Saturday, May 29, 2010

Summer reading - adult fiction

Well, May was an excessively busy and stressful month. Job interviews, a pesky cold, graduation, my birthday, and trips to see the family made my month go by all too quickly. I've mainly been reading to relax and de-stress, hence the absence of blog activity lately. And now I need some reading recommendations.

I try to read more adult fiction in the summer because I have much more free time, and I feel like I need some balance from the children's and YA fiction-heavy school year. Here's what's on my to-read list so far:

The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder (and the next Study book)
A Spy in the House by Y.S. Lee

Last summer, I read Julie and Julia by Julie Powell, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer, The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, What Happened to Anna K? by Irina Reyn, and The Actor and the Housewife by Shannon Hale - all of which I loved. Throw in some Janet Evanovich and Christine Feehan, and that's about all the adult fiction I can handle in a summer. I certainly don't stop reading children's and YA fiction!

So, now you have a sense of my adult fiction tastes. What can you recommend for me?

Natalie

5 comments:

Mrs. DeRaps said...

I loved The Help. It was extremely well-written and was a huge hit in my book club. I did love The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo as well, though this was a super gritty read. I highly recommend A Reliable Wife---I read it super fast and it has kinda circulated amongst several of my reader friends and they're all loving it too. Have fun reading grown-up books! (I try to stagger in a few non-YA reads now and again, too.)

Jan von Harz said...

Hi Natalie, your summer list looks good. I have both the Larsson's books to read and I joined a summer reading challenge that will have me reading a bit more adult novels too. I have also heard some great things about the Devlin Diary that makes me want to include this on my books to read too.

Peaceful Reader said...

I loved The Help as well and will enjoy reading your thoughts on the book. Have you read any Barbara Kingsolver? She is one of my favs and she has a wide and varied collection.

NatalieSap said...

Huh, just realized that The Agency is actually YA. Well then, it seems I need to do some more research.

Mrs. De Raps - I just requested The Reliable Wife. Thanks!

Jan - The Devlin Diary looks interesting. I'll give it a try!

Michelle - I've never read any Kingsolver, though I know her books are immensely popular. I'll have to look into her when I go to the library tonight.

Ana S. said...

I wonder if you'd enjoy A Woman of Independent Means by Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey? I mention it not just because I read it recently, but because I've seen it compared to Guernesy in terms of feel. Then again it might just be that both are epistolary.

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