Books Recommended by our Members (August 2010)

[Betsy the Quilter]

For the list of recommendations in July, look here:

http://www.kindleboards.com/index.php/topic,28300.0.html

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.  Please see Forum Decorum for guidelines: http://www.kindleboards.com/index.php/topic,36.0.html

[911jason]

Jeffry Hepple's Lonely is the Soldier is an outstanding saga that spans the career of a lone special forces soldier. The story follows R.A. Lincoln from the late 70's all the way through the post-9/11 era, taking the reader along on campaigns in Beirut, Columbia, Nicaragua, Panama, Mogadishu, Afghanistan and Iraq. While "Link" finds many successes in his military endeavors, he also encounters heartbreak and personal tragedy in his life away from the battlefields.

As a fan of Tom Clancy and Vince Flynn, among other great authors in the genre, I can honestly say I now include Jeff Hepple in my personal top-5 list of favorite authors. This book is approximately 2.5 to 3 times longer than the average Kindle book I have purchased. I think it easily could have been split into a series of books, but I'm grateful to the author for giving the reader so much for just $2.99.

It's honestly a bargain at any price, and I highly recommend it.

[foreverjuly]

Here are my most recent reads, both of which get a hearty stamp of approval:

[Imogen Rose]

I've just finished reading three that I would recommend:

Switched by Amanda Hocking

http://www.amazon.com/Switched-Trylle-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B003VD1GBA/ref=pd_sim_kinc_3?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2

Swedish for Beginners by Susanne O'Leary

http://www.amazon.com/Swedish-Beginners-novel-ebook/dp/B0037Z6YLO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1280701994&sr=1-1

Sojourner by Maria Rachel Hooley

http://www.amazon.com/Sojourner-Book-1-ebook/dp/B002HOQTW0/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1279764741&sr=1-6

[corkyb]

I just finished Probation, a book I had purchased on the recommendation of Leslie quite a while ago.  In a way I wish I hadn't read it this weekend as I am feeling incredibly sad and it's an incredibly sad book.  But very well done and funny and touching and all those things that make a great book.  Highly recommended.

Probation

[Leslie]

I just finished Probation, a book I had purchased on the recommendation of Leslie quite a while ago.  In a way I wish I hadn't read it this weekend as I am feeling incredibly sad and it's an incredibly sad book.  But very well done and funny and touching and all those things that make a great book.  Highly recommended.

Probation

I always feel really really good when people read a book I have recommended. Thanks, Corky. Yes, Probation had sad moments but I think it had a happy ending. It was also realistic.

Here's a link for anyone else who might be interested:

[sillyolebear]

I have read a few great books so far this summer.

The Help was a wonderful book, I did not want it to end
Wild girls.. this is a light read but again thought it was a great book
So B. It..  I enjoyed this book and then found it in paperback at a yardsale for my mother.. when I read it I did not realize it was a recommend book for  young adults.  even with knowing that now I still would recommend it.

[Barry Eysman]

Possibly The Great American Novel
It is not forgotten.
Once read, look in a mirror and see
if your eyes are bleeding with sadness
outrage and bafflement at the stupidity
of man
and the genius of Dalton Trumbo

[Patricia Ryan/P.B. Ryan]

Possibly The Great American Novel
It is not forgotten.
Once read, look in a mirror and see
if your eyes are bleeding with sadness
outrage and bafflement at the stupidity
of man
and the genius of Dalton Trumbo

YES! What a moving book! I read it many years ago, when I was around 11 or 12, on an airplane. The cabin was so poorly pressurized that I was essentially deaf for most of the flight, which mimicked the sensory deprivation of the protagonist. A very memorable experience--one of the great anti-war novels. It was also made into a movie.

Pat

[amiblackwelder]

Switched sounds good, I might need to read that one.

[pidgeon92]

Just finished this book a few days ago. The author's writing style reminded me of RJ Keller and Waiting for Spring. Also a good price at $2.99.

[Music & Mayhem]

I just finished reading Homer & Langley by E.L. Doctorow. Fantastic book, based on an actual case in NYC, I believe. Two eccentric brothers, born c. 1900, live alone in a large Fifth Avenue Victorian. One fights in WW I and is gassed. The other is a blind piano player.

Over the course of several decades, they become hoarders, a topic much in the news these days. Oprah recently featured this on her show. Doctorow does a fantastic job of including historical events and figures (as he did in Ragtime). At times the book, written from the blind brother's POV, is totally hilarious. Given the circumstances, don't expect a happy ending, but I'd give it a 5 star review.

[Autumn Jordon]

Johnny Got His Gun. Decades later and the story still moves me. I didn't know it was made into a movie. How interesting. I wonder if I could find it.

[911jason]

Johnny Got His Gun. Decades later and the story still moves me. I didn't know it was made into a movie. How interesting. I wonder if I could find it.

[Michael Brian]

The Big Short by Michael Lewis.  A fascinating look into the underbelly of the financial industry.  Factual events and people written in a novel form as both enlightening and infuriating. 

[katsim]

I can't figure out the link-maker, but...

I recently finished reading "WAR" by Sebastian Junger. It is very intense, very powerfully written, and a great picture for civilians about what ground combat is like at its worst. I'm in the Army, but far from an infantry soldier, so this was interesting from a psychological perspective to me (especially since my husband IS a combat arms soldier). I highly recommend it. (The author was imbedded with a photojournalist, too, and they're making a documentary as well, called Restrepo.)

And on the other side of that soldier, there are wives who are afraid for him. You can also read "While They're At War" by Kristin Henderson on Kindle, if you want to read that side of the story.

[N. Gemini Sasson]

I recently finished The Personal History of Rachel DuPree (an Orange Prize nominee) by Ann Weisgarber and it jumped not only to the top of my all-time favorites in Historical Fiction, but became one of my Top Ten of ANY GENRE.  I remember parts of this book vividly almost two weeks later - it has really stayed with me.

[Marioninnyc]

I'm only going to put one because maybe that way people will pay attention. This book, is in IMHO the best indie-book I've read ever, and one of the best I've read all year period.  I've reviewed it on a couple of sites and it just blew me away.

Glimpses of a Floating World by Larry Harrison

You can find it at Smashwords as well as the Kindle Store. Here are the links:

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/3275
http://www.amazon.com/Glimpses-Floating-World-ebook/dp/B003NHSR7A

Go take a look at the description and the reviews up.

[Neekeebee]

 
I don't read a lot of police thrillers because I'm kind of wimpy, but I decided to give this one a try.  It was a great read: funny and suspenseful, and in a couple of instances, cringe-inducing.  I read the last 1/3 of the book in one sitting.  I cannot count the times I double-clicked my "Next page" button in my attempts to turn the page faster.  Jack Daniels--a female Chicago PD detective who is one tough cookie that likes her designer clothes--is a great character, as are her male side-kicks.  I definitely want to read more of this series--I just have to seek out the "less scary" ones. 

N

[Beth O]

 

I usually go for lighter fare (this deals with the round up of Jews in France during WWII) but this was an excellent read.  I highly recommend it. 

[Sharon K. Garner]

Every summer, I take out my old, battered copy of Be Buried in the Rain by Barbara Peters (Kindle, 7.99). I can feel the heat of a Virginia summer as I read. It has a lovely mixture of history, suspense, romance, and a little paranormal thrown in for seasoning ... a decaying family plantation, a toxic, bedridden grandmother, a medical student enlisted against her will for a summer of tending, an old love affair fanned throughout, great secondary characters, including a hound called Elvis, all beginning with the discovery of the old skeletons of a mother and baby in the first scene.
 
And then there's that thick summer heat, a character itself. And I hate summer heat! Maybe I like this book so much because I strive to make the setting of each book I write an important character in the story, like the canvas on which the story is painted.
 
I've finished it, again, and I loved it, again!

Sharon K. Garner

[WilliamEsmont]

I'm about a third of the way through "The Passage: A Novel" by Justin Cronin and all I can say is WOW! It's a vampire story, but it's about as far as you can get from the Twilight series. The writing is fantastic so far - fast paced, intense, and relentless.

Give it a try..

[OH! SARA]

HI!  I'm new to this forum, and new to Kindle, but I just read my first few books on it and wanted to tell you about one I really enjoyed.  I'm not really big on economics stuff or history, but this book, "The Potter's Keeper" by Kevin Cochrane was really interesting and read like a novel.  My brother had it in paperback and recommended it, so I bought it for my Kindle along with three other books I'm reading now.  This book is really like it's Amazon review says, it's "Freakonomics meets the Davinci Code". I couldn't stop reading it.   The next book I'm reading is "Lunatic Express" by Carl Hoffman and I'll let you know how I like it when I finish (probably soon, since I can't put my Kindle down!).

I bought it on Amazon so here's the link, but a friend told me that you can get Kindle books on something called Smashwords too.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Potters-Keeper-ebook/dp/B003KGBMPI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1282082312&sr=8-2

[Luvmy4brats]

I highly recommend this series. I've read the first two books and the final book comes out on August 24th. It's not something I would normally pick up, but after hearing so many wonderful reviews, I decided to give it a try and I'm so glad I did.

 

[DickStanley]

The "space opera" Indy series DISTANT COUSIN is an entertaining tale in four books, so far, with a fifth one on the way.

http://www.amazon.com/Distant-Cousin-ebook/dp/B001GCTS36/ref=pd_sim_kinc_3?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2