a la Alice in Wonderland meets The Neverending Story meets Peter Pan meets...well...you get the idea sorta :)

TAMAR by Mal Peet
-This is in a somewhat similar vein to THE BOOK THIEF. Deal with WWII and is pretty good. Not as good as THE BOOK THIEF but still formidable in its awesomeness (did that make sense? err..haha)!

Well I don't have much to recommend because most of my favorites are also your favorites! (Diana Wynne Jones, Bartimaeus, Tamora Pierce, Book Thief, Jaclyn Moriarty) How cool is that? :D

Ooh and just one more thing since we all loved The Hunger Games :) Have you read GONE or HUNGER by Michael Grant? Great dystopian stuff, kind of like X-Men meets Lord of the Flies! And BATTLE ROYALE by Koushun Takami- similar to The Hunger Games in idea/concept and very very thrilling to read, but much more brutal. I loved/liked it!

So in recap- THE QUEENS THIEF, EVERLOST/EVERWILD, THE IRON KING, TAMAR, GONE/HUNGER, BATTLE ROYALE =)

Danielle Zappavigna said...

have you read the book thief by markus zusak? i highly recommend it!

Amy said...

Okay one last recommendation that I just remembered- Have you read any Juliet Marillier books?

I recommend starting with DAUGHTER OF THE FOREST. It's a retelling of The Six Swans but with so much more. There is beautiful writing and it's a high fantasy sort of book. The story is gorgeous and heartbreaking and the plot has twists and turns and personally, after I finished the book I walked around in a daze for a few days. I'd be taking a nap and either wake up repeatedly just thinking about the story or start mumbling lines from it while half-asleep!

Here is a nice quote from it:
"We may be torn asunder, and it may seem as if there is no tomorrow for us. We may travel our own path, and we may fall and be broken and mend again. But in the end, as surely as the sun and moon make their way across the arch of the heavens, the strenght of one is the strength of seven...Like pools in the same stream, we must meet and part and meet again. We belong to the flow of the lake and to the deep beating heart of the forest."

Vee said...

Have you read Gail Carson Levine's books yet, Book Twin? I know you've already read most of my swoon-worthy book list. But I think Ella Enchanted is pretty amazing.

Gail Giles' books are perfect examples of what edgy YA is these days, I think. They're hard hitting and short and sweet and awesome.

Aravind Adiga's The White Tiger (adult literary), but such an engaging, dynamic narrative. And great prose.

I'm sure I'll come up with more recs and return to spam your comments :D

Kirsten said...

I'm sure you've already read this, because the whole world has, but I just read THE HUNGER GAMES today while flying home and it was SO SO SO SO good. I died. Actually, I almost missed my flight because I was so engrossed.

Also, if you haven't read any Jasper Fforde (Jack Spratt series or Thursday Next series), I'd highly recommend him. He's hilarious and endlessly witty.

Anonymous said...

I highly recommend all these books!

If you want something dark and edgy:
Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers
Ballads of Suburbia by Stephanie Kuehnert

Books with HOT guys:
The Demon’s Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan (Sexy protagonist...)
Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl (one of the best books with a boy narrator)

If you want to laugh-out-loud:
Food, Girls, & Other Things I Can’t Have by Allen Zadoff

Something out of your comfort zone:
Rampant by Diana Peterfreund
Life As We Knew It by Sarah Beth Pfeffer

Something scary:
Project 17 by Laurie Faria Stolarz

Other books I enjoyed:
The Vinyl Princess by Yvonne Prinz (if you love books with music refrences)
As You Wish by Jackson Pearce (fun and touching)
Heist Society by Ally Carter (loved it)

I also heard many good things about North of Beautiful and Before I Fall. I'm excited to read them both! :) Oh and The Maze Runner was amazing!

-Kate at Read This Book!

Bookalicious Ramblings said...

I can't remember if you've read Wintergirls or The Luxe series, but I'd definitely recommend those! Or Before I Fall, obviously! :D

Adele said...

Well Nextread and I have both thrown up our top 25 SFF books in a combined list of 50 to address the overalll lameness of the SFX top 25 list. I guess we'd recommend any of those as must reads.

If you are interested
http://hagelrat.blogspot.com/2010/03/putting-out-money-where-our-mouths-are.html

Hannah said...

How about a book that made me laugh AND cry at the same time while bouncing up and down on my bed? The Opposite of Love by Julie Buxbaum. If you can handle the vulgarity and coarse language (which was hard for me to get past) you should definitely check it out. I read it and LOVED it, but still gave it away because of the vulgar language. Stinks because I really want to read the ending again right now. *sigh* maybe I'll find it in the library today so I can read just the last few chapters again.

Bidisha said...

YA:
Taken By Storm ~ Angela Morrison
Missing Judy ~ Anne Cassidy

Non YA:
The Kite Runner ~ Khaled Hosseini
Endless Rain ~ Meera Arora Nayak

Also, the Adrian Mole diaries by Sue Townsend.

TerryLynnJohnson said...

So glad you've asked this question. Loving reading all these suggestions. Another great read is Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Bethany said...

Yaay!

At the moment, I'm trying to recommend Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels to as many people as is possible. It is a stunning read, full of some of the most beautiful prose I have ever read in my life. Really, really, stunning.

It's about a Jewish boy who escapes at the time of WWII and is found by a Greek geologist. The story follows his life, how he grows up, following in love etc, and how he deals with his past and how it affects his life. Just seriously beautiful stuff. Please read!!

yuan said...

So I was thinking of books with beautiful writing in it that you'd like, and I was wondering, have you read Angela Johnson's First Part Last? OMG THE WRITING, SO BEAUTIFUL. Made me die of happiness:

"I’ve been thinking about it. Everything. And when Feather opens her eyes and looks up at me, I already know there’s change. But I figure if the world were really right, humans would live life backward and do the first part last. They’d be all knowing in the beginning and innocent in the end.

Then everybody could end their life on their momma or dady’s stomach in a warm room, waiting for the soft morning light."

Or A Girl Made of Dust by Nathalie Abi-Ezzi:

"I lay there listening to her. The brushing slowed to the speed of her song and blended into it. In the high parts, her voice was clear and wavered, but when she sang low, it came out rough and grainy as sand. It was a beautiful voice, and she was like a princess going round and round sweeping - round and round until one day something wonderful would happen, and then she'd sing all the time."

Oooor Ask Me No Questions by Marina Budhos:

"My family lived in a part of the world where there was no difference between land and sea. The water rose, and you went with it, like the reeds that leaned and bent outside. And after the rainy season was over once more, the land returned. There was no borders. There was only this way of living, back and forth between ground and water, year after year."

8D Hope you like. (may come back with YA fantasy recs if I have time.)

brandileigh2003 said...

North of Beautiful

Skin Hunger and Sacred Scars-- LOVED them!

City of bones, beautiful creatures, graceling, fallen if you havent read those!

Dwayne said...

Don't know if you've read these, but I totally heart them!

Coffee House Angel - Suzanne Selfors
- A cute romantic comedy with refreshing characters and an overall wonderful read.

I Heart You, You Haunt Me - Lisa Schroeder
-A tale of death, grief and moving on. A tear-jerker.

Stolen - Lucy Christopher
-One of the most captivating books I've ever read, and the only one which has so far made me feel self-disgust.

To Catch a Pirate - Jade Parker (not YA)
-A brief romantic read, complete with sexy pirate charms!

These are what I have recently enjoyed :)

Sandy said...

YES! I have been wanting to recommend this one book to you and here's my chance! :D

Born Confused by Tanuja Desai Hidier. I love this book soooo much. It has a great MC and its message is beautiful. READ IT IF YOU HAVEN'T!

Anonymous said...

Leaving Paradise by Simone Elkeles
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Those are 2 books I have recently read that I was amazed with :D

Tales of Whimsy said...

The Dark Divine! It's amazing! Oh and My Double Life by Janette Rallison and/or The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen.

Grace said...

SHIVER!!!(by maggie stieveter)

Remilda Graystone said...

I've been lurking, but it stops today!

Books I recommend:

Beauty by Robin McKinley
Born Confused by Tanuja Desai Hidier
Star-Crossed by Linda Collison
The Red Necklace by Sally Gardner

I thought they were great reads.

Love the blog, by the way.

Tahereh said...

definitely the hunger games trilogy. i can't wait for the third book.

by the way -- i LOVE your blog layout. beautiful.

in which a girl reads said...

Thank you everyone for the amazing book recommendations! I really appreciate it and hopefully you'll be seeing some of your recced books on upcoming IMM's.

*huggles awesome book recs*

*huggles awesome commenters*

<333

Unknown said...

Hi Meg, just wanted to let you know you have an award waiting for you here.

ashley said...

Forgive me for the huge list I'm about to recommend. And also for being a bit late with recommendations. You will most likely go broke. But you will be a very happy reader.

Let's see...

Project 17 by Laurie Faria Stolarz is good; very fast-paced and slightly creepy.

All of Robin Palmer's books are fun; they're modern fairy tales/ YA chick lit.

Pretty much anything by Joan Bauer is good.

Mari Mancusi's Blood Coven series (starts with Boys that Bite) is a fun paranormal series.

Anything by Chris Crutcher is pretty much amazing, but especially Deadline.

The Tale of Desperaux by Kate Dicamillo is adorable! It's a story about a mouse, a princess, light, and storytelling.

Oh, and anything Alex Flinn, both the realistic fiction (Fade to Black is good) and the fairy tale retellings (Beastly is good).

April (BooksandWine) said...

I keep scrolling through this nodding my head thinking, yes, yes you should read that.

I second the recommendations of Before I Fall, and Daughter of the Forest.

I'd like to add Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson, yes, it's fantasy, but it's fun and engrossing and when I finished it I was jumping up and down with happiness. I iz dork.

Also Rampant by Diana Peterfreund is great, can't argue with killer unicorns.

If you enjoy graphic novels, check out The Arrival by Shaun Tan -- the art work is gorgeous.

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