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Although a great deal of the books you see in the bookstore are fiction, novels weren't always as prevalent as they are now. Thomas Jefferson didn't approve of novels -- especially as reading material for young ladies -- and he wasn't the only one. For a long time, virtually all novels had a moral message. Read more about How Much of What You Read is Fiction?
If you think the title and the cover of Hunt at the Well of Eternity hearkens back to a somewhat antiquated genre, you're right. This book is the first in a series of six, intended to bring back the pulp adventure genre.
Just like the old pulp adventure novels, the book is a fun, quick read. It has a rich hero, sexy women, car chases, and a scholarly aspect. Think James Bond meets Indiana Jones and you've about got it. Read more about Pulp Adventure's Reappearance
Even though it was assigned several times as optional reading in my high school, I never chose to read Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God until recently. The book has been quite controversial since its publication in 1937. Some say that Hurston’s use of dialect—the African American and Caribbean characters in the book use “dat’s” and “tuh’s” and “Ah’s”—makes it more of a way for white people to get a laugh, rather than a serious piece of literature. Whether you love or hate it, Their Eyes Were Watching God is certainly part of the African American literary canon and has influenced generations of writers. Read more about Zora Neale Hurston's "Their Eyes Were Watching God"
D.H. Lawrence certainly wrote some of the greatest English novels of the last one-hundred years. Originally published in 1913, his novel, Sons & Lovers, was considered his first masterpiece. The semi-autobiographical novel tells the story of Paul Morel and his mother, Gertrude, and is an examination of working class life, artistic ambition, and the lasting hold a maternal relationship can have on a child. Read more about Sons and Lovers
I've been a fan of vampire fiction since I first discovered Anne Rice in high school. Since then, I've read vampire fiction of all kinds. I've devoured vampire romance (which was... interesting, to say the least), and enjoyed the YA dark fantasy that has been flooding the teen section of my local bookstore since Twilight first found fame.
I like most of what I read, but it's all different. From the angst of Twilight to the monsters of 13 Bullets, the epic storytelling of The Passage to the quirkiness of the Sookie Stackhouse books, every author has a different idea of how vampire fiction ought to be. Read more about Seduced by Vampire Fiction
A year and a half ago, I discovered Charlaine Harris.
It started with True Blood, of course. Hubby convinced me to try watching it with him, and we got hooked. After tearing through season 1, and later season 2, thanks to Netflix, I decided to give the books a try.
I loved them -- even more than the show, though I initially didn't think that would be possible. At the time there were only 10 books out, and I read all 10 even faster than we'd finished the available TV episodes. I think it took me a week and a half to read all 10 books.
As much as I loved the Sookie Stackhouse series, I had been meaning to try Charlaine Harris's other series. A couple of weeks ago I noticed my library had added the first book of one of her newer series, Grave Sight, to their ebook catalog, and I decided to finally give it a try. Read more about More from a Favorite Author
As an avid reader, I usually have a pretty long list of books I want to read. When I was a teen, I had a bookshelf dedicated to my "to be read" books: I would shelf my library books and the books I bought, and as I finished reading each book, I would wander over to the shelf to pick out my next read.
Unfortunately, as I have added years to my age, I've also added books to my reading list -- a LOT of books. Read more about How Do You Manage Your Reading List?
Pirates infest the E-book waters. One wonders why.
Read more about Piracy Hitting the Ebook World Hard 
I recently went through my list of all the books I read during the course of 2011 (believe me, it's a long list!) and picked out my favorites.
Although The Passage actually came out in 2010, I believe, I only read it early in 2011. Hubby and I both read it about the same time, and both of us really loved it. It's a beautifully crafted novel that spans a lengthy period of time, establishing the science behind how vampires were created, and the post-apocalyptic world they create in the United States. Through it all, the unchanging, almost other-worldly character of Amy is a constant.
This may actually be one of my favorite books of all time. Delirium is about a futuristic world sort of like Lois Lowry's The Giver, where society is tightly controlled and emotions are repressed as a danger to that control. In Delirium's world, though, surgery is done on people at age 18 to prevent them from loving, and since love is the basis of most other emotions, people simply no longer feel. Outwardly a perfect society, throughout the course of the novel the negative effects on the society start to become evident. Ultimately, it is about love's triumph over human efforts to control it, but the story isn't over yet -- it's the first book of a trilogy, with the second book due out early in 2012! I can't wait for the next book, Pandemonium!
Sarah's Key by Tatiana Read more about Favorite Books of 2011
Most reviews of Zone One: A Novel start out talking about Colson Whitehead, the insanely talented author and cult hero of the literary scene. Much has been made of "this LITERARY author wrote a ZOMBIE novel." Oh my, the very thought! It's titillating, is it not? The idea of a Harvard grad and MacArthur Fellow, slumming it with a zombie novel?