BBAW: Have you heard about…

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:

1. Autobiography of a Fat Bride by Laurie Notaro (Erica of Pannonica) 6/11/09
2. Mudbound by Hillary Jordan (Vivienne of Serendipity)
3. The History of Love by Nicole Krauss (Claire from Kiss a Cloud) 6/17/09
4. Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones (Anastasia from Bird Brained Book Blog)
5. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card (Hayden from Through the Illusion)
6. Written on the Body by Jeanette Winterson (Dani at Positively Present)
7. The Secret History by Donna Tartt (Heather at Book Addiction)
8. End of the Alphabet by CS Richardson (Keri at Bookends) 6/6/09
9. Wise Children by Angela Carter (Veronica at I Lived On Rum)
10. And Ladies of the Club by Helen Hooven Santmyer (Lynn at Lynn’s Little Corner of the World)
11. The Help by Kathryn Stockett (Stephanie at The Written Word and Belle of the Books) 8/24/09
12. A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry (Jackie at Farm Lane Books)
13. Namako: Sea Cucumber by Linda Watanabe McFerrin (Christy at The Daily Dish)
14. The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson (Jena at Muse Book Reviews) 7/19/09
15. One Foot in Eden by Ron Rash (Suzi Q Oregon at Whimpulsive)
16. The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett (Florinda at The 3 Rs) 6/19/09
17. One Deadly Sin by Annie Solomon (Becky at My Thoughts…Your Thoughts)
18. The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey (Belle from Ms. Bookish)
19. Cloud Street by Tim Winton (Susan and Meredith from Whelan Flynn)
20. The Myth of You and Me by Leah Stewart (Institutrice)
21. The Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie R. King (Carrie K. from Books and Movies)
22. The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread by Don Robertson (Bybee from Naked Without Books)
23. Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr (Beth from Beth Fish Reads)
24. Clown Girl by Monica Drake (Stephanie from Please, Stop Bouncing)
25. Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel (Claire from Kiss a Cloud)
26. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (Emily from The World Inside My Head)
27. Popular Music in Vittula by Michel Niemi translated by Laurie Thompson (Chartroose from Bloody Hell, It’s a Book Barrage!)
28. No One You Know by Michelle Richmond (Avisannschild from She Reads and Reads) 8/2/09
29. Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl (Soft Drink from Fizzy Thoughts)
30. Bad Girls Don’t Die by Katie Alender (I spotted a review for this one on StephSu’s blog) 5/31/09

Reading Challenge: Book Blogger Picks

After almost four months on the book blog circuit, I have yet to partake in any of the challenges out there.  Some of the challenges are pretty clever, but I’m going out on a limb, creating a challenge just for me, with your help.

For my own reading pleasure, I’m going to create a list of books to read based purely on blogger recommendations.  Anyone who’d care to comment is welcome to leave the title and author of one of your favorite books.  The book can be your all-time favorite read or just a book that you recently read and thoroughly enjoyed. 

I’m going to be reading across genres, so no fretting about that.  I’m just looking to generate some fresh titles and authors for my personal challenge.  Summer is fast approaching and I need some stuff to read while I lounge on the beach.

On My Bookshelves: What I haven’t read yet.

I gave myself an assignment for this weekend: Read at least ONE book from my bookshelves that I’d never read before.  This was a real chore because 98% of the books on the shelves have been read multiple times by yrs. truly.  The shelves are compiled of my childhood favorites, adult favorites, cookbooks, school classics, and a few  books that I just never got around to reading.

Amazingly, there were two great books in that last category, The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs and The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan.  For whatever reasons, I never got around to reading either of those books until this weekend.

Can I just say that both books were great and dealt with the themes of friendships, relationships, and family in realistic and honest ways?  I can’t believe it took me so long to get to these novels! 

The one bit of good news–now I don’t have to wait to read the sequel to TFNKC–Knit Two is already out!  Incidentally, I did read Kate Jacobs’s other book, Comfort Food a few months ago.  It was enjoyable, but I preferred TFNKC.

So, this leaves me to wonder which other gems I’ve overlooked.  Sometimes I avoid books that get too much hype…but must remember not to judge a book by its press or popularity!