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Topic: Good Drama, or Scandal book?

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Subject: Good Drama, or Scandal book?
Date Posted: 10/9/2008 9:29 AM ET
Member Since: 7/21/2007
Posts: 443
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Recently my tastes have changed in the type of books I like to read,

I have found that I really Liked Jodi Picoult's "The Pact" and "My Sisters Keeper", Also liked" Pieces of My Sister's Life" by Elizabeth Joy Arnold

so I was wondering if anyone had any good recommendations for books that contained family drama or family secrets or just a good book not thriller, that keeps you guess until the end or makes you really think.....

thank you for your help!

 

 



Last Edited on: 10/9/08 11:45 AM ET - Total times edited: 2
Date Posted: 10/9/2008 11:33 AM ET
Member Since: 7/23/2006
Posts: 4,813
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Try these:

  • No Time for Goodbye by Linwood Barclay
  • Bull's Island by Dorothea Benton Frank
  • family Tree by Barbara Delinsky
  • Isle of Palms by Dorothea Benton Frank
  • Baker Towers by Jennifer Haigh
Date Posted: 10/9/2008 11:46 AM ET
Member Since: 7/29/2006
Posts: 1,366
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If you like Jodi Picoult books, look at the books by Elizabeth Berg, Chris Bohjalian, Jacquelyn Mitchard and Anita Shreve,  I'm sure you will find something that you would enjoy reading.  Their books are not "thrillers," but they all have drama and some kind of mystery or secret in their stories.



Last Edited on: 10/9/08 11:52 AM ET - Total times edited: 1
Date Posted: 10/9/2008 11:59 AM ET
Member Since: 5/22/2005
Posts: 1,592
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The Third Angel by Alice Hoffman

Riven Rock by T.C. Boyle

Body Surfing by Anita Shreve

Why She Left Us by Rahna Reiko Rizzuto

And She Was by Cindy Dyson

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

TheBlind Assassin by Margaret Atwood

The Worst Thing I've Done by Ursula Hegi

The Traveler by Ron McLarty

The Rice Mother by Rani Manika

Whistling in The Dark by Lesley Kaagen

The Water's Lovely by Ruth Rendell

The Ha-Ha by Dave King

Snow Angels by Stewart O'Nan



Last Edited on: 10/9/08 2:03 PM ET - Total times edited: 1
Date Posted: 10/9/2008 12:10 PM ET
Member Since: 7/21/2007
Posts: 443
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thank you all so much!

i really appreciate you taking the time to reply

 



Last Edited on: 10/9/08 12:10 PM ET - Total times edited: 1
Date Posted: 10/9/2008 12:12 PM ET
Member Since: 9/16/2005
Posts: 463
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Try "Windchill Summer" by Norris Church Mailer-I recommend this book whenever I can.  I just loved it. 

Girl coming of age in the late '60s, first love, small town secrets, murder mystery (not a whodunit type thing though-just a part of this story), racial and Viet Nam War issues, some adventure (when you find out who the murderer is near the end, all ties in), the main character has family issues (Mom is/was ill, she has to deal with it). 

Check it out!
Date Posted: 10/9/2008 12:13 PM ET
Member Since: 1/15/2008
Posts: 1,748
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I don't know if this is what you are looking for but one of my fave books that got me back into reading is The Long Road Home by Danielle Steel. I don't think it's her typical story. I've always been a super slow reader and that book only took me 3 days to finish (when it would normally take me a month or two) cause I just couldn't put it down!!! Even if you aren't a Danielle Steel fan you might want to give this one a try.

Another really good book (again, not sure if this is what you're looking for) is Through Violet Eyes by Stephen Woodworth.
Date Posted: 10/9/2008 8:28 PM ET
Member Since: 7/21/2007
Posts: 443
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bump
Date Posted: 10/10/2008 11:47 AM ET
Member Since: 7/21/2007
Posts: 443
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bump
Date Posted: 10/10/2008 1:28 PM ET
Member Since: 7/14/2008
Posts: 31
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I liked Snapshots by William Norris
Date Posted: 10/11/2008 6:05 PM ET
Member Since: 7/21/2007
Posts: 443
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thank you to all! i have some great ones added to my list!



Last Edited on: 10/11/08 6:06 PM ET - Total times edited: 1
Date Posted: 10/11/2008 7:03 PM ET
Member Since: 10/14/2005
Posts: 142
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Try Jodi Picoult's Keeping Faith.

 
Date Posted: 10/15/2008 6:08 PM ET
Member Since: 10/13/2008
Posts: 34
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I read the book called "Damaged" by Cathy Glass and it was a dozzer!  It's about a child put in foster care. It really is quite a story.
Date Posted: 10/30/2008 8:52 AM ET
Member Since: 7/21/2007
Posts: 443
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i just requested Damaged, thanks to all the suggestions!
Date Posted: 10/30/2008 10:34 AM ET
Member Since: 5/23/2005
Posts: 5,156
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Something that came instantly to mind, so I take that as a good sign, was Sue Miller's Family Pictures.  I read it a couple of times years ago, and you know, I still remember things about it.  Sometimes I can't remember a thing about something I read a week ago.  A movie was even made of it way back with Angelica Houston and Kyra Sedgewick.

I just can't say enough about William Goldman's Boys and Girls Together.  A book I first read in my teens back in the 60's.  And read again and again for 20 years until the pages just fell apart.  I recently got a reissue of it in trade paperback through here, and immediately, I was pulled right back into the story of those people.  A gripping novel.
Date Posted: 10/30/2008 12:46 PM ET
Member Since: 10/27/2007
Posts: 2,283
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Paula,

Read Family History by Dani Shapiro or Perfect Match by Jodi Picoult. or Cage of Stars by Jacqueline Mitchard.    (One more is All The Numbers but for the life of me I cannot remember the author).  I love the types of family drama and these are ones I particularly enjoy. 

This is a good post because I now have ideas for more books to post on my wish list. 
Date Posted: 10/30/2008 2:31 PM ET
Member Since: 7/21/2007
Posts: 443
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thank you Wendy for more good Suggestions, I have read Perfect Match and also just finished All the NUmbers(fantastic book)....im glad i came up with this forum topic, like you i have found lots of books to add to my lists! ( not that i need more)! haha
Date Posted: 11/6/2008 7:15 AM ET
Member Since: 7/21/2007
Posts: 443
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thank you for all the good reads, taht i have added to my already large TBR file.....keep em coming!
Matt C. (mattc) - ,
Date Posted: 11/6/2008 3:37 PM ET
Member Since: 8/13/2008
Posts: 3,849
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Have you read anything by Dominick Dunne?  His books often are fictitious tellings of real crimes, but he focuses on high society and scandal quite a bit, especially in People Like Us and The Two Mrs. Grenvilles.
Date Posted: 11/6/2008 4:09 PM ET
Member Since: 10/7/2008
Posts: 158
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I love Pat Conroy and Wally Lamb.  They both write really engrossing and captivating novels.  Conroy wrote Beach Music and The Prince of Tides and Lamb wrote She's Come Undone and This Much I Know Is True (I think, I always mess up that title).  Four of my favs.

ETA:  This is my 100th post!



Last Edited on: 11/6/08 4:09 PM ET - Total times edited: 1
Date Posted: 11/6/2008 4:23 PM ET
Member Since: 6/21/2008
Posts: 6,522
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I would like to add:

The Breakdown Lane by Jacquelyn Mitchard - great story told in the voices of a woman whose husband puts the family through a mid-life crisis and her teenage son whose own stuggles with teenage angst and dyslexia must take a backseat to the parents struggles.

The Kindness of Strangers by Katrina Kittle - a very moving story about a widowed doctor's wife, her two sons and the unbelievable revelation of her best  friend's most shocking secrets.

I Know this Much is True by Wally Lamb - Story of a family overcoming generational dysfunction.  Told by a man whose twin brother is mentally ill and whose marriage has failed.  big book, but don't be put off by that because the story moves very quickly along.

Halfway House by Katharine Noel - Another story of a family struggling with the mental illness of a teenage daughter.  The father, mother and brother of the young woman all deal with the effects of her illness differently. 

Range of Motion by Elizabeth Berg - a woman and her children wait for their Husband/father to wake from a coma.  Beautiful story of perseverence.

 

 

 
Date Posted: 11/6/2008 5:00 PM ET
Member Since: 6/21/2008
Posts: 6,522
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I forgot to mention:

Lizzie's War by Tim Farrington - As my review here on PBS says, this book tell's the 'other side' of the Vietnam War experience.  It is the story of the women and children here at home while their men are off to war.

Dalva, and its sequel, The Road Home by Jim Harrison - Two of my favorite books.  About the eccentric family who helped settle the Black Hills in the 1800's to the present.  The very best of Jim Harrison, IMHO.   Hard to believe when a male author writes women characters so well.

 
Date Posted: 11/6/2008 6:04 PM ET
Member Since: 1/4/2006
Posts: 1,463
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We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver.
Date Posted: 11/6/2008 6:19 PM ET
Member Since: 10/4/2008
Posts: 2
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Some books with family stories and interactions that I enjoyed are Debbie Macomber's Blossom Street series, and her Cedar Cove series.  Enjoy

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