SFParrtHd

I just finished a great book by Kristin Hannah, Winter Garden. A great mother/daugher relationship book. Best I have read in awhile.

Firefly Lane by her was very good, if you haven't read it already :)

I just read Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet and Saving CeeCee Honeycutt. Both were very good.

I love this thread and just downloaded Solomon vs. Lord for my Kindle based on reviews from this board. I love courtroom drama books. I am also going to read The Cartel, as suggested from this thread.

 

Some books I would like to suggest:

 

Stupid & Contagious, Caprice Crane - This was a cute and funny book. Some laugh out loud moments.

 

But Enough about Me, Jancee Dunn - funny memoir/biography, Jancee grew up in the 80s and was obsessed with music. She gets a job with Rolling Stone magazine and starts meeting and interviewing rock idols. Some very funny moments in this book.

 

The books by Janet Evanovich - as mentioned in several other posts, very funny!

 

A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseni

The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseni

 

Pillars of The Earth, Ken Follet - Excellent book, over 1000 pages though but a great read.

 

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Lisa See - set in 19th century China, an excellent book.

 

Push Not the River, James Conroyd Martin - 18th century Poland, historical romance based on a true story.

 

The Other Boleyn Girl - Phillipa Gregory

The Red Tent, Anita Diament

 

Pope Joan, Donna Cross

 

Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen - I really liked this book but my daughter just couldn't get into it. Some books are like that. I had trouble with The Time Traveler's Wife which so many people just loved. I may try to read it again someday.

 

All Michael Connelly's books. I have read them all.

 

That is enough for now! I love to read and enjoy seeing what other people suggest! Happy cruising!

Barb

Barb, I have gotten some good suggestions here also. I loved Solomon vs Lord and have a few of the next books in the series in my TBR box. I love my Kindle so it's hard getting to the "real" books ;) If you liked Lisa See, her Shanghai Girls was really good. I also can't help but recommend The Help.

On our last cruise I read Jimmy Buffet's book "A Salty Piece of Land". Great read on a Caribbean cruise, we were doing eastern caribbean on the Crown Princess, although most of the locale was western carribean.

If you liked that, try reading "A Priate Looks at 50" by Buffett. :) Sort of an autobiography - though he needs to update it now ;)

Hi SFParrtHd : guess what - I was nosey and I went into one of my friends postings to find out when her next cruise is cuz she told me twice and I forgot and I didn't want to ask again - and I notice that YOU YOU YOU are on THEIR THEIR THEIR cruise -- MII, TRadogna, Morriscat... cuz I found you on their roll call!!! small cruise world I always say!

 

I have met Marilyn & Teresa and are on the same thread -- nice folks!

 

Now I don't have to ask Teresa again cuz I found out it's in a week--- Corkey

Oh, that is too funny! We have been on several cruises with Marilyn & Pat and she has really been so nice to us. Bob had knee surgery and she called at least once a week to check up on us. Have not met Teresa or Karen yet, but looking forward to it. It is a small world!

Thank You - I did look it up and found out the font can be larger, just didn't know the size. The Kindle sounds great!

I am definitely interested only to keep down the piles of books I now have -

Hey Neighbor, visit us on the CA thread - you are most than welcome - all CA cruisers are always welcome!! Corkey

Thanks Corkey :)

How is the print? I have a retina problem and have to read the Big Print books -

thanx for telling us about the Kindle- sounds good... Corkey Carol

Hi Neighbor ;) The nice thing about the Kindle is you can adjust the font size. So, if I don't have my reading glasses, I can make the font larger and still read. I am guessing that the largest font is a bit larger than the font I am using here. I think if you go to Amazon and look at the Kindle, they should have the font sizes on there. The $$ has come down too.

Because of the recommendations on this thread I purchased skinny dip by Carl Hiaasen. Loved it light, funny, keeps you interested. So thanks.

That is one of my all-time favorite books :)

I am reading The Winter Rose, the 2nd in the Tea Rose series. They are big books, so maybe not good for a cruise - I have them on my Kindle. Very good, I loved the Tea Rose.

Finished Solomon vs Lord and really enjoyed it. First in the series. It was recommended on this thread, so thank you ;)

Now reading Criuse Confidential - entertaining and a fast read so far.

For those of you that have the Kindle or Sony E-reader....how do you like them? I am trying to talk Mr. Ski in to getting one. I have to take 8 books for him on a 7 night cruise and 16 books for him on a 14 night cruise. This is a lot of weight in our luggage. Therefore I thought the "gadget" would be good. However he says "I like to flip the pages". Please tell me the pros and cons (your likes and dislikes) of whatever gadget you have (compared to actually "holding" a "book").

 

Thanks!

Ski - I LOVE my Kindle too. Like Mr. Ski, I took alot of books on cruises/vacations. I always tried to figure out "which books to take?. DH got me a Kindle for my birthday in June. To be honest, I didn't think I would like it. There is just something wonderful holding the book and turning the pages. It took me about 10 pages into my 1st book to get used to it and now I am hooked. I read faster, retain more (tough as you get older) and there is no glare what so ever. I do miss the pretty covers as the Kindle is only black and white. I download some papers for DH and he likes it to - in fact he read & finished "Cruise Confidential" on the Kindle and he is not a reader.

I can read books that have just been released and pay only $9.99and have read some books I may have not gotten. I still have a huge supply of paperbacks, so I go back and forth. Best part is they have come down in price.

sorry, double post

The Cartel by Ashley JaQuavis. It is the best book I've ever read.

Thanks for the suggestion, it got great reviews on Amazon and I have put it on my "to read" list :)

I finished The Tea Rose and loved it. It's a rather big book for a cruise though.

I am currently reading Jamaica Me Dead by Bob Morris, the 2nd in the Zack Chasteen series. I am pretty sure that it was recommended here and I am loving this series, so thanks to who recommended it.:)

Has anyone read Timetraveler's Wife? I'm waiting to buy it a little closer to our cruise. If I buy it now I'll read it before then!:) ( It's not a Kindle booke yet.. not that I have a Kindle yet but I'm hoping:D)

I have not read it, but some people on one of the book threads I am on have and didn't care for it, with 1 not even able to finish it. If you go to Amazon, they should have reviews.

Thanks for all the good recommendations. I am currently reading Shanghai Girls by Lisa See on my Kindle, very good so far.

I love paperbackswap - that's how I get most of my paperbacks.

I am currently reading "The Help". Very good so far.

I like anything by Nicholas Sparks.. easy reads, very captivating. Also Janis Ian my autobiography. (she sang "at seventeen" back in the 70's) I couldn't put that one down.

Was the Janis Ian book just about her or was it the one about the "girl" singers in the 70's?

The gentleman's name was Angelo and his wife was Doreen. They were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary - a gift given to them by their kids. It was their first cruise. They actually lived in Haward, CA.

 

If you tell me that's your dad, I will freak out!!!

Well, not my father, but that is something he would have done!

Canal repositioning cruise maybe? We did the Eastern Caribbean. One of the gentlemen that we ate with was a first generation Italian American and he was speaking Italian to the Maitre D' and anyone else who was Italian. He actually freaked out our first set of waiters - seems they were really bad mouthing the pax and Angelo heard them and said something to them in Italian - their jaws hit the floor and they turned ash white!! :eek: It was priceless! Angelo did say something to the Maitre D' on our way out that night - don't know what they said or if anything happened to those waiters since the 4 of us changed tables the next night.

Oh no, that could have been my father! :eek: We used to enjoy Sitmar and early Princess when they had all of the Italian waiters, such great service.

Fins Up - even though I'm not officially a Parrothead! I just work with them on the 2 Day Walk - great bunch of people, but I don't think I could ever keep up with them and their partying!!

 

Just noticed you were on the old Crown Princess - she was our first cruise way back in 1991! It's her fault we are now balcony snobs!! :)

 

My DH doesn't have a Kindle - he's got the Sony Reader and he loves it! I love that most of the books he gets now are only $1 or $2!! He travels a lot so he gets a lot of use out of it! His parents sure know how to pick a Christmas present!

Fond memories of the Crown - I think that was around the time we sailed also - did the Canal.

SFParrtHd - have you gone on any of the Atlanta Parrothead cruises? I never have, but they do it as a fundraiser for the Atlanta 2 Day Walk for Breast Cancer. The 2009 cruise raised $48,000!!! Talk about partying with a purpose!! The 2010 cruise is sold out, but there is a way to win a balcony cabin on the March 12th sailing on a Carnival vessel (can't remember which one - Miracle I think). Look it up on Facebook - Parrothead Cruise 2010.

 

Sorry - I know way off topic!

No, we have never gone on any of the Parrothead cruises. They sound fun but I don't know if I could handle 7 days with all the festivities! We have gone to almost every concert since 1982 so I get my fill ;) Thanks for the heads up on the Facebook thing, I will check it up. Fins Up :D

Firefly Lane by Kristen Hannah. (for the women. :D). Loved this book! I just didn't want it to end. I looked forward to reading it every night.

 

Also, I just finished Maureen McCormick (Marcia! Marcia! Marcia!) 's autobiography, Here's The Story. A very quick, easy read, but entertaining! It won't take long to read, but if you were at all into the Brady Bunch as a child (or adult!) I'd recommend it. Wow! crazy life!

Loved Firefly Lane - it was recommended on a book thread I am on. I probably would have never read it. Thanks for the info on Here's The Story - I may get that on my Kindle.

The latest Stephanie Plum novel by Janet Evanovich. Read the entire thing in one day! I laughed my a@@ off! Laughed so hard I was crying and almost peed my pants! :eek: Unfortunately, I have to wait another year for the next installment to come out!

 

If you want a quick read and aren't afraid of the looks you'll get when you are laughing out loud - pick it up. You won't be sorry!

Just finished this book and you are right - always fun to spend time with Stephanie and crew.:)

I recently treated myself to the new Kindle. Love it by the way. Can't wait to take it on my cruise.

 

Since I'm counting the days until we sail, I searched for cruise books.

I downloaded samples of The Purser and Permanent Passenger-My Life on a Cruise Ship

 

After I read a sample of each, I ended up buying both.

Either or both would be good to read while on the ship.

Since they are on my kindle, my sister is going to read them while we're on our Hawaii Cruise.

I recently received the Kindle 2 for my birthday and I love it. It will really help cut down on all the books I usually bring.

If you haven't read Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen it's a great read, only a little bit centers on a cruise ship, but still fun.