What to Read Next: Book Recommendations

Adapted from photo by Catunes via Creative Commons

Have you finished your current book and wondering what to read next? I have some book recommendations for you.

I’m working diligently on my goal to read 100 books this year. I’m currently at 1 book ahead of where I ended last year. With 82 books read this year, I think I might come close to my goal. I do dream of taking a vacation where all I do is sip delicious drinks and read all day. Preferably on the beach, by the pool or somewhere equally sunny. In the meantime, I’m sneaking in 10 minutes in the car before school pickup, 30 minutes in bed before I fall asleep and sometimes after dinner while the kids play.

I’ve been reading mostly fiction, with a couple of non-fiction to break things up a bit. Most of these books would also be great for a book club. (For those I’ve reviewed, I’ve linked to the review.)

City of Dark Magic by Magnus Flyte was a fun read. Sarah travels to Prague to study letters and papers from her musical idol, Beethoven. Along the way she discovers a bit of alchemy and a lot of  history. Read my full review of City of Dark Magic at From Left to Write.

Game: A Thriller by Anders de le Motte is an action packed page-turner about HP, a slack nobody who finds a cell phone on a train. The phone seems to know him and personally invites him to join the Game. HP accepts and each challenge pushes his moral boundaries further and further until it becomes personal. Can he escape? Game is a great novel to escape from reality.I also have a review copy of the second book in the series, Buzz which I’m looking forward to reading.

Amy Tan is one of my favorite authors and her newest novel The Valley of Amazement does not disappoint. You’ll dive right into the Shanghai in the world of high class courtesans. Check out my full review of The Valley of Amazement on From Left to Write. I also had a chance to hear her speak at Strathmore on her book tour!

I think any mother will understand what Tracy Beckerman goes through in Lost in Suburbia. This “momoir” is laugh out loud funny. Tracy leaves her life in New York to move to the ‘burbs, otherwise known as New Jersey. I especially love the chapter about how her family acquired their minivan. (I’m a totally minivan hold out.)

As a native Louisianian, reading Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital by Sherri Fink was heartbreaking. Though I was living in the DC area at the time Hurricane Katrina hit, I was glued to the television and radio to receive updates about my beloved New Orleans. Fink retells the not just how Katrina damaged the city of New Orleans, but recounts the horror of 5 days at Memorial Hospital with no electricity, little food and water, and dying patients, including NICU babies. I highly recommend it as a book club read!

What have you read recently? I want to hear your book recommendations!

I was going to take a photo of all the books stacked together, but alas, I can’t photograph e-books. I receive e-galleys of Game and City of Dark Magic.