The Art of Racing in the Rain.
Easy read. Relatively short. Was a very sweet story.
Just did a quick search to see how many others in this thread enjoyed this book. Many have!
Iāve really enjoyed the books Iāve rea during English the past year, but my favorite have got to be Whirligig by Paul Fleischman followed by Of Mice and Men and All Things Fall Apart.
I also found The Art of Racing in the Rain sweet, but a sad sweetā¦
Captainās Courageous and The Kite Runner
MommaJ, I just finished āThe Interestingsā and canāt make up my mind about it. For the first 50 pages I found them very UNinteresting. Then Julesā spouse was introduced, and I found him more interesting than āThe Interestingsā. They grew on me as the book went along, but I thought the end was just sad.
I ended up like The Interestings more than I thought I would. I have a circle of friends from my youth ā where our particular circumstances made us unusual and we found, oh, so very interesting ;)-- that has parallels to these characters. When āoutsidersā are present when our group gets together, we are just as insufferable to them as the bookās characters are to Juleās spouse, who makes a very good point about why the group found themselves so special. I thought the book was flawed, but I canāt deny that parts resonated with me.
lindz, did you cry?
I bawled reading the last few chapters. Could barely see the page. 
My mom thought I was being over dramatic!
I wasnāt sure that I would like āThe Interestingsā , but ended up loving it so much that I got Meg Wolitzerās āThe Ten Year Napā from the library and just finished that, too. I had tried to read it a few years ago and could not get into it.
I also recently enjoyed āThe Other Typistā.
Next up is " The Silent Wife:" by A.S.A Harrison.
Reading āGoneā by Lisa Gardner. Ugh. Itās amazing to me that some people make a living at writing this crap.
Blew through Burgess Boys over the weekend. Not at all what I expected, but liked it. Especially the last 100 pages or so.
Trying to decide what to read next - someone mentioned The Kite Runner above, which I loved, so I may have to get into Thousand Splendid Suns and And the Mountains Echoed. Any yays/nays for them?
Emaheevul07, try Between, Georgia or Gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson. I didnāt care as much for the Girl Who Stopped Swimming.
Gulp by Mary Roach is an interesting, sometimes disgusting trip through all things related to eating, excretion, etc.
You will learn, for example, that Elvis was killed by his colon. Not making this up: he apparently had a mega-colon, meaning a form of paralysis of the colon that makes stuff pile up and up and up. This explains in part why he would sometimes look bloated: he was full of stuff. His autopsy revealed material that had been there for months. People make fun of the lavish toilet at Graceland but the truth seems to be he needed to spend a lot of time in there.
College4K, if you want to join us at the CC bookclub in August you could try The Stockholm Octavo, Iām about 100 pages in and itās intriguing so far!
<a href=āhttp://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1516433-stockholm-octavo-august-cc-book-club-selection.html[/url]ā>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1516433-stockholm-octavo-august-cc-book-club-selection.html</a>
Thanks, mathmom - I just might do that!
I will look into those Joshilyn Jackson books!
A friend of mine who always recommends the best books recommended The Bronze Horseman, not sure who itās by. I think Iāll be picking that one up next so she and I can chat about it. I have a week in FL to look forward to in 9 days and also my birthday. 
So I will need lots of books.
And the Mountains Echoedā¦not quite as good as The Kite Runner, IMO, but a good read nonetheless.
The Shoemakerās Wife by Adriana Tragianiā¦fantastic. So enjoyed it that I read ten of her books during a surgical recovery this winter/spring. The Big Stone Gap series is quite endearing, and the Valentine series is as well. Most are about Italian immigrants in the shoe/garment trade. Waiting for her next bookā¦rather impatiently, might I add.
Read all the Big Stone Gap books..didnāt realize there were other series. Will check out the others. Thanks shellz.
S1 read And the Mountains Echoed all in one sitting..stayed up until 3am. Heās a voracious reader.
I would recommend The Physician by Noah Jordan.
I love Adriana Tragianiās books. Packmom, I recommend āLucia,Luciaā if you havenāt read it.
Almost finished with āThe Silent Wifeā. hard to put down.
Oh, oh, oh and oh! The Light Between Oceans. One of the best books Iāve ever read, never mind the last six months!
I agree VaBluebird - I will look at lighthouses differently for the rest of my life.
Love Tragiani and Fallgirl āLucia, Luciaā is one of my favorite books ever!