I really miss going to library

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Forum -> Hobbies, Crafts, and Collections -> Reading Room

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amother

Thu, Dec 31 2020, 10:27 am

I love to read.
I live in a city where lockdown has closed all libraries.

I need a good book. I love authors Joanna Trollope & Elizabeth George

Any book recommendations for me?
Feel with this lockdown my brain is turning to mush.
& believe it or not I’m so sick of watching Netflix

amother

Babyblue

Thu, Dec 31 2020, 10:28 am

Your library doesn't have ebooks?

amother

Thu, Dec 31 2020, 10:29 am

amother [ Babyblue ] wrote:

Your library doesn't have ebooks?

What about shabbos?

I do like a physical book I can take to bed at night & read

Stars

Thu, Dec 31 2020, 10:31 am

You can get used books for real cheap at thrift books.com or Abe books.com

amother

Thu, Dec 31 2020, 10:32 am

Stars wrote:

You can get used books for real cheap at thrift books.com or Abe books.com

So they ship to Canada ?

Frumme

Thu, Dec 31 2020, 10:32 am

Read or listen to ebooks from Hoopla/Libby/Overdrive/etc through your library during the week, and for Shabbos order some classics to go through, like James Michener or short story collections.

amother

Royalblue

Thu, Dec 31 2020, 10:34 am

I really miss the library too.
I bought some books off Thriftbooks and that helped a lot. Now my library allows us to use lobby service (put books on hold and they notify you when it's ready for pickup). It's not the same like book browsing but at least I have what to read Smile

so thankful for our libraries.

amother

Copper

Thu, Dec 31 2020, 10:35 am

Me too

I enjoy walking around the library, feeling the books, finding something cool I have never heard of.

sigree

Thu, Dec 31 2020, 10:35 am

I miss going to the library SO much. OP, try to find a used bookstore near you. If you live in Brooklyn, I can recommend one. Although for me it’s not just the books I miss but the whole experience of spending time there and choosing the books.

amother

Natural

Thu, Dec 31 2020, 10:41 am

I terribly miss going to the library. I'm glad our libraries do curbside pickup.

amother

Thu, Dec 31 2020, 10:41 am

sigree wrote:

Unfortunately all of those kind of stores are closed Here.
I live in Toronto

Stars

Thu, Dec 31 2020, 10:43 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

So they ship to Canada ?

https://www.abebooks.com/Canada/

Amarante

Thu, Dec 31 2020, 10:53 am

I LOVE Elizabeth George and Barbara Havers is one of my favorite characters. I love the ones in which she became a central character.

That said. try Tana French as she does a series of excellent mysteries set in Ireland. The "murder squad" ones are the most famous but she also has a few that are stand alone. Even the "murder squad" ones have a different main protagonist each book although the same ones might appear as minor characters.

If you read on Kindle or iPhone or iPad PM as I have digital copies.

I just finished You Should Have Known which is a twisty psychological thriller set on the Upper West Side which I enjoyed for the plot as well as the milieu.

There are some American mystery writers which have female private detectives which I enjoy such as those by Sue Grafton and Sara Paretsky.

Books are one of my main forms of relaxation and there are other books I enjoyed which aren't in the mystery genre but since you mentioned Elizabeth George I went with that genre.

Isn't Joanna Trollope a romance writer - I just saw Bridgerton on Netflix and so I am going to try out the Julia Quinn books it was based on.

My own favorite genre seems to be books written by women with strong interesting female protagonists. For example I really liked the Olive Kitteridge and Olive Again by Elizabeth Strout

amother

Ecru

Thu, Dec 31 2020, 10:55 am

Do you have any students in your family who might have access to their university libraries, even just for curbside pickup? Just a shot in the dark.

amother

Thu, Dec 31 2020, 11:05 am

Amarante wrote:

Thx for all yiur suggestions.
I also love Kate Morton, who wrote the the secret keeper. I’ve read all of her books & every one of Elizabeth George’s books.

I find sue grafton a little too light for me.

I will look for the other authors you mentioned.

By the way Joanna Trollope is not really romance. She has great character development & the way she writes you can imagine her characters as real people - she has such a gift.
Loved ‘other people’s children’, ‘daughter in law’ just to name a couple.

There is nothing better in my opinion than a good book.

Amarante

Thu, Dec 31 2020, 11:15 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Definitely Grafton is not at all on the level of George in terms of nuance. Tana French is a bit darker than George.

ETA to add that a good genre writer transcends the genre - after all Austen could be denominated as a "romance writer" LOL

One of my favorite series revolves around an English family during WW II - the Cazalets are prosperous but not aristocratic as their father owns a lumber yard. It's by Elizabeth Jane Howard and there are four books which are roughly from just before the start of the War to a bit after.

And The Raj Quartet by Paul Scott is absolutely brilliant. It combines mystery, romance and a portrayal of India during WW II through the partition after the war.

Last edited by Amarante on Thu, Dec 31 2020, 11:22 am; edited 1 time in total

singleagain

Thu, Dec 31 2020, 11:16 am

I just read this fantabulous book. That I found on amazon. Bc it was similar to what I was already looking at... It's actually translated from german. But I loved it.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/prod.....1a60a

Srsly browsing amazon was pretty cool just bc of similar books and honestly... I've totally judge books by the covers. If the cover looks interesting I'll see if I like the description and decide to get it.

amother

Gold

Thu, Dec 31 2020, 11:22 am

Tana French is great (one of my favorite authors) but she's very divisive. I find that people who like her books LOVE them in an almost obsessive way and people who don't, really don't.

Op, if you have a kindle app you can download samples of books to try out and see if they are worth buying or requesting from the library. Most libraries at least have curbside pick up even if they aren't open for browsing.

Amarante

Thu, Dec 31 2020, 11:23 am

singleagain wrote:

I just read this fantabulous book. That I found on amazon. Bc it was similar to what I was already looking at... It's actually translated from german. But I loved it.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1542.....share

Srsly browsing amazon was pretty cool just bc of similar books and honestly... I've totally judge books by the covers. If the cover looks interesting I'll see if I like the description and decide to get it.

When I have time I also do this - find a book that I really enjoyed and then see what amazon shows as what others have bought and also books similar to the original. It really isn't a much better way to "browse" than even going to a physical book store.

Amarante

Thu, Dec 31 2020, 11:33 am

amother [ Gold ] wrote:

Tana French is great (one of my favorite authors) but she's very divisive. I find that people who like her books LOVE them in an almost obsessive way and people who don't, really don't.

I can see why she is divisive. I was turned on to her by one of the obsessives LOL

as well as the almost universally glowing reviews from sources I respect. I started with The Witch Elm Tree and now I am reading the Murder Squad series.

I think her books might be difficult for some people because the protagonists seem to be flawed and there is no happy resolution at the end so they transcend the genre.

I would also recommend the John Grisham books which are NOT his standard escapist fare - I.e. the Jake Brigance books - A Time To Kill, The Sycamore Row and A Time For Mercy.

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