Comments for Weekly Geeks 2009-39: Recommendations

Weekly Geeks 2009-39: Recommendations: 10/10/09

I wanted to talk this week about book recommendations. Where do you go for book recommendations? How often do you challenge yourself to get out of your comfort zone? How often do you read outside your favorite-and-best genre? How often do you try a new-to-you author? How often do you take a chance? This week, I'd like to offer you a few opportunities.

I feel like I am constantly trying to read beyond my "comfort zone." I will read pretty much anything. Right now I am going through a middle grades and young adult binge, mostly through my library.

For my challenges I am trying to read more Canadian books, more science books, more recently published books (as I tend to read out of print books), more science fiction and more graphic novels (as I'm once again a 2nd round panelist for the Cybils in that category).

Let me begin then with some recommendations for you. Since I read a ton of books, my list is long. I've divided them up by genre. Click on the titles to read my reviews of the books. The books I am recommending have come from a number of sources: Bookcrossing, my own collection, the library and from the authors for review.

My recommendations:

• Mama Cat Has Three Kittens by Denise Fleming (1998) personal collection
• Owl Babies by Martin Waddell (1992) bookcrossing
• Grumpy Cat by Britta Teckentrup (2008) personal collection
• Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes (2004) personal collection
• Dragons, Dragons by Eric Carle (1991) library book
• Bad Kitty by Nick Bruel (2005) personal collection

• Don Quixote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes (1615) personal collection
• The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1850) bookcrossing
• Ulysses by James Joyce (1918) personal collection
• Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene (1958) personal collection
• The Valley of the Giants by Peter B. Kyne (1918) personal collection
• The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh (1947) bookcrossing

• Silence is Golden by Penny Warner (2003) personal collection
• Diary of a Dead Man by Walter Krumm (2008) review copy
• Mojo Hand by Greg Kihn (1999) bookcrossing
• The Chemist by Janson Mancheski (2008) review copy
• Poor Poor Ophelia by Carolyn Weston (1972) personal collection
• The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain (1937) library book
• The Thirteenth Tale by Dianne Setterfield (2006) bookcrossing

• Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon Hale, Nathan Hale and Dean Hale (2008) Cybils winner
• The Bomb That Followed Me Home by Cevin Soling (2007) review copy
• Jellaby Volume 1 by Kean Soo (2008) Cybils finalist
• The Books of Magic by Neil Gaiman (1990) library book
• Emiko Superstar by Mariko Tamaki (2008) Cybils winner
• The Three Incestuous Sisters by Audrey Niffenegger (2005) personal collection
• Murder Mysteries by Neil Gaiman (2000) library book
• The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (2007) personal collection
• Kampung Boy by Lat (Mohammad Nor Khalid) (1977) library book

• The Illusion by Tony Kushner and Pierre Corneille (2003) bookcrossing
• The Sea by John Banville (2005) bookcrossing
• Jane Austen Ruined My Life by Beth Pattillo (2009) review copy
• The Secret of Lost Things by Sheridan Hay (2006) bookcrossing
• Jesus Swept by James Protzman (2008) review copy
• Lost by Gregory Maguire (2001) bookcrossing
• Hunger by Elise Blackwell (2003) bookcrossing
• Testimony by Anita Shreve (2008) personal collection
• Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson (2006) library book
• The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry (2008) personal collection
• The Lighthouse, the Cat and the Sea by Leigh W. Rutledge (1999) personal collection

• Earth Odyssey by Mark Hertsgaard (2001) bookcrossing
• A Garden from a Hundred Packets of Seed by James Fenton (2001) bookcrossing
• The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop by Lewis Buzbee (2006) bookcrossing
• Candy and Me by Hilary Liftin (2003) bookcrossing
• South-Sea Idyls Charles Warren Stoddard (1873) personal collection
• Going Postal: Rage, Murder, and Rebellion by Mark Ames (2005) bookcrossing

• The Dead Fathers Club by Matt Haig (2006) bookcrossing
• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (2008) bookcrossing
• The Secret of Platform 13 by Eva Ibbotson (1994) library book
• Simulacron-3 by Daniel F. Galouye (1964) personal collection
• Girl on a Bar Stool by Tim Roux (2007) review copy
• The Frequency of Souls by Mary Kay Zuravleff (1996) library book

Now It's Your Turn:

I asked for recommendations on Twitter. Here's what's been recommended so far:

• senjmito"A Boy's Own Reciter". An Edwardian-era compendium of poems for boys to recite at suitable occasions
• SarahBWinters My husband just thought of his Oblivion Society By Marcus Alexander Hart... me, still lost in mental bookshelves :-P
• Skyring "Between Silk and Cyanide" by Leo Marks. My favorite book by a long chalk.
• JLichtenberg My Fav obscure books THE SHENANDOAH SPY by Francis Hamit and DESERT MAGICK: Superstitions by Dana Davis see Amazon
• JLichtenberg Oh, and I guess you could count my own Dushau Trilogy now on Kindle, but it won the Romantic Times Award not so obscure.
• deepNdistant one book recommendation: "Musicophilia" by Oliver Sacks
• floatinglush *boggles* My current favorite YA fairytale retelling is TENDER MORSELS. Brutal & beautiful. (Limiting to just 1 rec is cruel!!)
• angelfrouk lost nation by Jeffrey Lent
• WestofMars Suggest one book to you? Mine, of course! (Either one; you pick)
• SarahBWinters If you don’t mind quick reads age range 9-12 The Anybodies by N.E. Bode is cute, fun, funny, and really good.
• infmom I think I'd recommend The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson

What about you? What do you think I should read?

weekly geeks

Comments (22)

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Comment #1: Saturday, October, 10, 2009 at 19:07:45

Kerrie

Wow, what a huge list. Thanks for the crime fiction ones in particular. I'm not sure that I really have anything to recommend for you except those on my blog post.

Comment #2: Sunday, October 11, 2009 at 14:19:05

Pussreboots

You're welcome for the recommendations. Happy reading.

Comment #3: Saturday, October, 10, 2009 at 20:29:42

gautami tripathy

Wonderful recommendations! I have read all the classics except for Ulysses, which I own but never could get into it beyond 5 pages!

Comment #4: Sunday, October 11, 2009 at 14:21:35

Pussreboots

If you do decide to tackle Ulysses, there are many on line resources now to help you follow along. It also helps to only commit to one episode a week instead of trying to get through the entire book in a normal fashion.

Comment #5: Sunday, October, 11, 2009 at 14:54:59

Tara SG

Wow great list!! Thanks for posting these :)

Comment #6: Sunday, October 11, 2009 at 14:24:36

Pussreboots

You're welcome. Happy reading!

Comment #7: Sunday, October, 11, 2009 at 17:37:50

Vasilly

What a great blog post! I'm adding so many of these to my wish list. Thanks so much for this post!

Comment #8: Wednesday, October 14, 2009 at 18:24:05

Pussreboots

You're welcome. Happy reading!

Comment #9: Monday, October, 12, 2009 at 14:31:41

melydia

Crikey! Talk about your recommendations! I'm not sure I have any to add just yet, but I've certainly just expanded my TBR list... :)

Comment #10: Wednesday, October 14, 2009 at 19:49:25

Pussreboots

If you think of anything, feel free to come back and leave another comment. I read pretty much anything.

Comment #11: Tuesday, October, 13, 2009 at 19:22:10

Trisha

That is one amazing list of books, and the post is just beautiful with all of the covers. Thanks for the recommendations.

Comment #12: Wednesday, October 14, 2009 at 20:11:12

Pussreboots

Thank you. I put the covers together with Photoshop. It just adds a little something to post to have the covers all there to enjoy.

Comment #13: Thursday, October, 15, 2009 at 00:00:57

Sarah

Wow, I saw a few I really want to read, some I have read, a couple I have never heard of, and one that upset me a lot (I always get sadden when I read any version of Rapunzel). This is a great list!

Comment #14: Wedesday, October 14, 2009 at 22:31:46

Pussreboots

Why do Runpunzel adaptations make you sad? I really like this one because it starts so true to the original while allowing Rapunzel to come into her own as a strong and independent character.

Comment #15: Saturday, October, 17, 2009 at 00:35:30

Sarah

It's a REALLY long story, but to make it shorter, I feel like she was being robbed of something that was hers and no one else's. She was stripped of her pride and something she loved when her hair was wacked off.
Sarah

Comment #16: Sunday, October 18, 2009 at 10:20:03

This Rupunzel keeps her hair and her pride.

Comment #17: Monday, October, 19, 2009 at 07:53:29

Dreamybee

Out of all your recommendations, there are only a few that I have read, but on those we agree. Since that's the case, I'm going to recommend my most recent favorite read, The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell.

Comment #18: Monday, October 19, 2009 at 16:07:43

Pussreboots

Thank you! I think you're right. It does sound like a book I would like.

Comment #19: Monday, October, 19, 2009 at 08:14:14

Dreamybee

As I'm reading through more of your reviews, I'm thinking that you might like Anne Lamott, in particular Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith. A lot of her life takes place in N. California, which it sounds like you can relate to.

Comment #20: Monday, October 19, 2009 at 16:16:24

Pussreboots

I have Operating Instructions on my TBR.

Comment #21: Monday, October, 19, 2009 at 08:22:19

Dreamybee

Okay, now I'm starting to feel like a stalker, but after reading your review of South-Sea Idyls, I think you might also like 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff. Thanks for all the recommendations!

Comment #22: Monday, October 19, 2009 at 16:39:44

Pussreboots

You're right again! I read 84 Charing Cross Road in 2006 and enjoyed it a great deal. That was before I was actively a book blogger so there isn't a proper review on this blog.