The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Follow the story of Santiago, a shepherd's son, who fantasizes of grander adventures than his current situation warrants. Then one night he dreams that he must go to the Pyramids in Egypt to seek his fortune. Along the way he meets, a gypsy, a king, a thief, a merchant, a beautiful girl and finally the alchemist. Some mean to help, others to hinder him, but eventually Santiago must look inside to find truth in life.
It is an incredible journey, with set backs and hardship but also enlightenment and success. Written like a fable or parable, it is very inspirational and applicable to all. The book will not take long to read, but it is one that you will want to return to again, for further insights. The book was originally written in Portuguese, and has been translated into more than 50 languages.

Joy In The Morning by Betty Smith

I recently posted about one of my favorite books, A Tree Grows In Brooklyn.  This book is by the same author, and is a very good read as well.  It is about a very young, just, married couple.  He is a college student in the midwest and she joins him, from Brooklyn.  It is about her efforts to adjust to a totally different life in a totally foreign culture.  It is about their first year of marriage.  Smith really captures the ups and downs of newlywed life, the insecurities, the financial struggles, and the effort to mesh two different lives together.   She really captures what it is like to love someone. It is a gem.  

Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster

If you are looking for a quick short read, I would recommend this story.  It is not quite long enough to be be called a novel, but not quite short enough to be called a short story.  Anyway it is about an orphan girl in the early 1900's that receives money, anonymously,  from one of the orphanage's trustees to go to college.  It is a collection of her letters to her sponsor about her college life and it is charming.  It is a very quick read (two hours, tops) and you can read it for free online here.  I first read this in junior high, remebered it last year and read it online once while my baby napped.  I love it.

The Host by Stephenie Meyer

Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away.

Our world has been invaded by an unseen enemy. Humans become hosts for these invaders, their minds taken over while their bodies remain intact and continue their lives apparently unchanged. Most of humanity has succumbed.

When Melanie, one of the few remaining "wild" humans is captured, she is certain it is her end. Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, was warned about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the glut of senses, the too vivid memories. But there was one difficulty Wanderer didn't expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.

Wanderer probes Melanie's thoughts, hoping to discover the whereabouts of the remaining human resistance. Instead, Melanie fills Wanderer's mind with visions of the man Melanie loves—Jared, a human who still lives in hiding. Unable to separate herself from her body's desires, Wanderer begins to yearn for a man she has been tasked with exposing. When outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off on a dangerous and uncertain search for the man they both love.
from http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/thehost.html

I read this in about two days. It is not the best book ever written, but, I like it. I thought it was entertaining. It is not too sci-fi and I think it is better writing then Twilight. It is a fun read if you don't expect too much.

Question?

So what was the last great series you read? These don't have to be the best books ever, but, something you enjoyed and were able to be caught up in, with the added bonus of more to come!
I for one have enjoyed Twilight, and Harry Potter. I also loved all of the Anne of Green Gables books and all other books by Lucy Maud Montgomery. The Inspector Lynley Mystery's by Elizabeth George are another I enjoyed.
What about you?

Beneath a Marble Sky by John Shors

In 1632, the Emperor of Hindustan, Shah Jahan, consumed by grief over the death of his empress, Mumtaz Mahal, ordered the building of a grand mausoleum to symbolize the greatness of their love. Against scenes of unimaginable wealth and power, murderous sibling rivalries, and cruel despotism, Princess Jahanara tells the extraordinary story of how the Taj Mahal came to be, describing her own life as an agent in its creation and as a witness to the fateful events surrounding its completion.

To escape a brutal arranged marriage, Jahanara must become the court liaison to Isa, architect of the Taj Mahal. She is soon caught between her duty to her mother's memory, the rigid strictures imposed upon women, and a new, though forbidden, love. With exceptional courage, Jahanara dares to challenge the bigotry and blindness at court in an effort to spare the empire from civil war, and to save her father from his bellicose son, Aurangzeb, a man whose hatred would extinguish the Islamic enlightenment from the Mughal Empire. To do so she must enlist her Hindu friend, Ladli, and her guardian, Nizam, as spies, and urge her brother, Dara, the designated heir to the throne, down from the ivory tower of his philosophical inquiries. The stakes become ever greater when Jahanara must deceive her husband as to the true father of her child, and must protect those closest to her from her enemies' retaliation.

As a princess and a mother, as a sister and a daughter, Jahanara will find herself faced time and again with impossible choices, and will discover the real meaning of her regal birthright. In Beneath a Marble Sky John Shors recreates an historical Hindustan brimming with breathtaking intrigue and containing the secret truth of the Taj Mahal for a world still in awe of its enduring majesty. (from http://www.beneathamarblesky.com/thestory.html)

I bought this book because I thought it was this one. I was however very glad I read it I liked it very much.

Wild Swans, Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang

With China so much in the headlines this would be a great time to pick this book up.  It is an amazing story of three generations of women and simultaneously the history of China in the 20th century.  The story is amazing and totally gripping.  One reviewer said, "Wild Swans is a riveting account of the impact of history on the lives of women.  This is a powerful, moving, at times shocking story of three generations of Chinese women...."  I would definitely consider this book in the category of must-read.  It will really open your eyes.

Still Life With Rice by Helie Lee

I will confess it has been ages since I read this book, so the details are quite fuzzy, but I do remember it being an amazing and important story.  The book is based on the incredible life of the author's grandmother who was born in Korea, married, and lived a very traditional Korean life, which in and of itself is fascinating.  Then throw in the part where her grandmother is caught up in the historical event of the Korean division. This is one of those amazing stories and as I remember a great story of mothers and human strength and sacrifice.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

If you haven't read this classic coming of age story yet, you absolutely must.  It is a story of a young Irish girl in Brooklyn at the turn of the century (the last century that is).  I love this book and it is one of my all time favorites.  A gem.

The Elm at the Edge of the Earth by Robert D. Hale

It has been a few years since I read this book so I actually had to read a synopsis to remember the details. But what I do remember is what a great story it is and how often, even years later, scenes from it will pop into my head and make me wonder.
David is a young boy who is sent to a country institution while his mother is seriously ill. There he makes friends with the inmates, each a little stranger than the last. But his best friend is Rose, a woman convicted of killing her husband with a butcher knife. Throughout his stay David and the reader, learn from his friends about the intricacies of life through humor and heartbreak.
You may have some trouble finding the book, because it's no longer in print and a lot of libraries don't have it (Amazon does have some copies for sale). However, it is worth whatever searching you have to do.

How Green Was My Valley

Set in a Welsch coal mining village, this book is a poetic and nostalgic coming-of-age story. I loved the beautiful language of the book, although it took me a little while to get used to the unusual dialogue. I loved the protagonist, Huw Morgan, who has a very unique and strong voice. He describes his large family, the valley they live in, the community and society they share, so vividly and with such integrity, you feel as if you are seated around the hearth and walking the hills with him. At times it was painful to read of the difficult life the coal miners lived, but I loved to read of the strong community ties, respect for family and God, and just the basic integrity and decency of the characters.

Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginnining, by Lemony Snicket and read by Tim Curry

This is a two-for-one recommendation. One for the book, one for the audiobook recording. Last year my family became a little addicted to audio books after we listened to all of the Harry Potter series read by the award-winning narrator, Jim Dale (maybe this is a three-for-one recommendation as I highly recommend the narration performance in this series too). Ever since, we've had to have something to listen to when in the car driving around, and we've been through a handful of books now.

No matter how great the book, we've learned a lot about the importance of a good narrator. And so I have to get the word out there about Tim Curry and his reading for the Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. I should say upfront that I think that I've had a crush on Tim Curry ever since I his performance opposite Carol Burnett and Bernadette Peters in Annie, and then I can't even tell you how many times I've seen the movie Clue, but all that bias aside, he's still a really fabulous narrator and our whole family has been enjoying his performance of this very clever series. In fact, we've been spellbound.


Caveat: for whatever reason, books #3, 4, & 5 are narrated by the author and not Tim Curry. As talented as the author was in forming these characters and putting their adventures together, not to mention, introducing all sorts of advanced vocabulary words in a really fun and disarming way, he is a pretty lousy narrator. Actually, my kids haven't complained about it very much because the story is still so fun--it's me who was so disappointed. Still, if you've got a long drive ahead, check your local library for the set.

Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky

This is a beautiful book for lots of reasons. First, the writing is tremendous and the stories and characters are rich and compelling. And second, the author's own story is also just as compelling and interesting.

The book is made of two short novellas both taking place in June 1940, the first about Parisians fleeing the city on the eve of the German invasion; the second in a small French town during the German occupation and is about the fraternization of the French townspeople and the German soldiers stationed there. The book was intended to be a suite, much like a symphony taking place with multiple acts, but with some variations on a theme with an ensemble of characters that are intertwined and overlapping throughout the different acts. The author intended the book to have five acts total, but was only able to complete these first two.

The author, who was born a Russian Jew and immigrated to Paris at 18yrs old, converted to Catholicism, but was repeatedly denied French citizenship. She was writing this while in hiding in France in 1940, but was turned over by the French and taken to Auschwitz where she died later that year. Her manuscript was saved by her 10 year old daughter thinking it was a journal. 50 years later it was published in France and became an instant best-seller.

Even considered "unfinished" as far as the overall work is concerned, I felt that the two novellas still felt complete as works on their own.

p.s. It makes a great Book Group book, not only because of the amount of information available for discussion, but also if you have a ward that reads only books with a PG rating.

Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser

Whew, I will never ever ever ever ever ever eat fast food again, and if you love fast food and don't want to give it up don't read this book.  Okay, this book was totally fascinating.  It was kind of long and I thought it would take me a few weeks to plow through, but it read very easily and was very interesting.  It has loads of information in it.  One of the most interesting parts of the book was the history of fast food and Ray Kroc (McD's founder) and Walt Disney.  The book covers the history of the industries involved with fast food, the workers, the meatpackers, the processors, the ranchers, e coli, advertising to children, and much more.  It has some truly important things to say and will definitely raise the bar on your social awareness.  I really do recommend this book to anyone.  

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

This book is written for kids grades 5-8 but I thought it was hilarious. There was so much buzz about it at the last book fair that when I saw it at Costco - I decided to pick one up for my kids. When I had a couple of minutes I sat down to peruse the book. Before I knew it, I was loving the story and totally laughing out loud!

Greg Heffley is a middle school student trying to learn the ropes of fitting in, looking cool, and how to avoid as much schoolwork as possible. He keeps this "dairy" of his experiences that are so familiar and crazy at the same time. Having been through middle school made it even more recognizable and funny. I was wondering if my 4th grader would understand some of the humor but she is enjoying it so far. This is worth reading! It is such a quick and easy read (could easily be read in one evening) - and will give some good laughs. I guess there is a sequel already out that is supposed to be great and another one expected in the future. I also found a website for the book here.

Gentlemen and Players by Joanne Harris

I remembered this book yesterday when I heard the author interviewed on The Diane Rheam show on NPR.  This is a twisty, turny, crazy book.  It is about an old, well established boys school in England and how it is sabotaged.  It is dark at times and will surprise you several times.  The author also wrote Chocolat which I would love to read.  My sister hated the book, but I found it intriguing, so I guess it isn't for everyone.

The Unquiet Nisei by Diana Meyers Bahr

A Nisei is a second generation Japanese American and this book draws on a collection of oral histories of an incredible woman, Sue Kunitomi Embrey and her friends and family. In 1942 Sue, along with nearly 120,000 other people of japanese anscestry, was removed from the West Coast to what were called "relocation centers". Sue's experiances in this internment camp transform her into a life long activist speaking out against racism, prejudice, and moral injustice her entire life. Sue did all this in the face of great hostility from both Japanese Americans and mainstream communities. She worked tirelessly for more than three decades to make her particular internment camp a historic site as well as gain congressional acknowledgement and a presidential apology for those she suffered with as well as to remind us of what can happen in war time chaos so that it will not happen again.

This story is absolutely inspiring. Sue did what she felt was right and became an activist in a time when there were few voices for those who were considered less than, and in direct opposition to her upbringing and japanese culture.

Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy

"At age nine, Lucy Grealy was diagnosed with a potentially terminal cancer. When she returned to school with a third of her jaw removed, she faced the cruel taunts of classmates. In this strikingly candid memoir, Grealy tells her story of great suffering and remarkable strength without sentimentality and with considerable wit. Vividly portraying the pain of peer rejection and the guilty pleasure of wanting to be special, Grealy captures with unique insight what it is like as a child and young adult to be torn between two warring impulses: to feel that more than anything else we want to be loved for who we are, while wishing desperately and secretly to be perfect." (Amazon)

The book was originally published in 1994 but in 2003, author Ann Patchett who was Lucy Grealy's best friend added an afterward. She wrote that Grealy wanted to be recognized for the quality of her writing and not just for the emotional impact of her experience. I thought that the writing was excellent and the story was powerful.

I am currently reading, Truth and Beauty by Ann Patchett which is sort of a companion novel to Autobiography of a Face. Patchett give many insights into her friendship with Grealy.

Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

I know this is a fairly widely read book, but I wanted to post about it anyway.  This is the true story of an amazing man, Greg Mortenson.  After an unsuccesful attempt at summiting k2 in Northern Pakistan, Greg wanders into the little village of Korphe, where the good people take him in.  He feels indebted to the village and when he sees that the girls have to sit outside for their school vows to return to the village to build a school.  So begins his life mission of forming family-like relationships with the tribes of Afgahanistan and Northern Pakistan, people who have little to no education and have been ignored by their governments, building schools, and fighting terrorism and ignorance in the only way possible: through education and friendship.  It is a great and inspiring story.  People that see a need and fulfill it and make a huge difference by following their gut really inspire me.  

The Lost by Daniel Mendlesohn

The Lost begins as the story of a boy , Daniel Mendlesohn,who grew up in a family haunted by the disappearance of six relatives during the Holocaust—a subject that captured his imagination from childhood. Decades later, motivated by the discovery of letters written to his grandfather in 1939 by this lost great-uncle, Daniel Mendelsohn sets out to find the remaining eyewitnesses to his relatives' fates. This journey eventually takes him to a dozen countries on four continents, and forces him to confront the discrepancies between the histories we live and the stories we tell. And it leads him back to the small Ukrainian town where his family's story began, and where the answer to the mystery is found.Moving between past and present, inter-weaving his world wide journey with childhood memories of a now-lost generation of immigrant Jews and ruminations on biblical texts and Jewish history Daniel Mendlesohn has written a masterpiece! At times suspenseful this deeply personal story is always poignant. I felt immediately inspired to do some genealogy and document some of my own families stories. This was really inspiring and beautiful.