# Books Recommended by our Members: August 2009



## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Got a book you couldn't put down? Post it here!

For the July recommendations, look here:

http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,10767.msg202811.html#msg202811

Ann & Betsy


----------



## MariaESchneider (Aug 1, 2009)

I'm kind of new to the boards.  Although I have an anthology out in Kindle, I did not want my first post to be all about me (spammer!) so I'm going to list my favorite books!

John Levitt - Dog Days (NOT out in Kindle--please click!) and New Tricks (out in Kindle, yah!)  Both excellent paranormal mysteries.  Mason is plays jazz...and sometimes weaves magic in.  He has a dog that is more than just a dog, but not even he understands just what Lou really is.  Latest book, Unleashed, is out this fall.  Can't WAIT!!!  

Ilona Andrews - Magic Bites, Magic Burns, and so on.  These are also paranormals but involve shifters--and not just werewolves; there's rats, lions, hyenas...you name it.  There's a bit of ongoing romantic tension in these, but the focus is on the magic and the mystery.  Kate Daniels has a lot of secrets in her past--and they seem to be catching up to her.  Just a great set of books.  

And from way back Patricia Briggs.  I like her older stuff A LOT:  Steal the Dragon and When Demon's Walk, but I also like the Mercy Thompson series.

My favorite mystery series at the moment isn't in Kindle so I won't tempt people, but the author name is Kaye C. Hill...

In other mysteries, I'm a fan of Janet Evanovich - One for the Money! and so on!!!

Looking forward to finding new series/books.  I love funny stuff and I read fantasy, some sci/fi, mystery and I'll dabble here and there.  

On my TBR:  Spell Games by T.A Pratt and a funky looking book that I hope is hilarious:  Big Hair and Flying Cows by Dolores J. Wilson.  With a title like that, doesn't it HAVE to be funny

Maria


----------



## davem2bits (Feb 2, 2009)

And











Could not stop reading "The Girl Who Played with Fire" this weekend. I also enjoyed the first book in the trilogy, "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo". These are very good Crime/Mystery books. Unfortunately, the author Stieg Larsson, died after finishing the third book. www.stieglarsson.com The third book, "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest" should be released next year in the USA.


----------



## mlewis78 (Apr 19, 2009)

davem2bits said:


> And
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I loved the first one, so I bought the second for my kindle as soon as it was released here. Haven't started it yet, since I know that it will own me and keep me reading for hours once I start.


----------



## geoffthomas (Feb 27, 2009)

I have posted elsewhere that I have just finished Waiting For Spring by a KB resident author, RJ Keller.
This book is well worth your time.
Buy it. Read it.
It is a bargain also.



Just sayin.......


----------



## sjc (Oct 29, 2008)

Geoff:  Downloaded it a couple weeks ago; am dying to read it.  I'm hacking my way through my list.  Maybe if I did less downloading and more reading; I wouldn't have to plow through a 30 page index.


----------



## mlewis78 (Apr 19, 2009)

Geoff, I just bought it based on your recommendation and some of the reviews.


----------



## geoffthomas (Feb 27, 2009)

I really don't think that you will be sorry for deciding to read this book.
There are some "tough" subjects that one doesn't want to know about (like drug abuse or physical abuse).
But the author spells it out clearly and then backs off from being graphic about it.
That is what I think is especially good - knowing when to stop.

Please let me know what you think when you finish it.


----------



## Thumper (Feb 26, 2009)

I'm echoing the recommend on _Waiting For Spring_...This is one of those indie books just waiting for one of the major houses to pick up.


----------



## DonnaA (Aug 3, 2009)

I highly recommend the Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb.


----------



## stormhawk (Apr 29, 2009)

Both of these are available on Kindle, but won't come up in the linkmaker


----------



## jpmorgan49 (Feb 10, 2009)

geoffthomas said:


> I have posted elsewhere that I have just finished Waiting For Spring by a KB resident author, RJ Keller.
> This book is well worth your time.
> Buy it. Read it.
> It is a bargain also.
> ...


I just picked this one up too...
jp


----------



## kjn33 (Dec 8, 2008)

Thumper said:


> I'm echoing the recommend on _Waiting For Spring_...This is one of those indie books just waiting for one of the major houses to pick up.


Me three. I really liked it!!


----------



## drenee (Nov 11, 2008)

I finished this book yesterday afternoon. It was a very good book. Not a complete bodice ripper (a term I learned here). There was only one scene, not too graphic. I have a bad habit of skimming when I'm reading sometimes. This book made you want to read every word. 
deb


----------



## LindaW (Jan 14, 2009)

This was really good.



stormhawk said:


>


----------



## sara84 (Aug 6, 2009)

I'm into nonfiction and really liked Made To Stick


----------



## Athenagwis (Apr 2, 2009)

These books are my only 10's so far that I have read since getting my kindle (I use a 1-10 scale to rate my books read), you can read my reviews over at Amazon:


Only $1.00


Only $.99


Only $1.99

And these were 9's on my personal scale:


Only $.01


This is the first in the series, it's a bit more at $7.50, but I really enjoyed the whole series. I thought the books were way better than the movie. Some people have been against the book because they felt it was anti-religious, but I took it for what it was, fiction, and nothing more. So I really enjoyed it.

Cheers!
Rachel


----------



## Christina (Feb 4, 2009)

Loved it, just finished and was sorry to see it end:


----------



## Boston (Nov 7, 2008)

Another vote for both Stieg Larsson books.  

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo was a total surprise for me...I only read it because my library had it as an ebook but I couldn't put it down.  The Girl Who Played with Fire started a little slower but picked up speed. I loved the first book better but the second is still a good read. 

Can't wait for the third.


----------



## Kristan Hoffman (Aug 6, 2009)

Bad Things Happen by Harry Dolan is a great mystery! TONS of twists and intrigues, but also lots of wit. And Harry's a debut novelist, having been a finalist in the first (07-0 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards. I actually wanted him to win... he didn't, but hey, he's still published! And after waiting a year for this book, I was NOT disappointed. Read it all in 1 day.

Kristan


----------



## threeundertwo (Jul 25, 2009)

I did a site search, but it doesn't appear that anyone here has discussed Rick Riordan. His hit series for young adults ''Percy Jackson and the Olympians" is being made into a movie. I took my 3 kids to a book reading/signing by him at a local library and there were hundreds of screaming kids there - he's a rock star to the middle school set right now. Not only do the kids love his books, they are all becoming experts in mythology, as evidenced by the difficult trivia session he conducted. I was very impressed.

The books are a good humorous light read. I've really enjoyed them. Not sure why the link-maker isn't letting me link directly to the kindle editions.


----------



## geneven (Jul 30, 2009)

The first book I bought for my Kindle was

Four Days in November, a meticulously researched book about the JFK assassination. Vincent Bugliosi of Helter Skelter fame wrote a GIANT book about the assassination, several thousand pages long. This is not that book.

This is a cut-down version focusing on just four days and one not discussing conspiracy theories at all, just telling the most accurate story possible, with exhaustive notes that you can and should skip.

This was an amazing and affecting retelling, adding many details of an event many experienced, answering the question what really happened to express a tragedy and an enigma with great clarity.


----------



## Boston (Nov 7, 2008)

geneven said:


> Four Days in November, a meticulously researched book about the JFK assassination. Vincent Bugliosi of Helter Skelter fame wrote a GIANT book about the assassination, several thousand pages long. This is not that book.


Do you have a link? I looked on Amazon and the only Kindle book with the same title I found was the Bugliosi one.


----------



## telracs (Jul 12, 2009)

Looking at Amazon, it seems that Bugliosi wrote 2 books about the assisination, the giant book that geneven refers to and the second, titled "Four Days in November" that is just the story, no theories.  So both books are Bugliosi, but geneven is recommending "Four Days" which is about 600 pages, and not the other, which is 1600 pages.


----------



## Anne (Oct 29, 2008)

A Fountain Filled with Blood is available on Kindle now:


----------



## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

Boston said:


> Another vote for both Stieg Larsson books.
> 
> The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo was a total surprise for me...I only read it because my library had it as an ebook but I couldn't put it down. The Girl Who Played with Fire started a little slower but picked up speed. I loved the first book better but the second is still a good read.
> 
> Can't wait for the third.


Too bad he only got to write the three. 

Mike


----------



## sharyn (Oct 30, 2008)

Anne said:


> A Fountain Filled with Blood is available on Kindle now:


Thank you! Now I have the whole set -- both on Kindle and in DTV!


----------



## Lynn McNamee (Jan 8, 2009)

Just finished_ Infected _ and gave it a 5 star review. Great book!

http://www.amazon.com/Infected-A-Novel-ebook/dp/B0011UEEXC/ref=cm_cr-mr-title

How do you get the book covers to show up in your post?


----------



## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

You can use the Link-Maker, found at the top of the board with the other menu links and also at the bottom under the quick reply area.  Click it and a new window/tab opens (at least on Firefox) and you can search for the book you want to link to.  Then just click 'make a link', choose the format you want your link to take, select it and copy and paste into your post.

Note the default is to search the Kindle store, but you can change that to link to other books or non books.  If it doesn't come up, which sometimes happens, there's a link on the Link-Maker page to Harvey's initial version which is not as automatic because it relys on you finding the book rather than searching for you.  But it will work for pretty much anything on Amazon.


----------



## geneven (Jul 30, 2009)

Correct: There are two books on the assassination by Bugliosi, a giant one and a cut-down one. The cut-down one is also by Bugliosi; it didn't occur to me that someone might think that if Bugliosi wrote a giant one, someone else might cut it down and claim authorship.

I had heard about the giant one before; its reputation is that Bugliosi is SO obsessive, probably no one will ever write a more definitive book about the JFK assassination. However, it was not destined to get a large readership, since not many people are going to want to wade thru such a big book with complicated discussions of various conspiracy theories and why they are wrong.

I was delighted to see that Four Days in November omits all the conspiracy chatter -- for example, the "magic bullet" theory is not even mentioned! It just gives the outcome of Bugliosi's research -- if you want the detailed reasoning, get the bigger book or refer to the zillions of footnotes in Four Days in November.

The link to the Kindle edition of Four Days in November, the only Amazon book with that title is:

http://www.amazon.com/FOUR-DAYS-IN-NOVEMBER-ebook/dp/B0015DYLQ0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1249997396&sr=8-2


----------



## Edward C. Patterson (Mar 28, 2009)

This item was just published for the Kindle: a New Book by Kindleboards own Leslie Nicholl (writing under the name E.N. Holland). I had the pleasure to read the work and found great joy in it. I just gave it a five-star review on Amazon, which should say it all. A great, fast-paced, very funny read.



*Taming Groomzilla, by (E.N. Holland) Leslie Nicholl*

Edward C. Patterson


----------



## ladyknight33 (Feb 2, 2009)

I agree with Ed, Taming Groomzilla is a great story.


----------



## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

mlewis78 said:


> Geoff, I just bought it ["Waiting for Spring"] based on your recommendation and some of the reviews.


Me too. I'm looking forward to reading it!


----------



## Barbara S (Oct 31, 2008)

I recently finished 2 books by Carol Berg:  Flesh and Spirit and Breath and Bone. I tried to set up a link, but couldn't get it to work. The two books together are one story and is a great fantasy epic.


----------



## drenee (Nov 11, 2008)

There ya go. Sometimes you have to search in books instead of kindle store. 
deb


----------



## Forster (Mar 9, 2009)

Barbara S said:


> I recently finished 2 books by Carol Berg: Flesh and Spirit and Breath and Bone. I tried to set up a link, but couldn't get it to work. The two books together are one story and is a great fantasy epic.


Excellent to know, I haven't read these yet and do enjoy Carol Berg's books.


----------



## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

I just finished:











by our very own Edward C. Patterson. It is intense and emotional. I started crying at the 85% point and didn't stop until the end of the book.

I started my career as a professional nurse in 1977 and I remember very vividly the wrath that was AIDS in the 1980s. Ed captures that horror well. For those of you who remember, this is a timely reminder; for those here who are too young, you should read this book so that we can continue to learn from our mistakes and not make the same mistakes again (especially relevant in these days of gay rights and health care reform).

Even with the sad story, Ed is a funny and engaging writer and I found this book hard to put down -- which, given that I was supposed to be doing actual WORK was not a good situation!

Highly recommended, 5 stars across the board. Bravo, Ed.

L


----------



## RJ Keller (Mar 9, 2009)

I second that recommendation, Leslie. ^^^
Amazing novel.


----------



## Kind (Jan 28, 2009)

I'll have to have a look at that book "Look Away".


----------



## Thumper (Feb 26, 2009)

I've been reading this the last couple of days and an really enjoying it:



I vaguely remembered Quinns Cumming as a child actress when I stumbled onto her blog...it was funny enough to spur me into picking up her book, and dang I'm glad I did.


----------



## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

I buzzed through another very good book by our very own Edward C. Patterson:



I love gay coming of age stories and this one did not disappoint. Short, sweet and well written, this was a fast read but definitely worth reading. And, at 99 cents, it's a bargain, too!

L


----------



## Addie (Jun 10, 2009)

Finished this one:



I could only link to the DTB, but there is a Kindle version. It was very depressing but also eye-opening. I got shivers several times while reading. It was a great closer look into the horrific life for many within North Korea's borders and how so many go through so much just to escape. There was a significant portion dedicated to Christian persecution, as you would expect from an author who founded a Christian-based organisation to help North Koreans escape. It wasn't a "convert to Christianity or else" type book, though. I do wish they would have addressed other religious persecution that is going on in the country as well. It really was a fascinating read.


----------



## pobetober (Aug 22, 2009)

I recommend this book to everyone

http://www.amazon.com/New-Home-ebook/dp/B002LE6XDQ

It is written by my wife who is a great writer, and finally fit it in to her busy life to fulfill her dream of writing a novel. This is *good stuff*, and I hope that you can take the time to give it a go.

Thanks!


----------



## drenee (Nov 11, 2008)

pobetober, welcome to KindleBoards, and congratulations to your wife for fullfulling her dream.  
Indie authors are very well received on the Boards.  I hope you both stick around and become part of our community.
deb


----------



## pobetober (Aug 22, 2009)

Thank you for the warm welcome.  The idea of being able to self-publish electronically is very new and exciting!


----------



## Silver (Dec 30, 2008)

Well, here's one I really couldn't put down. If you haven't tried Scott Westerfeld's _Uglies_ I highly recommend it! It's the first in a series, and now I've got to go on. This is the DTB link from Amazon. Couldn't get the Kindle picture link to work.



I downloaded my copy for free. I believe the offer is available through August. Formatting is not great, but the book is really good and free is free...

http://www.simonandschuster.com/giveaways/uglies-download


----------



## Anju  (Nov 8, 2008)

Read Jon Konrat's Whisky Sour yesterday during a rain storm - couldn't even go to the end to find out what happens it was so riveting!

Last night read the Lace Makers of Glenarry - quite good, love story set in Ireland.


----------



## sjc (Oct 29, 2008)

I have a love/hate relationship with this thread.  I love all the recommendations and I hate that I have no self control and download way too many of them.  Thank God for coinstar!!


----------



## MariaESchneider (Aug 1, 2009)

I've read Uglies--it is good.  I think it was also free to download last week--might still be for that that want to check.  It really is a good novel--only problem?  It ends on a total cliffhanger...forcing you to get the next one!


----------



## Kristan Hoffman (Aug 6, 2009)

Sadly The Uglies is no longer free on Kindle (at least not today) but OH MAN that whole series sounds SO intriguing! I wish I'd jumped on that when I had the chance. Now it will just have to go into the (long) queue...

Kristan


----------



## geoffthomas (Feb 27, 2009)

Wow that really is interesting.  It WAS free yesterday when I downloaded it.
Just thought that .pdf is limiting.  I guess I will send it through the Amazon conversion and see if it winds up readable.


----------



## Lynn McNamee (Jan 8, 2009)

kristanhoffman said:


> Sadly The Uglies is no longer free on Kindle (at least not today) but OH MAN that whole series sounds SO intriguing! I wish I'd jumped on that when I had the chance. Now it will just have to go into the (long) queue...
> 
> Kristan


You could just ask someone who got the free .pdf to send you a copy. I don't think that would be illegal since it was free.

I'm not certain, though. I am not condoning illegal activity, so look into it first.


----------



## MariaESchneider (Aug 1, 2009)

The copyright on most of those free downloads with a time limit does prohibit file sharing most of the time...unless it was done creative commons (and I strongly doubt it...then again you never know) which allows for distribution so long as there is no profit/selling on the part of the distributor...


----------



## marianneg (Nov 4, 2008)

kristanhoffman said:


> Sadly The Uglies is no longer free on Kindle (at least not today) but OH MAN that whole series sounds SO intriguing! I wish I'd jumped on that when I had the chance. Now it will just have to go into the (long) queue...


It's not free at amazon. The publisher is still offering it as a free PDF download.


----------



## Kristan Hoffman (Aug 6, 2009)

Oh, sweet! Thanks, marianner!


----------



## PraiseGod13 (Oct 27, 2008)

I just finished Greg Iles' newest called the Devil's Punchbowl.  Iles brings back his character Penn Cage and Penn's family/friends and, once again, doesn't disappoint!!  Sorry, haven't been able to get linkmaker to work for quite a long time now.... but I highly recommend this book!!


----------



## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

Linkmaker version 1.0 still works. Here's the book:


----------



## prairiesky (Aug 11, 2009)

I just finished South of Broad by Pat Conroy.  Sadly, not for Kindle yet.  It is amazing.  I am so sorry that it ended.  It is now one of my favorite reads of all time.


----------



## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

prairiesky said:


> I just finished South of Broad by Pat Conroy. Sadly, not for Kindle yet.


Yes it is!


----------



## Lynn McNamee (Jan 8, 2009)

I just posted a 5 star review on this book on my blog:











Enthralling novel!

You can read the review at http://redadept.wordpress.com/. Of course, subscribers will get it automatically by just turning on Whispernet.


----------



## Addie (Jun 10, 2009)

Just finished this:











I loved it. An easy read that brilliantly weaves old Grimm's tales together with a twist. It is a bit gruesome in some places, but not excessively so.


----------



## mistyd107 (May 22, 2009)

If you like Romantic thrillers  is fantastic


----------



## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

I finished "Waiting for Spring" by R.J. Keller. It's a marvelous read for just about anyone. Really, don't miss this one, it's a major league winner.

I've also just finished reading "Shutter Island" by Dennis Lehane and "Paranoia" by Joseph Finder. Both of them are excellent.

"The Devil's Punchbowl" by Greg Iles is as good as any of his novels, which means it's super. My wife also loves Greg Iles, but this one may be a bit too violent for her.


----------



## AlanBaxter (Sep 1, 2009)

R J is a good (online) friend of mine. I really must get around to reading her book!


----------

