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Anonymous |
Best Nonfiction of 2006
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Feb 28 2007, 4:43 PM EST by
Anonymous |
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Thread started: Dec 29 2006, 9:40 AM EST
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My best fiction read of 2006 was Alice Munro’s collection of short stories, The View From Castle Rock. Munro’s pieced together narratives out of questionable, handed-down stories, including each her recollections, archival research and powers of invention express a sense of loss and sadness that resonated with me. Her attempts to encounter the past directly, usually by finding a grave of some kind, rarely yield many epiphanies, but her ability to travel into the minds and feelings of people long dead, whose deaths were barely even recorded, is uncanny.
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RE: Best Nonfiction of 2006
By: Anonymous,
Feb 28 2007, 4:43 PM EST
"My best fiction read of 2006 was Alice Munro’s collection of short stories, The View From Castle Rock. Munro’s pieced together narratives out of questionable, handed-down stories, including each her recollections, archival research and powers of invention express a sense of loss and sadness that resonated with me. Her attempts to encounter the past directly, usually by finding a grave of some kind, rarely yield many epiphanies, but her ability to travel into the minds and feelings of people long dead, whose deaths were barely even recorded, is uncanny. " Alison Lurie wrote a really interesting review and essay about this and some of Monro´s other books in the New York Review of Books. Check it out!
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Anonymous |
¨heart has reasons¨ and ¨girls who went away¨
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Feb 28 2007, 4:40 PM EST by
Anonymous |
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Thread started: Jan 22 2007, 3:05 PM EST
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Thank you, Erica and Rick for suggesting these titles. I´m halfway through ¨The Heart Has Reasons¨and finding it very moving and amazing. I´ve put a hold on ¨The Girls Who Went Away¨and look forward to digging into it soon. I just heard an interview with Joni Mitchell where she discusses how difficult it was to give up her baby when she was a teen and then I saw your post. Thanks again.-Jody
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Anonymous |
reading lolita in Teheran
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Feb 26 2007, 2:34 AM EST by
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Thread started: Feb 26 2007, 2:34 AM EST
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A book lovers dream, a book about books in the islamic republic of Iran. Fantastic, i would love to see it added to ur list
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Shalimar the Clown & Europe Central
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Feb 6 2007, 9:17 AM EST by
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Thread started: Feb 6 2007, 9:17 AM EST
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Hindu, Muslim, Kashmir, neighbors turning against one another...brilliant read...also Europe Central by William Vollmann...It deals with the moral decisions made by people in the most testing of times and offering a bold and mesmerizing perspective on human actions during wartime.
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Anonymous |
Brief History of the Dead
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Feb 1 2007, 1:32 AM EST by
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Thread started: Feb 1 2007, 1:32 AM EST
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Original, adventurous, reminiscent of Connie Willis' Passage and Mary Shelley's The Last Man. This book will stay with me a long time. I'm looking forward to reading more of Mr. Brockmeier's work. A beautifully told story.
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best of 2006 ~ Non-Fiction
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Jan 28 2007, 12:35 PM EST by
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Thread started: Jan 28 2007, 12:35 PM EST
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<b><i>Devil’s Teeth</i></b>, by Susan Casey, exposes a secret society of sharks unheard of, beyond Californian myth. Biologists, Pyle and Anderson, have enjoyed fourteen years of uninterrupted studies on an island off San Francsico; where they actually motor out to the kills and film the underwater drama. They refer to their little skiff, usually half the size of the circling sharks, as the “dinner plate.” This non-fiction book is as informative as it is fun, packed full of harrowing, close-encountered shark stories. A book that would make Benchley proud, but still keeps me on dry land. A close encounter with Cal Ripfin, I can miss. ~ <a href="http:www.maggiereads.blogspot.com">maggiereads</a>
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Anonymous |
Fun Home
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Jan 25 2007, 9:11 PM EST by
Anonymous |
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Thread started: Jan 25 2007, 9:11 PM EST
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Alison Bechdel's quietly moving "graphic memoir" has deservedly vaulted both her and the genre into the mainstream. Her portrait of her father, Bruce, is impressively clear-eyed: affectionate where he deserves it, extremely frank where necessary. Sexy, funny, intellectual, and ultimately emotionally fulfilling, it's one of the year's best books, graphic or otherwise.
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Anonymous |
Best books of 2006
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Jan 25 2007, 8:38 PM EST by
Anonymous |
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Thread started: Jan 9 2007, 11:29 AM EST
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I adore "Book of Lost Things" by John Connolly. It'd truly a book lover's book, discussing the power of the imagination in our daily lives & a boys' love of reading. Anyone who's fallen in love with a book should read this one!
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RE: Best books of 2006
By: Anonymous,
Jan 25 2007, 8:38 PM EST
I am reading "The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop" by Lewis Buzbee...Lovely memoir of books and bookshops. I am going to order "Book of Lost Things" immediately.
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The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
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Jan 20 2007, 4:38 AM EST by
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Thread started: Jan 20 2007, 4:38 AM EST
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Without a doubt the best book I read in 2006. Beautifully written with characters that I could connect with instantly, this book broke my heart as well as lifted my spirits.
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kristenjane |
Freddy and Fredericka
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Jan 16 2007, 2:27 PM EST by
kristenjane |
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Thread started: Jan 16 2007, 2:27 PM EST
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I really like Freddy and Fredericka by Mark Helprin. It took me awhile to get into the book, but once I did it became a very interesting read.
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Anonymous |
What is the Whate
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Jan 11 2007, 2:06 PM EST by
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Thread started: Jan 11 2007, 2:06 PM EST
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Definately the best book I read this year.
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Best Books of 2006
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Jan 10 2007, 3:10 PM EST by
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Thread started: Jan 10 2007, 3:10 PM EST
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The very best book of 2006 is a memoir entitled "A Three Dog Life" by Abigail Thomas. Despite the fact that Stephen King called it "the best memoir I have ever read," this poignant, beautifully written testament to the enduring power of love has received virtually no review space. What a shame! I hope this honest, generous book eventually gets the audience it deserves!! hattering tragedy, and it is a gift to all of us.
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Anonymous |
Best Books of 2006
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Jan 9 2007, 2:53 PM EST by
Anonymous |
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Thread started: Jan 7 2007, 9:16 AM EST
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I read a number of really good books this year but not all of them came out in 2006. My pick for Best Fiction of 2006 is Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen. I love historical fiction and this definitely fit the bill. It brings you into the world of the traveling circus during the depression. I cheered Rosie at the end.
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Last Reply:
RE: Best Books of 2006
By: Anonymous,
Jan 9 2007, 2:53 PM EST
GREAT BOOK! One of the best reads in 2006
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Anonymous |
Favorite 4 of 26
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Jan 9 2007, 2:13 PM EST by
Anonymous |
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Thread started: Jan 9 2007, 2:13 PM EST
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I read 26 books this year (not counting the ones I quit reading partway through, and these were my favorites: A Wild Ride Up the Cupboards, Torch (by Cheryl Strayed), How to Be Lost (Amanda Eyre Ward), and The Best Day, the Worst Day (nonfiction by Donald Hall. It's so great when you find those books you really lose yourself in.
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Best Fiction Title of 2006
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Jan 5 2007, 7:41 PM EST by
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Thread started: Dec 30 2006, 3:46 PM EST
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My favorite adult fiction of 2006 was <i>Suite Francaise</i> by Irene Nemirovsky. It was written in 1942, but not published until recently. It didn't appear in English until July, so it totally counts as 2006! <i>Suite Francaise</i> is the first 2 novels of what Nemirovsky envisioned would be a 5 novel series about France in WWII. The first, <i>Storm in June</i> deals with the fall of Paris and the images of a Tolstoian cast of characters fleeing the Germans is pitch-perfect. The second novel, <i>Dolce</i> deals with life in an occupied village. Both are great and we can only sigh over the fact Nemirovsky didn't live to write the other three. Also, I envision authors weeping over the fact that this sterling prose was her rough draft!
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RE: Best Fiction Title of 2006
By: ,
Jan 5 2007, 7:41 PM EST
I was also very moved by Suite Francaise and the tragic early end to the author's life.
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Krisandmia |
Best Fiction of 2006
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Jan 5 2007, 5:56 PM EST by
Krisandmia |
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Thread started: Jan 5 2007, 5:56 PM EST
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Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen is my pick for best fiction of 2006.
Gruen submerges you in the traveling circus life of depression-era America. I fell in love with Rosie the elephant and her veterinarian Jacob. This novel is one that I enthusiastically recommend to everyone.
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Best nonfiction
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Jan 5 2007, 5:52 PM EST by
Anonymous |
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Thread started: Jan 4 2007, 5:24 PM EST
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The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer. A fatherless boy finds many fathers at the bar where his uncle works in Manhasset, Long Island. Manhood, maturity and more – a moving memoir
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RE: Best nonfiction
By: Anonymous,
Jan 5 2007, 5:52 PM EST
This book was published in 2005.
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Best fiction
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Jan 4 2007, 5:23 PM EST by
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Thread started: Jan 4 2007, 5:23 PM EST
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Smith, Lee. On Agate Hill. A wily girl orphaned by the Civil War: how she survives and thrives; magnificent storytelling reminiscent of Smith's Fair and Tender Ladies, also of The Known World by Edward Jones. (Fiction)
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Anonymous |
Best 2006 non-fiction nomination
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Jan 4 2007, 2:12 PM EST by
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Thread started: Jan 4 2007, 2:12 PM EST
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A Perfect Union: Dolley Madison and the creation of the American nation, by Catherine Allgor. I have read fiction (Dolley, by Rita Mae Brown) and other non-fiction about Dolley Madison. But I don't recall another that gives such a complete picture of the her role in the development of the social structure of early Washington, DC. There were few buildings in the town, and they were, for that time, quite widely separated, often by muddy and rutted roads. To say nothing of the paucity of residential opportunities for the member of the government, both elected officials and staff. I thought it was also a fine portrayal of the marriage, and her continuing interest in public affairs throughout her life. I was surprised to find that there are daguerrotypes of her -- she lived to 1849. James died in the late 1830s, just a little too early to be captured by that new medium.
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Anonymous |
Best of 2006 Non-fiction
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Jan 4 2007, 11:02 AM EST by
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Thread started: Jan 4 2007, 11:02 AM EST
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The Omnivore's Dilemma: a natural history of four meals by Michael Pollan.
This book looks at how food has changed over the years, much of it due to large-scale industrial farming and US government policy towards agriculture. Fascinating read and it just may change the way you eat.
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