It's Friday! Let's talk books!

Another glorious Friday here in Uptown…makes one start to think about summer holidays!

I always enjoy having an engrossing book to read while on vacation. So instead of a Friday Photo post today, I thought we could talk books. I know that I am reading a “good book” when I find myself thinking about the story during the day, and when I can’t wait for bedtime so that I can read some more. What type of books do I enjoy?…the first priority is that it be character-driven. I love when the protagonist becomes a real person in my mind. I need a character-centred plot that is more or less real life. I’m really not a fan of sci-fi or vampires or huge descriptive passages about nature. So join me on a brief literary tour!…

[I decided not to provide links or give reviews - Google any title and you'll easily find a plot summary or a review]

5 Novels That I Absolutely Loved (Read Within the Last Couple of Years) And Gave Them a 4-Star Rating:

1. Good to a Fault – Marina Endicott

2. The Memory Keeper’s Daughter – Kim Edwards

3. Clara Callan – Richard Wright

4. A Perfect Night to Go to China – David Gilmour

5. The Way the Crow Flies – Ann-Marie MacDonald

5 “Chick Lit” Books That Are Awesome ”Beach” Reads:

1. The Devil Wears Prada – Lauren Weisberger

2. Chasing Harry Winston – Lauren Weisberger

3. Bergdorf Blondes – Plum Sykes

4. The Nanny Diaries - Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus

5. Good In Bed – Jennifer Weiner

5 Books From My Entire Life That I Will Never Forget and Could Not Put Down:

1. A Prayer For Owen Meanie – John Irving

2. I Know This Much Is True – Wally Lamb

3. Cheaper By the Dozen – Frank B. Gilbreth & Ernestine Gilbreth Carey (I think I read this at least a dozen times in my tween years!)

4. The Story Girl – Lucy Maud Montgomery (this goes way back to childhood!)

5. Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger

5 Books that I Cannot Recommend:

1. A Thousand Splendid Suns – Khaled Hosseini (beautifully written but completely heart-wrenching/terribly hard to read; cannot get the scene of the protagonist and her 3 year old daughter locked in a scorchingly hot room for a few days with no water…plus, I don’t like war-centred pieces; nightmare-inducing).

2. The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown (most over-rated piece of crap I’ve ever endured in my life).

3. The Flying Troutmans – Miriam Toews (such a disappointment after the delight of A Complicated Kindness).

4. The Book Of Negroes – Laurence Hill (the exception that proves the rule: character-driven, but just didn’t turn my crank).

5. The 5 People You Meet in Heaven – Mitch Albom (schlocky).

5 Books That I Hope to Read Soon:

1. The Almost Archer Sisters – Lisa Gabriele

2. The Believers – Zoe Heller

3. That Old Magic Cape – Richard Russo

4. Olive Kitteridge – Elizabeth Strout

5. Prep – Curtis Sittenfeld

5 Favourite Authors:

1. Joy Fielding (for when you need a page-turner that is not a mind-bender)

2. Joyce Carol Oates

3. David Sedaris

4. Carol Shields

5. Rebecca Eckler (what can I say, she cracks me up with her writing style)

Please note: there are many other works of fiction and non-fiction that were thisclose to making the cut – I love a good book!

[I also keep a journal a la my Grandpa Cressman with the title, author, date I finished it and my rating of 1-4 stars - came in very handy for this list!]

Happy Reading!!!!