The Last Two Books you have Read

Starting with the last two books you have finished reading and the author's name. Name one or more things they both have in common.

Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels & Blood Brothers by Nora Roberts

1. Female authors
2. Time
3. Childhood
4. Memory

Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson then Dracula by Bram Stoker
1. Horror
2.Told by a third party.

What Happened to Anna K by Irina Reyn and Corked by Kathyrn Borel.

1. Female authors
2. Deal with immigrants to North America
3. I bought them on the same day in the same store.

Thirteen orphans by Jane Lindskold and The Iron Hunt by Marjorie M. Liu.

1. Urban fantasy
2. Parallel universes
3. Female athors
4. Published in 2008
5. The first in a series

Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk and Contending Forces by Pauline Hopkins

1. Networks
2. Sexual Identity
3. Family Identity

The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
And where were you Adam by Heinrich Boll
1. Male Authors
2. War
3. Told from the perspective of soldiers who have no control and whose deaths are senseless and meaningless.
4. Lots of guts; very little glory.
5. Insightful, depressing, engrossing, compelling.
6. According to LT's Will you like it?, there is a very high certainty that I won't like either of these books -- I'm glad I didn't check before I'd read them.

A Certain Justice by P.D. James
Enduring Justice by Amy Wallace

1) female authors
2) both have justice in title
3) involve psychopaths

In the Courts of the Crimson Kings by S. M. Stirling
The Demon in the Freezer by Richard Preston

1. Male Authors
2. Biology - Biological weapons/technology

Very little in common, yet they share 1 very specific subject.

Glad you guys are liking my new thread.

The last two books I've actually finished reading...

The Last Song, by Nicholas Sparks
and
Lord of Chaos by Robert Jordan

Um...

1. Male authors
2. Three words in each title
3. Librarything thinks I "probably won't like" either of them, but it was wrong

I think those two titles prove how varied my tastes are. :P

Grimoires : A History of Magic Books by Owen Davies
and
Chariot : The Astounding Rise and Fall of the World's First War Machine by Arthur Cotterell

1.) Male authors
2.) British authors
3.) History
4.) English language (it's a secondary language for me)

Wow.

Mine were Running Blind by Lee Child (a Jack Reacher Novel) and Forest of Hands and Teeth a young adult zombie novel.

Similarities:
1) err... people died in both
2) I read them each in one day
3) both the main characters kissed someone

That's about it that's common.

Oh, dear, a tricky one. Mine are:

Excellent Women by Barbara Pym and Ocean Sea by Alessandro Baricco

So, have they got anything in common at all?
1) both are novels from the 2nd half of the 20th century
2) both are by European authors
3) both involve a group of characters including a clergyman, an academic, a painter and a naval officer

The last two that I had finished:
The Book of Murder by Guillermo Martinez and The Murder Farm by Andrea Maria Schenkel

1. Both are crime stories (even if they are on the two opposite sides of the genre)
2. Both are not originally written in English
3. Both are part of my Reading Globally Challenge (which I need to update)
4. Both are relatively short novels
5. Both were published in English in 2008
6. Read both of them in London during a business trip
7. (edit) Both have "murder" in the English title
8. (edit) Read in English (not my native language)

PS: The edits are after I looked through some of the entries.

Kiss of Midnight by Lara Adrian and Fruits Basket Volume 11 by Natsuki Takaya

Similarities are hard to find...

1. Female authors
2. Supernatural theme
3. Troubled, not entirely human heros

Murther and Walking Spirits by Robertson Davies
The Battle of Waterloo by J. Christopher Herold

Hmm. These books are about as far apart as the North and South Poles. One's about a murdered man's spirit following his murderer around and seeing "movies" of his ancestors. The other is a non-fiction account of the Battle of Waterloo.

Both written by men.
Both men have passed away, Herold in 1964 and Davies in 1995.
Both wrote many books.

That seems to be about it.

Mallory's Oracle by Carol O'Connell
The Black Ice by Michael Connelly

The only things I could come up with is that they are.
both crime fiction
both part of a really good series
both I rated 3.5 stars

> 17 they both have "Connell" in the author's names!

Snoop : What Your Stuff Says About You by Sam Gosling (somehow that's the only way the touchstone would work)

Spain for Dummies by Neil Schlecht

Nonfiction
Male authors
.... got nothing

When the Wind Blows by John Saul and Ghoul by Brian Keene

1. Both are horror novels.
2. Both are written by male authors.
3. Both are written by authors still alive as of October 27, 2009.
4. Both involve at least 1 main character under the age of 18 ending up dead.
5. Both are in the mid-300s in number of pages.
6. Both involve kids wandering off where they don't belong.
7. If both became "Author and Title" puzzles on Wheel of Fortune, you could buy any vowel and still maintain your turn.

kristenn: Both titles start with "S"

#18 crazybatcow....Duh! lol...thanks!

The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doige
Stocking Stuffers (a Christmas romance omnibus)

-paperback
-they both have pages and words
-I enjoyed large parts of each book and wasn't quite so impressed will other parts

#23 SylviaC...lol...

callmejacx...pretty good game!

Columbine and Company of Liars

Both begin with C
Both set during real historical events (the Columbine high-school massacre and the plague)
Both kinda gave me the creeps

ET close brackets

Red Bones and The Cruelest Month

Both
take place in April
and in a country other than my own
as detectives search for the murderer of a woman
surrounded by a cast of interesting, small town people
and are written by a woman

Eyes of Elisha by Brandilyn Collins and Shiloh Autumn by Bodie and Brock Thoene

christian authors
300+ pages
TBR pile

Babylon by Bus by Ray Lemoine and Jeff Neumann an The Great Influenza by John Barry

Demonstrate massive ineptitude by very corrupt local governments.

Demonstrate massive ineptitude by military leaders.

Deal with many, many sudden fatalities, societal breakdown, communication problems, confusion, isolation, mass panic.

Are about people trying hard to help others in very harsh, dangerous working/living environments.

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

Both books make fun of "high society" and involve secrets and intrigue.
Both written by women.

k4k

Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott and Rebecca and Rowena by William Makepeace Thackeray

In each novel, Ivanhoe marries a woman whose name starts with R.

Each novel features Ivanhoe, Rebecca, Rowena, King Richard, Isaac of York, Robin Hood, Wamba and Athelstane (among others).

Both have lots of heroic battles and damsels in distress.

Nation by Terry Pratchett
and
The Art and Science of Clicker Training for Horses by Ben Hart

Now then, let's see...

Both include elements of struggling to communicate - Mau and Daphne with each other, humans with horses.

Both include elements of making do with what you've got without flying off to spend money at the shop - stripping bare the Sweet Judy or using plastic cones as training targets.

Oh yes, and both promote non-violence, responsibility and understanding.

Phew!

(Both good reads, too.)

Dagger-star by Elizabeth Vaughan, thanks to AHS-Wolfy and
Nadia knows best by Jill Mansell

1. Romance
2. I liked them

Coraline by Neil Gaiman and Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury

Both are:
written by men who are still alive
stories in which children are in danger
stories in which the parents are put in danger as a consequence of their children's choices
about good vs. evil
fiction
scary

and both contain events which wouldn't happen in real life...if we're lucky.

It is nice to come back after a week and see that many have come and played this silly game. Tomorrow it will be my turn to play.

>31 JoannaON:,

Of all these post, yours showed heroic effort in tying two totally disparate books, together! LOL

Blood Brothers by Nora Roberts & In the Country of the Young by Lisa Carey

1. Female authors
2. The Past
3. Childhood
4. Memory
5. The supernatural
6. Ghosts

Chasing the Flame by Samantha Power and Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama

1. Both are biographies/memoirs
2. About famous men
3. Take place on several continents
4. deeply thought-provoking about issues of race and global politics

Waking: A Memoir of Trauma and Transcendence by Matthew Sanford and The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway

1. Overcoming great difficulties (paraplegia from a car accident and the siege of Sarajevo)
2. Obstacles to day to day living (how to resume and control basic bodily functions, and getting water and food)
3. Transcendence despite unimaginable circumstances (tranquility via yoga, and playing beautiful music in a bomb crater)
4. Physical and mental damage
5. Counting our blessings

Not sure if I can find much in common between The Revenge of Gaia by James Lovelock and Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller, but here goes:

1) Both talk about the weather and problems it causes

2) Both talk about times of upheaval (civil war, ice ages and nuclear disasters)

Let me see. I almost forgot about this thread. It doesn't seem to be all that popular :(

Let me see I last finished Unseen by Nancy Bush and before that it was People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks

1. Female Authors
2. Mystery
3. The Past
4. Didn't like the way it ended.

Falling Angels by, Tracy Chevalier and The Angel Game by,Carlos Ruiz Zafon

1.Both have Angel in the title
2.Both were set in the early 1900's
3.Both are historical fiction

(What a great thread!)
Oh brother.....
Deerbrook and Sylvester

1. One word in each title
2. Historical novels set in England
3. Most virtue is rewarded in the end

The Road (Oprah's Book Club) by Cormac McCarthy
and
Empire Falls by Richard Russo

1. Pulitzer Prize wniners
2. both were made into movies
3. Male authors
4. both the lead characters are fathers
5. both lead Characters are single (one a widower the other divorced)
6 They are destined to be on my favorite book list
7, They both take place in the fall.
8. They both have made me look into more of the authors work
Nobody's Fool and All the Pretty Horses

So Long, See You Tomorrow by William Maxwell and The Slap by Christos Tsioklas

--both explore social normes
--male authors
--both would be excellent book club choices since they provide lots of food for thought and perspectives to disucss

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon and Stardust by Neil Gaiman

Ummm....

1.) Both have a main character becoming romantically/physically involved with someone who is not their spouse/soon to be spouse due to some magical circumstances.
2.) Both have witches.
3.) In both, main characters break their limbs.
4.) Ghostly apparitions in both.
5.) Both authors are AWESOME.

20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill and The White Rhino Hotel by Bartle Bull

Hmmm.

Both are written by men, one the son of a famous author (Hill), and the other the father of a famous journalist/author (Bull).

Both are vividly written with lots of imagery.

Without getting really crazy, that's about it. (crazy would include: both have lots of characters, both have death, both have conversations.....) otherwise, they're 180 degrees from each other.

Passing by Nella Larsen and The Cat Came Home for Christmas by Cleveland Amory.

both are short,
both are told in the narrative fashion,
both were relaxing reads,
both are "types" of love stories,
and in both the majority of the story takes place inside.
belva

An Inconvenient Truth and New England Weather New England Climate

Whew! I dunno:

Both are non-fiction.
Both deal a bit with climate.
Both are fairly easy reads (the former especially)
I give up!

Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin and New Moon by Stephenie Meyer

wow umm...

1. they both have teenage girls as the main characters
2. they both are fiction (I guess that is cheating...too easy)
3. both have a bit or more of "love story" in them

The last two books I read were The Witches of Eastwick by John Updike and The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver. It's really hard to find a common factor.

They both take place in the United States (completely in the first, partly in the latter).

* THE ONLY THING THEY REALLY HAVE IN COMMON MAY BE CONSIDERED SPOILERS...

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Both of the main men turn out to be homosexuals.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky and Brief History of Christianity by Bamber Gascoigne.

hhmmm....there have been a lot of religious wars and the novel is set during the war. But that's a bit vague and general

I will quite often find this easy, though as I tend to link my reading. I have been wading through Dickens by Peter Ackroyd for the last two months and before that read Barnaby Rudge.

I am currently reading Devil's Brood by Sharon Penman and will then probably read John Gillingham's biography of Richard I.

The last two books I read were Sick of Shadows by Marion Chesney and A NASCAR Holiday anthology.

Really not much in common with these two. They are both written by women (the anthology by three women) and are both fiction.

Oh, both have car crashes in them :-)

The last two books that I have read are Curtain by Agatha Christie and My Kids, My Life by Aurdrey Wood.

There two books could not be more opposite. I loved Curtain and disliked My Life, My Kids Curtain is a classic I will always want to remember. My Life, My Kids was a book I should have never read. I feel that I wasted so much of my time with it.

I wish I was one of those people who, if they don't like a book, will stop reading it. I keep thinking that it has to get better. Most times it does. But not this time.

The Rake's Inherited Courtesan by Ann Lethbridge and Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat by Lynne Jonell

Lets see...

Both have strong female characters who are misperceived by most of the people around them. Both main characters are placed under the guardianship of others by absent parents, and have little control over their life circumstances.

Both are written by women.

I read each of them in an evening.

I like this game because I try to vary my reading selections, so it is challenging for me. I read so many books that, if I read two similar novels or two nonfiction books on the same subject too closely together, I get mixed up as to which was which.

So, my last two books were Canada and Other Matters of Opinion by Rex Murphy and The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham.

Now, there's a challenge! But I can say that both were written by men who love language and use it with great dexterity. And, both explore the nature of art and artists. (Which I didn't realize 'til I started typing this message.)

Six Days in Marapore by Paul Scott (set on the eve of Indian indipendence)

Arabian Sands by Wilfred Thesiger

The first one is a novel, the second is a travel – memoir book.

In the first one there are more than one main characthers , in the second , ultimately there is only one.

So at this point nothing joins them.

The only points they share,in my opinion, it is that in both of them the main – characthers , for "Six Days in Marapore", and the only one for "Arabian Sands", have to cope with a different culture, all of them are British , and the age is more or less the same. Late 40’s early 50’

#56...All one has to do is hear Rex Murphy once and know that he is one of a kind and has such a talent, for words. He has an incredable way of looking at things and then using words in a way that is so unique. I need to get this book.

The last two books I have read were...My Kids, My Life by Audrey Wood and Hot Rain by Kat Martin

1. Both were female authors

2. Both ended up having the children with them.

And that's about it.

Under The Dome by Stephen King and "A Sailor's Life" by Jan De Hartog

Other than both books are by male authors nothing else in common. One is Sci-Fi, the other a combination memior and advice on a career of a merchant sailor.

Jane Eyre and The castle of Otranto.

1 - Both are by British authors.
2 - Both have elements of gothic. The Castle of Otranto, being the first 'Gothic' work of fiction.

Thomas D'Arcy McGee by David Wilson and The Incident Report by Martha Baillie.

This has me stumped! Both authors are Canadian and that's about it.

Steal Across the Sky by Nancy Kress and Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson.

1. Female authors
2. Speculative fiction
3. Female protagonists of African ancestry who get involved with the wrong man
4. Incidental gay characters
5. Drug-addicted mothers
6. Eerily similar blighted urban landscapes

Dante: Poet of the Impossible by Greg Kelly and A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore

1. Deal with death and the final status of souls
2. Deal with morality
3. Have huge ugly monsters
4. Are comedies, the latter especially.
5. Have a "sweetheart" character, Beatrice and young Sophie, who at some point guide the main character.
6. One has Italian characters, the other has characters in Italian suits.
7. Have religious themes; Catholicism for the former, Buddhism for the latter.

Mythago Wood by Robert Holdstock and The Eye of Love by Margery Sharp

1. Both are written by British authors
2. Both have pairs of lovers who are physically separated for most of the book
3. Both have characters who think of themselves as inhabiting a character or role beyond their daily lives

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen/Seth Grahame-Smith and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

Ummmm....

1. Both involve beheading?
2, And fighting?
3. And guns??

Small Gods by Terry Pratchett and Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch

1) both male authors
2) both fantasy novels
3) both parts of series, but not the first books
4) both had slaves in them

The Shining City by Kate Forsyth and Embrace the Night by Karen Chance

1) both female authors
2) both fantasy novels
3) both involve magic
4) both parts of series, but not the first books
5) bot with female protagonists

Then Came the Evening by Brian Hart, and Homer & Langley by E.L. Doctorow.

1. third person narratives
2. primarily male characters
3. male authors
4. settings (Idaho and New York) closely relate to story
5. criminals
6. lost potential

Something Missing by Matthew Dicks and Deux heures by Sylvia Rozelier

These aren't even in the same language, but here goes:

1. In both cases, things are missing: physical things in the first, and information on a daughter's safety in another

2. Both have very little dialogue

3. Both main characters have important interactions with a parent.

From Dead to Worse by, Charlaine Harris & Wicked Lovely by, Melissa Marr

1. Both heroines were attacked at a library
2. Both Female Authors
3. Both have powerful Faeries

Repossessed by A.M. Jenkins and Scarlet and the White Wolf by Kirby Crow.

1. Both were quick reads
2. Both had fantasy based plots
3. Someone was kissed in both books

I've got nothing else really. I'm not even sure if A.M. Jenkins is a guy or a girl.

LOL@#72

At least you tried.

Spoiler ahead...

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

and

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

They both have a female bashing in the skull of a male with a heavy metal object!!!!

Who would have thought? ;)

LOL @ fig.

They both have a female bashing in the skull of a male with a heavy metal object!!!!

Always a crowd pleaser!

Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynn Truss and Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar by Thomas Cathcart

Both are relatively short.
Both are chock-full of really corny jokes. Really corny.
Both have catchy titles.
Both are nonfiction.

Memorial Day by Vince Flynn and Red Storm Rising by Tom Clancy

Both are long (especially RSR)
Both are by male authors
Both involve multiple settings (primarily US, Middle-East, and Europe, RSR also involves Russia)

Luthiel's Song Dreams of the Ringed Vale and Luthiel's Song the War of Mists

Both are in the same series
Both use dream magic
Both involve a female hero

Alien Taste by Wen Spencer and The Lost Duke of Wyndham by Julia Quinn

This time I know they were both written by women

Both books are fiction

Both books had two people falling in love. Well, maybe not since one character was technically a human/alien hybrid. Both books had two beings falling in love.

Both books had characters who didn't know who they really were.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott and Traveling with Pomegranates by Sue Monk Kidd

Both are written by women
Both authors have three names
both books are about familial relationships (The March family and mother and daughter

Well this is a great, but difficult thread for my first post.

I read The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown.

Things they have in common? That one is really really hard, but to give it a try;

- Both I read in English, while the translation (Dutch) is avaible.
- Both kept me from almost anything else in my life because I felt the urge to finish
reading.
- Both Books probaly will be turned in to a movie. For example The Da Vinci Code and
Angels and Demons, need I say more? So it is a matter of time that the book will be a
bad movie. And The Hunger Games will be turned into a movie (the author will also
write the script, let's hope that helps to make a better movie then the others I
mentioned).

The last two books I read were Ha Jin's A Good Fall and Stieg Larsson's Girl Who Played with Fire.

Anything in common? Both had lots of characters involved. Both were review copies for Knopf.

The last two books that I have read was Goodbye by Lisa Gardener and Soujourners and Settlers by Lillian Petroff.

1. They were both written by females authors

For the life of me that is the only thing I can think of that they had in commom

Message 84- Both authors have a first name that begins with L
So say we all!

>84 callmejacx:

Nice.

1. The lost history of Christianity by Philip Jenkins
2. You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto by Jaron Lanier

What they share:

1. I read both as iTunes audiobooks
2. I drank tea while listening to both.

The Suite Francaise – Irene Nemirowsky

Jackdaws – Ken Follett

Both are set in France under German occupation (World War II)

I've been following a lot of connections too obvious to mention here lately, but as it happens the last two I read do present a challenge:

Schwindel. Gefühle (W.G. Sebald)

Stupeur et tremblements (Amélie Nothomb)

Long and short, Anglo-German and Belgian, Italy and Japan, travel and office politics, male and female authors, 1980s and 1990s - not easy to link.

They both have titles that refer to mental states, they're both (mainly) first-person narratives in a grey zone between fiction and memoir, where the narrator has the same name as the author but isn't necessarily the same person; they both deal with being temporarily in a foreign country; they both involve revisiting places remembered from early childhood. And they both have mostly-white covers :-)

The Face by Daniel O'Neill and Mrs Kimble by Jennifer Haigh.

And the only thing they have in common is that I read them both whilst propped up in bed, drinking wine and fending off two excessively affectionate cats!

Sylvanus Now by Donna Morrissey and The Golden Mean by Annable Lyon

1. Both written by Canadian women
2. Both read in Buenos Aires (don't think I'll get the chance to say that again!)
3. Both have lead characters who need to re-examine their assumptions about life
4. Both have lead male characters who are close to their mothers.

Hi I'm new and want to lurk for a bit.

Welcome, P3aper!

Sanctuary and The Cherry Orchard.

I...am...at...a...total...loss. Stumped. Ok, here goes:

1. Both deal with class differences
2. Both have an agricultural food theme (ugh!)
3. Both have scenes of coming home and leaving home.

If anyone else can think of any similarities, I'd be very interested!

Sometimes this is as easy as one thinks

The Awakening by Kate Chopin and The Black Cauldron by Lloyd Alexander

...

...

...

There was a body of water in both books?

Yeah, I got nothing.

ETA: Oooh! I got one! In both books, someone committed suicide.

*pats herself on back*

Generation X by Douglas Coupland and The Jade Peony by Wayson Choy

1. Both written by Canadian men
2. Nominated for Canada Reads this year
3. Deal with inter-generational differences in points of view
4. Characters use story-telling to communicate with each other

As I said before, I usually try to vary my reading -- try to avoid reading two similar books in a row so I don't mix up plots or ideas. So, I like this thread -- it's challenging for me!

#94...You deserve that pat on the back. Good for you.

#95...Being a Canadian I have never heard of Douglas Coupland and Wayson Choy. I think they are worth looking into.

Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani
Blue SHoes and Happiness by Alexander McCall Smith.

Both are gentle, undemanding reads.
Both have female protagonists.
Both end happily.

Hunting Ground by, Patricia Briggs
Cleopatra's Daughter by, Michelle Moran

HMMM
Both are written by Women
Both have people that die
Both have a female villian(somewhat a villian)

These are very different books one is Fantasy and the other is Historical Fiction.But I was able to find a few similarities.

Me Write Book by Roumieu
The Angry Clam by Quisling

1. Both are much too short.
2. Both have very sophisticated writing styles and meticulous-ly devised, beautiful illustrations.
3. Both are about very powerful, formidable characters, who happen to not be human.
4. Both share the memoir genre.
5. Both deal in deep philosophical concepts, the latter, much more so, of course.

You did very well Sandydog...congrats.

Sandydog, I want The Angry Clam. Thanks for bringing it into the light and pairing it with Me Write Book (another volume I'll have to take a look at).

Robert

Consent to Kill by Vince Flynn and Map of Bones by James Rollins

1) Both are by male authors
2) Both were written in the Mid-2000's
3) Both are over 500 pages long
4) In both books, the Antagonist loses (and ends up dead)
5) Both are part of a series and should not be read first.
6) Both received 5 stars by me.

The last two books I have finished are Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea and My Horizontal Life.

Both are by a female author.
Both are by a Jewish author.
Both are by a West Coast comedian.
Both depict prodigious drinking of alcoholic beverages.
Both depict sexual promiscuity.
Both were offered as comic works.
Both depict the picaresque adventures of a person of privilege.
Both are short.
Both are set in latter day America.
Both have episodes in New Jersey.
Both have episodes on Martha's Vineyard.
Both are largely set in California.

I think there's a lot more.

Robert

I must pick these in order to turn this game into an excrutiating challenge: In Me Own Words and Bill Bryson's African Diary.

Both are extremely short.
Both are too short.
Both have funny or cynical incidents.
Both are by big-boned guys with facial hair.