<p>I just finished Rob Lowe’s book, Stories I Only Tell My Friends: An Autobiography, it was actually pretty good. …</p>
<p>Recently read and would suggest: A Visit from the Goon Squad, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, Just Kids…</p>
<p>Any suggestions…</p>
<p>SockherMom, you’ll find many wonderful suggestions here:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/403424-one-best-books-ive-read-last-6-months-87.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/403424-one-best-books-ive-read-last-6-months-87.html</a></p>
<p>Be sure to post your own recommendations as well!</p>
<p>Eric Larson’s “In the Garden of Beasts.”</p>
<p>My book club just did This is Where I Leave You. It’s a perfect light summer read and hilarious, if a bit raunchy. If you have a family that is at all dysfunctional (and who doesn’t?), you will relate!</p>
<p>ditto NJTheatre Mom’s suggestion…just finished it…</p>
<p>Thanks for the link to the other thread–didn’t see it!</p>
<p>And I have put the two suggestions on my “Overdrive” Nook waiting list–hopefully they will be available once I finish Annie Duke’s recent book (for any poker players out there–it is interesting)</p>
<p>Just finished ‘Unbroken’ - great book, very inspirational, though a bit heavy. Am now reading “This is where I leave you”. It is all that MommaJ said it is - raunchy, funny and something a lot of us with dysfunctional families can relate to. I wanted something lighter after Unbroken.</p>
<p>This Is Where I Leave You was laugh out loud funny at times, sobbing on the couch sad at others. Very quick read. Really enjoyed it. Throw it in your beachbag and go.</p>
<p>Momlive - I recently finished Unbroken, agree it is a great book.</p>
<p>Recently read One Day. The protagonist drove me crazy all through the middle of the book, but I did enjoy it. Actually read it because of the movie preview.</p>
<p>I’m looking forward to reading Unbroken, I loved her other book Seabiscuit. Non-fiction fan here. The book I’m enjoying right now is about breeding daylillies. I don’t even grow them, but I like the book.</p>
<p>Cottonwood…Unbroken has moved into my top 10 all time. As far as non-fiction, I’m starting The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot…which is also appearing on a lot of required summer reading lists for colleges. Deals with race and medicine in America.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I’ve heard that one is also very good. It’s on my list. Has anyone ever gone to bookmovement dot com? It’s a good place to get book recommendations. People rate them and the site ranks them. The Immortal Life is currently ranked #11. Unbroken is #4.</p>
<p>I recommend The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks to anyone looking for a good book. Loved it - and I usually avoid nonfiction.</p>
<p>^^ Thanks for the reminder. I’ve been meaning to add that one to my list. </p>
<p>I ran across something that looks intriguing: Great House by Nicole Krauss. Has anyone read it?</p>
<p>The Informationist - Taylor Stevens</p>
<p>Action/adventure thriller recommended to me by the local librarian. I just finished it and wanted to pass the title on. Good, escapist summer reading.</p>
<p>Publishers Weekly:</p>
<ul>
<li>Starred Review * Stevens’s blazingly brilliant debut introduces a great new action heroine, Vanessa Michael Munroe, who doesn’t have to kick over a hornet’s nest to get attention, though her feral, take-no-prisoners attitude reflects the fire of Stieg Larsson’s Lisbeth Salander. Nine years have passed since Munroe, the daughter of American missionaries, escaped Cameroon at age 15 after a violent incident. She’s forged a new life in Texas as an “informationist,” a person who specializes in gathering information about developing countries for corporations. Munroe’s best friend, marketing consultant Kate Breeden, refers her to Miles Bradford, a high-stakes security pro, who believes she’s the perfect choice to help Houston oilman Richard Burbank find his adopted daughter, Emily, who vanished four years earlier at age 18 while vacationing in west central Africa. Munroe returns to Africa, where she reconnects with her ex-boyfriend, Francisco Beyard, a sexy drug- and gun-running businessman, who assists in the dangerous search for Emily. Thriller fans will eagerly await the sequel to this high-octane page-turner. </li>
</ul>
<p>Library Journal:</p>
<ul>
<li>Starred Review * In Stevens’s debut novel, Vanessa Munroe’s current case might be her last. Having spent her life distancing herself from her sordid childhood in Africa, Munroe has based her career on the skills she acquired there. She is an informationist and linguist with the ability to blend into any country and obtain the knowledge sought by her high-paying clients. Her current client is a distraught father whose daughter, Emily, vanished four years ago in Africa. After Emily’s safari group finished its tour, she decided to stay on to travel more with two men she met on the tour. Of the three, only one returned. Emily disappeared, and the last man who saw her now resides in a mental institution. Munroe is intrigued by what previous investigators might have missed, but she is unprepared for what awaits her in Africa. VERDICT Stevens has penned a fast-paced, gripping, edgy mystery with a heroine whom even Lisbeth Salander would admire. Recommended for all contemporary thriller fiction fans who like thrillers similar to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.</li>
</ul>
<p>Thank you Ignatius for suggesting “The Informationist” by Taylor Stevens. Both my H and I enjoyed it. It was the first book that my H has picked up in quite awhile that has held his interest.</p>
<p>I’m reading ‘Bossypants’ right not and not loving it. Too shallow.</p>
<p>My book club is reading Unbroken by Lauren Hillenbrand for Sept. I recently finished…Forest Gump meets Grey Gardens. Now I’m reading The Gerbil Farmer’s Daughter. It’s about a military family where the father has the foresight to promote gerbils as pets and research animals, funny memoir. And rereading The Road by Cormac McCarthy.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I’m glad you liked it. One of our local librarians, Eric, recommended it. He and my husband have similar reading tastes, so he’s steered us to some good books over the years. I thought an action/thriller recommendation might fit into the “summer book” thread well. ;)</p>
<p>
I enjoyed this too. I found it to be a good complement to Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese.</p>
<p>For “Henrietta Lacks” I suggest reading the Afterword FIRST, because it sets the tone & addresses ethical questions raised in the book. Then read the prologue & rest of the book.</p>
<p>Right now I’m reading When All the World Was Young, a memoir by Barbara Holland. It is poignant & funny, and an interesting comparison/contrast to Glass Castles by Jeannette Walls.</p>