FIRST!! hehe..always wanted to do that!

Free book? Yes please.

I've had my eye on Suite Francaise for awhile now. I'll definitely have to pick it up now!

I'm so into sci-fi books now it's scary! I've been trying to finish Eragon now for a couple months but I tend to want to knit instead of read lately . . . imagine that!

My current book is Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. Interesting what they actually went through to get those fabulous cathedrals built. I love the book.

I am slowly plowing my way through my reading list
http://fiannas.blogspot.com/2007/11/my-2008-reading-list.html

I have strayed slightly, and am currently reading After This by Alice McDermott. I haven't decided if I like it yet, so don't hold it against me.

Would love to win the book!

Oh, I love book discussions and recommendations (or not!) Thank goodness for libraries - I'd never be able to afford all the things I want to read......

Oh, and a free book, pick me, pick me! :)

I would love to be entered in the drawing for this book.

I just finished NETHERLAND by Joseph O'Neill, intelligent, superbly written and a darn good read.. It also gave me a new appreciation of the game of cricket.

I would LOVE a free book. Also, you might like "The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox" by Maggie O'Farrell. It's a psychological drama that incorporates several tropes from the Gothic mystery genre. Totally engrossing.

Sounds like a very interesting book!

Wow, I love book recommendations from "lay" readers! I just finished "Garlic and Sapphires" by Ruth Reichl, about her days as a newspaper (not just ANY newspaper) restaurant critic. It has recipes, too!

Re Poland during the war: I had a student at the University of New Orleans who was earning a degree in her golden years. She had survived Auschwitz as a teen; so had her future husband (a childhood sweetheart, I think). Their home in New Orleans was destroyed by the collapse of the levees and they exiled to Texas. It is sad to recall that she died not quite 6 months after the New Orleans disaster -- her daughter believes it was from heartbreak over the destruction of our city. You can probably google up her/their story among Holocaust narratives: they were (are) Eva and Henry Galler.

I read the book "To See and See Again" by Tara Bahrampour in one sitting and fell in love with this book.

I'd been curious to see if you read this book and what you thought of it. I think you'd enjoy it.

About a women growing up in Iran with an Iranian father and American mother in the 70's. They move back to California and how she assimilates back into American culture.

It's one of my top 5 books !

Sue

I usually like books with a twist to them, but I read one last year (The Vanished Man by Jeffrey Deaver) that just had one twist too many. I felt like it broke that author-reader contract.

Of course I felt the same way years ago when I read an Agatha Christie that had some journal entries which, it turned out, the person writing was deliberately writing to mislead the bad guy. I felt like if it's a journal entry, I should be able to believe it, that the writer might deceive himself, but not purposely deceive the reader. Sure, very clever, but irritating.

I'll have to think about what else I assume in this contract. Interesting idea!

** Free book, enter me into the contest please.

What do I read? Everything (types the ex-teacher). I spend 4 hours commuting a day between my lovely petite pad and my gig in Boston.

However, I must admit a fondness for gritty crime drama:
- Swedish and Icelandic Detective Fiction - in translation (two authors that come to mind: Helene Tursten, Arnaldur Indridason).
- A Detective series about modern day Shanghi (author: Qiu Xiaolong).
- the Frost Series which is primo british crime drama (author: R.D. Wingfield)

Okay, and I read a lot of women's fiction aka neurotic women's stories (authors: Helen Fielding, Marian Keyes, etc).

Oh, and there brain candy in the form of the various Evanovich books (Stephanie Plum series and Motor series). What's more fun than mouthy, smart broads?

Good summer reading!

I would LOVE a free book. I am currently reading Reconciliation, from Benazhir Bhutto. Excellent, but hard on my brain - lots of heavy thinking. :)

I would love to win!

In the summer months, I spend so much time outside that I don't even keep up with my magazine reading, much less entire books. I'd love this for my fall reading pile, though.

I can always use new books!! :D

Love this post. I hope I win The Butterfly Garden...I put it on my wish list after you first blogged about it and said that Faith loved it. Memoirs are my favorite reads.

I really thought I would read all the books in our hometown library as a child! What a goal! I read almost anything, I love Janet Evanovich for the humor she brings to the page, also Rhett McPherson for the same reason. My new favorite is The Thirteenth Tale: A Novel by Diana Setterfield. It's a wonderful novel in the vein of Jane Eyre and Rebecca. Just lovely, I read it three times in a row, just didn't want it to end.

I'd love a free book!

Lately I've been reading romance (but not Fabio style) and humorous books. I need a little bit of both in my life and I get it from my reading. I'm always open to new things and the Butterfly Garden sounds interesting.

If you ever want funny, pick up Gerald Durrell's "My Family and Other Animals". It's an older book and it's autobiographical, but written more like a novel. Honestly, I laughed til I couldn't breathe during parts of it.

My other favorite is Orson Scott Card's "Ender's Game". Its absolutely amazing.

Count me in as well. I have a trip planned next month that puts me on a plane or in an airport for quite a few hours. A free book will certainly pass the time.

I read so many different kinds of books. If I read something really heavy and sad I have to balance it out with something fun/trashy. I am also slowly working my way through the classics.

I belong to a very quirky book club and we read a lot of stuff I would probably not chose on my own. We just finished The Quiet American.

My fun books right now is the Southern Vampire series by Charlaine Harris. How can you resist a plucky Southern waitress who dates vampires and werewolves. It is soon to be a cable series called True Blood. I can't remember if it will be on HBO or Showtime.

I recently finished The Double Bind and I am now reading The Time Traveler's Wife.

More free books!

I like reading fantasy (magic, assassins, all that), mostly for escapist reasons. Partly a cultural vacation, partially just escapism (people who live in castles rarely have deadlines).

I would like to be entered in the free book contest. I generally like mystery and suspense stories. The ones that don't expose "who dunnit" until the very end. It's the suspense I like the most.

Love to read!! Books, newspapers, magazines, even cereal boxes... Please put me in for the book drawing.

I travel a decent amount, not a whole lot, or even very often, but I've landed upon and explored a wee bit on most of the continents. Maybe it's because I'd like to travel more that I'm so drawn to travelogues. Sometimes I'll dislike an author's take on a country, but I'll still finish the book, just because I'm still learning something about that country. So travel writing is my must-always-go-to section of the bookstore.

Thanks for the recommendation -- I've put Butterfly Garden on hold at the library!

You can never have too much yarn or chocolate or too many books.

You ask about what folks are reading. I enjoy fantasy fiction the best although I will read any thing that I can get my hands on. I am currently reading the Stephanie Meyers series of Vampire romance novels.

It's tough to concentrate while they are sanding floors outside the door to my work area. It sounds like a giant dentist drill. But reading about all these books overcame the noise for a few minutes. I checked our catalog and we have _Suite Francais_, and it is on it's way back from another library. I quickly put a hold on it, so within the next few days, it should be mine to read--if nothing else, during my upcoming airplane time.(Milwaukee to San Francisco is a looong flight). Working in a library does have its advantages!

Pick me please....Linda

Laurie-I read absolutely everything. I've recently finished Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, Nothing to Lose by Lee Child, Girls in Trucks and my mind blanks on the author, oh Katie Crouch I think.....I love Haven Kimmel's A Girl Named Zippy and She Got Up Off the Couch. Both great memoirs. Also have plowed through Dean Koontz's Odd Thomas series this summer.

I too pay attention to what people are buying at the bookstore, reading on the beach. I love "Best of" and "My Favorite" book lists.

Thanks! I love good book recommendations.

I just finished Ken Follett's book, Pillars of the Earth. I love that kind of novel, family saga going along with history, mystery,and political intrigue. It was hard to get into at first but worth the effort.

I also recommend Dean Koontz's book, The Good Guy. Very much a Dean Koontz but very much not a Dean Koontz. I couldn't put it down.

I went to the link to read the excerpt from The Butterfly Garden and would very much like to read the whole book. Please enter (and pick) my name for the freebie. Thank you.

I love to read and knit at the same time - I listen to books on CD and knit. Unfotunately for the last year I've been listening to the Harry Potter series and knitting bags. 4 times through the whole series and lord knows how many bags -30 maybe more.

Paper books - reading The Flirt and I Feel Bad About My Neck. Loving both. Suite Francaise and Atonement are next on my list.

Hi, Laurie! I stayed up all night last night finishing Jodi Picoult's Change of Heart. I absolutely love Jodi Picoult and usually lose a couple nights of sleep over her books. (Also, I found your blog last summer and have been catching up on your archives all year. I finally caught up yesterday and it's slightly surreal to me that I'm reading about what you're doing now, as opposed to months ago. Also, I think you're an amazing woman with a great heart. Thanks for letting me get to know you.)

The book sounds wonderful..please put me in for it:)

Enter me in the book contest!

I love science fiction and fantasy. Tied for favorites are the Dresden Files books by Jim Butcher, and the Vorkosigan books by Lois McMaster Bujold.

Find them both at:

http://astore.amazon.com/losart-20/102-0618191-9884134?%5Fencoding=UTF8&node=5 and

http://astore.amazon.com/losart-20/102-0618191-9884134?%5Fencoding=UTF8&node=6

I'm currently rereading Barrayar.

Woo Hoo! I would love to receive a free book! Especially one that sounds so interesting but one I would have never chosen for myself.

I tend to read mysteries. I usually figure out who done it before the end, so ones that surprise me are the best. It is like a game with me. Can the author surprise me?

I also enjoy series novels. So the J.D. Robb's (ie Nora Roberts) In Death series combines mystery while continuing the story line of the characters. They are great.

I would love to win the copy of The Butterfly Garden.

I am as passionate about reading as knitting. Right now I too am on a SciFi kick, always my first-loved genre, and have been relentlessly plowing through Catherine Asaro's Saga of the Skolian Empire (12 books so far), which I love dearly and are probably my most favorite SciFi works. But I also enjoy so many other types of books and authors - as the saying goes, "too many books, too little time". I've been wanting to read Suite Francais as well - thank you for reminding me of it. As for WWII, I also have a fascination for that period of time, specifically because my father served in the Army Air Force in England & France 1943-46. A short but powerful time in the history of humanity.

A few recent reads that stand out are:

The Red Tent - Anita Diamant
The Time-Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
A Spot of Bother - Mark Haddon
Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides
The Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd
Fall On Your Knees - Ann Marie McDonald
The Crimson Petal and the White - Michael Faber
The Harafish - Naguib Mahfouz
Divine Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood - Rebecca Wells (and all the other YaYa books)
The Devil in the White City - Erik Larson
I could go on forever...!

Please enter me! I just finished "Pillars of the Earth" ... great book. A non-fiction I recently read is "The Center Cannot Hold" by Elyn Saks. It's absolutely amazing what she has overcome to get where she is. I tend to get in a "reading rut" so I joined a book club to broaden my horizons.

I had a dream last night that you were going to have a "give away" contest, so it would be crazy of me not to enter. I LOVE reading and love your cheerful, good-natured blog.

My current books: a Reginald Hill mystery (great characters, great series), "How to Talk to Your Kids So They'll Listen" (Faber/Mazlish ... I don't have kids, but teach H.S. and find their suggestions very useful ... even with other non-kid people),

Recent old great books: Assassination Vacation (Sara Vowell, awesome/funny history book. I "read" it on CD while driving to work and love her voice), "The Department of Lost & Found" (Scotch,a book about a woman going through breast cancer treatments and not as depressing as it sounds).

Oooh, a book contest, me please! Now opening new window to put books on reserve at the library.

i WOULD LIKE TO BE IN THE DRAWING. THANKS, SHANNON

I've said it before and I know I'll keep saying it throughout my life--I'm so thankful for my boring life!!!

If you like Suite Francaise, you may also like
Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris. Same WWII era. My book club read it, followed by Suite Francaise.

Love your blog and would love to win the book!

I completely agree about Suite Francaise - I loved it and couldn't believe she didn't live to see the end of the war.

One of my top ten all time books - Bel Canto by Ann Patchett - put it on your list, you'll love it.

Sign me up for the contest. I love to read.

Yeah, a free book, count me in!

Mmmm, free book. Free book that sounds great. And: I've been wanting to read Suite Francaise ever since it came out a few years ago.

I would LOVE a free book. Not that I ever win anything, ever. But I love a good memoir--if I don't win, I'll just put it on my list to borrow.

Thanks for all the suggestions!

I didn't know you were coming to Dallas!! Was it just a stop on the way to somewhere else or did you do a signing. I'll be so disappointed if I missed you.

I have been an avid reader since about birth, too. What I read kind of depends on my mood, I guess. Sometimes I like those really serious books with a ton of detail and rich history, and sometimes I just like one of those books that don't require me to think. I'm working about 60 hours a week right now so I'm in the non-thinking phase. :) I'm VERY interested in The Butterfly Garden, though, and if I don't win it, I'll definitely buy it.

Thanks for your blog - I look forward to it every day.

Hi Laurie,

I would like to be entered for the book giveaway.

Also, I have a recommendation for you:

The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story by Diane Ackerman

From Amazon.com:
Ackerman (A Natural History of the Senses) tells the remarkable WWII story of Jan Zabinski, the director of the Warsaw Zoo, and his wife, Antonina, who, with courage and coolheaded ingenuity, sheltered 300 Jews as well as Polish resisters in their villa and in animal cages and sheds. Using Antonina's diaries, other contemporary sources and her own research in Poland, Ackerman takes us into the Warsaw ghetto and the 1943 Jewish uprising and also describes the Poles' revolt against the Nazi occupiers in 1944. She introduces us to such varied figures as Lutz Heck, the duplicitous head of the Berlin zoo; Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira, spiritual head of the ghetto; and the leaders of Zegota, the Polish organization that rescued Jews. Ackerman reveals other rescuers, like Dr. Mada Walter, who helped many Jews pass, giving lessons on how to appear Aryan and not attract notice. Ackerman's writing is viscerally evocative, as in her description of the effects of the German bombing of the zoo area: ...the sky broke open and whistling fire hurtled down, cages exploded, moats rained upward, iron bars squealed as they wrenched apart. This suspenseful beautifully crafted story deserves a wide readership. 8 pages of illus.

gotta love a contest with such quick turnaround time! this sounds like a great read- and thanks for reminding me that it's high time i started tackling my summer reading list (aka, my "things i've been meaning to read over the last two years" reading list).

I am currently reading "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" by David Wroblewski. It's a fictional story about a boy who was born unable to speak (he can hear) and his family who live in very woodsy, northern Wisconsin. They breed dogs. Actually they more than breed them. They nurture them and train them for the first 18 months of their lives. While this book contains soooo much about the care and training of their dogs, there is also a riveting story about the family. I have been reading this book for over 2 weeks (it has about 570 pages) and am about halfway through it. It isn't just that I'm not a real fast reader; I just want to savor this book. The author has a way of writing that brings you right into the story so that you feel like you are there. It has stirred every emotion in me -- sympathy, happiness, sadness, anger and just the awwwwww that comes with reading about puppies and dogs. I have to warn you that near the beginning there are a couple of unpleasant things that happen (that brought me to tears), but if you can push past that, it's well worth it. The second thing that happened, I pretty much just skipped a page or so until it was over (which I never do when I'm reading!). I also read a great fictional book a few months ago called "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen. That is the story of a man who joins a circus in the early part of the century and what his life was like. A great read!

When I am finally finished with this book (and, I might add, my weight training from carrying this book around with me everywhere) I am going to read chick-lit for the rest of the summer. And, maybe the new Stephanie Plum book by Janet Evanovich. Janet is one of the authors that can make me start giggling on public transportation (and, you are too, Laurie!!!!).

Once again, a great post!!!!

I am an insatiable reader. I read anything except romancy novels. I used to, but can't get into them anymore.

My reading list (past/present) includes:

Monsoon Diary - a woman's diary of growing up in India and recipes for the foods that were important to her. great for a foodie

Many Masks, a Life of Frank Lloyd Wright - bio

Little Lady Agency and Little Lady, Big Apple - fun, light reading after bios and non-fiction

The Gangs of Chicago - cool book on the history of the Chicago underworld

Ice Man - bio of Richard Kulinski

Lady Chatterly's Lover (on my Kindle)

Why Good People Do Bad Things (Kindle)

and i'd love to be in the drawing. Thanks :)

I adore reading on planes. A good book can suck you in and help you ignore unhappy travelers of all ages, the uncomfortable seat, etc. I just finished the Septembers of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer.

Please include me in the drawing for The Butterfly Garden.

Books are my home, my passion, my protection, my crutch. (They're a perfect crutch - they're legal, non-fattening and provide a socially acceptable addiction!)

Thank you, Laurie for making this possible.

Sounds like an interesting book. Even if I don't win it (And I probably won't because I rarely win anything.), I will be sure to look for the book at the library.

love your recomendations---read the reincarnationist, mj rose...it was wonderful.
hope to win:)

I feel the exact same way you do about books. I've been in school and haven't had that wonderful, juicy experience of falling into another world that a book can offer in awhile...until a couple of days ago! I started James Frey's (yeah, the Million Little Pieces guy) new book about Los Angeles: Bright Shiny Morning. I love it! It captures an LA that I know. It actually captures many different LA's, but that is how I understand LA as well--not just one thing but a bunch of things all mixed together, right next to each other but worlds apart. I also know James Frey isn't for everyone, and I couldn't get through My Friend Leonard, but I like this one a lot.

Free book, please!

Exeter, California here

i lurve reading on planes, reading on the couch, reading on the deck, pretty much anywhere.

i am immediately drawn to biographies, i love the intimate nature of the real true story (yet hate reality tv - totally not the same). i love me a good moving work of fiction as well and i pepper in some work related books too. i'm a big ole flip-flopper when it comes to reading.

i'm currently reading joshua ferris' "then we came to the end" love it!

would love to read chips book too. :)

I also recently read "Into the Woods" on an airplane! I didn't finish before my return home so I had to sneak lots of moments to get to the end. I too was very disappointed in the ending (or lack thereof!) I almost had to wake up my teen daughter to commiserate with her.

After that I read "The Tender Bar" (I apologize I forget the author's name) which is a fabulous memoir.

I see that a lot of readers have recommended Pillars of the Earth. I read that probably close to 20 years ago and recently bought a new copy to reread.

I want to win the book! I love books, and am running out of books in my stack o' books (and since I am on a shopping moratorium, I may have to actually visit the library!

So - save me from the horrors of overdue book fines, please!

Just starting "stolen Innocence" about the FDL and the girl who escaped it.
The butterfly garden looks really interesting.

I am an avid reader, too. I love books that take me places and engross me so that I am unaware of what's going on around me (my flight left!!??).

I love English mysteries - one of my favourite authors is Peter Robinson. His book, In a Dry Season, is very hard to put down - also you get a trip to England!

Also, I loved The Friday Night Knitting Club (in which the reader is transported to fascinating New York).

I love reading books too! I really enjoyed reading about the books you have read recently and even wrote them down so I could order from the library. Thank you!

I just wrote a post on all the books I'm reading right now on my own blog. I guess 'tis the season. Unfortunately, I'm not really reading anything that gripping or even interesting: mostly non-fiction and stuff on information science. Whoo, I'm a thrill a minute. I would love to have something moving to read, so please do enter me into the drawing. :-)

And I totally know what you mean about not minding being stuck on the bus when you're reading a good book. Sometimes I feel tempted to just stay on the bus and ride it all day, because it's such a good place to just sit and be sucked up into your reading. Of course, I've never done that, because I think the MBTA generally frowns on people riding the bus all day long. But I think it would be amusing. :-)

I was also let down by "In the Woods" and felt a lot like you did at the end- I'd put all this time into it and didn't get as much back! But in case you want to try her again she has a new book coming out tomorrow called "The Likeness" which focuses on Cassie & takes place 6 months after the first book.

I'd second the recommendation for The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox... if you can handle lovesick teenagers I would recommend the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer (there are vampires involved but it's really not bloody at all), and I also recently loved Twenty Chickens for a Saddle by Robyn Scott, about growing up in Botswana.

With all that being said, The Butterfly Garden sounds good... sign me up!

I just started reading "44 Scotland Street" by Alexander McCall Smith and I am enjoying it so much. I've never read any of his books before. This one was originally serialized in a newspaper so there are 100 or so short chapters. I love short chapters. He apparently has written a lot of books so I'm going to read more of them. This book is really easy to read.
I could always do with more books to read. : )

Count me in for the book drawing please!!

I just went to the used book store out here and indulged in a pile of books. I can only go once or twice a season because I can't help myself in there. I love used bookstores. And I love books.

I'm in the middle of Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichel, as I'm right now into the food-story genre. I also just re-read the Phantom Tollbooth; it's so nice to sit back with favorite childhood books during the summer!

I too enjoy reading on planes, when I'm not listening to people and their crazy conversations or knitting. During one particularly depressing trip, I found "God Bless The Sweet Potato Queens" at the airport bookstore. If you haven't read it, you should. It is a hoot. Sometimes you just need a book that offers a good chuckle and a bright outlook on life.

I love free book contests. Thanks for being so generous.

I too am a lifelong book lover. I'm also fascinated by WWII material (whether it's books or movies or documentaries about the period). It's hard to fathom what people who lived back then had to go through every single day.

I like many different kinds of books - both fiction and nonfiction. If I'm not reading for information or inspiration, the common theme for the books I like tends to be just a good story. I love British fiction - particularly 18th century - Jane Austen and such. Currently, I'm finishing up The Six Wives of Henry VIII by Alison Weir.

IN THE WOODS = Meh. I was also really disappointed. In fact, I would have stopped reading after the first ten pages if I hadn't been stuck on a plane with nothing to do. How in the heck were the two cases related AT ALL? And what an unlikeable, miserable main character!

I hate when a book I'm reading ends and my relationships with the characters are over. I sometimes feel sad when the book is particularly good. I LOVE books too, and LOVE to go to books stores. Last week, my husband asked me to stop at Borders and pick up a book about building sheds for him. I said, "Do you know what you're asking me?! It's like asking an addict to go into a crack house to buy a pipe. It just isn't going to happen!" I did restrain myself and only bought two books for myself.

Free book? Why sure!

Well, let's see. On my nightstand I have an old Nora Roberts: Three Fates. Pretty good, but I like Nora as a "go-to" author. I'm also reading an hilarious book by Emily Yoffe: What the Dog Did." I try not to read too much at one time because I love it and when I'm reading it I tend to burst into laughter. I want to hold onto the enjoyment of that book as long as possible. (Weird, huh.) I'm "reading" a book on tape: The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult. But I may not finish that one because it's a bit depressing to read on a warm, bright sunny day. And, though I used to finish each and every book I started, I now find that I'm too old and there are too many books for me to waste my time with an unsatisfactory read. Next on my list is "Promise of the Wolves" by Dorothy Hearst. I'd ordered "In the Woods" from my library, but I think I'll return it unread. Thanks for the input.

I have started a new mystery series that I'm into, but would love a free book!

I have two books to recommend: What I Loved by Siri Hustvedt and The Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst.

Happy Reading!

OMG... PUH-LEEZE enter me for the book. I am "Beth from New York" I know you like a location.

I am totally into the mysteries written by Carl Hiaasen - totally hilarious and scary and gripping all at the same time. All stories take place in Florida, great, great stuff.

Thanks!

I like to knit too so it's books on tape for me. I like sci-fi and mysteries.

Oh, giving away yet another book huh? Gotta love book lovers :)

I'd love to win - it sounds very interesting. Our library now allows us to request items from several libraries online. It's my new obsession.

I love books too! I love mysteries (and HATE unresolved endings!) but I also love good non-fiction and fiction that has historical roots. Right now I'm reading "The Street of a Thousand Blooms" by Gail Tsukiyama and it's really a beautiful book. I love that she leads you through years of their lives. I get so attached to characters in novels and wish I knew the story of how their lives continued even if there is a resolved ending.

Hi Laurie,

Speaking of WWII books have you ever read the Cryptonomicon (by Neil Stephenson)? It's about code breakers in WWII. Although actually it's 2 main stories, it goes back and forth between WWII and the 'present day' (late 90s) and the main characters in the present day storyline are the descendants of the characters in the WWII storyline. I definitely recommend it, although it is a huge book. It makes me want to be a crypt-analyst (sp?), making and breaking secret government codes!

I would love a new book. I've been borrowing from the library and sometimes have to wait months to get a book, but hey it free.

Ooooh, pick me! Recent expenses (ahem, gas, ahem) have forced me to slash my book-buying habit. And the librarians and I have a love-hate relationship: they really hate me because I have never returned a book on time in the history of the world, but they love all the money I spend on late fees.

The Sonnambulist let me down. Good till the end.

I've been reading lots of scfi and magic books.

Mysteries
Donna Leon

I'd like the book if I win

wow, everyone is really fast with their entries. I must wake up earlier to read bloglines. Here's my comment. :)

My all time favorite is Sheri Tepper, specifically The Gates to Women's Country. It's an after-the-final-war scenario that depicts women living in walled cities with a few men as helpers. Most men live outside the gates to guard the women. The progress of the story and eventual realization of what is really happening is fantastic. I think it may be the answer to all of the warmongering in the world today. Too much testosterone out there!

And, yes, I'd love to win. Pick me!

Judy

Oooh, I love books. All sorts of books. I have to admit that when I fly, I usually buy the trashy/scary sort of novels that I wouldn't buy at home. There's just something about being in an airport/airplane full of strangers that is liberating.
Generally I read for fun so my tastes are all across the genres because I'll grab whatever catches my eye.
This summer I am reading the Stephanie Meyer novels after being told by so many people that they were 'soooooo good and not at all juvenile".

I'm always looking for a good book to read. Thanks for the offering!

Thanks for keeping us up to date on the reads! These days I get most of my reading suggestions from my Blog Friends. I'd love to win a copy, but if I don't I'll probably pick it up and read it anyway cause it sounds great! Thanks. :)

I'd like a free book!

And I'm currently working my way through a biography of Colette, the author of the Claudine novels from the turn of the century. Which I haven't read. I guess this is what happens when I read off of my girlfriend's bookshelf. It's a really good book, though.

I loved Suite Francaise.

I *adore* David Foster Wallace's essays. "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again" (about ocean cruises) is one of the funniest things I've ever read. You'll find it in his collection of the same name.

But, my favourite is non-fiction. I'm a total geek that way. I'm currently reading "The World Without Us" by Alan Weisman. Fascinating, but depressing.

P.S. Book please!

Hi, please enter me in the drawing for the free book--sounds interesting.

I like to read funny memoirs like yours or stuff by Augusten Burroughs & David Sedaris. I just finished Jen Lancaster's "Such a Pretty Fat: One Narcissist's Quest To Discover if Her Life Makes Her Ass LookBig, Or Why Pie is Not The Answer," which was hilarious.

I also like page-turners--the genre doesn't matter as long as it keeps me up at night. Right now I'm reading "The Double Bind" by Chris Bohjalian and it's gettting to that point where I don't want to put it down.

And, I have to admit that I sometimes like trashy novels--you don't have to think too hard when you're reading them & time goes by quickly when you read them. My favorite is "Butterfly" by Kathryn Harvey. It has a 5-star rating on Amazon.com, with 83 reviews. It's trashy, but it's REALLY good! :o)

Thanks for all the other recommendations everyone!

Just submitting my name for the book! I'm just not sure where I will put it after I read it (shelves overloaded).

Speaking of Poland, I have to second the reccomendation of the Zookeeper's Wife. I'm in the middle of it right now and it is fascinating; really well done.

I just finished One Hundred Years of Solitude . . . started it at Christmas, hadn't been able to touch it since the plane ride back in December, made headway to/from home last week, and managed the last 5 pages last night even tho I was in my apartment :)

(also, I second the Neal Stephenson/Cryptonomicon recommendation!)

I loved reading all the commentors recommendations for books! Reminded me of ones I've been wanting to read, as well as some of my recent favorites: Ruth Reichl's latest memoir (I absolutely love everything she writes) Jeffery Eugenides (sp.) Middlesex was incredible and one of my new favorite authors is Tom Perollta.

The book sounds fascinating, and I'd love to win a copy!

Sign me up, please!

I would like to be entered in the drawing for the book. Right now I am reading "The Urban Homestead", which I saw on Allison's blog. My curiosity was peaked, so I went ahead and bought it. The first half is interesting, but I'm not a serious hippy, so I will not be referencing the chapter on composting my own poop for any future projects.

Please enter me in your contest.

I love reading -- it takes you places you have never been and entertains you.

I read mostly fiction and mostly romance. Recently, I've been reading Brenda Novak's new suspense romance series. It is good and takes place in Sacramento, CA where I live.

I adore reading but I have so little free time these days I really want the books I read to be worthwhile, whatever that means. Not having a crappy ending, for one. I love CanLit, but "my awful childhood" is not a theme that really apeals to me now that I have kids. Mysteries are good, but given infinite free time, I'll read anything well-written!

The Butterfly Garden sounds gripping! I would love to win it!!

Yessiree! I would like to win this book. Thanks. I have found some of the best reads here online.

My wonderful boyfriend buys me books for Christmas. I make a list and he buys every single one of them on that list. That is the only books I read throughout the year (besides magazines and such). I usually run out of reading material around August, my birthday. Please do fix it so I win this book. It sounds like it's right up my alley. Any book you want to send would be fine also. I mean it I'll take anything.

Pick me! Pick me! I love free stuff!

And I love books! Has anyone told you about the website www.GoodReads.com yet? I just joined (for free) last month then suckered other friends into joining. Now we can all see what each other is reading, get great recommendations, and even stalk the books of folks we don't know at our leisure. It's a great site, we're all having fun with it! I bet it would be right up your alley! Check it out if you haven't already. Also just a great way to have a history of the books you've read and when. Genius!!! :)

Wow - lots of comments. It's fun to see what everyone has to see about books and reading. I am always reading - usually 2 books a week or so. And I go through phases, sometimes Sci/Fi, last year it was books on Nazi Germany, sometimes I get obsessed with an author and must read their entire backlog before I move on. Right now I'm into laughing - so I just finished "Such a Pretty Fat" by Jennifer Lancaster. Today I am starting "Walking in Circles Before Lying Down" by Merrill Markoe - which involves doggies (another favorite topic of mine!). I'd love to read the book you are giving away - if you don't pick me, then I'll put it on my "wish list" at Amazon.com - LOL

Free Book? I love books!!! Yes, please, I would like a free book.

Hee, hee. You sound like Harriet the Spy with all your secret people watching in airports and bookstores. I had a week off in June and all I did was sit on my deck and read. It was such an extreme luxury. I mixed up some Jodi Picoult (tears, tears, tears) with mysteries (Evanovich, Patterson, Slaughter) and snuck in some funky non-fiction like "Stiff: The secret life of human cadavers" by Mary Roach. Enter me in your book drawing. Thanks.

I'm on a huge reading kick this summer, too! Right now I'm on "The Master and Margarita," which is darkly funny and unlike anything else I've read. From my most recent reads I also recommend "Staggerford" by Jon Hassler and "Cryptonomicon" by Neal Stephenson.

Sounds like a fascinating book...pick me!!!

I was on a plane yesterday from NYC to SFO and didn't have a book that grabbed my interest - one of the things I hate about flying - cooped up for hours without something in which to lose yourself to pass the time!

I would love to own this book. I love stories of rising against the odds.

I want a free book!! My yarn budget has been cutting into my book budget here lately and I really could use something new to read. :)

ooo, free book! I ♥ books that are biographical in nature. I like the peeks into another persons life. I feel almost like I'm spying. :)

I too read "In the Woods" recently and found it engrossing and intriguing. I loved that the ending was not all tied up in a pretty bow. I also loved that the main character became more multi-dimensional as the story went on, and that he seemed less sympathetic as you found out more about him. But if you wanted to know what really happened, I think you might find out eventually: her next book tells the backstory about Cassie, and I'd not be surprised to find that eventually more of Adam/Rob's story is revealled in a future novel.

Like the bookmark says "when I have a little money I buy books, if there is anything left over I buy clothes". Pretty much sums up my life.

Hi - i'm reading lots of end-of-the-world fiction this summer. World Made by Hand (interesting setting & plot, terrible stereotypical characters), The Parable of the Sower (very very good), The Parable of the Talents (not as good), The World As We Knew It (YA, good), and I'm in the middle of The Dead and The Gone by the same author (Pfeffer?) who took the same disaster from the POV of a different set of characters in a different setting. Interesting & pretty good so far.

I'll take a look at The Butterfly Garden!

I reach for Sci Fi/Fantasy first. There is just something about exploring a new world and learning all about it that I really enjoy. I read to escape, so I don't read stuff that is too heavy, but I like books that make me think and learn without making me work too hard for it! I just finished "Old Man's War" by John Sxalzi, which is a look at intergalactic warfare in the future and what it means to be human, but it doesn't hammer you with heavy philosophy. Great story.

I don't usually reach for non-fiction, but I am enjoying "Color:A Natural History of the Palette" by Victoria Finlay. Perfect for my limited reading time and very interesting.

I just read Chip St Clair's book a few weeks ago - hearbreaking yet amazing that he came out so unscaithed from it.

wow. the words free book set off a landslide.

i enjoyed the complexity and simplicity of suite francaise -- the differing points of view describe
my crazy libra self -- i can see too many points
of view. anyway, i stick a classic in every other
book or so -- to make up for lost opportunities.
but i love me some contemporary memoirs or non-fictions. let me recommend The Legend of
Colton H. Bryant by Alexander Fuller. very comp-
elling.

thanks, from denise in charlottesville, virginia

I read a great travel memoir of Africa by Paul Theroux called "Dark Star Safari" that is a fantastic tale of his journey through Africa from Cairo to Capetown by land and boat. Really a good read. He is a cranky guy but I like his opinionated nature.

I once got so mad at an author for killing a character in the last 10 pages of a book that I threw it across the room. I had a good pout and picked it back up and finished it. I'd love to read David's story so sign me up.

Hi Laurie,
The last great book I read was Memoirs of a Geisha (as usual the book was much better than the movie). Right now, I'm actually reading your book which is making me burst out in laughter at odd moments that make my family look at me peculiarly. Your book is an escape for me with my teen daughters at home during Summer. Thanks for making me laugh!

So, yes, I would also love to win & read the Butterfly Garden next.

Thanks,
Gina

I too love to read. I'm partial to the classics - Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, the Bronte's, etc. I love the language and the character development. But I can get into most anything if the writing is decent. Thanks for all of your fun giveaways!

Most of my book collection is Romance. I love it. It's escapism at its finest, and when you find a really great author, it's magic. It's not only my pleasure reading material, but also my comfort. When I'm feeling stressed, I'll reach for one of my old favorites.

I also listen to a ton of audiobooks, and for those I usually lean more towards mystery (Harlan Coben's Myron Bolitar is a fave) or non-fiction (Anything by Bill Bryson or Erik Larson), and I'm also a fan of Terry Pratchett's Discworld books, for a bit of fantasy. Nothing, however...NOTHING tops the Harry Potter series on audio. Jim Dale was absolutely FANTASTIC. I do listen to some romance on audio, but it's harder to find.

If you like historical non-fiction, "Team of Rivals" was a great book.

Please enter me in the drawing!

I'll add to the recommendations for Stephenie Meyer's Twilight and Dean Koontz's Odd Thomas series. I know you're an audio book fan, and these are well done on audio. I'm listening to Stephenie Meyer's Host now. As is Harry Potter and the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. Those last two I listened to *after* reading them, and that might make them easier to follow, especially Outlander.

I also listened to Home, Julie Andrews' memoir. It's good, too.

Speaking of audio, is there ever going to be an audio version of Drunk, Divorced & Covered in Cat Hair? Preferably read by the author?

Sounds like a great book! Please include me in the drawing - and thanks so much!

I would love a new book! Please sign me up!

I read too much--but I want to win the book anyway. Just finished Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff. It was good, but my favorite by him is Put this House in Order. His books are all quirky with interesting characters. Thanks for the giveaways you do.

I'm always looking for a good book to read. The Butterfly Garden sounds like just the ticket.

So many good recommendations in the comments! It sounds like Betsey and I have very similar tastes. Also recommend "My Family and Other Animals" when you're looking for a good laugh (actually many good laughs).

I recommend "People of the Book," by Geraldine Brooks. Part of it takes place in WWII, although it is a collection of intertwined stories in different times and places. It is a fictional account of the history of a real book, the Sarajevo Haggadah. Brooks is an amazing writer and I also recommend her previous book, "March." March is very different in setting and tone than "People of the Book." It's an account of what Rev. March, the father/husband of the Little Women family, was doing while the rest of them were back in Concord during the Civil War.

Enter me in the book contest please!

Hmmm...I haven't read any of those books, although I may add them to my list of books to read (I used to just request a book from the library as soon as someone recommended it, then ended up having a dozen books at a time that I needed to read...so now I keep a running list in a Word doc.)
The most recent AWESOME book I've read was called "The Sparrow" by Mary Doria Russell. Religion, space travel, great characters - I would highly, highly recommend it.

I would love to read Chip's book. Go ahead throw my name in the hat, too!

Laurie - I am a bookaholic! Cannot get enough of them and I am constantly at the library checking out 3 or 4 at a time. Please choose me! Consider me throwing my hat in the ring to win. Have a great day!

^ne more thing, gotta say if you like sci-fi with real people (not hunky Jet Jetson blasting across some alien galaxy), I completely agree with those recommending The Time Traveler's Wife. Very very good - real people in a weird situation.

I'm all about a free book...Thanks for doing this!

Yes, please, I'd love a free book, especially since I just finished 'Beautiful Boy' yesterday and have NOTHING lined up to follow.

I would love to be entered in the drawing :)

I can't agree with you enough about books being a great way to go off into another world and leave yours behind for a short bit. I love a good mystery, but books suchs as yours and the Yarn Harlot's really make my day! I hope you come out with another! :)

I'd love to win a book - count me in!

I read all kinds of books. I prefer escapism. Last book I read was Hot Six by Janet Evanovich. Holy moley there are some hot spots in the book and they are the only books that actually make me laugh out loud. You don't need to read them in order.

Please enter me in the free book drawing.

Considering I am also on a hiatus from spending...a free book would be great! Put my name in for that! Thanks, Laurie.

I also love books. When I see kids that are bored in the summer it still amazes me. Summers were too short when I was a child because they were full of reading. I went on physical adventures as well but those reading adventures are what stay with me. And since my family went on long car trips for vacation, thank goodness I could read in a car without getting sick.
When I decided to leave my first career in science, I worked in a wonderful independent book store for several years. Reader's copies, gifts from publishers, and the ability to borrow books from the store was paradise! I was more adventurous with my reading because so much was at my fingertips and I worked with book lovers whose suggestions opened new worlds for me.
After law school, my pleasure reading slowed way down -- partly because of all the dense reading I needed to do for school and work and partly because of all the new electronic distractions like iPods and TiVo, etc. I still read but it took me weeks to finish a book. This last year my reading has increased a great deal although I can't imagine it will return to the 3 books a day level of the year I lived in New Orleans on my savings [boy was I known at that library!] until I retire. It has been wonderful to feel completely immersed in a book again.
As for what I'm reading now, I usually have several books going at the same time: I just finished The Death of the Heart by Elizabeth Bowen, written and set in 1930s England, a mood piece with amazing writing -- people often compare her to Henry James which isn't quite right but understandable; Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan, a hard-boiled detective/science fiction hybrid; A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson, about science, the history and personalities -- I expected this to be interesting but have been pleased to find it laugh-out-loud funny as well; and I'm about to start Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer, non-fiction dealing with American religious extremism -- loved his Into the Woods and Into Thin Air.

Yesplease!

Currently reading The Learners, by Chip Kidd; Anil's Ghost, by Ondaadje; and American Gods, by Neil Gaiman.

Butterfly Garden sounds very interesting, I would love a free copy! :)

And I would like to add a recommendation of my own, if you like WWII books, try Night Watch by Sarah Waters. It's told backwards in time from 1947 back to 1941 and is amazing! In fact I might just have to re-read it now! :)

I'd love to be entered into the drawing!

I read everything but like fantasy best - lately I've been reading the Kushiel's series by Jacqueline Carey, but just as I'm getting to the last one, Kushiel's Justice, all the copies have disappeared from my local bookstores. They have all 4 other books, but that one's out of stock. Bummer!

Mmmm... I love dark and scary books. Well, not the scary part so much as the dark part.

Count me in.

The summer for me is all about Young Adult lit that I can suggest to my students in the fall. I am currently reading The Book Thief and just finished 2 books of the Peter Pan trilogy by Barry and Pierson.
I think I will move on to the Twilight Trilogy next. I am saving the Ken Follet epic for the fall...looks interesting. Would love to add Chip's book to the mix.

Oh yay! Count me in for the drawing. I *heart* free books :D (Although I never ever ever have enough time to actually finish everything in my perpetually growing to be read pile. Luckily I have discovered the fabulousness of the library to save my poor li'l bank account. Late fees are cheaper than paperbacks. Wahoo!)

Ooh free book! I just now tried to reserve it at the library, but they don't have it.

I love books. Sometimes when I have finished a particularly good book, I will actually miss the characters, as though they were friends who were visiting and went back home.

I just finished Dyer Consequences by Maggie Sefton (knitting mystery), and am going to start Hit and Run by Lawrence Block. I like the hit man series because it resonates with that tiny part of my brain that thinks I could commit the perfect crime. Also just finished the latest Stephanie Plum book by Janet Evanovich. If you haven't started those, you must!

I mostly like books that are light and have a good ending. Brain Candy. I read mostly to escape, so I keep heavy reading spaced apart.

One book that really stands out for me is Loving Frank by Nancy Horan. A beautifully written, but truly heartwrenching book from cover to cover, the ending was so shocking and horrific I was just stunned. I couldn't put it down and read the whole thing in one sitting, crying my eyes out the last several chapters. It was one of those books that haunts for days afterword.

I heart books!
Deb

I just started reading a series by Marne Davis Kellogg. The first book in the series was very good so I'm looking forward to the next one.

I can so relate to your comments about the book ending that leaves you hanging. I often write book reviews on my blog (interspersed with all the other ramblings) and that is probably my #1 pet peeve. It's even worse when it happens in a book in which everything else - plot, characters, etc. - is rockin'.

I'm mostly a sci-fi/fantasy gal and just finished "Mystic and Rider" by Sharon Shinn. LOVED this book. Travel, adventure, romance and well-woven background of political intrigue, religious intolerance and impending war.

I'm also reading "Pride and Prejudice" right now. I've seen all the Jane Austen stories in the movies, but realized I'd never read any of the books and thought I should take care of that.

Me too! I read mysteries, science fiction, fantasy, political novels, and anything else that catches my fancy on the shelves at the library. I think we save our entire property tax bill in books we get to read without buying .. There's a long list of books read on my blog. Being able to read & knit at the same time helps.

I'm in, it sounds really fascinating.

Thanks!

M

Into the Woods was on my to-read list, but I dunno, now.
I read Suite Francaise, it was my book club's read last summer. Most of the club didn't like it but I loved it, especially the immediacy of the events; while it was happening she was writing about it.
I just finished 2 police procedurals set in Iceland by Arnaldur Indridason. Fun, fast reads.

up here, up here, look up here, look up here...HEY!!! Look Up Here...
Pick me me me me me me me me me me me..
LOOKUPHERE!!!!!!!!

:)
I need me a book!

I've been wanting to read Suite Francaise... my in-laws are survivors of the Holocaust. My father-in-law was in a Russian prison camp for 4 years before escaping; my mother-in-law lived in ghetto in Budapest during the war. Amazing... (and my husband is only 37! They met and married late in life and became parents at an older age.)

I would love to read Chip's book.

Oooo, book reccomendations! Yay! I opened up another browser with my library's request page and filled up my hold queue from books suggested here. :)

So in return, I'll list what I've read recently and loved.

-Garlic and Sapphires (loved it too, original commenter! :))
-Summer at Tiffany by Marjorie Hart. LOVED this. Great little book, lovely read, about Marjorie's summer working in NYC in 1945. I smiled the whole way through.
-Belushi. Collection of anecdotes, photos, and writings about John Belushi, by his wife and friends.
-Born Standing Up. Steve Martin's account of his stand-up career (and his life leading up to it).

And an author I discovered recently (who seems to be well known by other people - where was I?!?!) is Beverley Nichols. You'd like his gardening book, Laurie - while he's all about the fancy pants plants, he's also all about "put a plant in, water it, and if it doesn't survive? Well, it wasn't meant to be". Hee. Try "Garden Open Today" or "Down The Garden Path". He also loved cats, so they feature in his garden stories, but he also wrote cat-only books! How could you NOT try his stuff? :) Here's the wiki entry about him: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beverley_Nichols

I've loved everything of his that I've picked up.

And I can't not recommend the works of:
PG Wodehouse (humor - oh boy, humor!!)
Angela Thirkell (about live in a County in England from 20s to 50s)
Arthur Ransome (kids books, but adults adore them too, all about messing around in boats and camping in 1930s England)

wow, thanks Chip for your offer! my library doesn't even have it yet!

i've been boring lately and have only been reading running books - training, etc. i have a long weekend this week, so i'll have to get something more substantial to read!

If you like WWII/Poland, have you read The zookeepers Wife by Diane Ackerman. It was good.

I love free books!!

Laurie,
I love series of books - so I look for books that have 3 or 4 or 15 books in a series, then I read them all one after another. I love it when you are reading and you don't want the chracter/story to end and you can pick up the next book in the series.

In the winter I read a lot of hitorical fiction. Phillippa Gregory is one of my favorite authors in this genre. However, every summer I look for what I call brain candy. I read a lot of cozy mysteries, chick lit and the like. This seems to be my yearly pattern and it works for me.

Well, right now, I'm heavily invested in Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth", but I'd love to read anything you'd want to send, should I win. I love books. And I believe that everyone must read "A New Earth".

I love book recommendations - please keep them coming. My sister and i were just discussing the other day how much we love long airplane trips because of all the reading we get to do.

I read In the Woods and felt exactly like you describe. I honestly was all set for it to be an all-time fave, but was so so disappointed by the last 100 pages or so. Are you on Goodreads? If not, I would recommend it. It's a great way to keep track of what you read/what you want to read next and what other people recommend.

I love to tell people what I read and will even comment to do so. I read lots and just about anything, except romance novels and mysteries. It creeps me out to think people walking amoung us think that stuff up! I love going the places and learning the things that books give me.

You sure do have a lot of readers!

That book sounds interesting. I'd love to have a chance to win it!

Melanie in Fullerton, CA

Whoa! There's already 164 comments! But I understand. I love free books too.

Laurie, (as a fellow book lover) you might want to check out this book trading site: www.bookmooch.com

It's right up your alley, I think. I even managed to mooch your book! Which is on 40-odd wishlists, by the way.

I'd love to win this book; I've been hitting a lot of stinkers lately. The library is practically empty with all the summer reading going on!!

The Butterfly Garden is actaully one of the books on my Amazon wishlist - it might have to make it further up in priority!

Delurking becase who doesn't love free books?

And I'd like to add my voice to those suggesting The Zookeeper's Wife. I read it at the beginning of the summer and it was wonderful (and I normally don't really like nonfiction).

Another great book that I just finished is Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson which is about his mission to build schools in rural Pakistan. It was one of those books that made me want to get up and do something with my life.

I'm currently ready Ombria in Shadow by Patricia McKillilp who is one of my favorite Fantasy writers. Reading her books is kind of like reading a fairy tale/mystery all at once. I usually don't have any idea what is going on until the very end, but it's alway worth the wait.

As for In the Woods, I read that back at the beginning of the summer, and I remember being very upset with how it ended as well, although I can't remember the ending now--just that it made me mad.

free book? heck yes!

Have you read _The Lost: a Search for Six of Six Million_? by Daniel Mendelsohn. Stunningly detailed as this fellow tries to find out what happened to his great-uncle's family in the holocaust.

Brandy, I have lots of friends who do that and paperbackswap, too, and love it. I can't -- I have to buy the book, now that I understand the dark underworld of royalties LOL. I don't expect other people to share my view at all, but for me I have started buying everything I read as my way of supporting writers. I even decided books count as essential items, since I need them for my sanity!! :)

I wanna win! I wanna win! Pick me for the Butterfly Garden!

I like to read sci/fi fantasy the most, when it is thought provoking and compelling, philosophically and about the human condition. Really, I like any kind of book that fits that description, including non-fiction. I really like Tom Robbins (who is not sci fi), Vernor Vinge, Greg Bear, Greg Egan, and Orson Scott Card (who are sci fi).

Thank you so much for the book reviews and awesome timing, by the way. One of my best friends is one of those people who has *everything* but I doubt she's ever heard of Chip St. Clair. Enter me into the drawing (for me!!) but I'm going today to find his book for her birthday gift.

Thanks!!

Have you read "A Woman in Berlin"? It's a diary written by an anonymous woman during the months after the fall of Berlin (WWII) and the occupation by the Russians.

Please enter me in your contest. I just read through the excerpts on Amazon, and I really want to know the rest of the story!
Renata

I must admit I scurried to read the amazon excerpts, and yes..I must read it now

I'd like to win - it sounds like an amazing story.
Thanks!

I love mysteries and I absolutely hate it when they just leave you hanging at the end. Or, maybe even worse, half the book occurs after what should have been the end. I am a Rowling fan and I would have liked to had about two more pages of follow up for her last book. You don't live with those characters for that many years without wanting to know. I would also love to read The Butterfly Garden. Especially since I have three boys here who have lived through years of abuse and their psychologist has been encouraging them to write their stories.

Me, me!

Lately I have been reading some of Patricia Briggs Mercy Thompson I am looking forward to the next series in the same world is coming out next month. Also I have been listening to the Cat Who books by Lilian Jackson Braun.

I read In the Woods the other day, and I enjoyed it. I guessed the, uh, conclusion of the mystery that was resolved (don't want to spoil anyone who hasn't read it!) pretty early in the story, but since I felt like the book was really more about relationships and people and how they reacted to the various influences in their lives than it was about strictly the plot mysteries, I was okay with that (both that I guessed the solution and that one of the mysteries remained open). I did read the reviews on Amazon after I read the book (which I had just randomly picked up at a bookstore), and it seems like a lot of people were annoyed with the resolution (or lack thereof) as well.

I didn't particularly expect the book to read like a thriller (where plot is king, and everything must be wrapped in a tidy bow by the end - and if a mystery is left open, you can be sure it will be addressed in the next book), so I think that helped. I could accept that the unexplained case would probably never be solved, and that the people involved have to live with it for the rest of their lives. If the author chooses to address the mystery in a later book, that would be fine, but I don't think she has to. I will probably read her next book when it comes out in paperback, since I did enjoy the Cassie character a lot.

All that said, I think the one thing that really annoyed me was the hint of the supernatural during a couple of parts. It seemed weird and disjointed with the rest of the novel, and I couldn't figure out what the point of it was.

Great post, great discussion in the comments! Always makes me feel like such a slackard when reading other's reading lists--I usually manage a book or two a week, but even so, the list of "wanna reads" is far longer than the available time to read them!

Laurie, have you read the Maus books? I shall not go into detail here, but they are books about the Holocaust, written in comic book format. There has been some controversy regarding the animal that was chosen to represent the Polish people. However. overall, the reviews of the books have been very positive.

Please enter me for the book!

I stumbled across a book called "Maisie Dobbs"--it's a mystery, but it's the setting and writing that make the book. England, right after WW1. Maisie is a very bright young woman, born into the servant class, who gets an education and eventually volunteers to be a nurse during the war. AS the book opens,the war is over, but it is very much a part of every person and the fabric of post-war life in England. They lost so many young men. There are several sequels, which I'm working my way through as the budget permits. All have been wonderful so far.

I’ve really been enjoying audio books lately; they brighten up my drive so much. Some of my recent favorites were two works written and read by Barbara Kingsolver- Homeland (short stories) and High Tide in Tucson (essays). Her voice sounds kind. It was like having a wonderfully thoughtful and insightful friend along for the ride. I also recommend, to any animal lover, James Herriot stories on tape! The reader is so great, gives such an immediacy to them, that the listening experience becomes fraught with intense emotions (fortunately, almost always ending with relief and happiness).

Maybe all Cancers (Cancerians?) like books and/or are hermits. As a fellow Cancer (and a fellow June 22 baby, at that!) I could never get enough reading in, until I went to University and was required by The Powers That Be to read many (text)books that didn't interest me in the slightest. Boo.

I'm still recovering from the program, and I'm only now starting to renew my love of book reading for fun. Hence, I would love to be entered into the contest. Maybe I can win a book and start reading for the sheer pleasure of it again!

Thank you for your wonderful blog. I love reading it (every day! At work!), but this is my first time commenting. Keep up the fantastic work!

I just read "Dear John" by Nicholas Sparks. It was true to his formula and I did the ugly cry.

Free book?! Yes, please!

I reach for the historical fiction first nowadays (though I was a huge fantasy buff during my goth teenage years).

And I'm all about free autographed books about rising above.

wa. hoo. :)

(it's hard to have enthusiasm sitting at a desk for 8 hours.)

When I was reading the Harry Potter series I discovered that there was several web sites where one can go to write their own ending to a book.
I love getting drawn in to a good book, my imagination can be so vivid creating the experience, and hearing their voices speak the words. It expands my world, unlike watching a show where someone has already provided everything for the viewer.

I will, at some point, go through every one of these comments so I can amass an even bigger reading list :)

Right now, I'm doing everything I can to educate myself so I can speak intelligently about current events and the election. I'm reading Audacity of Hope, The End of America (Wow...crazy-interesting book), and I have 4 others I still need to get to.

I'm also pre-reading books for my daughter (she's 9) so she doesn't end up with something I don't want her to read. She's into fantasy right now, so I'm re-reading Harry Potter 4-7, The Lightning Thief, Artimus Foul, and the Cat Warrior series.

Last night I picked up a trashy romance and read it in one evening. I just needed something fluffy and easy.

Kathy Reichs' new book comes out in August and I'm getting that the day it appear at B and N. She's one of my favorites for suspense.

Also, my friend is into self-improvement stuff, so she is giving me loaners that I pick up every so often for a dose of centering. The Four Agreements is my current favorite.

Cheers and happy reading! I enjoyed your airport story-my husband is a pilot and spends a great deal of time observing airport people. He has some great stories!!!!

pick me pick me! I love love love new books!

I consider myself fortunate to work in a college bookstore. I find some real treasures at the end of semester, and don't feel good unless there's pretty hefty stack next to my bedside! I love any kind of book, and end every day with a good read to set me off to my dreams.

I'd definitely be interested in this book. Sounds like a fascinating read!

It sounds like a good read.
I used to read much more when I was younger, I wonder why that is...?
Oh, yeah, kids, housework, 3 cats, exhaustion- they do tend to take up some free time. ha ha !!

Suite Francaise could be called the story of my husband's life - his parents both perished in the Holocaust - he was raised in Paris as a Catholic by foster parents - he refuses to read anything about the war, but I read everything I can get my hands on about it ... I'm First Generation - my parents were also both in the camps.
Thanks for letting me add this.

Forgive the typos above. What an idiot. Also, had to change my blog address. My knitting blog is woefully behind, so I put in our family one.
:)

Also, have you tried Goodreads.com, Laurie? It's a social networking site that lets you tell everyone on your friends' list what book you're reading, and you can share ratings and reviews! One of the few social networking sites that seems worth the time it takes to get involved with, actually....

Wonderful post -- good enough to pull me out of lurker-dom for my first comment. I love books too! I can remember paging through hefty tomes when I was more of an age for Dick and Jane, and just aching for the ability to read all that text. Reading has opened so many worlds.

I would love to be entered in the free book drawing. Sounds like an intriguing story.

I tried to scroll through the comments to make sure no one else suggested this author but, man, there's just way too many comments. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the author Sophie Kinsella and her Shopaholic series. I'm a bit of an Anglophile (love British things like The Office, Jane Austen movies and books and Hugh Grant movies, even tho he's considered creepy by Hollywood). Anyways, the Shopaholic series are brilliant.

I don't usually admit this to just anyone cuz alot of people just don't understand...I like historical romance novels. I like it if the author really knew what was going on back then and doesn't just make "stuff" and places up. One of my fav authors is Diana Gabaldon. I like almost any kind of historical book-fiction-nonfiction it doesn't matter as long as it's not too dry. I always try to pick up books on the Civil War era when visiting family in TN. Have you checked out the Kindle (e-book) from Amazon yet? Any thoughts on it?

No thanks on the free book- I am decluttering. I will however add the title to books I should read. I usually read a book based on a recommendation, and rarely just grab something off a shelf.

Currently I am reading "Omnivore's Dilemma."

I just love to read.

I love books, too. Especially when they're free and recommended by another book lover!

Thank you so much for blogging about "Suite Francaise" as I am going to check it out at my local library ASAP. I used to read non-stop from the time I was old enough to have my own library card, but in recent years I've gotten too busy. Knitting while trying to read is challenging at times so I've tried the book-on-cd option lately, but it's just not the same to me as turning the pages. I used to be a professional stage manager for almost 15 years and I used to get my reading lists by having my actors give me the name of their favorite book or author. I had a continual reading list for almost 10 years straight! I love to read all sorts of books. I also want to read the Butterfly Garden now, but I'm hoping I'll win a copy from you!

I love to read all kinds of books and am always looking for a good one. Thanks for sharing with us.

I'm currently rereading all of Katherine Kurtz's Deryni novels, and am nearly done 'The Quest for St. Camber'. Then I can reread my favorite: "King Kelson's Bride"!

Sounds like a great book!

Long time lurker, first time poster! :)
I'm a total bookworm, too! I belong to a book club with other busy moms and I'm actually disappointed when people don't read/finish the book and we don't discuss it much.

That said, I'll read anything but lately, nonfiction has been floating my boat. Recent reads: Shake Hands With the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda by Romeo Dallaire... shocking, sad and, although a bit hard to read with the military jargon, it makes you take a second look at how the UN prioritizes their peacekeeping missions. I'm now reading The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollen. Very interesting look at the food chain in North America... I'm having a hard time not parking the kids in front of the TV so I can sneak off and read during the day!

For fun though, Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series... people of the subway think I'm a nut for laughing out loud while reading them. Total escapism in a tidy paperback package.

Free book? I'm in.

My favorite author is Stephen King. I like intrigue, suspense, but not just those. I don't limit myself to just one section of the book store.
Sometimes the artwork draws me in, other times it's the title. Books about witches, wizards, vampires, dragons, etc. If there is any mention of those, it graps my attention.
I like the classics too though. And Shakespeare, my favorite being Macbeth.
Books are wonderful. So many different places to go, all the new things to experience. Even if it's inside the mind of a psychopath. That just makes it interesting.
Without books, life would just be ordinary.

WOW!!! I have been reading this blog for 3 months!!!! Sometimes 3 or 4 hours a day and FINALLY, I have reached the current date. (I started at the beginning) I feel very accomplished! But then sad at the same time. You know the feeling you get when you finish reading a really good book. But I am happy to know that there will be more to read tomorrow.

And it is my first time to actually post!

I loooove bookstores. I can get lost in them for hours.

I am an avid reader and I totally get lost in books its like I am living with them (as a a ghost). I can see the pictures in my head very clearly as if it was real life. Just for the time I read the book (I do have a life).

But nothing pleases more than a writer who can draw me in and make smile, laugh and even cry while reading the words on the pages....

I have a hard time watching movies based on a book I read. Most of the time I feel the casting is wrong or that it doesn't follow the story.

I recently found an Irish writer (Marian Keyes) that made feel like I had seen Ireland and turned all her characters in girlfriends. Her books are pretty big but there is more than one storyline and I like that...

Mood is always a factor when it comes to books. And I am pretty lucky because I read in French and English...

Sometimes they're funny or tragic or romantic and yes sometimes I even go self-help (Drunk, Divorced and covered in cat hair). Because I kinda went tru the same thing and gave me hope that I am not some sort of defective woman that is forever marked with a scarlet letter.

P.S. I spend way too much money on books.

Love,
A.