I posted this on Book Bazaar, but realized it really belongs here;

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We all have that one book we would recommend and are a little surprised when no one orders it.  Here is the place to PIMP a book you really loved and think your fellow readers would like as well.  When I have run this topic in the distant past, I was lucky enough to score a couple of real winners,so I thought I'd try it again because I know there's someone out there who would love to have thisbook.

This time around it's The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd.

I loved this book, and (since her The Secret Lives of Bees is still being requested regularly), I'm surprised no one has picked up on this beautifully written novel of emotions and eroticism.  From the jacket:

"What inspires the yearning for a soul mate? Few writers have explored, as Kidd does, the lush, unknown region of the feminine soul where the thin line between the spiritual and the erotic exists. The Mermaid Chair is a vividly imagined novel about the passions of the spirit and the ecstasies of the body; one that illuminates a woman's self-awakening with the brilliance and power that only a writer of Kidd's ability could conjure."

What have YOU got thet *I* (or others) might enjoy.  I'm looking for a can't-put-it-down mystery/thriller (not a cozy, something along the lines of The Red Scream by Mary Willis Walker -- a book that kept me up all night, that I didn't want to end yet coudn't wait for it to end because it scared the hell out of me).  It will NEVER go on my shelf, I actually re-read it.

Raft :: Alan Mills
ISBN-13: 9780732280451 - ISBN-10: 0732280451

Fire and Ice :: Paul Garrison
ISBN-13: 9780380794362 - ISBN-10: 0380794365

Fire and Ice is the sequel to Shipkiller by Justin Scott, which I have as an unpostable.

That Camden Summer by LaVyrle Spencer. November of the Heart was my favorite of hers for a long time until I read this one. Now I'm struggling to choose my favorite, they are tied!

Midnight Voices by John Saul. I love how his books seem paranormal, but then sometimes, he'll surprise you and it turns out not to be at all! This book had me guessing til the very end.

Both are on my shelf :)

All of these are wonderful books, especially for fantasy lovers in their teens. I really can't understand why no one is jumping at them!

Child of the Dark Prophecy (Great Tree of Avalon, Bk 1)

new and exciting storyline, wonderful and hilarious characters.

The Gypsy Game

sequal to The Egypt Game, wonderfly different from the first book.

Song of the Unicorns (Avalon)

interesting mix of technology and fantasy for kids.

Wolf's Head, Wolf's Heart (Wolf)

A great read for any age

I guess mine would be Guide For the Perplexed by Jonathan Levi.  It's a really interesting novel about the Expulsion of the Jews from Spain and story telling.  It has both historical and modern aspects. A really worthwhile read.

The Amphora Project by William Kotzwinkle -- delightful mix of scifi & fantasy that succeeds on both sides. He's the author of one of the best books I've ever read -- Fata Morgana

And for good measure: two by Stanislaw Lem: The Investigation and Memoirs Found in a Bathtub. The former is philosophical science fiction and typifies Lem's overarching thesis; the latter is atypical and flat-out hilarious: Catch-22 meets Brazil.

The Ginger Tree :: Oswald Wynd
ISBN-13: 9780060973322 - ISBN-10: 0060973323

This is one of those great books, written a long time ago and still very current in the issues it embraces.   European lady is unfullfilled in her marriage and has an affair with a Japanese man.  She and the resulting child are ostracized by both communities.  The novel is written by a man with the ability to portray the emotion of a woman main character. 

You're Not You :: Michelle Wildgen
ISBN-13: 9780312352295 - ISBN-10: 0312352298

This is the story of a young woman who takes the job of caring for a woman with ALS.  Very well written.  Good novel.  Good characterizations.

C'mon, everyone's pimpin'!

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