A few months ago, I put out a plea to book bloggers for help with a personal reading challenge I was developing–Off The Deep End Summer Reading–and asked for suggestions of bloggers’ favorite books. I turned to book bloggers rather than more traditional sources (New York Times Book List, Washington Post, etc) because I think we cover a broader spectrum; we’re not only reading best-sellers or books that have been marketed heavily.
The response was overwhelming–over 30 titles–some I had read but most I hadn’t. And so began my reading binge of GREAT BOOKS suggested by book bloggers. I’ve only managed to get through eight of the 30 books so far, but it’s more fun to savor them! (To view this list with LIVE links to the blogs and the books, click HERE.) If your TBR pile ever gets low, stop by and take a look at my list again!
Here’s a (partial) snapshot of the original post with images of the suggested titles–my two favorites so far were The Help and The Gargoyle:
List of book recommendations without links to blogs:
- Autobiography of a Fat Bride by Laurie Notaro (Erica of Pannonica) 6/11/09
- Mudbound by Hillary Jordan (Vivienne of Serendipity)
- The History of Love by Nicole Krauss (Claire from Kiss a Cloud) 6/17/09
- Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones (Anastasia from Bird Brained Book Blog)
- Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card (Hayden from Through the Illusion)
- Written on the Body by Jeanette Winterson (Dani at Positively Present)
- The Secret History by Donna Tartt (Heather at Book Addiction)
- End of the Alphabet by CS Richardson (Keri at Bookends) 6/6/09
- Wise Children by Angela Carter (Veronica at I Lived On Rum)
- And Ladies of the Club by Helen Hooven Santmyer (Lynn at Lynn’s Little Corner of the World)
- The Help by Kathryn Stockett (Stephanie at The Written Word and Belle of the Books) 8/24/09
- A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry (Jackie at Farm Lane Books)
- Namako: Sea Cucumber by Linda Watanabe McFerrin (Christy at The Daily Dish)
- The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson (Jena at Muse Book Reviews) 7/19/09
- One Foot in Eden by Ron Rash (Suzi Q Oregon at Whimpulsive)
- The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett (Florinda at The 3 Rs) 6/19/09
- One Deadly Sin by Annie Solomon (Becky at My Thoughts…Your Thoughts)
- The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey (Belle from Ms. Bookish)
- Cloud Street by Tim Winton (Susan and Meredith from Whelan Flynn)
- The Myth of You and Me by Leah Stewart (Institutrice)
- The Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie R. King (Carrie K. from Books and Movies)
- The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread by Don Robertson (Bybee from Naked Without Books)
- Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr (Beth from Beth Fish Reads)
- Clown Girl by Monica Drake (Stephanie from Please, Stop Bouncing)
- Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel (Claire from Kiss a Cloud)
- Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (Emily from The World Inside My Head)
- Popular Music in Vittula by Michel Niemi translated by Laurie Thompson (Chartroose from Bloody Hell, It’s a Book Barrage!)
- No One You Know by Michelle Richmond (Avisannschild from She Reads and Reads) 8/2/09
- Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl (Soft Drink from Fizzy Thoughts)
- Bad Girls Don’t Die by Katie Alender (I spotted a review for this one on StephSu’s blog) 5/31/09
Book, Line, and Sinker 
Wicked Lovely is on my radar, too — I’ve been hearing so much about it lately! I think because a movie is coming out? Something like that? Regardless, it has a pretty cover. PRETTY!
And as I know I’ve told you like 89,989 times, Laurie Notaro is my hero — We Thought You Would Be Prettier is probably my favorite of her books! It’s also the first I read, so that might have something to do with my devotion to it. 🙂 The Idiot Girl And The Flaming Tantrum Of Death is hilarious, too. Definitely a classic!
Readers out there sure do know how to recommend a good book, don’t they? I haven’t read any of those books that were recommended to you, but several are on my wish list or in my TBR collection.
I love love love this process. And the anticipation is building for me to see if you like the book I recommended. I figure everyone else probably feels the same way!
There are a lot of great books in this list, some that I’ve been wanting to read and many that I have not heard of. Thanks for sharing! I’m definitely going to keep this list in mind next time I need new books to read.
Two things: Aren’t book bloggers awesome to have come out in such numbers to recommend a book! And I’m glad you posted the list here so now I can easily find it for future reference.
That’s a great list. I hope you get through them all!
Book bloggers are never at a loss when it comes to recommending books. Somehow I missed my last chance, so I’ll throw Galway Bay by Mary Pat Kelly out there now.
So, since this is a summer challenge, are you on hiatus until next summer? 😉
No way! I have just adjusted my goal date of challenge completion to Labor Day 2010. 🙂
Loved “The Help!” Good luck with the rest of the challenge.
You have some fabulous books still to read. I loved Wise Children and Wicked Lovely.
Hey, Natalie! So cool to find my book, One Deadly Sin, on your list. Thanks to Becky for recommending. It was fun to see the other shout outs. Outlander is one of my faves, too, and so is The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey. Good luck with the list and enjoy your reading!
I think I like looking at covers more than I like reading books.
Thank you for stopping by-I will be back to visit you-If you have not read The Help yet-Sheila at Book Journey is having an on-line book club. Here is the link bookjourney.wordpress.com/2009/09/19/join-now-new-on-line-book-club-word-shakers/
Have you read The Private Papers of Eastern Jewel-I just finished it and loved it.