# Books Recommended by Our Members (May 2011)



## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

For the list of recommendations in April, look here:

April Recommendations

If you are an author or publisher, please do not 'recommend' your own books. Instead you may start a discussion/promotion thread in the Book Bazaar.

Generally, this thread is for quick recommendations. You know, you're sitting with a friend at dinner and you say, "Hey, I just finished this book and I think you would love it!" That kind of thing.

If you've got a book review or other site and would like to regularly share reviews with us, we invite you to start a thread in the Book Bazaar for your site and periodically post links to reviews, subject to our posting rules for authors and bloggers.

Also, please use generic links, or, even better, the Link-Maker to make KindleBoards affiliate links. But please do _not_ link through another site. 

Please see Forum Decorum for guidelines.


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## Harry Craig (Apr 29, 2011)

Betsy said I could repost these books I enjoyed for May and so here they are, all terrific:

http://www.amazon.com/Lincoln-Lawyer-Michael-Connelly/dp/1455500232 Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly ( I read it because I saw the movie trailer)

http://www.amazon.com/Death-Red-Heroine-ebook/dp/B001ET65U0/
Death of a Red Heroine by Qiu Xiaolong (if you want to be taken to China, this is it. About a poet detective)

http://www.amazon.com/The-Band-of-Gypsies-ebook/dp/B004AYDD3S/ The Band of Gypsies by Enrico Antiporda (If you want to be taken to Spain on a touching romantic ride)

http://www.amazon.com/Across-Nightingale-Floor-Tales-ebook/dp/B000OCXG4Q/ Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn (if you want to take a trip to medieval Japan. Loved it!!!)

(BTW, now reading Grass For Her Pillow, another Lian Hearn novel).


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

I've now read two of Craig Johnson's Walt Longmire mysteries (Junkyard Dogs and Another Man's Moccasins) and recommend them. Set in Wyoming, they have a terrific sense of place, great characterization, and one of the best posse of sidekicks I've come across.


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## intinst (Dec 23, 2008)

A Bitch in Time (The Right Bitch series) The Right Bitch (The RIght Bitch series) Bitch Bewitched (The Right Bitch series)

Really like these short stories about a magic tracking hound and her companions. Made me want to try Doranna Durgin's longer works


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## TaniaLT (Oct 16, 2010)

I'm reading Linda Fairstein's new novel, Silent Mercy. She's one of my fave authors and this one so far doesn't disappoint.


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## Cheryl Shireman (Feb 11, 2011)

I thought The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls was brilliant. It is a memoir that reads like a novel. I loved it.

Also just finished reading Once Upon a Time, There Was You by Elizabeth Berg. I enjoyed that. All of her books are a safe bet. She makes writing look so easy.


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## jherrick (Apr 1, 2011)

I'm almost halfway through Noble House by James Clavell. A pretty quick read and excellent. Someone told me Shogun is much better, so I'll need to check that one out too.


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## DonnaFaz (Dec 5, 2009)

I just finished Crestmont by Holly Weiss.



I enjoyed it very much...an excellent historical.

~Donna~


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## JeanJoachim (Mar 22, 2011)

I have been reading all the works of a relatively new author, Alex Sinclair, and I love his sexy romances. His newest weaves suspense with sexy romance and I loved it:

It's available for only $2.99 for a full lengh novel. I recommend it highly if you're looking for evocative prose and excellent plotting and characters:


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## Imogen Rose (Mar 22, 2010)

Best book I've read this year: Divergent by Veronica Roth


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## Harry Craig (Apr 29, 2011)

Okay, I just finished another one, a cheap thrill actually called The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly (I enjoyed The Lincoln Lawyer so much I decided to read the sequel). http://www.amazon.com/Brass-Verdict-Novel-Harry-Bosch/dp/B002ZNJVZU/

BTW, for Michael Connelly fans, the Amazon link mentions Harry Bosch, which is not true. The protagonist is Mickey Haller, and Bosch shows up in just one of the chapters.


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## intinst (Dec 23, 2008)




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## StephenLivingston (May 10, 2011)

I heartily recommend Neal Stephenson's "Anathem" to you all and particularly those of you who are interested in speculative fiction.


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

If you like thrillers, I have become quite a fan of the works of JA Konrath (he also writes under Jack Kilborn).  However, a guy named Blake Crouch wrote a novel called RUN that is one of the most tense, intense and satisfying reads I have had with my Kindle.  It is available exclusively for Kindle, by the way.  Big thumbs up from me.


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## Emily King (Jun 9, 2009)

2 books that I read recently that really stuck with me:

A Discovery of Witches (a book club selection for this coming September - it came in at the library and I liked it so much, I bought it):


A Game of Thrones (another one I got from the library and purchased when I was enjoying it - easier than reading the DTB version) - loved how GRRM develops his characters and his writing style in general. I'm also loving the series on HBO - it's following very closely to the book, which is great!


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## Sussie Reader (May 9, 2011)

I liked Pan's Garden by Algernon Blackwood. They say the movie director of Pan's Labyrinth was inspired by the book.
There are about 15 stories in the book, my favorite being Special Delivery. A very interesting read.
http://www.amazon.com/Pans-Garden-ebook/dp/B00505VXE2/


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## mistyd107 (May 22, 2009)

Angry Housewives eating bonbons by Lorna Landvik 

don't be swayed by the title this book is not "chiK" Lit in the fun, light sense but it is a wonderful, touching book about life and the friends that get you thru. Have tissues handy as you will cry, but you will also lol.If you try it I don't think you'll regret it


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## beckyj20 (Jun 12, 2010)

I just finished  and I highly recommend it! I have no words to describe how amazing it is!


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## Harry Craig (Apr 29, 2011)

Jherrick,

I couldn't get into Noble House, BUT I read Shogun a few months ago and it's simply a terrific book. Hard to come across books as good (and as long) as that one. One of the best I've read this year.

Anyway, I'm about midway with a good YA novel called Whispers from the Ashes, set in the 1960s Pennsylvania. Sort of reminds me of A Painted House, which I liked very much. http://www.amazon.com/Whispers-Ashes-Patricia-Hester/dp/0984561609

At the rate I'm going this month, I'll bust my book budget.


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## jherrick (Apr 1, 2011)

Harry Craig said:


> Jherrick,
> 
> I couldn't get into Noble House, BUT I read Shogun a few months ago and it's simply a terrific book. Hard to come across books as good (and as long) as that one. One of the best I've read this year.


Funny you mentioned you couldn't get into it, because it did take the first 100 pages to settle into it and get a feel for where it was going. All right, Shogun is on the wish list--thanks for tempting me when I still have another 500 pages yet to read!


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## Harry Craig (Apr 29, 2011)

Jherrick,
Sorry, but then after Shogun, you have Taipan which is equally substantial and almost as good (it's the historical prequel to Noble House about the formation of the colony of Hongkong). 

The good thing is, you have two terrific books to look forward to!


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## Kristan Hoffman (Aug 6, 2009)

I just finished THE EYRE AFFAIR and its sequel LOST IN A GOOD BOOK by Jasper Fforde. Book 1 can stand on its own, but now I have to read Book 3 because Book 2 ends on... not a cliffhanger, but some things are not resolved. The whole series is highly imaginative and entertaining -- full of jokes, adventure, mystery, and comical scifi.

Kristan


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## timhallinan (Sep 10, 2010)

Just read the new (and last) Spenser book by the late Robert B. Parker, Sixkill, and it's first-rate, even by Parker's standards. The series is going to be taken over by Ace Atkins, a first-rate writer in his own right, but I don't know . . . Parker's tone seems so easy but it's really precise. Also, I can't think of a good series that was successfully taken over by another writer.


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## timhallinan (Sep 10, 2010)

Brett Battles' new thriller SICK is the first in (I think) a trilogy called The Project Eden thrillers, and it's palm-sweatingly good. Sensational action, great characters, wonderful prose. At least look at the samplee.


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## shotyme (May 13, 2011)

What's Done in the Dark By Solae Dehvine . . . it's a series of short stories!!!

 Alani's Bigger Hustle by Kai Storm


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## timhallinan (Sep 10, 2010)

by Lisa Brackmann is an absolutely terrific first thriller about a female U.S. Army medic, damaged physically and emotionally in the Middle East, who finds herself in Beijing with her husband, whom she met in Iraq and who's on assignment. While still addicted to the Percocet she takes to dull the pain in her patched-together legs, she's putting her world together emotionally when her husband cheats on her. At the beginning of the book she's dodging his attempts to finalize the divorce and hanging out with a colony of artists in a sort of artist's colony in an old industrial site in Beijing -- even having a low-key relationship with a Chinese painter. And then one night she meets a Uighur in the painter's flat, and the next thing she knows, the whole world is after her -- American contractors, Chinese security forces, even apparent friends. From her time in Iraq, she knows exactly the kind of treatment she'll receive if the wrong people catch her -- but who are the right people, and why is everyone after her?

If you like smart, breakneck story telling, you'll like this.


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## TheWhistler (May 14, 2011)

Hi there ...

I just finished THREE new young adult books in May, really loved all three:

Incarceron - about an 'alive prison', really original
Max Quick: The Pocket and the Pendant - time stops for everyone except for some kids who have to find out why, new genius book, must read!
The Hunger Games I read all three of these in a week. Nothing like them at all, very very original! Now everyone is copying it, but this is the best and original, even though some people say battle royale came first, i think it's not as good.


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## crimescribe (Apr 27, 2011)

by Jennifer Chase. Good psychological suspense with solid detail and craft behind it.


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## StephenLivingston (May 10, 2011)

"Oryx & Crake" by Margaret Atwood and it's follow up "The Year of the Flood".


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## windmill40 (May 14, 2011)

I am a newby here, but an avid reader. Just finished " 22 Brittania Road " by Amanda Hodgkin...Well Written, but a sad story about a Polish couple who try to make a go of their marriage after being separaged for five years during WWII. 
Also " The Bone Garden" by Tess Gerritsen a GREAT thriller. 
Now am reading " Elisha's Bones " by Don Hoesel.


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## mysterywriter (May 14, 2011)

I just finished reading The 9th Judgment, James Patterson and Maxine Paetro. It was a page turner. One wonders if Patterson will ever run out of ideas, but I'm sure his co-authors play a big part even though they don't get much billing. I definitely like the books he does with Paetro.

In this Women's Murder Club book a crazed killer is taking out mothers and little kids in a seemingly random pattern. At the same time many wealthy or high profile people in the City of San Francisco have fallen victim to a cat burglar known in the press and cop shops as "Hello Kitty." There is one problem. Hello Kitty is now a murder suspect because one burglary provided the perfect scenario for someone else to step in and do the deed. Is there a connection between these diverse crimes? How can Lindsay Boxer get a handle on what it will take to stop the psycho killer? Things step up when Lindsay finds herself in his sights and isn't sure whether she will survive.

As a mystery author myself, I liked the pace of the book, the way the clues were revealed and the non-stop action. If you like the Women's Murder Club, you should love this book. However, there is quite a bit of blood and guts.


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## CNDudley (May 14, 2010)

Love this thread. I've added JELLICOE ROAD and SHOGUN to my TBR list.

If you like exploration and survival non-fic, I couldn't put this book down. But, then again, I have a weakness for people starving and freezing to death...


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## MeiLinMiranda (Feb 17, 2011)

"Cryoburn" by Lois McMaster Bujold (can't find it at Amazon!) and The Dirty Parts of the Bible by Sam Torode, which if you liked "Oh Brother Where Art Thou" you'll love:


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## JChappell (May 16, 2011)

Hey everyone Im new here just got the amazon kindle for my b-day I am a huge horror fan and I was turned on to this new author Azrael Paul Damien by my friend Matt anywho Im not sure if he has anything else out but I read his book Convict Grade it had action adventure romance, it was awesome! I also recommend checking out Gord Rollo he has a cool take on the whole demon thing. here are the links


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## w0rdvirus (May 16, 2011)

I am a really big horror fan so when I just got my tablet I went with a horror book by someone I never heard of. Jack Kilborn's Trapped is a book I really have to recommend.


Also an older book that I just picked up great piece of Cyberpunk/Sci-Fi William Gibson's Neuromancer.


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## chumlyb (Apr 1, 2011)

I can't say enough about Eli Pariser's new book, *The Filter Bubble*, about the impact of personalized search on sites such as Google, Facebook, etc - and coming soon to more and more sites on the internet (and very much a part of Amazon of course though I'm not nearly as concerned about purely commercial sites).

Personalized search has bummed me out since it was first instituted on Google. Pariser does a fantastic job of explaining the drawbacks and consequences of it on the internet, our government, etc. It's not a pretty picture. He's no stick-in-the-mud luddite - he's young, super bright, and has been very much engaged online for years.

I can't say enough about this book - if you spend any time online (or even if you don't!) you really, really want to read it. It's engagingly written and the sort of book you can't put down and can't stop telling people about. Some may balk at the price for the Kindle edition but for me it was worth every penny. After buying it I then picked up the hardcover at my local indie bookstore (and bought $230 worth of other books - the danger of entering a bookstore for me!).

 Kindle edition- $12.99

The Filter Bubble: What the Internet Is Hiding from You Hardcover edition - $14.99 new


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## D.A. Boulter (Jun 11, 2010)

A series of semi-connected short stories of the Viet Nam war, as told by nurses. Written by Susan O'Neill, a Viet Nam nurse, these stories are poignant, funny and tragic in turn. A very good read.


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## lcook0825 (Jul 16, 2010)

I would reccomend Gordon Ryan's "The Spirit of the Union Trilogy."


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## NapCat (retired) (Jan 17, 2011)

I enjoyed SHIPBREAKER. Author Paolo Bacigalupi writes of a post petroleum world......interesting (good) writing style.


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## valleycat1 (Mar 15, 2011)

I agree with MystyD107 - Lorna Landvik is a fun read.

I just finished James Thompson's Snow Angels & plan to read Lucifer's Tears soon.  Another Scandinavian somewhat dark mystery (no pun intended - it's set in Finnish Lapland during the dark days of winter).


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## alex.metcalf (May 17, 2011)

So Much Pretty
Mysterious. Moving. And ultimately shocking...


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## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

This was an absolutely terrific book:



Here's the synopsis:

Meet 'Bob the Book,' a gay book for sale in a Greenwich Village bookstore, where he falls in love with another book, Moishe. But an unlikely customer separates the young lovers. As Bob wends his way through used book bins, paper bags, knapsacks, and lecture halls, hoping to be reunited with Moishe, he meets a variety of characters, both book and human, including Angela, a widowed copy of Jane Austen's Mansfield Park, and two other separated lovers, Neil and Jerry, near victims of a book burning. Among their owners are Alfred and Duane, whose on-again, off-again relationship unites and separates our book friends.
Will Bob find Moishe?
Will Jerry and Neil be reunited?
Will Alfred and Duane make it work?
Read 'Bob the Book' to find all the answers...

~~
Highly, highly recommended. This book will definitely have a place on my top ten list for the year.

L


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## jaimee83 (Sep 2, 2009)

jherrick said:


> I'm almost halfway through Noble House by James Clavell. A pretty quick read and excellent. Someone told me Shogun is much better, so I'll need to check that one out too.


Shogun, Tai Pan, Noble House, King Rat & one more. Great books. James was a prisoner at Chang Li prison, he's in both the book & movie, King Rat.


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## R. Barri Flowers (Apr 12, 2011)

Hello:

I recommend reading *84 Charing Cross Road*, a wonderful true account by Helene Hanff, of a twenty year transatlantic correspondence camaraderie between a New York writer and English bookseller. Later became a play and movie.

Definitely reflects a different era, but one worth being a part of.

Best,

Barri


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## Craig Allen (Apr 2, 2011)

For aspiring writers, I have to recommend The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. He is probably most popular for a book he wrote called The Gates of Fire which is about Spartan society and the battle of Thermopylae. This book is inspirational when it comes to overcoming resistance to creating your at (whether it is writing or otherwise).


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## lpking (Feb 12, 2011)

Steven Pressfield just published with Seth Godin's Domino Project, too. I've downloaded that one (_Do the Work_) but haven't gotten around to reading it yet.


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## Craig Allen (Apr 2, 2011)

I too have downloaded "Do the Work," but I haven't read it either.  I find it ironic that I am procrastinating a book about how to overcome procrastination.


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## lpking (Feb 12, 2011)

Craig Allen said:


> I too have downloaded "Do the Work," but I haven't read it either. I find it ironic that I am procrastinating a book about how to overcome procrastination.


Amen, Brother!

I suspect the value of a book like that comes to the fore when one has something to do that one simply mustn't procrastinate on. Then one can read the anti-procrastination book while rationalizing that one is doing something productive to help tackle the time-limited project.


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## valleycat1 (Mar 15, 2011)

She Walks in Beauty - a collection of poems selected by Caroline Kennedy.  This is a lovely DTB and such a wide ranging thoughtful selection that I just purchased it to carry on my Kindle as well.


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## valleycat1 (Mar 15, 2011)

The Ninth Wife by Amy Stolls - from the back cover:  it's "a smart, funny, eye-opening tale of love, marriage, and the power of stories to unlock the true meaning of home and family."  the POV alternates by chapter between Bess and Rory, the protagonists.

I'll be looking for more of her books in the future!


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## Tim Ellis (Mar 27, 2011)

I can absolutely recommend 'The Religion' by Tim Willocks about the Seige of Gibraltar. If you like beautiful writing, you'll love this. It was one of those books that you can't wait to finish, but you never want to end.


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## jvimawriter (Jan 19, 2011)

M.M. Gornell's "The Reticence of Ravens" is a moody mystery. Gornell has a way of dropping the reader into the middle of the action like no other writer I've read. You really sense that these characters has something going on before you walked in and that their lives will keep moving long after to book.


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## MariaESchneider (Aug 1, 2009)

I keep trying to stop reading novellas and short stories...but. Then along comes a novella by Nancy Fulda, probably my favorite short story writer ever and I find myself unable to resist. 99 cents doesn't hurt my feelings any either.

If you like sci-fi...shoot, if you like a good thriller, with believable characters full of heart--give this a shot. I thought it was *awesome.*

http://www.amazon.com/Backlash-ebook/dp/B004Q9TIPY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1306240122&sr=8-2

Backlash

It also appears in her full anthology, which I also highly, highly recommend:



There's four stories in here that I think totally rocked. The entire antho is well-written; at least 3 very thought-provoking stories (not my favorite kind--they tend to pull at my heart too much).

But definitely read Backlash. It's worth the detour.

Maria


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## Darcie Chan (May 22, 2011)

I'm new to the Kindle-world, but I'm amazed at how many wonderful books are available! Currently, I'm reading Rumpel by Eileen Cruz Coleman, and it is great so far!!


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## Tamara Rose Blodgett (Apr 1, 2011)

I'm [mainly] reading YA books and these two are getting great recommendations:
Sleight
Divergent

Happy Reading~!


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

Just finished A Red Herring Without Mustard and recommend it and the two previous books in the series (The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, and The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag). 11-year-old sleuth Flavia DeLuce is a delight.


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## BarbraAnnino (Jan 27, 2011)

Don't Breathe a Word - Jennifer McMahon

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004JN1D4G/ref=r_ea_s_f

I love all her work, this was by far the best book I have read this year.


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## Carol Hanrahan (Mar 31, 2009)

I would like to recommend this book. Even though it is a little pricey, some of the proceeds go to the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation.


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## patrisha w. (Oct 28, 2008)

mistyd107 said:


> Angry Housewives eating bonbons by Lorna Landvik
> 
> don't be swayed by the title this book is not "chiK" Lit in the fun, light sense but it is a wonderful, touching book about life and the friends that get you thru. Have tissues handy as you will cry, but you will also lol.If you try it I don't think you'll regret it


One of my favorite-of-all-times book. It is also the only book where I can say I was literally laughing and crying at the same time.


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## MariaESchneider (Aug 1, 2009)

BarbraAnnino said:


> Don't Breathe a Word - Jennifer McMahon
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004JN1D4G/ref=r_ea_s_f
> 
> I love all her work, this was by far the best book I have read this year.


Hey Barbra, I didn't know you were on KB--I've been hearing good things about your book--Opal Fire!!! Been meaning to check it out!
Seeing you here reminded me of it!


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## NapCat (retired) (Jan 17, 2011)

Now that the "Water-for-Elephants" hype has ended......if you want to know more about these incredible critters, read Sara 
Alexander's; T*HE ASTONISHING ELEPHANT.*










Unfortunately, it has not been Kindlized yet...


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## julie sellers (May 6, 2011)

I might be benind the times, but I'm reading Diary of a Mad Fat Girl and think it's HYSTERICAL!


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## sinclairbrowning (May 16, 2011)

I'm late getting to Steve Hamilton's _The Lock Artist_ which just won the Edgar for Best Book. It's great! I really admire how he has a protagonist who does not/cannot speak and also how he tells us enough about lock/safe picking to be interesting but not boring.

I had no idea where the book was going and since I read a lot of mystery/thriller fiction I really like that.


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## drenee (Nov 11, 2008)

Russian Winter: A Novel by Daphne Kalotay. This is a fabulous book. It's 480 pages, and I think I held my breath for about 440 of them. Magnificent.

deb


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## lpking (Feb 12, 2011)

drenee said:


> It's 480 pages, and I think I held my breath for about 440 of them. Magnificent.
> 
> deb


Ever considered a career as a pearl diver?


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## drenee (Nov 11, 2008)

lpking said:


> Ever considered a career as a pearl diver?


LOL


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## MariaESchneider (Aug 1, 2009)

Mrs. Pollifax. Wow. WONDERFUL. No, most are not on Kindle. But they are such GEMS. Just finished the first:



Cozy-thriller. Excellent. Improbable in spots. But just fabulous. If you like Elizabeth Peters, these are for you.


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## Joseph.Garraty (May 20, 2011)

Savages, by Don Winslow

http://www.amazon.com/Savages-ebook/dp/B003L785PG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1306861110&sr=1-1

It's a nasty story about drug cartels and some people who get mixed up with them. It's brilliantly written and stayed with me for days after I finished it.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

For the June 2011 Books Recommended by Our Members thread, go here:
http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,69382.0.html

Betsy
KB Moderator


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