Comments on: Books! Plus my fiction problem

By: Diana Watters

Diana Watters — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 23:04:32 +0000

Congratulations, Laura! I bet it feels great to get your first copies of your own book! As far as fiction goes – how do you feel about short stories? I love Alice Munro. Also, the book “Valentines” by Olaf Olafsson is a terrific selection of short stories – and quite appropriate this time of year. 🙂

By: Cloud

Cloud — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:59:27 +0000

Hmm. I am a non-fiction fan, too, but I do read fiction, particularly since the rest of the folks in my book club prefer fiction. A lot of my favorite fiction is a bit too dark to meet your criteria, but… have you read My Antonia, by Willa Cather? I never read it in school, and when we read it for book club I loved it. It isn’t dark, and it isn’t a difficult read, but it also doesn’t feel like junk food. And the writing is beautiful in places.

By: Homepage

Homepage — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 06:00:03 +0000

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By: Holland Saltsman

Holland Saltsman — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:58:23 +0000

Delicious (historical)Fiction – White Truffles in Winter
Pop Culture – Everyone Loves You When You’re Dead
Non-Fiction that reads like Fiction – In the Garden of Beasts
YA – Divergent
Middle Grade (that I loved) – Peter and the Starcatchers
Picture Book – The Boy who Cried Ninja

By: Joy Weese Moll

Joy Weese Moll — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:57:53 +0000

Yay for completed books that you can actually touch!

I enjoyed Austenland by Shannon Hale. I haven’t read the new one, a follow-up, Midnight in Austenland.

You might get a kick out of The Writing Class by Jincy Willett.

Any interest in YA? That seems to be where all of the best stories are these days.

By: Laura

Laura — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 13:08:06 +0000

In reply to SB @ One Cent At A Time. @SB- thanks! I am exploring the world of personal finance blogs. I'll probably write about the fun of creating someone else's budget here soon.

By: SB @ One Cent At A Time

SB @ One Cent At A Time — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 06:17:13 +0000

Just paid a visit as you did on my blog. Thanks for your ‘different’ comment there. Went through your about page. you are quiet a writer!

By: Sherrie

Sherrie — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 01:41:38 +0000

Give a try to Laurie R. King’s Mary Russel books. Start with the earliest. She is a wonderful writer.

Here is a quote from her blog:

“Ten books later, I have learned a great deal about Russell, Holmes, and their world. I have learned even more about myself and my world, since a central raison d’etre of reading history, even fictional history, is that it is a mirror, reflecting unexpected sides of our times and ourselves. Politics, women’s rights, religious expression, governmental oppression–all these and more wander through the Russell stories, so that although they are primarily, as Graham Greene called his books, “entertainments,” they also have the real-life grit and dimension that a crime novel demands.

But mostly, I enjoy the Russells because they’re fun, for the writer and (I am led to believe) for the reader. I hope you agree.”

http://www.laurierking.com/books/mary-russell

By: Calee

Calee — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 23:33:32 +0000

I just finished -The Eve Tree- on my Kindle and it was a perfect quick, literary women’s fiction kind of read. I miss grad school for the constant exposure to new (to me) fiction. I would totally recommend The History of Love by Nicole Krauss, even though its not available for the Kindle and my failed book club read Masie Dobbs last year and it was fun and quick.

By: Anne

Anne — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 23:14:47 +0000

I know what you mean about the fiction; I love narrative non-fiction myself. Books like The Ballad of the Whiskey Robber, Priceless: How I Went Undercover to Rescue the World’s Stolen Treasures, and Michael Ruhlman’s Making of a Chef trilogy have me turning pages as fast as the best novel would!

For wonderful (and short) fiction, have you read Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day? It’s fun, breezy, and short.