Books on the Nightstand discussion

How about recommendations where someone lists the books on his/her nightstand and others recommend which to read next?

I have "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," "Shadow of the Wind," "The Angel's Game" (both by Carlos Ruiz Zafon), Hosseini, "A Thousand Splendid Suns" and Matthew Pearl, "The Poe Shadow." Which do you recommend reading next?

Love this idea! Or someone can recommend a book to *add* to your nightstand (insert evil laugh here...)

No, no, my metaphorical nightstand is my whole house full of books! I've lots of unread books, I just mentioned a few that others have read. Sometimes I feel stymied at the abundant choices and can't decide what to read next.

I would read A Thousand Splendid Suns first -- wonderful book. I just tried reading The Angel's Game but was not impressed (did enjoy Shadow of the Wind)
This is a good idea -- I always seem to be overwhelmed by my choices on my tbr pile (not helped by the fact I keep adding to it!). It might help to have an objective opinion on what next to read

OK, then. Everybody, stick to Libby's rules and tell her what she should read next. And then tell us what's on *your* nightstand ...

Oh I was going to recomment A Thousand Splendid Suns, too!

I vote for Shadow of the Wind- it's a good one.

Oh No..adding more to my list here. You can not imagine how large my stack is at the moment and here I am again..adding more to my list. I hope you are all very happy with yourselves for helping my habit here!! ;)
Laura

Oh I like this idea! I suggest Shadow of the Wind--it's one of my favorites!

I am having a hard time recommending any one book over the other. But I think I would say Shadow of the Wind, so that you can read a few other books and then return to Zafon's magical world of books with Angel's Game a little later.

Another vote for Shadow of the Wind. I wish I could go back in time and read it for the first time again!

I think you should read Shadow of the Wind as it's on my nightstand as well...then you can tell me if I need to put it at the top of the pile! You have some great ones on your list though...The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was one of my favorites for the year and A Thousand Splendid Suns is on my all-time favorite list. I've read Dante Club by Matthew Pearl, but not the Poe Shadow, so I can't comment on that one.

I want you to read either Shadow of the Wind or Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, mainly because I seem to be the only person out there who didn't love either of them. I just want to see if the evidence keeps piling up against me...

I finished Shadow of the Wind this week and I have Girl with the Dragon Tattoo on my nightstand. I didn't love Shadow, either. The writing was excessive, and the plot was predictable. The saving grace was the colorful description of post-war Barcelona.

I just finished "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" yesterday and loved it. That would be my recommendation. I wrote up a review which you can read on my books page.

I listened to The Shadow of the Wind, unabridged on audio, and loved it. But, I guess that would be adding to your nightstand, since you've alread got the print version, huh?

I want to let you know about what I decided to read and why. The results came in with a large majority recommending The Shadow of the Wind, but using Iranian election rules, I selected The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

I am a collector and part-time seller of collectible and rare books. Since I go to a lot of book sales I have hundreds of unread books. I've been wanting to read The Shadow of the Wind for a long time but something else always came to mind first.

Five years ago I went on a trip to England called "In the Footsteps of Virginia Woolf." In London we followed Mrs. Dalloway's journey to get the flowers (which was a very long walk). In the book, Mrs. Dalloway looks in the window of Hatchard's, a book store. Well, Hatchard's is still there, so we went inside and I bought a signed first British edition of The Shadow of the Wind.

So when I thought about reading it I decided to look on ABE (Advanced Book Exchange) to see how much it is worth. It goes for about $450 so I decided to keep it pristine and find a paperback copy to read so I can enjoy it while eating lunch and not worry about dripping salad dressing on it.

Any way, thanks to everyone for your votes. Does anyone else want to request recommendations on this Discussion?

Libby wrote: "I want to let you know about what I decided to read and why. The results came in with a large majority recommending The Shadow of the Wind, but using Iranian election rules, I selected The Girl wi..."

That sounds like an awesome tour!

Oh, it was! We went to Talland House, where her family stayed in St. Ives. It is a rental, but my group was milling about and the woman renting it invited us in. We chartered a small boat to ride out to the lighthouse. It's not the same lighthouse that was there at her time, but I felt like the experience of taking a boat to a lighthouse was similar. We also visited the house where she and Leonard lived, saw her writing shed and the part of the river where she drowned. That was eye-opening, because there was quite a current and it was very wide, not like in "The Hours." We also went to Charleston House where her sister Vanessa had lived. Every available space that could be painted was. We also saw Sissinghurst and Knole because of her relationship with Vita Sackville-West.

Wow! That sounds fabulous! I've read most of Virginia Woolf, and I read The Hours, but I didn't see the movie. Was it any good? I read Shadow of the Wind, and I am in the middle of Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. They are very different books.

Melissa wrote: "Wow! That sounds fabulous! I've read most of Virginia Woolf, and I read The Hours, but I didn't see the movie. Was it any good? I read Shadow of the Wind, and I am in the middle of Girl with the Dr..."

I'm in the middle of Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, too, and am enjoying it even though it's hard to keep all those Vangers straight. I liked the movie of The Hours, but didn't like the portrayal of Virginia Woolf. I read the book after seeing the movie and liked the book.