Huh? January 24, 2008
What’s your favorite book that nobody else has heard of? You know, not Little Women or Huckleberry Finn, not the latest best-seller . . . whether they’ve read them or not, everybody “knows” those books. I’m talking about the best book that, when you tell people that you love it, they go, “Huh? Never heard of it?”
And, folks–Becca was nice enough to nominate Booking Through Thursday for a Blogger’s Choice Award–while you’re here, why don’t you head over and vote for us, too. Because, a vote for BTT is a vote for all of us who play each week!
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Eating Heaven by Jennie Shortridge is a great book club read that few people are aware of. There is much to discuss and, perhaps because the book is not so well known, the author was able to join us at our book club meeting by speaker phone, which was a real treat!
The book I’m reading now doesn’t seem to be too well known either, at least not with my book club or the people I talk to in real life. Maybe in the book blog world it’s better known. Come to think of it, I remember seeing it reviewed somewhere in the blogosphere. The Girls by Lori Lansen is a fictional autobiography about twin girls, Rose and Ruby, born conjoined at the head. They grow up to be distinctly different people with unique voices. It’s a fascinating read.
I passed around a couple other books to people in my book club, and no one had heard of them either: We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver (reviewed HERE) and Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl (reviewed HERE) are books I enjoyed that were not “big” books jumping out at you everywhere. Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner (reviewed HERE) was a memorable commentary on lifelong friendship and marriage.
It’s good to look beyond the splashy displays and the bestseller lists once in a while! What little known gems do you recommend?
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Books on the Brain 
I love books that have lots of food and cooking in it. Not that I need it! Thanks for sharing your titles. Happy BTT!
Wallace Stegner’s Angle of Repose is another book I would highly recommend. I enjoyed it even more than Crossing to Safety. Loved your story about your daughter and the trumpet. Good for you for taking a chance on her! You’ll both get hours of pleasure from listening to her play!
Jaimie, you have to read Garlic and Sapphires if you’re a foodie. The author is the current editor of Gourmet magazine. You’ll love it.
Hi Karen, thanks for the recommendation!
Oh I can’t believe there’s already a book titled “Angle of Repose”. That’s the title I came up with for the ‘novel’ I wrote for NaNoWriMo in November. Now I’ll have to think of something else! I’m crushed!
Lesley, I think Stegner won the Pulitzer for that one, too!
Yeah for The Girls and Garlic & Sapphires. I went to see Ruth Reichl when she was on tour with this.
I have The Girls on my TBR pile, I plan on getting to it soon. I’ve heard great things and it sounds very interesting.
I definitely think We Need to Talk About Kevin is off of the beaten path. And I can’t wait to read Interpreter of Maladies!
I rarely read bestsellers, most of my books are obscure
I absolutely LOVED The Girls… it’s starting to be a bit more talked about now, which I think is great. It was one of those books that reminded me of why I read, because there are books like that out there.
I just realized that it was your blog that I just recently read about it on… ha! Maybe it’s not getting more widely talked about 🙂
Sorry about posting virtually the same comment on two of your posts!
I enjoyed Memoirs from a Women’s Prison. I got some interesting comments when I was reading it; I found it insightful and educational.