Bibliophile

If your friend group is anything like mine, you’re never at a loss for book recommendations. Even if you live in a sparsely populated area, there are many online groups for bookworms! But in case you don’t have access to your fellow nerds, Leeann and I have a few recommendations for you.

First, from the more culturally varied of the two of us, Leeann’s choices:

Non-Fiction

We Two: Victoria and Albert : Rulers, Partners, Rivals by Gillian Gill
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
The Wisdom of Whores by Elizabeth Pisani

Fiction
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (series)
I Am Not A Serial Killer by Dan Wells (series)
Lisey’s Story by Stephen King

Don’t expect such variation from me. I read solely for a chance to escape. My mind is a cage full of rabid three year olds who what nothing more than to paint my every fancy on the walls of my mind. They need a constant influx of imagery to consume and I’ll be damned if I’m going to wait around to see what happens if the supply runs out.

Sabriel by Garth Nix (series)
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling (series)
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle (series)
The Shack by Wm. Paul Young
Cathy’s Book by Jordan Weisman & Sean Stewart (interactive and series)

Not so happy tales
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (TW sexual violence)

Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison (TW sexual violence)

Many of the above listed titles will cross reference into other categories for those of you still looking for books to fill your list! My choice for this category is Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher (TW self harm) recommended to me by my friend Elisabeth.

Another fun one similar to this is the random selection category. When choosing mine, Elisabeth and I went into a book store together, chose an aisle and spun around with our fingers pointed. You could also go into a book store, especially if you have a small, local one, and ask the clerk for a totally random book. Often they are book lovers just like us and would delight in that fun with you.

Alternately, there is this website which lets you set up to four criteria then pops out a book for you to read. So, completely random? Probably not. Fun? YES.

My book for this category is Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card.

Happy Reading!

Classic, Schmassic

I will be the first to admit that I am not a fan of the classics. No matter how refined I want to be and pretend like me and Shakespeare are home boys, I can’t. Though I am a book lover, that love did not sprout its wings on the runway of high school required reading. More like in spite of…

The other thing that gets me is those lists don’t change much. Which I works for me as a lazy researcher. 😛  There are quite a few comprehensive lists on Goodreads or there is this article that tries to convince you that reading some of these books isn’t the best way to lull yourself to sleep.

All jesting aside, I would love to be among the rank of authors that are forced upon children long after they are dead and I believe that some of them may be very good. As you can tell this category puts my commitment to the challenge to the test. I have chosen Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, even if for no other reason than my partner HATES this song.

One of my favorite trends though is the retelling of classics or fairy tales. I like sprucing up old things and re-purposing items made by others and this is similar. Goodreads comes though again with a long list of retellings and for those of us more predisposed toward YA there’s this one.

I chose Cinder by Mariss Meyer. The cover looks dark like I like and I’m hoping for the best.

Also, if you’re tired of reading lists to find your books, I found you a chart courtesy of Epic Reads!

Let me know your choices!