Monday, November 26, 2007

Karen's picks

To me, being asked for a book recommendation is an honour. Someone trusts ME to suggest a book worthy of her precious free time. I don't trust many people to recommend books - they have to REALLY sell a book to me before I'll take a chance on frittering away my precious free time on depressing "I am woman, hear me complain" stories or feeling like a moron because I can't keep the intricate plot developments of historical fiction straight.

So, when a friend e-mailed me with this request, I gave it some thought:
"I keep forgetting to ask you if you have any good books to lend me. I am looking for something light and fun to read. ... I think the last book I read was The
Kite Runner. Good but not as good as I had heard it would be...maybe too
much build up."

I'd hardly call the Kite Runner light and fun. I liked it, but light? not so much.

Here is what I'm lending her:


The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella

Kinsella is best known for her Shopaholic books, but I prefer her stand-alone stories.



Lady Luck's Map of Vegas by Barbara Samuel

A little heavier, but quirky. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this book.




Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris

This was over-hyped to me by the time I read it, but if I don't play it up too much, I think my friend will enjoy it.



A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel
Another quirky pick. A series of vignettes about the author's life growing up in small-town Indiana. Easy, funny.


What would you recommend as light and fun?

I was amazed at the number of books on my shelf that I've read but don't consider good enough to recommend. Might be time for a serious purge.
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1 comment:

Dodi said...

Purging is so hard! But my collection has seriously gotten out of control. First I got rid of all the books I had tags with "lousy" in my LibraryThing collection. Why was I holding on to books I thought were bad? Some are still in my catalog because I could not find them in my most recent purge. I think I dumped them on AmVets without removing from my list.

What do you do with series? I have a crazy amount of Louis L'Amour books, most I'll never read again. But how to choose what goes?

I think I must eliminate everything in my catalog that doesn't have at least 3 stars in my ratings.

I finally let go of some old nonfiction. I hope someone et Goodwill is excited by Children with Epilepsy. I bought it in '92 when I found out my crush's cuter older brother had epilepsy. Yes, culling is in order.

Thanks for the recommendations.

5:37 PM

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