# Books Recommended by our Members (November 2010)



## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Ann in Arlington said:


> For the list of recommendations in October, look here:
> 
> http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,38084.msg681752.html#msg681752
> 
> ...


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## arshield (Nov 17, 2008)

I just finished "Surprised by Love: The Life of Joy Davidman" by Lyle Dorsett.  It was an audiobook (not available for kindle.)  The hardback edition is called And God Came In.  Not sure why they are titled differently.

It is a great short biography of Joy Davidman, the woman that eventually married the author CS Lewis.  Their romance was detailed in the movie Shadowlands.  And this book was one of the main sources.  And while I like the movie, the book gives a much richer picture of a genius of a woman.  She was reading by 3, finished high school by 14.  Was a teacher at 18 (while working on her masters).  She had published a book of poetry and a novel by her early 20s and was an editor for the main communist newspaper in New York.  

This is a story that is full of tragedy, but it is a real life story, not fiction.  Joy Davidman became a Christian in her 30s, divorced her husband and eventually moved to England and married CS Lewis.  It was only when she was going to be deported that Lewis decided to buck Church of England policy and actually marry a divorced woman and it wasn't until she was diagnosed with cancer that he was willing to make it public.  

This book is not quite as favorable toward Lewis as some of the Lewis biographies I have read.  

I am a big fan of Lyle Dorsett.  He is a great biographer.


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## Lynn McNamee (Jan 8, 2009)

Today, I reviewed a wonderful Indie book by C.E. Grundler: Last Exit in New Jersey.

It is truly one of the best books I have read in quite a long time.

I gave it 5 Stars.  You are welcome to read my review-the link to my blog is in my signature. (Be sure to click the web link, not the Amazon one.  )


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## DianneS. (Sep 13, 2010)

I heartily recommend "How I Learned to Love the Walrus" by Beth Orsoff.

click here for link










Description of book is in my review..I wonder why Ms Orsoff hasn't added a description of her book yet?


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## elame1 (Nov 4, 2010)

I recently read "Last Bus Out" by Beck McDowell. It was an edge-of-your-seat true account of a young man rescuing 300 people from his neighborhood in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. It was excellent and I highly recommend it. There are embedded pictures and links to external articles in the kindle version that really make the story come to life.








http://www.amazon.com/Last-Bus-Out-ebook/dp/B00408AYG8


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

Yesterday I finished:



This is the fourth in the Sheriff Bo Tully series by noted humorist Patrick F. McManus. I'd highly recommend all four books to anyone who likes to read mysteries about wildly eccentric characters.

I've also enjoyed all his semi-autobiographical books as well.

Mike


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## MLPMom (Nov 27, 2009)

I just finished Immortal by Lauren Burd and I was very pleasantly surprised by it. I haven't heard a whole lot about this book but I thought I would give it a try, I wasn't disappointed at all. This book captivated me after only a few pages and I had a hard time putting it down! I was thankful that my daughter's had a play date today so I could sit down and read it.

Really more people should hear about this book and give it a try, and right now, it is only $.99. Can't beat that!


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## runner4546 (Oct 27, 2010)

I love the idea of supporting indie authors (for the same reason I don't go to Starbucks!) so I've been browsing the Book Bazaar since I found KB. This is the first one I've felt the need to 'tout' as something I really, really liked. 
'Til Somebody Loves Me by Dee Detarsio - you can read the review I left there but just loved this novella. Took me back to my being-single-&-carefree days, when I had time to read full-length books, before children and husband and housework took over. I would classify this as intelligent chic-lit with lots of humor thrown in. I just downloaded the authors other book, which is full length so will probably take me awhile to get through, The Scent of Jade..


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## AlexaHasting (Mar 20, 2010)

I spent a lot of time this month getting reacquainted with my old favs, but I found out my favorite indie writer has published his second novel and, boy, did he had a departure from his gloomy style! It's so zany and hilarious that I'll probably end up reading it in one sitting.


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## AlexaHasting (Mar 20, 2010)

Silly me! logged off without posting another great recommendation.  Compelling writing.


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## AlexaHasting (Mar 20, 2010)

Seems I'm into great humour this month!! two in a row


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## Julie Christensen (Oct 13, 2010)

I just finished Remix, by Lexi Revellian.  It's a real page turner. The well-developed characters make this book lovely to read. It's compelling and full of sudden revelations that at times made me have to shut the book and stop reading for a few minutes so that I could calm down and then keep going. And it is available on Amazon Kindle for only 99 cents.  Who can beat that?


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## MLPMom (Nov 27, 2009)

Happy Ever After by Nora Roberts. It is actually the last in the Bride Quartet and I think the best. I was really sad to see it end.


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## Leighton (Nov 10, 2010)

Last year, I served as a judge for the first best novel for the Mystery Writers of America.
One of the best books I read was Lenny Kleinfeld's Shooters and Chasers.
He's just put it up on Kindle.

http://www.amazon.com/SHOOTERS-AND-CHASERS-ebook/dp/B0044UHU5K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1289442039&sr=1-1

Read it.


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## plumboz (Sep 24, 2009)

If I could second Julie's recommendation for Lexi Revellian's "Remix". I'm not much of a chick lit reader, and this does have some elements of that, but it is also simply a good pageturning sort of read with straightforward writing, interesting and believable characters and a second half that you had better make time for because you won't want to put it down. Remix has become quite a hit over at Amazon UK and deserves an even wider audience here.


My other recommendation is for the book I am rereading now but have to do so in DTB form because, inexplicably, it is not available as an ebook. "Good Omens", the classic by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, is arguably the funniest book written in the last fifty years. And along with the laughs you get outrageous characters and gentle wisdom. One of my all time favorites. But soon I will have to buy a replacement because mine is getting worn out.


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## Julie Christensen (Oct 13, 2010)

plumboz said:


> If I could second Julie's recommendation for Lexi Revellian's "Remix"...Remix has become quite a hit over at Amazon UK and deserves an even wider audience here.
> 
> My other recommendation is for the book I am rereading now but have to do so in DTB form because, inexplicably, it is not available as an ebook. "Good Omens", the classic by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman,


Wasn't Remix just addictive? I'm glad to hear from someone else who also like it. The author is on the UK amazon discussion lists a lot, which is how i encountered her and decided to try her book. I'll try your other suggestion, too. I haven't read Good Omens, but you made me want to give it a try. I do love to laugh!
P.S, what does DTB stand for? Dense tabletop book?


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## Carolyn J. Rose Mystery Writer (Aug 10, 2010)

Just finished Still Midnight by Denise Mina. Like her other books, this one is set in Scotland and features characters with complex and messy lives. It took me a few dozen pages to really engage, but then I was in page-turning mode. Descriptions are terrific, characterization is deep and layered. And, if you haven't read any of her previous books, you could start with this one and not feel that you've missed a few steps.


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

I just finished Room last night. It's probably one of the best books I've read this year. It's fascinating, disturbing, funny and sad all at the same time.


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## plumboz (Sep 24, 2009)

Julie Christensen said:


> Wasn't Remix just addictive? I'm glad to hear from someone else who also like it. The author is on the UK amazon discussion lists a lot, which is how i encountered her and decided to try her book. I'll try your other suggestion, too. I haven't read Good Omens, but you made me want to give it a try. I do love to laugh!
> P.S, what does DTB stand for? Dense tabletop book?


Hi Julie,

Sorry it took me so long to respond. I'm trying very hard to reduce my online time and increase my writing time. Anyway...yes, once you get started with Remix it is very tough to put it down. Lexi did an amazing job to do that. Good Omens is, in my opinion, as well as probably a million or so other souls, one of the finest bits of literature to come to light in the last century or so. I hope you like it. For some folks it just doesn't seem to work. For others (those of us with a slightly skewed view of the Universe) it speaks our language beautifully.

DTB means Dead Tree Book. Don't feel bad, not that long ago I had to ask the same question myself.


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## plumboz (Sep 24, 2009)

Can't let this pass by without mentioning Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis. It is one of those classics I had let slip through my fingers for decades and then when the chance to get it for a bargain price as an ebook came along I succumbed and was very glad I did. This book is genius. And for something written about 90 years ago so much of it rings true it is uncanny. It is a book that, I believe, will resonate with readers for centuries, for along it very much evokes a particular era, it also captures so many eternal truths about human beings, especially middle aged men, that I doubt have changed or will change much as long as we have such creatures among us. For a writer, this is an instructive as well as a humbling book to read.


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## Steve Silkin (Sep 15, 2010)

this is a runaway train of a book. in depression-era chicago, eustace chisholm, a snarky and semi-deranged "narrative poet" opens the door on the world of pain, self-loathing, unspoken love and unspeakable love inhabited by his gay and bisexual friends and the objects of their desire. along with glenway wescott's "apartment in athens," and gordon lish's "extravaganza" this is one of the best books i've read in the past decade.


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## long run nick (Sep 25, 2009)

I just finished "Teeth-South Pacific Triology" by Thomas James Dean. Sorry, I don't know how to download/upload to get the picture of the book so you folks can quickly check it out. Kind of a historical fiction "Jaws". A real "Kindle Klicker".


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## CNDudley (May 14, 2010)

Just finished this by Edith Wharton:









Like all classics, it's free on Amazon. I'd say I liked it _almost_ as much as _The Age of Innocence_ and _The Custom of the Country_. And, hey, it's way less depressing than _Ethan Frome_ or _The House of Mirth_.


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## Kristan Hoffman (Aug 6, 2009)

Recently finished Robin McKinley's THE BLUE SWORD and its prequel THE HERO AND THE CROWN. They're both award-winning YA fantasy novels, and SO deserving.

Now I'm on to SAVING CEECEE HONEYCUTT by Beth Hoffman, who is just cute as a button in person (I've gone to see her a couple times now).

Kristan


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## Chelseaaimer (Nov 22, 2010)

Check out this article that lists a handful Of indie authors whose books are on kindle: http://indieliteraturetoday.blogspot.com/
The interview is great, and there's a bunch of great recomendations.


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## Joe Chiappetta (May 20, 2010)

I never thought I would say this but I jut read Cinderella with my kids and we all loved it. Some great lessons about virtue and forgiveness are in the original non Disney story. It is easy to find the free version for Kindle.


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## Laura (Nov 17, 2008)

Just had time to come back to Kindleboards after about a year or 2.  Anyway, I went through a spell of reading lots of books related to food.  The two I recommend are Heat: An Amateur Cook in a Professional Kitchen and Waiter Rant.  Both were enlightening and enjoyable.


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## Mike JAY (Nov 24, 2010)

Have a look at Big Big Secrets by Robert Arley. Delightful funny adventure for kids about a science teacher accidentally reduced to size of Barbie doll.


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## M. G. Scarsbrook (Nov 22, 2010)

If anyone's looking for some classic thrillers, I suggest the following:

The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins

Kidnapped - Robert Louis Stevenson

The Man Who Was Thursday - GK Chesterton


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## JJFlowers (Nov 29, 2010)

OMG. I read Jennifer Horsman's historical romance novels years ago, and just bought two: Forever and a Lifetime and Magic Embrace. (Both rated five stats by many fans--nothing less is posted.) Readers fall into her books, and if you're like me, it is hard to reemerge before the last page is turned. These were my favorites. How can they be even better these many years later?  I am going back and reading all of them.

If you like historical romances, you will LOVE Jennifer's novels.


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## Wilker (Oct 17, 2010)

I stumbled across "Eyes of Silver Eyes of Gold", written by Ellen O'Connell by mistake, but was delighted once I got started on the book. It is a captivating love story that has a wonderfully strong female lead, with a very tough and quiet-like male. It is set back in the 1880's, so it is classified as a western. On top of love there are several elements to the story that made it impossible for me to put it down until I finished. The best part is the Kindle version is only $3.


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## Jim Bunt (Nov 30, 2010)

I just finished two good 99 cent ones. The first is Steven Savile and Steve Lockley's "Of Time and Dust." It has a nice mix of Gothic horror and detective mystery. A friend recommended it to me because she loves them both and she was right on! The other is one I took a chance on because I saw it in a Pixel of Ink list. It's called "Four Years from Home" by Larry Enright. That one really drew me into the story quickly and I pretty much finished it in two long sittings because I just couldn't put it down. So many good writers and so little time!


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## kentrich (Nov 30, 2010)

"Immaculate Deception," by Scott B. Pruden, was a great read! I've always loved far-out stuff like Tom Robbins and Christopher Moore, so a friend recommended this debut novel. I picked up the trade paperback over the summer and it made for some fantastic poolside reading. Judging from the reader reviews, other folks have enjoyed it as much as I did. The ebook was just released at $6.99.

http://www.amazon.com/Immaculate-Deception-A-Novel-ebook/dp/B004E11442/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1291129938&sr=1-1


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