Good Reads? - Page 4

jelly baby · 08-05-2005, 12:38

My personal choice is anything autobiographic, particularly about womens' struggles in the middle east.

A few of my favourites are
Fatwa (living with a death threat) about her life after marrying an egyptian man and converting to Islam.

Out of Iran by Sousan Azadi, she lived an affluent life in Iran, the story tells of her escape to the West with her son after the fall of the Shah. Gripping read!

My forbidden face by Latifa, Afganistan through the eyes of a 16 year old girl. The story tells of her life as a carefree teenager and ambition to be a journalist, when in 1996 the taliban seized power and she and all other Afghan women became prisoners in their homes.
An excellent read.

Burned Alive by Souad, the story of how she was the victim of an 'honour killing' for falling in love. Her brother in law was chosen to perform the killing after her family decided she had shamed them. She miraculously survived after being helped by the village women, and wrote this book to uncover the barbarity of honour killings.

For good light reading any of Tom Sharpes books are good, I find them hilarious.
Good holiday reads are anything by Maeve Binchy

Sparkologist · 08-05-2005, 13:23

Re. The Da Vinci Code

Quote:

Originally Posted by g78

...did you not find the ending though a bit anti-climatic? I enjoyed the book but just felt that the ending was missing something.

I couldn't agree more, g.
Right from the outset, The Da Vinci Code was a page-turner, but the ending didn't quite live up to all that had gone before it.

Lettie has lent me another Dan Brown book, Angels & Demons, which is my next read, but first I must finish reading "Glue" by Irvine Welch.

lettie · 08-05-2005, 16:06

I love the Kathy Reichs books. On similar lines to Patricial Cornwell's Scarpetta novels, Reichs's heroine is a lot more likeable than Scarpetta.

Marc Almond's Tainted Life is a damn good read. I also love the Bill Bryson travel orientated books, Notes from a Small Island, A Walk in the Woods, Down Under and Big Country which tell of the hapless Mr Bryson's world wide travels and witty observations he makes along the way. Wish my travelogue could read like that.

Sparkologist · 08-05-2005, 16:12

Oh but it will, Lettie. It will. But only if you can write like Bill Bryson.