[REDCART]

Since Barnes & Noble opened a mega-store in Lake Sumter, I have to believe that some of this group read novels for entertainment. (Although I'll admit that I've been hitting the library to save a few bucks lately.)

If anyone is interested in good fiction, take a look at Michael Connelly. I've read about twelve of his novels all of which were excellent. The last one, The Lincoln Lawyer I thought was one of his best. He's as good as John Grisham is at his best only more consistent.

BTW, If you're thinking of John Grisham's last novel The Innocent Man, a non-fiction novel, borrow it rather than buy it. I finished it but didn't really enjoy it, and not a book I'd pass on to others to read.

Also, Nelson DeMille's latest novel Wild Fire was excellent right to the end.

[Lil Dancer]

I've always like Nelson DeMille - didn't know he had a new one out. Thanks for the heads up. A book I really enjoyed was 'Water for Elephants' by Sara Gruen. Its a coming of age novel about a lad who joins the circus. It was a great story, could hardly put it down, and it had a lot of neat historical information about life in the 30's, and circus life in particular. I've also enjoyed the Kalihari typing School series by Alexander mcCall Smith. If you like mysteries, Tami Hoag is a great writer as well. I've given up on Grisham - his first book was great, but they all kind of went downhill in my opinion.

[REDCART]

Lil Dancer, I'm familiar with Water for Elephants. My wife is also a reader and she recommended the book to me. Our interests are very different but every now and again we'll recommend a book to each other.

I'm forever saying that the sign of a good book is if you lost it, would you go out and buy another copy to finish the story. In this instance, Water for Elephants was one of those two week library specials. I had to return it and wait a month to borrow it again to finish the story. So, it met my test of a good book! I enjoyed the description of circus life during the depression as remembered by a 90 year old in a nursing home.

Nelson DeMille as you say has written some great books over time: Gold Coast, The Charm School, Word of Honor.

I think you'll agree that books are somewhat like art. Everyone has their own reading tastes and I've read some real losers that were highly recommended by people at work.

[Lil Dancer]

I agree - its all in the eye of the beholder. There are a number of best sellers from the NYTimes that "should" be good books, but they just don't fit my style. I really like Martin Cruz Smith, if you get a chance you might want to check him out. If you like adventure type stories, a book my husband and I both liked was "Coming Back Alive" by Spike Walker. Its a story of a search and rescue mission up in Alaska, and the crab fishing industry. Its a little slow to start, when they describe the guys on the fishing boat, their backgrounds, and the fishing industry in general, but when it gets to the part where they're out on the water, and everything that comes after that, we just couldn't put the book down. Absolutely captivating.

[REDCART]

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll look for "Coming Back Alive" on my next outing. Your best source of good reading is first of all someone who's a regular reader; and secondly, someone with similar tastes. When The Da Vinci Code was off the charts, people were raving about Dan Brown. I've read most, if not all of his books, and I still do not consider him a great writer. Listening to the raves, you have to wonder, if this is the only book they've read since high school.

I mentioned that I've read my share of losers; and some books that were just so-so. Lonesome Dove and The Perfect Storm come to mind as some of the so-so books. Maybe they were well written but they seemed like they went on forever.

[Kitria]

Thank you both for the suggestions. I read all the time, but I rarely rememberthe authors' names; just that it was a good book.
As an elementary school teacher up to the eighth grade, I read young readers' and youth books. Anything that went on my borrowing shelf was read by me first. I had a massive in-class library.
Now that I am retired I enjoy reading whatever strikes my fancy. I like mysteries, suspence, and fantasy with some time-travel thrown in for good measure. I will try to write down the good ones as I read them in order to pass them along here.

[Lil Dancer]

gryoung, interestingly, we felt the same way about Divinci Code. It was okay, but not "that" great. I did like the Lonesome Dove series, though. It had a slow, lazy pace to it, but I guess it fit the subject matter.

Kitria, we look forward to any suggestions/recommendations of books!