Read any Good Books Lately? Reading for Adults

We received lots of feedback on our summer reading for kids’ article. Thank you to everyone who read it and took the time to comment. Several people suggested we needed a summer reading list for adult. Thanks for reading and making great kids’ books suggestions.

Memoirs
Thanks for the recommendations to Mia at Pragmaticmom.com

Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef by Gabrielle Hamilton (2011)
Also available as a talking book

A woman chronicles her path through a New Jersey childhood and a dysfunctional family life to become the successful chef / owner of NYC’s East Village Prune restaurant.

Slow Love: How I Lost My Job, Put on my Pajamas and Found Happiness by Dominique Browning (2010)

In November 2007, former editor in chief of House & Garden magazine Dominique Browning experienced what thousands have since experienced. She lost her job. Overnight, her driven, purpose-filled days vanished. With her children leaving home and a long relationship ending, the structure of her days disappeared. She fell into a panic of loss but found humor despite everything, discovering a deeper joy than any she had ever known. It was a life she had not sought, but one that offered pleasures and surprises she didn’t know she lacked.

 

The Memory Palace: A Memoir by Mira Bartók (2011)

Memories lost after a terrible accident lead a young woman to seek out her gifted but schizophrenic mother in an effort to unlock her past

Mystery

Down the Darkest Road by Tami Hoag (2011)

In her third book in this series, Tami Hoag tells the story of California FBI agent Vince Leone who taps into the powers of science-based forensic techniques to unveil dark secrets and stop a killer who is terrorizing the citizens of Oak Knoll.

Faithful Place by Tana French

Also available as a talking book

Tana French’s In the Woods and The Likeness captivated readers by introducing them to her unique, character-driven style. Her singular skill at creating richly drawn, complex worlds makes her novels not mere whodunits but brilliant and satisfying novels about memory, identity, loss, and what defines us as humans. With Faithful Place, the highly praised third novel about the Dublin Murder squad, French takes readers into the mind of Frank Mackey, the hotheaded mastermind of The Likeness, as he wrestles with his own past and the family, the lover, and the neighborhood he thought he’d left behind for good.

One Dog Night by David Rosenfelt (2011)

This is the ninth in a series of Andy Carpenter stories. Defense lawyer Andy Carpenter takes on a cold case when the suspected murderer turns out to be the man who saved his beloved dog.

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender (2011)
Rose has a magical gift; she can taste others’ emotions in the food she eats. But can you know too much about those you love?

The Distant Hours by Kate Morton
Also available as a talking book

Visiting the haunted English castle where her mother stayed during the London Blitz, a woman meets the three mysterious sisters who live there with their secrets.

Foreign Bodies by Cynthia Ozick

In 1952, a divorced teacher leaves NYC for Paris to search for and bring home her estranged brother’s son, but makes a mess of everything.
The Night Strangers by Chris Bohjalian (2011)

Hoping for a fresh start after a jet crash, Chip, the pilot, moves with his wife and daughters to an old house in New Hampshire. But the house may be haunted, and the neighbors are odd.

Biography and pseudo Biography

Self-Made Man: One Woman’s Year Disguised as a Man by Norah Vincent (2006)

Also available as a talking book
Gay former L.A. Times columnist chronicles her eighteen-month stint disguised as a man. Describes joining a male bowling league, attending a men’s retreat, and visiting strip clubs. Explores gender identity, the pressures of masculinity, and the guilt caused by her deception.
Crashing Through: A Story of Risk, Adventure, and the Man Who Dared to See
by Robert Kurson (2007)
Also available as a talking book

The author of Shadow Divers profiles Michael May who was blinded at age three and later became a champion skier, CIA analyst, and entrepreneur. The story tells of May’s internal conflict over whether or not to undergo an operation to restore his sight.

Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations…One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin, 2006

available as a talking book

Award-winning journalist Relin describes the mission of American humanitarian Greg Mortenson, who established the Central Asia Institute and built schools throughout Taliban-ruled lands. Discusses his childhood in Tanzania and a failed 1993 attempt to climb K2, which resulted in a promise to the Pakistani villagers who saved his life.

Keep Sweet: Children of Polygamy by Debbie Palmer and David Perin (2004)

This book journals Deb Palmer’s experiences growing up as a child in a community where plural marriages and religious dogma were the norm.

The Tattoo Artist by Jill Ciment (2005)

Also available as a talking book.

Ciment’s novel tells about the life of a New York surrealist artist whose 30 years among South Pacific natives teaches her the sacred art of tattooing. Sara returns to New York in the 1970 s, after a roving Life magazine reporter discovers her on the island and photographs her, revealing her curious life’s work to the world.

The History of Love by Nicole Krauss (2001)

Also available as a talking book.

New York, Jewish octogenarian Leo Gursky learns that the novel he wrote to his true love when he was a young man in Poland was plagiarized and published by a Chilean. Meanwhile, teenaged Alma Singer researches the book’s main character her namesake discovering Gursky and the truth.

Rise and Shine: by Anna Quindlen (2006)

also available as a talking book

New York City. Television talk-show host Meghan Fitzmaurice endures the disintegration of her family and career after accidentally airing offensive comments about a guest through a live microphone. Meghan retreats in isolation, leaving her social-worker sister, Bridget, to help her rebuild her life.

Multicultural

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See, 2005

Also available as a talking book

Nineteenth-century China. A matchmaker pairs young Lily and Snow Flower in a lifelong friendship. For years they communicate using a secret code written on a fan, sharing their joys and sorrows until a misunderstanding threatens to destroy their bond.

Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten year-old girl, is brutally arrested with her family by the French police in the Vel’ d’Hiv’ roundup, but not before she locks her younger brother in a cupboard in the family’s apartment, thinking that she will be back within a few hours. Flash forward to Paris, May 2002: On Vel’ d’Hiv’s 60th anniversary, journalist Julia Jarmond is asked to write an article about this black day in France’s past. Through her contemporary investigation, she stumbles onto a trail of long-hidden family secrets that connect her to Sarah. Julia finds herself compelled to retrace the girl’s ordeal, from that terrible term in the Vel d’Hiv’, to the camps, and beyond.

Say Her Name by Francisco Goldman (2011)

Also available as an audio book

Celebrated novelist Francisco Goldman married a beautiful young writer named Aura Estrada in a romantic Mexican hacienda in the summer of 2005. The month before their second anniversary, during a long-awaited holiday, Aura broke her neck while body surfing. Francisco, blamed for Aura’s death by her family and blaming himself, wanted to die too. But instead he wrote Say Her Name, a novel chronicling his great love and unspeakable loss, tracking the stages of grief when pure love gives way to bottomless pain. Suddenly a widower, Goldman collects everything he can about his wife, hungry to keep Aura alive with every memory.

The Surrendered by Chang-rae Lee (2010)

In 1950s Korea, an orphaned Korean girl and a former American soldier are saved by the attention of a missionary wife, herself orphaned by enemy soldiers.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (2003)

This book chronicles the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father’s servant, The Kite Runner is a beautifully crafted novel set in Afghanistan, a country that is in the process of being destroyed. It is about the power of reading, the price of betrayal, and the possibility of redemption, and it is also about the power of fathers over sons-their love, their sacrifices, their lies.

The Tiger’s Wife by Tea Obreht (2011)

Also available as a talking book

A woman in the Balkans searches for the cause of her grandfather’s mysterious death and comes upon a fantastic story about a man who claims immortality.

Family Drama

I Still Dream about You by Fannie Flag (2010)

Birmingham real estate agent Maggie Fortenberry learns valuable lessons about friendship, modern life, and impossible dreams as she struggles to keep Red Mountain Realty afloat and bury the heartbreaking secrets of her past.

The Land of Mango Sunsets by Dorothea Benton Frank (2007)

Available as a talking book.

New York socialite Miriam Swanson, estranged from her grown sons, has become a miserable social pariah since her divorce. But, after visiting her aging hippie mother on Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina, Miriam changes her attitude. With the help of her tenants, she begins to enjoy life.

The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs (2007)

Gathering for their weekly knitting club at a small yarn shop on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, a group of friends shares such challenges as raising children, navigating the ups and downs of their careers, and pursuing uncertain relationships

Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella (2001)

Also available as a talking book.

Young London journalist Rebecca Bloomwood loves to shop for clothes, makeup, shoes, and other trendy extravagances she can ill afford on her meager wages. Her banker is pressing her about her enormous overdue credit-card bill, but Becky just can’t seem to control her addiction.
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (2011)

Waging a fierce competition for which they have trained since childhood, circus magicians Celia and Marco unexpectedly fall in love with each other and share a fantastical romance that manifests in fateful ways

The Lake of Dreams by Kim Edwards (2011)

A woman’s homecoming, a family secret and an old house that holds the key to a shocking legacy…After years abroad, Lucy returns home from Japan. At a crossroads in her life, she is newly haunted by her father’s unresolved death a decade ago. Late one night, as she paces the hallways of her family’s rambling lakeside house, she discovers, locked in a window seat, a collection of objects that first appear to be idle curiosities, but soon reveal a complex family history. Old longings stirred up by her passionate first love soon lead her into the unexpected. And as Lucy discovers and explores the traces of her past, the family story she has always known is shattered – and then dramatically reconfigured, emboldening her to live with a freedom she has never known before. With surprises at every turn, brimming with vibrant detail, “The Lake of Dreams” is a gripping and powerful saga.

H.R.H. by Danielle Steel, 2006

Also available as a talking book.

After college graduation Princess Christianna’s royal father allows her to volunteer anonymously at an international relief camp in Africa. Christianna falls in love with Parker Williams, a physician working with Doctors without Borders, but violence invades their haven.

Night Road by Kristin Hannah (2011)

After being taken in by a newly discovered great-aunt, orphan Lexi makes friends with twins Mia and Zach. A slowly growing attraction between Zach and Lexi begins, but then Lexi, Mia, and Zach collectively make a tragic decision.

Non-Fiction, Self Help

You Can Heal Your Life by Louise L Hay (1984)

Also available as a talking book.

The author, a metaphysical counselor, asserts that “if we are willing to do the mental work, almost anything can be healed.” This handbook tells how to eliminate the blocks to good health and a happy life by regaining one’s self-esteem and confidence.

The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson (2010)

From 1915 to 1970, almost six million African-Americans move from the South to Northern and Western states in a historic migration that changes our country.

Little Princes: One Man’s Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal by Conor Grennan (2011)

Volunteering at an orphanage in Nepal, a young man uncovers a terrible secret that turns into a dangerous rescue mission that will change his life.

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt (1994)

Also available as an audio book

Shots rang out in Savannah’s grandest mansion in the misty,early morning hours of May 2, 1981. Was it murder or self-defense? For nearly a decade, the shooting and its aftermath reverberated throughout this hauntingly beautiful city of moss-hung oaks and shaded squares. John Berendt’s sharply observed, suspenseful, and witty narrative reads like a thoroughly engrossing novel, and yet it is a work of nonfiction.