help picking a book

[Birdie07]

I was about to post without reading responses but I wanted to second The Reader. Personally I don't read books just b/c they are Oprah's BC books. I don't really like her taste always. I just read it b/c I love historical fiction. This book was amazing. It's historical fiction and has charactor development. Me and my DH also do the two book thing. Especially when we were dating long distance we read to each other. But I'm a book whore. I can't wait to see this movie. There's alot of reading in the book and they brought it into the movie so it should be good. I definately recommend this!

I read everything on WWII. So if you need any historical fictions of this time period I have quite a few to recommend. I go through my whole library shelves and they have to order more. Haha! But definately check out The Reader!

[rodent]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaliaA07 I was about to post without reading responses but I wanted to second The Reader. Personally I don't read books just b/c they are Oprah's BC books. I don't really like her taste always. I just read it b/c I love historical fiction. This book was amazing. It's historical fiction and has charactor development. Me and my DH also do the two book thing. Especially when we were dating long distance we read to each other. But I'm a book whore. I can't wait to see this movie. There's alot of reading in the book and they brought it into the movie so it should be good. I definately recommend this! I read everything on WWII. So if you need any historical fictions of this time period I have quite a few to recommend. I go through my whole library shelves and they have to order more. Haha! But definately check out The Reader!

oops i may have been too quick to count it out because it was an oprah book. All of the oprah bookclub books i've read before were too feminine for me to imagine mike enjoying them. I had a friend that I swapped books with & she bought all the oprah books. I like oprah, i just didn't like most of the books.

so is the reader set during WW2?

I told mike about the books i ordered today & he sounded interested. Do you also buy 2 copies? I thought that might be a waste, but I think we'd want to read at the same time some nights.

[rodent]

i just read the description of The Reader. sounds great! I was able to get it for $4 used on amazon so I ordered two. OK, i need to quit buying books until I see we are actually going to read them together.

 

I also ordered I, Claudius today. a coworker suggested it. It is written as an autobiographical memoir by Roman emperor Claudius. There is also a tv series we can watch together after we read it.

 

Mike & I have really different interests, so it's really fun when we have an overlap. We rarely watch the same tv shows or movies & we read very different books. I joke that the only thing we have in common is that we both like LOL cats. Even that we have gotten tired of.

[Birdie07]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Morgan oops i may have been too quick to count it out because it was an oprah book. All of the oprah bookclub books i've read before were too feminine for me to imagine mike enjoying them. I had a friend that I swapped books with & she bought all the oprah books. I like oprah, i just didn't like most of the books. so is the reader set during WW2? I told mike about the books i ordered today & he sounded interested. Do you also buy 2 copies? I thought that might be a waste, but I think we'd want to read at the same time some nights.

I agree. I don't usually like Oprah's picks either. Sometimes she picks for weird reasons. Like I read "Night" so many years ago and then she did the month long special but it's been out for so long. Anyways I don't pick books b/c of her.

The Reader is set a little bit after the war. It's about a 15 year old boy who gets in a relationship with a much older woman (30 something?). Don't let that scare you away though. Then they lose touch until he is in law school and the War Crime Trial's start and he meets her again. It really is a beautiful book.

And yes we use to buy 2 copies. When we were long distance dating we would buy 2 movies and watch at the same time. Or read together. Now we buy one and read to each other. Same idea though and fun. Good luck.

[Cattie]

If you haven't read it, 5 People you meet in Heaven, Such a good book. The hubby may not like it. It's a small book, very quick read. I'm not really into the whole spiritual reading or anything but I could not put this book down!! I literally fell asleep one night reading it cause I wouldn't stop and roll over to go to bed, at 8am.....

 

I've been on a James Patterson and Mary Higgins Clark kick lately, they're both great authors. Not WWII ish, but good reads none the less.

 

I hope it works for you! Thank god 2 of my closest friends and I are all passing around the books we read so we're always talking about them!

[Jenn79]

I just thought of two more books that might work for both of you: Spandau Phoenix and Black Cross by Greg Iles. They are a little more mainstream, but are really good reads, both dealing with WWII. I was reluctant to read them at first, but my father-in-law insisted I give them a try.

[Duchess]

I heard great things about The Secret Life of Houdini. I know, it sounds weird, but its a biography but a pretty good story. I haven't read it yet, but did buy it because people were talking about it. I don't normally like bios.

[Kathie]

You sound just like me and my FI. I did get him to read Kite Runner which shocked me because he thought it was a chick book and he loved it. Have you read the second book by Khaled Hosseini? It's called A Thousand Splended Suns. It's AMAZING! Ten times better than Kite Runner. I don't know if it's out in paperback yet but believe me it's worth the hardcover. My FI hasn't read it yet but I know he will like it.

[Opice34]

I haven't read all the posts, but I'd start with The History of Love. It's a fictitious book about WWII. Jeff and I both read it and loved it. Cheesy title, but really great book. Amazing characters.

 

There are also lots of other fictitious books about WWII as well. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is a children's book that they are turning into a movie. It is fantastic.

 

I would suggest The Reader, too, but see that the person right above already did so! I had to read that in high school and really liked it.

 

Jeff and I share books all the time...let me go peruse the bookshelf. I agree - talking about books together is fun!

[Opice34]

Books that Jeff and I have both read and liked:

 

The History of Love - Nicole Krauss (this is my favorite) - fictitious story of what happens many years after WWII

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - Jonathan Safran Foer (Krauss' husband) - fictitious story surrounding 9/11

Night - Elie Wiesel

My Golden Trades - Ivan Klima - (love, love, love this. I used to live in Prague, so in addition to enjoying reading about WWII, I also love reading about the communist era.)

Waiting for the Dark, Waiting for the Light - Ivan Klima

The Giver - Lois Lowry (children's book, but a fave)

We also both enjoyed The Kite Runner, but I know you said Mike wouldn't like that. That may discount Jeff's taste.

 

(I know there are more, but I can't think of them!)

 

 

Books Jeff has passed onto me that I haven't read yet:

 

Under the Banner of Heaven - Jon Krakauer

Infidel - Ayaan Hirsi Ali

 

 

Also, Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels is another good WWII Fiction.