Even in Shangri-la we need nudges =)

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Even in Shangri-la we need nudges =)

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1girlfromshangrila
Edited: Sep 12, 2011, 3:29 pm

Hey guys! I'm in serious need of a massive nudge: nothing from my TBR pile begs to be picked up!

Here are two sections of Mount TBR. Sorry about the poor quality of the photos. Cellphone cam. :(

Photo 1 - Historical Fiction, Young Adult.


Photo 2 - Classics (and then some).


I'm unfamiliar with all the authors in there, except for Edith Wharton, whose Age of Innocence I loved.

Can I have a nudge --or two --or three, please?

2girlfromshangrila
Sep 12, 2011, 3:29 pm

For some reason, touchstones wouldn't work, so here is the list of books featured in photos above:

Photo 1 - Historical Fiction, Young Adult.
1. City of Thieves, David Benioff.
2. The Swan Thieves, Elizabeth Kostova.
3. Shanghai Girls, Lisa See.
4. The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver.
5. Oryx and Crake, Margaret Atwood.
6. (In Spanish) The Last Jew, Noah Gordon.

Photo 2 - Classics (and then some).
7. Flowers in the Attic, V.C. Andrews.
8. A Room with a View, E.M. Forster.
9. A Little Princess, Frances Hodgson Burnett.
10. The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne.
11. Ethan Frome and other stories, Edith Wharton.
12. The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, James Weldon Johnson.
13. Heart of Darkness and selected short fiction, Joseph Conrad.

Thanks in advance! =)

3jnwelch
Sep 12, 2011, 3:32 pm

A Little Princess is a charmer. It's one of those that gets a lot of re-reads.

4bell7
Sep 12, 2011, 3:36 pm

Of the ones I've read, I would most recommend A Room with a View and The Poisonwood Bible.

5staffordcastle
Sep 12, 2011, 3:40 pm

I second the recommendation for A Little Princess. It's a keeper!

6LancasterWays
Sep 12, 2011, 5:16 pm

City of Thieves was one of the best books I've read this year.

7staffordcastle
Edited: Sep 12, 2011, 5:42 pm

Room With a View is good too. I read it after enjoying the movie, which was excellent.

8UnrulySun
Sep 12, 2011, 7:22 pm

Hands down City of Thieves! Excellent book.

Flowers in the Attic is a good, easy, sleazy read, sort of 80's soap opera fluff. It's also a movie.

9Booksloth
Sep 13, 2011, 7:38 am

Read The Poisonwood Bible, follow it up with A Room with a View then pick up Flowers in the Attic.

Having picked it up, take it to your nearest open window and hurl it with great force - this will work even better if you live on the 21st floor of a high-rise.

10girlfromshangrila
Edited: Sep 13, 2011, 9:45 am

Okay, so far it's A Room with a View, to be followed by A Little Princess, The Poisonwood Bible, or City of Thieves. It's a start. =) Thanks, everyone!

11girlfromshangrila
Edited: Sep 13, 2011, 9:46 am

>9 Booksloth: LOL! Thanks, Booksloth. At least now I know what to expect from Flowers in the Attic. Good thing that I was running out of doorstops. ;)

12mkboylan
Sep 13, 2011, 10:05 am

I secondk Booksloth.

13cushlareads
Sep 17, 2011, 12:52 am

City of Thieves was fantastic. The Poisonwood Bible was good, but a slog near the end and got too preachy.

14jnwelch
Sep 18, 2011, 1:41 pm

To me you can't go wrong with A Little Princess, City of Thieves or A Room with a View. The first and last are classics, and the second is pretty recent but may be headed that way. You have other good ones in there, too, but you're looking for a nudge.

In some ways, of course, it depends on your mood and what you've read lately. Are you in a rhythm with a certain kind of book, or looking for a change-of-pace, that kind of thing. I often pair a mystery with a classic, one lighter, one more challenging.

I know some day you're going to want to read A Little Princess, so that would be my nudge in a vacuum.

15girlfromshangrila
Sep 26, 2011, 5:36 pm

Okay, so it’s a three-way tie between The Poisonwood Bible, City of Thieves, and A Room with a View, with A Little Princess closely following.

And I really like the idea of a nudge in a vacuum, Joe. =) Clever way to put it.

I think I’m going to start with City of Thieves, then follow with the other three.

Thank you all; you’ve been very helpful! =)

16girlfromshangrila
Oct 3, 2011, 9:47 am

Guys, I finished City of Thieves last Friday, and enjoyed it very much. There were a couple of major plot twists I kept expecting to happen, and they did happen, but that's my only complaint.

I'm following it up with The Poisonwood Bible, starting today.

Thank you again!

17JoseBuendia
Nov 11, 2011, 3:03 pm

The Poisonwood Bible is amazing. I was leery of it because it was an Oprah Book (yuck!), but I loved it.

18TinaV95
Jan 13, 2012, 11:26 am

Although I have yet to read it, I'm hearing LOTS of buzz about Oryx and Crake on the Orange January group....

19bookwoman247
Aug 5, 2012, 6:55 am

From stack one, I'd highly recommend The Poisonwood Bible.It's almost a must-read, IMHO.

From stack two, I'd recommend Ethan Frome and Selected Stories. I love Edith Wharton. Ethan Frome was the first of her works that I read and loved, and I've also read some of her short stories, which are absolutely wonderful.