I was wondering if anyone had some recommendations for good books to read over the summer. I'm not good at picking up random ones in book shops i always end up not liking them. :blink:

Heres my list:

i'd recommend 'The Wedding Date' by elizabeth young. complete chickfic. its the basis for the film with debra messing, but its quite different.

I also love 'Chocolat' by joanne harris. another book to film one but its a good read, but again its different to the movie.

'A room with a view' by E.M.Forster is a good classic, as it F.Scott Fitzgerald's 'The great gatsby'

Anything by Jane Austen but my favorites are 'Pride and Prejudice' and 'Persuasion'.

La Prisonniere - Malika OufkirMy fav book of all time!

Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronteone of my favs defo gotta read it

Belgarath the Sorcerer: The Prequel to the Belgariad - David Eddings I read this one a few years ago, there is 5 in the series and I finished them in less than a week, they are like lord of the rings, but I found they flow more easily

The World According to Clarkson - Jeremy Clarksonits so funny

i cant find persuasion any where...im reading sense and sensability...well was i dropped it in the bath
im also reading Mrs Dalloway by Virgina Wolfe (another v old author)
i recommend 'the hours' .... which is based on the film, could be the other way round not sure, but its good, that based on Virgina wolfe and her writing mrs dalloway, dealing with going crazy, and then there the women who is reading the book, who is dealing with mother hood, and then there is mrs dalloway in the future it interesting

oh and silence of the lambs, hannibal, red dragon, where good

Persuasion

thats an amazon link for persuasion its £1.99

I just started Mrs.Dalloway and i've seen the hours too, i absoloutely love that film. To the Lighthouse is good too if u like virginia woolf, i had to read it at school this year.

it odd but its really hard to find books by virgina wolfe...i want to read her biographies there ment to be good

The Hobbit is a fantastic book.

As is Carrie. Great book.

oh yeah i love the hobbit and all of the lord of the rings books.

if u lkie fantasy the George R R Martin books are really good there are 4 in a series called a song of ice and fire.

I'm lucky with the virginia woolf books cos my mum loves them so they're all on our bookshelves.

Artemis Fowl books are really brilliant, it's like Harry Potter, only funnier.

I don't know about books specifically for the summer, but I've always enjoyed the Narnia chronicles, and A Series of Unfortunate Events. I know, I know, they're both children's series, but I love to escape with my books (I'm also a HP fan), and I haven't found any adult fiction (bar the Discworld Books by Terry Pratchett) that has had quite the same effect.

mmm is there a book gor finding neverland...because the film is very magical lol and it might be interesting


my mum and i dont have the same taste lol mine is better

A mills and Boon is always good for those lonely nights. ;)

oh i dont think my brother would ever forgive me if i read a mills and boon, he works in a library and is always complaining about all the old women taking them out. :lol:

:lol: It is always the older women reading them isn't it? filthy bitches!

i just remembered another series i love, the katherine applegate making out series. only trouble is there are like 30 books in it now and ive only read about 10 and thery're quite tricky to get hold of.

thy're good teenage romance ones though.

My favourite books:

Twelve by Nick McDonell - Not the most cheerful book but it's fantastic.
Confessions of Georgia Nicholson by Louise Rennison - it's a series of books and they are the happiest, silliest and funniest books I've ever read! Brilliant.
Meeting Evil by Thomas Berger - Very strange and dark, but great.
Flight of the Cassowary by John LeVert - again, quite weird, but excellent too.

I know we've all got different tastes, but those are just ones I particularly like. :D

Recently read Matchstick Men by Eric Garcia- it was excellent!! Much better (and different to) the film!!

Also I think all of Dan Brown's books are worth a read! Deception Point is my fave!

LOVE those!

also good omens by terry pratchett
and the bromaleiad trilogy by terry pratchett

people pn here have quite a sophoistaced reading list dont they? or maybe just more than me

i read these good books recently - teh bartimeaus trology by jonathon stroud

v funny and ironical (if thats the right word)

Oooooh PR, I have read those too! Well, the first two!! They are great! I read a mixture of decent books I 'should' read and complete rubbish!! And lots of 'kids books' like Bartimeas and Harry Potter!

My brother wants me to read The Leopard by Giuseppe Lampadusa. :D

The Turn of the screw is a fab book, I'd recommend it to everyone.

oh I love them lol

I'm reading just now not without my daughter its very good, worth a lookie

I'm asking for lots of books for my birthday, most of them Thomas Berger. He's very very good. :) (Dark though, a bit creepy; not ones to read on a cosy night in with a mug of cocoa)

The shadow of the wind!
its the best book EVER!!!

apart from the briget jones series, claypso chronicals, the princess diarys, eragon, Pride and Predudice and other jane austens works.
and angels and demons.
and the disc word series.

Oooh, I loved Bridget Jones! That was great! (Loved the films too :D )
Hmm...Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo was fantastic, but very sad.

one of my friends said that he could not understand why anyone can sit down out of there own will and read. I love to read, its great, but some people think its so sad to do that....thats why they usually fail english lol :P

Empress Orchid Anchee Min you have got to read this one, its fantastic

Labyrinth Kate Mosse also reading this one as well, very good to sit and read in the sun....and then get sunburnt lol

CLOUD ATLAS - David Mitchel

THE JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB - Karen Joy Fowler

yeh defo anything by austen and bridget jones is great as well

sorry about this but I can't stop listing books now, just went up to my room and found all these books that I have read and thought I would mention them because they make excellent reads during summer

Desert Royal - Jean Sasson

Autobiography of a Geisha - Sayo Masuda

Sabriel - Garth Nix

I Choose to Live - Sabine Dardenne

The Secrets of Jin-Shei - Alma Alexander

Witch Child - Celia ReesI love this book so much

I LOVE to read as well- and I read all the time! I cant understand people who dont read! I also think Not Without My Daughter is an excellent book! I think its amazing how much people on here have in common! Even though our only real link is Green Wing!

I cant believe I forgot these- I love the Shopaholics series (Secret Dreamworld of A Shopaholic, Shopaholic goes to New York, Shopaholic ties the knot, Shopaholic and Sister) by Sophie Kinsella! I can really relate to the Main character- the way she justifies spending on things- its great!! I'm like- I DO THAT- she is also very funny!! They are also perfect for summer reading- cos there isnt too much brain strain! (its not exactly Austen or Virginia Woolfe)

If you do fancy something a bit more challenging tho- 1984 by George Orwell is amazing... as is Animal Farm by George Orwell.... they are a bit more intelligent and political but amazing books!!!

Oh I also like reading Shakespere! I know thats probably pushing it and you all think im weird now! But like I say, I read all the time and if I run out of books I always turn to Shakespere- Romeo and Juliet or Macbeth- I could read them again and again!!

Now i've written an essay!! lol

oh Madame Bovary is another fave of mine although she does annoy the hell out of me, its a really interesting book to read.

And for a good old penguin classic Middlemarch and Daniel Deronda by george elliott are excellent.

i love north and south by elizabeth gaskell too.

I LOVE George Orwell, what a genius. I remember when I first read Animal Farm. It was just mind blowing. Spot on.

i love shakespeare too. romeo and juliet is just...well its a classic.
but the comedies like the taming of the shrew and a midsummers nights dream are ace as well.

yeh reading defo brings people together I find, I love to sit and talk about books etc etc

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte is also very good, but I prefer Wuthering Heights

Its good to see the old classics are as popular as modern day books, you talk about what you have read and you are probably gonna hear Jane Austen, Victor Hugo or someone. speaking of victor hugo:

The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Or Les Miserables fantastic musical

I love shakespeare, which is just as well, since I'm studying English at uni! Hamlet is my favourite.

If you're into plays, check out The Duchess of Malfi, I can't remember who wrote it, but its absolutely brilliant. Hints of incest though, I should warn you.

i had a lovely romeo and juliet book a couple of years back but foolishly sold it to my dad who wont give it back...it was made in 1889 a 100 years before i was born

people look at me strange when I say this, but I am so annoyed that my whole time at school, doing english for 6 years and I have not once had to do anything on shakespear, and that annoys me so much, cuz I always wanted to write an essay on his work! but I did do a essay by george orwell so it was alright I suppose :rolleyes:

if we're talkin plays both the sophocles and jean anouilh's versions of Antigone are brilliant.

i've got my reading list for syuding english at uni this october so i've just started don Quixote and the Symposium and i'm really enjoying them both.

Wow- am so pleased i'm not the only person who voluntarily reads Shakespere!! Lots of English uni student too I c- thats what I always wanted to do- English and Drama! But, well, life got in the way!

We read the Duchess of Malfi at college- am ashamed to say I actually dont remember any of it! Loved Alias Grace- by Margret Atwood and Mary Shelly's Frankenstein. Did those at college too!

Cant believe u never studied Shakespere ElleDoll! I thought everyone did! We did loads of Shakespere!! My fave was Macbeth at GCSE- I aced my essay- was the best mark I ever got in anything!!

Has anyone read The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux? I read that a while ago, have always loved the musical!

Oh- and another favorite- Valley Of The Dolls by Jaqueline Susann!

I can really talk about books cant I!!

yeh me neither, every other class has but the ones I have been in have not, even when I was studying higher grrrr, but gonna read them in my spare time I shall show them muhahaha.

I love the musical phantom, but I heard the book was not very good.what did you think of it?

love shakespeare my friend and i did an excerpt from romeo and juliet for our grade 8 LAMDA and we got distinction for it. we were so proud. it was good fun too.

I actually quite liked it! It was alot easier to read than I thought it was going to be- but I dont know how much of it was lost in the translation! But I really love the musical and it was lovely seeing where it had all come from and going into that bit more detail on certain points that had been skimmed over in the stage adaptation! I would say worth a read- specially if u like the musical!

yeh I love the musical, I hope to see it in october when i'm down in london, so I might give it a read, once I finish the pile of books i'm reading just now :P