Book recommendations for a 21 year old gal?

Question

I love to read but it's hard to find the time to look for new books!

Here are some favorites to give you an idea of what I like...
*The Poisonwood Bible
*Catcher in the Rye
*The Perks of Being a Wallflower
*One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
*My Horizontal Life - A Collection of One-Night Stands
*A Girl Becomes a Comma Like That
*The Devil Wears Prada
*Gossip Girl series (I'm too to be reading these but they're addictive! haha)
*The Dance of Intimacy
*The Virgin Suicides
*all PostSecret books
*Found - The Best Lost, Tossed, and Forgotten Items from Around the World (and Found 2)

Answer 1

The same author who wrote the Poisonwood Bible wrote another excellent book called The Prodigal Summer.

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck is maybe one of the best books ever. It's about a family trying to survive the Great Depression, and it is magnificent.

I think you would also like We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates. It has a theme similar to The Poisonwood Bible, and is really well written.

White Oleander is another book about a bad parent, in this case a mother, and how she leads her child astray.

Finally, both of Wally Lamb's books are excellent... I Know This Much is True is about a pair of twin brothers, one of whom is schizophrenic. It is LONG, but well worth the read. She's Come Undone is about a girl with an extraordinarily bad life, and how she grows up to overcome her obstacles. Also long, but very good.

Hope that helps...

Answer 2

Any of these will DEFINITELY ring your bell!

Finding Noel by Richard Paul Evans
The Secret by Rhonda Byrne
For One More Day by Mitch Albom
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
Cross by James Patterson
The Stranger by Camus
Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Razor's Edge by W Somerset Maugham

Answer 3

If you want some light-hearted, comical semi-romance (not old-fashioned stuff), try Susan Elizabeth Phillips. I just read a great book by her and want to read more. Also, try Jane Green (Jemima J, Babyville, Bookends, and others). Very modern novels, funny, sexy, really great reads! Nothing too deep, but not shallow reads either.

Answer 4

I'm not an avid book reader... but my favorite series is the Outlander Series, by Diana Gabaldon. There are currently 6 books in the series, and they're thick. I know many people who LOVE them...

Answer 5

Read The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. It is a very powerful story that deals with guilt and redemption.

Answer 6

"The Heavenly Man" by Paul Hattaway and "Stories from the Front Lines" by Jane Rumph.

Answer 7

The new harry potter coming out 07

Answer 8

I recommend Sherri Tepper to all women:

The Revenants. Berkley Publishing. 1984.
After Long Silence. 1987. (published as The Enigma Score in the U.K.)
The Gate to Women's Country. Doubleday. 1988.
Beauty. Doubleday. 1991.
A Plague of Angels. 1993.
Shadow's End. 1994.
Gibbon's Decline & Fall. New York: Bantam / Spectra, 1996.
Family Tree 1997.
Six Moon Dance. 1998.
Singer from the Sea. 1999.
The Fresco. 2000.
The Visitor. 2002.
(These works all take place in a single universe but far apart in time and space.)

Grass. Doubleday. 1989.
Raising the Stones. Doubleday. 1990.
Sideshow. Doubleday. 1992.
The Awakeners:
Note: Issued together as The Awakeners (1987)

NorthShore. Tor Books. 1987.
SouthShore. Tor Books. 1987.
Marianne Trilogy:

Marianne, the Magus, and the Manticore. Ace Books. 1985.
Marianne, the Madame, and the Momentary Gods. Ace Books. 1988.
Marianne, the Matchbox, and the Malachite Mouse. Ace Books. 1989.
The Books of the True Game: Mavin Manyshaped (Note: all three released in one omnibus edition as The Chronicles of Mavin Manyshaped (1985))

The Song of Mavin Manyshaped. Ace Books. 1985.
The Flight of Mavin Manyshaped. Ace Books. 1985.
The Search for Mavin Manyshaped. Ace Books. 1985.
The Books of the True Game: Peter
(Note: all three released in one omnibus edition as The True Game (1985))

King's Blood Four. Ace Books. 1983. (first novel)
Necromancer's Nine. Ace Books. 1983.
Wizard's Eleven. Ace Books. 1984.
The Books of the True Game: Jinian
(Note: all three of these released together as The End of the Game in a book club edition)

Jinian Star-Eye. Tor Books. 1986.
Dervish Daughter Tor Books. 1986.
Jinian Footseer. Tor Books. 1985.
Mahlia / Badger (These two books are straight-forward horror without even much of a feminist spin.)

Blood Heritage. Tor Books. 1986.
The Bones. Tor Books. 1987.

Also Marion Zimmer Bradley

Avalon Series:
THE MISTS OF AVALONKnopf, 1983 (hc), Ballantine, 1984(tp)
THE FOREST HOUSE
(aka FORESTS OF AVALON)Viking, 1994 (hc); 1995 (tp)
THE LADY OF AVALONViking, 1997 (hc); 1998 (tp)
PRIESTESS OF AVALONUK: HarperCollins/Voyager, 2000;
US: Viking, 2001 (hc)
ANCESTORS OF AVALONViking, 2004 (hc)
* RAVENS OF AVALON Aug 2007 (subject to change)
Historical:
THE FIREBRAND (Trojan War)Simon & Schuster, 1987 (hc), Pocket, 1988
THE CATCH TRAP (20th century)Ballantine, 1979 (hc), 1980, 1984 (pb)
Historical chronology: ANCESTORS OF AVALON, FIREBRAND, FOREST HOUSE, LADY OF AVALON (parts 1-2), PRIESTESS OF AVALON, LADY OF AVALON (part 3), MISTS OF AVALON, CATCH TRAP

Darkover

MZB always insisted that the Darkover novels are not a series and can be read in any order, since none of the books assumes that you are familiar with any other of the books. If you simply MUST have an order in which to read them, it is better to read them chronologically by publication date, rather than in chronology of Darkovan history; that way you will follow MZB's thought processes as her concept of Darkover grew and expanded.

In Order of Publication

PLANET SAVERS, 1962 (reprinted 1995) 7
SWORD OF ALDONES, 1962
THE BLOODY SUN, 1964 (rewritten 1979) 5
STAR OF DANGER, 1965 (reprinted 1994) 5
WINDS OF DARKOVER, 1970 (reprinted 1995) 5
WORLD WRECKERS, 1971 (reprinted 1994) 7
DARKOVER LANDFALL, 1972 6
THE SPELL SWORD, 1974 4
HERITAGE OF HASTUR, 1975 1
SHATTERED CHAIN, 1976 3
FORBIDDEN TOWER, 1977 4
STORMQUEEN, 1978 2
BLOODY SUN (rewrite), 1979 (reprinted 1994) 5
TWO TO CONQUER, 1980 6
SHARRA'S EXILE, 1981 1
HAWKMISTRESS, 1982 2
THENDARA HOUSE, 1983 3
CITY OF SORCERY, 1984 3
HEIRS OF HAMMERFELL, 1989
REDISCOVERY, 1993 (with Mercedes Lackey)
EXILE'S SONG, 1996 (with Adrienne Martine-Barnes)
SHADOW MATRIX, 1998 (by Adrienne Martine-Barnes)
TRAITOR'S SUN, 1999 (by Adrienne Martine-Barnes)
CLINGFIRE TRILOGY (in progress at MZB's death)
FALL OF NESKAYA, 2001
ZANDRU'S FORGE, 2003
FLAME IN HALI, 2004
* THE ALTON GIFT, Dec 2007
* RELUCTANT KING (in progress at MZB's death)
* THUNDERLORD (in progress at MZB's death)


Darkover Omnibus Editions:

HERITAGE AND EXILE, 2002
Heritage of Hastur, Sharra's Exile
AGES OF CHAOS, 2002
Stormqueen, Hawkmistress
SAGA OF THE RENUNCIATES, 2002
Shattered Chain, Thendara House, City of Sorcery
FORBIDDEN CIRCLE, 2002
Spell Sword, Forbidden Tower
A WORLD DIVIDED, Dec 2003
Star of Danger, Winds of Darkover, Bloody Sun
DARKOVER: FIRST CONTACT, Sep 2004
Darkover Landfall, Two to Conquer
TO SAVE A WORLD, Dec 2004
Planet Savers, World Wreckers


Darkovan chronology

DARKOVER LANDFALL
STORMQUEEN
THUNDERLORD *
FALL OF NESKAYA
ZANDRU'S FORGE
HAWKMISTRESS
FLAME IN HALI
TWO TO CONQUER
HEIRS OF HAMMERFELL
REDISCOVERY
SHATTERED CHAIN (1)
SPELL SWORD
FORBIDDEN TOWER
SHATTERED CHAIN (2, 3)
THENDARA HOUSE
CITY OF SORCERY
STAR OF DANGER
WINDS OF DARKOVER
THE BLOODY SUN
HERITAGE OF HASTUR
PLANET SAVERS
SHARRA'S EXILE (replaces SWORD OF ALDONES)
RELUCTANT KING *
WORLD WRECKERS
EXILE'S SONG
SHADOW MATRIX
TRAITOR'S SUN
* THE ALTON GIFT

Mini-series or direct sequels to one another are:

SPELL SWORD/FORBIDDEN TOWER/BLOODY SUN (rewrite)
SHATTERED CHAIN/THENDARA HOUSE/CITY OF SORCERY
HERITAGE OF HASTUR/SHARRA'S EXILE /RELUCTANT KING
EXILE'S SONG/SHADOW MATRIX/TRAITOR'S SUN