Good books to read
 

How about a thread about good books you have read and recommend to others. Her is mine
"Devil in the White City" by Eric Larson
It is about the first worlds fair in Chicago and the politics involved in getting it going. Eric also follows a real life serial murderer at the same time. He flip flops each chapter between the planning of the fair and the Murderer's life. I found if facinating. Maybe because Chicago is just 90 miles from Milwaukee. It is a non-fiction story. Great read.

Now do you have any referals for good reads?
I, myself love biography's and autobiography's - any suggestions in this venue?

Great idea for a thread!
Most women I know loved "Eat, Pray, Love". An autobiographical account of one woman's journey of self discovery that includes exploring her spiritual, meditative side. Entertaining. Very well written. Reads fast....

I can't remember the title, but it's by Kirk Douglas, about his stroke. It's called something lilke "Stroke of Luck". And any of the Janet Evanovich books are great.

AWESOME thread!!!!
 

I TOO love biographies and classical literature. Wow, if you like "heavy" biographies John Adams is good. "Wired" is WAY out there (or at least John Belushi was) and is good. Angelas Ashes is an AWESOME biography. I LOVE Founding Mothers by Cokie Roberts (about the WOMEN that helped make the country...nothing dainty about them). Right now I'm reading ALL the Harry Potter books to Tony (6yo). When he was 2 I bought the 1st Harry Potter movie and he became hooked (was Harry Potter for Halloween at age 3, had 2 Harry Potter birthdays, has a Harry Potter bedroom and while due to "peer pressure" for the last 2 years was OTHER than Harry for Halloween, is realizing that it's OK to be his own person and LIKE things other kids don't like, has announced he wants to be Harry again this Halloween...I'm glad. While he has always loved reading and us reading aloud to him(my mom and I will take turns reading outloud to him while he is playing), Harry Potter was one he couldn't get into. Because the LAST movie I felt was TOO MUCH for him, I "previewed" The Order of the Phoenix and told him that unless he read the book, he wouldn't understand what is going on, SO I have been reading The Sorcerers Stone to him and he is REALLY gaining an appreciation for the books and finding out that there is MUCH more in the books than in the movie (ie "That wasn't in the movie") and like I told him, as we continue reading the books ESPECIALLY 4, 5, 6 & 7 he will find out MUCH more). EVERY time I sit down to rest, I hear "lets read some Harry". Good idea for a thread. Take care and God bless.

Rhonda

I LOVE books (Fiction and non-fiction) and read constantly. A favorite from a few years back is Rohinton Mistry's "A Fine Balance"
sarah

I, too, love to read. One of my favorite new authors I've discovered is Jodi Picoult. Love her books. She takes typical black and white scenarios (so called black and white) and makes them gray. You really question what you thought for sure was a black and white area. She is an excellent fiction author.

Mary Jo

Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali is an amazing biography of a brave woman. I would highly reccomend this. It brings what Islam means in the life of some women to sharp focus. We are so comfy cozy here in the states we need a wake up call I fear....

A great light fare is "Can't Wait to Get to Heaven" by Fanny Flagg

Love To Read!!!
 

I have been a book fanatic my entire life, since the time that I was first able to read a book all on my own I have not gone to sleep without reading at least a few pages. I love all books, doesn't really matter what the subject matter is, unless it is too violent/perverted or too far out there science fiction wise.

I have way too many that I absolutely love and want to recommend in this post but I will just list a few of my favorites to start with.

"The Highlander" by Diana Gibaldon. This is a series that takes place in Scotland. A Scottish woman is able to go back in time when she crosses through two stones at StoneHenge. She is taken back to the time when Scotland is fighting against England for it's freedom. She falls in love with a Highlander while back in time but she also has a husband and a daughter in current times. This a wonderful series that combines fiction with non-fiction. It is a real page turner as it truly has it all.

I also love anything by Nicholas Sparks. He wrote the book that you may all be familiar with because it was made into a movie called the "Notebook." All of his books are well worth the read and they all take place in NC where he lives.

"The Prodigal Summer" by Barbara Kingsolver is also one of my favorites. If you like strong women and nature you will love this book. It gives lots of great facts about wildlife and how to prevent insects in your gardens through natural means instead of through the use of insecticides. It is a fiction, nonfiction book with some really tremendous characters in it.

There is a great book out called "First Ladies" too. It gives a bio of all the first ladies and great photo's throughout. I can't recall the author at the moment but if anyone is truly interested just drop a line and I will get the book out and give you the authors name.

Another great read is "Chesapeake" by James Michener. It is a history of the Chesapeake Bay area from the time of when only Indians inhabited the area to current times. Very informative and well written, not a dry read by any means, very enjoyable.
Thanks for starting this great thread. I can't wait to read many of the recommended books listed on here. Let's be sure to write our reviews of any of the books we have read from the recommended reading list too. Should be fun.

Thanks, Ladies,
Nicola

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. The Good Earth by Pearl Buck (my all time favorite). Cold Mountain is also great.

Oh, I have read some great ones this summer...Animal Vegetable Miracle by B. Kingsolver is a great, earthy back-to-nature one...

The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, both by Hosseini; The Glass Castle (strange but true).
________
VAPORIZERS VOLCANO

Books
 

I am an avid reader and could recommend a whole list of books, starting with classics such as To Kill A Mockingbird, The Picture of Dorian Gray, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, anything by Jane Austen, anything by John Steinbeck, etc. To me, nothing beats classical literature. It is timeless. I will say in reading this list that The Kite Runner is an absolutely awesome book. I just read it and listened to it on tape. It is powerful. I read it for a book club in conjunction with Snow Flower and the Secret Fan which is also very good. Start with the Kite Runner.

Thanks for reminder about "A Tree Grows in Brooklin" I loved that book as a teenager. I also gave it to my daughter when she was a teenager. My father was an alcoholic and my husband has a drinking problem. I but for the grace of God do not, but my sister is also an alcoholic. Unfortunately my son (Randy 29) also is an alcoholic. All are very fuctioning members of society, but struggle with their addition. Strange as it may seem, my husband has been trying even harder than before to be more responsible now that I can't handle the stress involved with his drinking. I never fully understood drinking to excess as a disease until my son had issues. When you see your own child struggle with this demon it puts the addition in a whole new light. I forgot to mention that my father-in-law was also an alcoholic, so my son has the bad gene funneled in from both parents.

All my family history aside, it is a great read. I plan on reading it again some time soon.

Second book thread
 

There was a thread started by Juanita in June where a few more books are mentioned.

http://her2support.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=28472

I got two books today by Anne Rice because we are going to New Orleans and I have heard her books are worth the time to read. Hope so. Ready to start one as soon as I sign off!

A Tree
 

Wow, Still Here, you have really lived "A Tree Grows In Brooklyn". That is when a book really comes alive to us, when we can pull things out of it that are real. I read it as a young girl and though we didn't have alcoholism in our immediate family, we were poor and I literally felt like I was Francie. I loved to read and actually wanted to follow Francie's plan of reading all the books in the library. I had my daughter read this book over the summer and she enjoyed it as well. It is a magical story and if a person hasn't read it, it is a "must read".

What about books on meditation and inner peace?
 

I'm looking for some good ones that aren't overly religious, but concentrate more on finding inner peace, which I think is so important to fighting cancer and its return. Any recommendations?

thanks :-)
Val

I have read many of the books listed here--there are some really good ones (Marley & Me should be read by anyone who has or have had dogs, especially labradors -- it's very funny)!

Some others I've read this year are:

Montana 1948 by Larry Watson
Water for Elephants and Riding Lessons by Sara Gruen
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon (read a couple years ago)
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
Body Surfing by Anita Shreve
Windchill Summer by Norris Church Mailer (she also has a new one out that I will be reading next--she is coming to my book group's meeting in October)

Val

Val, I am reading a book that may fit the bill. "The Journey Through Cancer" by Dr. Jeremy Geffen. It offers a seven-level program "for healing and transforming the whole person". It is certainly not a light "beach book" (lol) but it is very sensitive and spiritual. As well as practical. I am getting great comfort from it. And it is making me introspective.
Also, I do recommend "Eat, Pray, Love" which I mentioned earlier in this thread.

Good Reads
 

I am never without a book or two. And I seem to have the need to underline and put stars and arrows beside especially poignant phrases and concepts. My husband says I can't read without a pen in my hand. (I used to think it was sacrilegious to write in a book, but now I see I simply must!)

A great biography was Love Is Eternal about Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd and the pivotal time in America's history, emancipating slaves and the differing views of families that lived in the South vs. the North. I found it riveting. Irving Stone is the author.

As for spiritual inspirational books about life and the discovery of Self -- this is my bailiwick! I devour them word by word. Any of Wayne Dyer's book will do. My favorites are The Sacred Self, You'll See It When You Believe It, Manifest Your Destiny.

Also in that vein, Gary Zucav's The Seat Of The Soul was life-altering.
The Power Of Now was a tough read but worth it, by the brilliant Eckhardt Tolle. The Four Agreements was good and I must say I enjoyed James Redfield's Celestine Prophecy, The Tenth Insight and The Secret of Shambala. Good stories with truths about our personal empowerment woven in. They are parables that resonant deeply.

The Power Of Your Subconscious Mind (Joseph Murphy) was interesting.

Happy reading...
Andi

Ps
 

Oh, I forgot. The Power Of Myth, Joseph Campbell. So intriguing. Makes you see the world differently.

ANDI

Talk about inner peace... Andi has a great list, and allow me to include -
The Travelers Gift - Andy Andrews
The Alchemist- Paulo Coelho
Many Lives Many Masters - Bruce WiessPHD

It's Not About the Bike
My Journey Back to Life
by Lance Armstrong

Grace and Grit by Ken Wilber

Thanks you guys! I reserved a bunch of these on my library's website...looking forward to some good reading.

Val

I love to read!!!
 

Okay, I sheepishly admit that I haven't read everyone's posts on the book suggestions, but I just read a great book Water For Elephants. I have loaned it out, and of course can't remember the author!

Take care,

It's Not About the Bike My Journey Back to Life by Lance Armstrong

Grace and Grit by Ken Wilber

sounds good
 

I haven't read this but I plan to. Even the title makes me laugh.

DON'T LOOK BACK
WE'RE NOT GOING THAT WAY!
…OR How I Survived a Rocky Childhood, Fat, a Nervous Breakdown, Breast Cancer, Widowhood, Fire, Menopausal Single Motherhood and Still Manage to count My Lucky Chickens!

http://marciawallace.com/

Kitchen Table Wisdom by Rachel Naomi Remen. Gave me peace and the ability to breath when I was 1st dx. I consumed it like a snack each day and was very sad when I was done.

Currently reading Tough Choices by Carly Fiorina

Patricia, what is Kitchen Table Wisdom about? You make it sound intriging....I guess i could Google it. But I had chemo today and feel like a slug. Tomorrow I will be wired though, so maybe can research it then....

Hi Bonnie,


Kitchen Table Wisdom is a compilation of healing stories, told by the author who is a Dr. who has suffered from Crohn's Disease for 40 years and changed her path mid-career from practicing internal medicine to practicing psychology for patients with life threatening illnesses (including cancer) as well as with Physicians. The stories she tells are her own and her patient's including those that were ill and the physicians she also treated. This book touched me in a way no book has done in many years. I have since shared it with everyone that I know who has been dx with cancer as well as my own surgeon. I highly recommend it. I hope your chemo went well today and that you have a healing week.

Hugs,
Patricia

Here is the statement on the back of the book:

"Despite the awesome powers of technology, many of us still do not live very well, " says Dr. Rachel Remen. We may need to listen to one another's stories again." Dr. Remen, whose unique perspective on healing comes from her background as a physician, a professor of medicine, a therapist, and a long-term survivor of chronic illness, invites us to listen from the soul. This remarkable collection of true stories draws on the concept of "kitchen table wisdom" - the human tradition of shared experience that shows us life in all its power and mystery and reminds us that the things we cannot measure may be the things that ultimately sustain and enrich our lives. Kitchen Table Wisdom addreses all the spiritual issues; suffering, meaning, love, faith and miracles in the languuage of absolute authority of our own life experience.

Rachel Naomi Remen, MD., is one of the earliest pioneers in the mind/body health field, and was one of the first to develop a psychological approach to people with life threatening illnesses and educate their physcians about hteir needs. She is cofounder and medical director of the Commonweal Cancer Help Progrram, which was featured on Bill Moyer's PBS special Healing and the Mind, and is a Clinical Professor at teh University of California San Francisco School of Medicine.

Also "My grandfathers blessings"
 

This is another book by Rachel Naomi Remen - sometimes you can get it in a set with Kitchen Table wisdom. Both are really good, inspirational, and definitely (for me anyway) hanky material in a good way.

Thank you all for some great recommendations. Here's my contributions:

If you like biographies, I liked Jane Fonda's (My Life So Far) and Queen Noors (can't remember the name, sorry). Margaret George does great historical fiction and has done a book a Mary Queen of Scots, Cleopatra and Henry VIII - they are all fascinating and long!

Fiction - Travels with My Donkey, Tim Moore (hysterical), The Time Travelers Wife (fascinating) and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See (fascinating asian culture).

Enjoy!!

Good Books Thanks
 

Just wanted to thank you all for your books selection. I love to read and to date have enjoyed The Alchemist, Devil in the White City & Infidel. Keep those suggestions coming it will get me through the long Michigan winter.

Mary

A couple others...light reading
 

I just finished two books--you don't need to read the first one before the second, but it helps. Norris Church Mailer wrote them (Norman Mailer's wife). Both are fast reads, not the literary classic sort of books, but definitely enjoyable reads. The first is Windchill Summer and the second one is Cheap Diamonds.

Val

This is a very interesting book... Loving What Is by Byron Katie. Google it. I have just started it, but I like it. (non-fiction)

"Katie's book, Loving What Is, can give you the tools you need to transform any problem, from everyday conflicts to lifelong traumas, into peace and understanding. It demonstrates clearly how asking four simple questions can change your life. For the first time, readers can find in one place detailed instructions, humorous anecdotes, and a wide variety of transcripts of people doing The Work on issues such as sex, relationships, death, the body, family, work, and money. This is the definitive sourcebook for The Work. Just reading the exchanges in Loving What Is has already helped people experience breakthroughs when nothing else worked."

I am enjoying a novel titled Gap Creek.
The author is Robert Morgan.

It is full of "hidden" messages and I am about to
start re-reading it with my yellow highlighter in hand.

I could so relate to this passage. It reminded me of the
day my Dad passed away. I walked out of the hospital
to find a beautiful, sunny day - it was 12 noon and
I saw school buses driving by ...

"It was the prettiest night you ever saw, with the moonlight slanting
on the creek and dew sparkling in the grass. The mountains rose like
shadows ahead of us.....it was the first time I ever noticed how the
way the world looks don't have a thing to do with what's going on with
people."

Just thought I'd share.

In Defense of Food

It discusses how far away we've gotten,as a culture, from real food. It questions whether much of what is sold and we buy in the grocery store would even qualify as food. Very interesting book.
Leslie

Good call, Leslie! IN DEFENSE OF FOOD has some excellent points we all need to know about.

Understanding what they call food these days is something that I have been working on since my extensive liver mets in 2002. I became VERY careful what I ate as I wanted to take the toxic load off my liver as best I could.

Shopping "the perimeter of the store" is something I learned myself, but this can help in lowering your purchases of frozen and convenience food that are full of things we need to avoid.
These habits persist and I find that more and more evidence is pointing to my hunch as being a good one.

Eat FRESH and ORGANIC. A very simple rule. The first local farmer's market opened March 5th and their produce is MUCH better and cheaper than the grocery chains.

Justice by Dominick Dunne. I'm actually listening to the unabridged version on tape, but it is interesting.

Great book that gives some insight about doctors How Doctors Think. Groopman, J.

Mary Jo,

All winter I have been enjoying J. Picoult Thanks.

Mar

Thanks Mary Jo!

Also THE ANATOMY OF HOPE by Dr. Jerome Groopman -- is worth the read. His personal battle w/debilitating back problems and pain is quite fascinating. The LESSONS he learned, beyond his medical degree and expertise are invaluable for each of us! Stunning revelations are buried in this great book.

Will try the other one, Mar. Appreciate your post!

Andi http://cdn-cf.aol.com/se/clip_art/gs...mals-butterfly