Agree with Las Ma …Lonesome. Dove
Not a best book but I thought y’all might enjoy this:
<a href=“Deadspin | Georgia Football Player Joins A Book Club With Some Very Nice Ladies”>http://deadspin.com/georgia-football-player-joins-a-book-club-with-some-ver-1621115748</a>
@Millancad, thanks again for your recommendation of Dostoevsky’s The Possessed. I just finished it and thought it was amazing. What a fascinating book!
I had never read Dostoevsky before, but now I am a fan. I couldn’t wait a moment before starting another book of his, so now I am reading The Brothers Karamazov.
I read Crime and Punishment while traveling alone across Europe doing my senior thesis. I liked it, but it didn’t make me want to pick up another one any time soon!
I just read a really enjoyable sci-fi book. It’s basically Robinson Crusoe on Mars, but funnier. I really enjoyed the characters, and even when there was a little too much engineering or botony (How to grow Potatoes in Space or How to make more fuel for your rocket with just the materials you have on hand) it was thoroughly enjoyable. Anybody who got a kick out of the scene in Apollo 13 where the NASA engineers are given a pile of stuff and told this is what they are going to need to fix the damage done to the ship, will appreciate this book. It’s nerdy, but set in a very plausible near future. I think lots of people who don’t normally read sci-fi could enjoy this book.
For books I read this year, I would vote for The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis:
Moving ending (although the novel is surprisingly funny at times). Interesting time travel premise done well. I can see why it won so many awards. And of course then there are the five other time travel books of hers which are loosely related (all of which were also award winners), which I read next. Not sure how I missed this author when I was younger.
re # 2623
And its name is?
^ mathmom is referring to The Martian by Andy Weir.
2018RiceParent re #2624: Oh, oh, oh … I loved The Doomsday Book. Ditto everything you said.
I read The Martian it was great. I do not usually read SF. Glad I picked this book up. The 2 people I recommended it to also loved it.
oops sorry! The Martian by Andy Weir.
The Doomsday book is great, though I can’t say I remember it being funny, I’m not surprised. My favorite Connie Willis book is probably Bellwether, which is far less serious.
Can’t remember when I last posted here but I’ve read the following in the past month or so and enjoyed them all!
Still Life with Bread Crumbs by Anna Quindlen. I’ve always loved her books and her look at the challenges that her female characters face. This is a quiet little book, with a nice story, that is well-crafted and often funny.
The next few in my pile happen to be Canadian authors. I reread Alice Munro’s wonderful collection of stories, Dear Life. She is such a master of the short story form. Love them!
The next was a terrific thriller, No Safe House by Linwood Barclay. A true page-turner. Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys this genre.
And now, I have started The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley, another Canadian who has had a very interesting life, even before he became a best-selling author. I’m only about 75 pages in but oh my, what a great character Flavia is. So engaging, smart and funny. Am loving it so far and looking forward to reading the next five!
alwaysamom, Dear Life was the CC Book Club selection last December. Since you’ve just finished the stories, you might enjoy perusing the thread: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1563943-dear-life--december-cc-book-club-selection-p1.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1563943-dear-life--december-cc-book-club-selection-p1.html</a>
Thanks for the tip. I’ve been searching for a page turner, one of those that makes you feel guilty about all the chores you aren’t doing because you’re glued to the page, but not guilty enough to stop reading.
What’s the Next CC Book Club selection. I couldn’t get into Lonesome Dove.
^ It’s The Round House by Louise Erdrich: <a href=“The Round House - October CC Book Club Selection - Parent Cafe - College Confidential Forums”>The Round House - October CC Book Club Selection - Parent Cafe - College Confidential Forums;
I recently finished “All the Light We Cannot See” and really enjoyed it. Just started “This Dark Road to Mercy” by Wiley Cash.
Thanks, Mary! I’ll have a look at the discussion there sometime tomorrow. 
I’m reading Delicious! by Ruth Reichl. I enjoyed all her non-fiction so it’s fun to see what she can do with something slightly less based on real life. I have to wonder how much the magazine in her story resembles Gourmet though!
@mathmom - I just finished “Delicious” last night. Good book. I had never read any of Ruth Reichl’s non-fiction.
Mary, thank you for linking that discussion of Dear Life. I always find it so interesting how varied opinions can be.
In one of those serendipitous moments, while thinking of short stories I’ve enjoyed, I read an article this morning about an HBO production of Olive Kitteridge. I don’t recall if we have discussed it here, we probably have, but it’s a book by Elizabeth Strout whose main (and titled) character’s story is told through 13 short stories. I enjoyed it very much and look forward to what it looks like in a four hour adaptation. A wonderful cast with Frances McDormand, Richard Jenkins and John Gallagher, Jr. headlining. I may have to dig out that book for a reread before it airs in November!