Also a vote for Dr. Polk's book which I read recently.  [If you're a Baptist, be sure to wear your seatbelt.]  Another recent good book was Tara Road by Maeve Binchy.  Am going to finish David McCullough's biography of John Adams which was boxed up in a recent move and hasn't been seen in some weeks. So far, brilliant.  And always, year in and year out, The Lord of the Rings, don't rely on the movie to think you know that story! 

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Originally posted by: Polyonymous
"I really enjoyed the book Cold Mountain when it came out a few years ago so I was anxiously waiting for the video/DVD release last week.   I was not disappointed!  It is the first time that I have appreciated Nicole Kidman as an actress and the rest of the cast was great as well.  The film did justice to the book.  Also enjoyed Under the Tuscan Sun, book and film. For light summer reads, Grisham's latest book, The Last Juror and Stuart Woods' Capital Crimes were both entertaining."

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I just saw "Under the Tuscan Sun," and thought it was well done.  A chick flick, for sure, but it didn't have as much of a predictable ending as I thought it might.  I enjoyed Diane Lane's performance.  Will have to check out the book now!

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Originally posted by: Retired prof
"The Lovely Bones"

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This was also a favorite of mine...

Dr. Anita Stamper's beautiful post about finding salve for her soul during the bad days was a reminder to me to spend more time doing the things I enjoy. 

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Originally posted by: lumpy oatmeal
"I know what Thames isn't reading: Running a Successful University for Dummies"

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Even if you don't usually read poetry, two epic poems by Joe Survant are incredibly beautiful. The first book is Anne and Alpheus; the second in what will be a trilogy is Rafting Rise, which came out last summer. They are set in Kentucky, 19th and early 20th century. I read them both over and over, always finding something new and beautiful.

Here are some of my favorite novilists and novels: 

Margaret Atwood
 The Handmaid’s Tale
 Cat’s Eye
 Alias Grace
 The Blind Assassin
 Oryx and Crake
 The Edible woman

Jane Hamilton
  Book of Ruth
  Map of the World
  The Short History of a Prince

Kaye Gibbons
  Ellen Foster
  A Cure for Dreams
  A Virtuous Woman
  Sights Unseen
  On the Occasion of My Last Afternoon

Ursula Heigi
  Salt Dancers
  Stones from the River
  The Vision of Emma Blau
  Floating in My Mother’s Palm

Sue Miller
  While I Was Gone (and everything else she writes)

Carol Shields
  The Stone Diaries
  Unless
  Larry's Party
  Swann

When I find an author I like, I try to get everything they have ever pusblished, and then I do immersion. All of the above are books I would read again and again.

Anita

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Originally posted by: blue collar eagle
"Of course, CASH, a book written about the life and times of Johnny Cash . . .  "He killed a univeristy in Mississippi, just to watch it die."

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Somehow, blue collar eagle, I feel that even more applicable lines from that Johnny Cash song (Folsom Prison Blues) are these:

"I bet there's rich folk eatin' in a fancy dining car.
They're prob'ly drinkin' coffee and smokin' big cigars . . ."

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Originally posted by: Anita Stamper
"Even if you don't usually read poetry, two epic poems by Joe Survant are incredibly beautiful. The first book is Anne and Alpheus; the second in what will be a trilogy is Rafting Rise, which came out last summer. They are set in Kentucky, 19th and early 20th century. I read them both over and over, always finding something new and beautiful.

Thanks for this recommendation ! I actually knew Dr. Survant when I was a grad student at Western Kentucky.  (He critiqued a poem of mine -- he is a very kind person, for sure.)  I will look forward to reading these. 

You might enjoy Sue Miller's The World Below which I just finished.

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Originally posted by: LVN
"I actually knew Dr. Survant when I was a grad student at Western Kentucky.  (He critiqued a poem of mine -- he is a very kind person, for sure.)  I will look forward to reading these. 

You might enjoy Sue Miller's The World Below which I just finished."

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I knew him, too, a little more than 40 years ago and still keep in touch occasionally. he sent me a poem about the death of his father that was really moving. I probably read it about 500 times. It has been published a couple of places now and is on several web sites, so I think it's okay to put it here:

After My Father's Illness
    
      for my father, J.W. Survant
             (1914-1998)
    
    
     I sit in the prow
     to watch
     for rocks and snags.
     The canoe seems
     lighter than the leaves
     curled up like hulls
     on the unclear stream.
     We pass them
     with no noise.
     The river is
     a lid of ice,
     our blue canoe
     some skater
     stretching out to glide.
    
     My father guides
     with long strokes.
     His breath is even.
     Beneath the surface
     I hear the deep
     machinery of water
     on rock,
     beyond I see a field
     unfold with rolls
     of millet and rye.
     The varnish smell
     of mold rises
     like bits of light
     to meet the sky.
    
     I must not turn
     or look around.
     It's just death, he says

I have read all of Miller's books and check constantly to see if there are any new ones out. The World Below was my least favorite of hers. I think maybe it was one of her earliest.