AlexandriaLibraryVA discussion

A patron came in looking for a suggestion for a book she could not put down. Her last book that fell into that category was Gone With the Wind. This led us to a discussion of the books we couldn't put down. For me it was Pride and Prejudice which I read so many times my copy fell apart.

What books could you not put down?

I couldn't put down Kate Atkinson's Life After Life.

I couldn't put down Ruth Rendell's DARK CORNERS, pub'd posthumously.

Start reading Pat Conroy's memoir "The Death of Santini" and you won't be able to put it down. And once you've finished reading, you may be counting your lucky stars for the sanity of your own parents who have raised you.

And if you have any interest in the evolving friendship of two girls living in Naples, Italy as they fight to survive in their gritty neighborhood, then try Elena Ferrante's Neopolitan Novels starting with "My Brilliant Friend." You won't be able to put it down until you get to the end of the tetralogy, and I have heard this same refrain over and over from other readers. Yes, there are four novels in total, but you will be wishing that there were more in the series after you're done.

Geek that I am, I adored "Ready Player One" by Ernest Cline. I borrowed it from the library, finished it in a day, then immediately went out to buy my own copy. I've since read the book and listened to the audiobook a few times. Can't wait for the movie now!

The movie will be out in 2018. Spielberg is producing.