So my sweet sister sent me a nook--need a summer reading list now.

[Dappleganger]

I'm in bed most of the time due to herniated/degenerated discs w/stenosis and so my sister sent me something nice to pass the time away. What are your favorite books to read? I just finished the Steig Larsson trilogy (loved it!) and would like to find more. My favorites are medical detective-type mysteries with strong female characters (something along the lines of Rizzoli & Isles). Wouldn't mind reading a few progressive books, too. TIA!

[DebJ]

1. Not in your categories, but I fell in love with these 2 I just read.

Three Cups of Tea and a sequel Stones into Schools by Greg Mortenson. I was given Stones into Schools for Christmas, and finally had time to read it in June....read almost straight through, in 2 days, could NOT put it down. So when I was done, I ordered the first book, Three Cups of Tea, and have almost finished that one now. You really feel like you are 'there' when you read these books, totally transported, and as I said, a page-turner in book #2..just have to keep reading. And it is a growing relief to me to see something good happening somewhere on this planet. I just can't take much more bad news these days.

[Dappleganger]

2. Those look enticing...thanks! nt

[Radical Activist]

3. Reckoning at Eagle Creek by Jeff Biggers.

A great progressive book that reads like a novel.

[DebJ]

4. My mom loves detective mystery type books.

David Baldacci is one of my mother's favorite mystery writers. Also James Patterson.

[DebJ]

5. I'm on the phone with her now. She said Baldacci started the

Make-A-Wish Foundation.

[jobycom]

6. I was going to recommend the Steig Larsson trilogy...

:)

Since there is a chance you and I may like similar books, I'll tell you who I've enjoyed the most lately, in the way of detective novels or thrillers. David Baldacci, as someone already mentioned, has a different take on the world. Someone with a classic take but who still writes well enough to make it work is Nelson DeMille, especially his John Corrie series. I like James Lee Burke, but he gets annoying--he kills a woman or two every novel, seemingly just because he likes dead women as much as Ian Fleming and Mickey Spillane. On the other hand, he's a very insightful writer other than that, with good skills.

I also like a lot of Stephen King's later works. Lisey's Story is sort of a supernatural detective story with a strong female lead (I almost can hear his friends saying "Have you ever stopped to think about how your wife feels?" before he wrote it, since it's about the overlooked wife of a famous writer). Duma Key, Under the Dome, and Bag of Bones imho are his best works.

In a different vein, Elisabeth Kostova's "The Historian" is really good once it gets moving (that takes a while). It's a Dracula style mystery that takes place over three and four time periods and across all of Europe. It starts slow, but at some point it becomes quite impressive, although the central mystery may not be as good as the settings and characters and general movement of the novel.

Two similar books are by Kate Morton. "The Forgotten Garden," and "The House at Riverton" are sort of period novels that, like "The Historian," take place over several time frames, and are wound around central mysteries that someone generations later is trying to solve. "Garden" trapped me right away, but it took about a third of the book for "House" to really suck me in. Once it did, though, it was surprising subtle and moving.

And one that doesn't forget your requirements at all but that I think too many people don't know about is Neil Gaiman's "American Gods." Too hard to explain. It's just the most amazing picture about American immigration I've ever read, all wrapped up in a strange fantasy story.

Just some random suggestions. :)

[rurallib]

7. reading "Anne Frank" with our mentees

forgot how great that book was. And in today's light it is more relevant.

[applegrove]

8. I'm just finishing Steig Larsson's trilogy. I loved the true to life characters in all three books.