Once a week, we do an “Un-Digi” post as a little break. It’s good for the “mojo” to step away from digi scrapping once in awhile and refresh ourselves creatively. Lately, I (Katie) have been longing to grab a book and head outside for some reading time. I earned a college degree in English Literature and during those long semesters of required reading, I always vowed to myself that someday I would read books just for the fun of reading. Mysteries, simple novels, magazines, and non-fiction books all appealed to me while I was buried in classic literature and Shakespeare.
Those years are well behind me now and I do still love to read. Sadly, I still don’t take the time to do a lot of reading just for the pleasure of it. These days I spend my time reading school related materials (I homeschool both of my children). I also use a lot of reading time researching digital scrapbooking and blog related topics. I have become a seeker of information, not a recreational reader. There’s nothing wrong with that because I enjoy what I read, but I also don’t want to miss out on the pure joy of getting swept away by a good book.
I want to read a book. A really good book, with no deadlines or pressure. Just page-turning fun. The kind that makes you want to lie in bed with a flashlight because you can’t wait to find out what happens next. I shared some of my most memorable books in the bullet journaling post a few weeks ago. Now I’d love to know what books YOU love to read! I bet plenty of other Daily Digi readers feel the same way. 
Feel free to post about your favorite books in the comment section. Can’t wait to see all of your suggestions!
I’m another English Lit major who has an on-going love affair with Jane Austen. I recently discovered Georgette Heyer — she wrote in the 40s and 50s, a few mysteries and a lot of Regency romances (I think of them as Jane Austen lite). My favorite is The Grand Sophy.
I’m currently reading two books, The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill (AKA Someone Knows My Name in the US) which is a compelling tale. I’m not finished yet, but I know it will become an all-time favourite. I’m also reading Sh*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern. This book is little on the raunchy side, but it’s flippin’ hilarious!
My #1 fav book is Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts. I have never fallen so in love with a cast of characters and cried so hard while reading a book. Roberts is a master.
Ooh, I’ve read so many of these and loved them. I, too, just read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (but for the FIRST time) and LOVED it!! I could never say I have faves, well, I could, but the list would be so long, but I also liked Stieg Larsson’s books!
I read The Passage, and was not as gung-ho about it as many are, but it was good.
I LOVE Angela’s Ashes (I laughed, I cried), and anything by Stephen King (the older he gets, the better) and Bryce Courtenay (Australia’s modern-day Dickens) – oh, and Dickens (I guess that counts as classic literature, but it’s so hilarious and out-there, it is as fun to read as anything written nowadays!) and I love Wicked and everything else by Gregory Maguire and…well, see what I mean?
So because I stopped having time to read, I joined up with audible.com and now I LISTEN to books ALL the time, and read over 200 per year – while I do housework, drive (only one headphone is legal, but that’s all I need), sit with my kids while they watch inane shows like Spongebob, type or do other non-thinking office work, cook – just a lot!
And please forgive me, but I read the Twilight series like it was potato chips – my excuse is I have a young tween daughter and want to be in touch with her. They are not “good” books – but they do draw you in and make you want to know what happens next.
Oh, wait, and I did that with the Harry Potter series for my older kids, only those books are actually GOOD! A lot of books written for teens are really good, I have found. Sounder, Because of Winn Dixie, etc.
Ever since I joined Goodreads (www.goodreads.com) and linked up with a few of my reader-friends, I haven’t had any problem finding good books to read!
I just finished A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith for the second time. LOVE IT.
Also loved: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, just about anything by Shannon Hale, The Hiding Place (one that’s been mentioned), and The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare.
Beth I’m so glad you mentioned Goodreads!! I joined a couple of years ago and I installed the app on my phone because I constantly see books while I’m out and about and can enter them in my “to-read” list for future reference. I was going to comment about the site, but I found that you beat me to it =) As for everyone else, it’s a great tool; check it out!
Another easy read (but thought provoking too) is The Shack.
I’m kinda obsessive about reading (like scrapping) so I really have to set aside time to disappear into a book!
My favorite author right now is Philippa Gregory. I love historical fiction. I also love James Rollins’ Sigma Force series. I wish I could read full-time…I’d be in heaven!
One of my favorites to re-read is Enchantment by Orson Scott Card. It’s a twist on the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale. If you enjoy the Sleeping Beauty tale, you’ll really enjoy this read.
One of my non-fiction favorites is The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom: a story of a family that hides Jews in Holland after the Nazis take over.
I, too, am a fan of the stephanie plum series
ALSO, anything Malcolm Gladwell…READ BLINK!!!
I just finished a fantastic book called “Redeeming Love” by Francine Rivers
I LOVED IT! I couldn’t put it down. It was romantic, and sad, and happy, and amazing, and just over all wonderful.
Here’s the amazon link in case you wanted to check it out:
http://www.amazon.com/Redeeming-Love-Francine-Rivers/dp/1576738167
Recently, I started reading the “I, Claudia” series of Roman-era mysteries. The main character has been described as a bawdy super-**tch – but if you either enjoy that or can get past it, the series is a lot of fun. The first book is hard to find (I finally located mine on Abe Books.com) but it was worth the search!
Oy my, I LOVE to read. Currently I am reading ‘In His Magesty’s Service’ by Naomi Novik (a dragon fantasy set in Napoleonic times), which I am really enjoying. It is different, but I’m loving it.
I’ve also enjoyed the 3 mysteries by Stig Larson, James Patterson’s ’9th Judgement’, ‘The Short LIfe of Bree Tanner’ by Stephanie Meyer, and reread an old favourite, ‘The Tomorrow series’ by John Marsden, a YA series. I have an eclectic taste in reading, and enjoy a good read!
My current fave is Small Island by Andrea Levy. Beautifully written, wonderful story. It tracks the migration of people from Jamaica to England during wartime.
My reading list is growing! I’m loving all of these great suggestions!
One of the most gripping books I’ve read recently is Still Alice. It’s written from the perspective of a woman who begins to realize that Alzheimer’s is setting in. It pulled me in from the beginning.
I recently read Still Alice as well. I loved it! It was recommended by my librarian.
oh! i just found this blog…it’s so great! and i love that you posted about books today!! i LOVE to read as well as digital scrap. there are some REALLY good books listed here that i would recommend as well…but if you are into some fun, lighthearted chick lit which i always am…i would recommend the books by Emily Giffin and Jane Green…they are some of my personal faves
you HAVE TO read the hunger games series by suzanne collins. easy, easy reads but interested and thought provoking. loved them immensely. also, the girl with the dragon tattoo series. and of course, eat, pray, love.
Loved the Hunger Games!!! I can’t wait for later this summer when the 3rd book comes out!
My favorites for light reading are mysteries. Of course I adore classics like Agatha Christie & Arthut Conan Doyle. Right now I’m reading Diane Mott Davidson’s Goldy Schultz culinary mysteries. Since I have cats, I also like Lilian Jackson Braun Cat Who Series.
But for serious reading I like histories. No doubt, my History degree is showing. In school I had to read thousands of pages weekly, but I still prefer history to most fiction. Right now, I’m reading John Adams. Next, I plan to read I’m Staying with My Boys, the biography about Sgt John Basilone.
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
And many more…
Right now I’m reading a fantasy series called The Codex Alera by Jim Butcher. I’ve only read a few fantasy books before, so it’s not like I’m really a fan of them, but these books are SO GOOD – the characters you come to love, and the characters who at first you thought were “bad guys” maybe aren’t so bad after all, the secrets from the past that I can’t help trying to figure out, and (can I even be writing this?) the exciting battle scenes. I was so bummed to have to go and read Sense ans Sensibility for my book club, but now I’m finished with that one, so I’m on to book 3!
My all time favorite book is The Kitchen Boy by Robert Alexander. It’s a look at the last days of the Romanovs and there’s a twist at the end that I never would have expected. (And I always get the twists long before the ending)
I recently read “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” and it was so good I immediately read the sequels – “The Girl Who Played with Fire” and “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest.” Excellent and compelling reads.
I also highly recommend:
* The Help by Kathryn Stockett
* Heartsick by Chelsea Cain (and its sequels)
* Columbine by Dave Cullen
* Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
* Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
* and, of course, the Twilight series
Debra
Oh, how could I have forgotten the Twilight saga?
Super fun reads!
I just finished reading Almost French by Sarah Turnbull. It’s a memoir of an Australian journalist who moves to Paris and her journey of making it home. I absolutely loved it because I felt like I was able to actually be in Paris and experience a place I’ve never been. So now I’m collecting one memoir after another, especially of women living in different places around the world!
Pillars of the Earth and its companion World Without End by Ken Follett are two of the best books I’ve ever read. A new miniseries based on Pillars of the Earth is out, and the first two episodes were amazing.
I just finished Donna Andrews book Murder With Peacocks. A fun little chick-lit mystery that only took me a couple of days to read.
For laugh out loud funny: “Spot of Bother” by Mark Haddon
For a great intertwined story that you don’t want to end: “Let the Great World Spin” by Colum McCann
But right now I’m reading “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” by Stieg Larsson and I can’t put it down!
Katie I think I could have written your post (except I was a theatre major not English Lit..but I took a ton of English Lit classes for electives and I worked in a library for about 4 years). I used to read all the time..through college, when I was working in theatre, even after I got married and had a child and worked full time…but now if I’m reading it also seems to do with either scrapping or homeschool and like you I enjoy the research but I have been trying to make a concentrated effort to get back to reading for fun. I’ve read 4 books this summer, mostly YA, and enjoyed my time with these books. I have been working to implement a quiet reading time each afternoon in our homeschool routine to read (just 30 mins a day would make a huge difference). Luckily my daughter loves to read so she doesn’t fight this and I make it about what she wants to read..not assigned reading.
Ah Katie, I’ve only read one book this summer! Way too many other things to distract me! I read Tallgrass by Sandra Dallas, which was a good read. I also like books by Jodi Picoult and Jan Karon. I hope you find a good one!
I love Agatha Christie novels; they are well written and are almost like reading historical fiction. I’m working on Philippa Gregory’s The White Queen, and it’s been really good so far.
As a librarian I get asked this ALL the time. My most recent “favs” that I’ve been recommending are:
The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
Signora Da Vinci by Robin Maxwell
Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
and I always love the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich (starts with One for the Money) for laugh out loud fun!
I have too many favourites to list, but I can’t resist urging everyone to read these:
THE STONE DIARIES by Carol Shields
This is the story of a woman from birth to death, literally. It’s a compulsive read — I started mid-afternoon and finished at 3am!
THE ROAD by Cormac McCarthy
There’s a reason this won the Pulizter. It’s the story of a father’s devotion to his son set in a post-apocalyptic time in the near future. Heart-breaking yet touching.
SOMEONE KNOWS MY NAME by Lawrence Hill
It’s original title is the Book of Negroes. The book is about a young African girl sold into slavery and tracks her entire life. Another compulsive read.
BACK WHEN WE WERE GROWN-UPS by Anne Tyler
I love Anne Tyler. She writes such authentic novels about real people living real lives. This book is about a middle-aged woman who feels she grew up to be the “wrong person” because she seems to be a family caretaker without her own identity.
One of my favorite times to grab a book to read for fun is during the Christmas Rush or just afterward.