I want to turn my wife on to this site.  (she is kind of a book snob) I got her Water for Elephants because of you guys.  If I can come through again, I will have her.  Please don't let me down.  What's next for the wife?

Anything by Jodi Picoult; most recently, 19 Minutes or My Sister's Keeper...

Three Cups of Tea is a non-fiction book by Greg Mortenson, but it reads like fiction.  It was quite a page turner for me.

I would suggest The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns too...

She might also like The Thirteenth Tale...

 Has she read Memoir of a Geisha? It's one of my alltime favorites. So is Middlesex...

Matt what does your wife like to read? 

I thought Water for Elephants was great, but my preference range the spectrum . . . is she looking for true to life or something that has a sweet ending or more along the historical fiction line?

There is a Chick Lit Forum that has a lot of women recommended books.  Under that forum there is also Hen Lit -- chick = 20 something characters; hen = a bit older women charaters

If she likes cop-mysteries I would recommend Donna Leon -- not intense like Kathy Reich -- and there is James Patterson's Women's Murder Club series (1st to Die is the first book)

I thought the Queen's Fool by Phillipa Gregory was great historical fiction.

Give me an idea on her preferences and I could help with more suggestions.

I love PBS and will help get others on line as well :)

Charlene

If she's into nonfiction, The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson.  For fiction, The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields.  I'm something of a reformed book snob myself, PBS cured me of snobbery.

Hope she joins!

Any of Jodi Picoult or Philippa Gregory books.  But I think that The Outlander series is by far the best historical fiction out there to read.  I am on the 5th book and have the 6th waiting in the wings.

I thought Snowflower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See was a superb read.

If she's interested in elephants or the circus, try Modoc.  I liked that even better than Water for Elephants.

I haven't read it yet, but I've heard that Losing Julia by Jonathon Hull has the same theme as WFE, and it's also very good.  A geriatric patient remembers his 18 yr old youth, WWI, and a love affair with his best friend's girl.  I enjoy reading similar books back-to-back. Maybe your wife will too.

For book snobs, I recommend The Thirteenth Tale and Shadow of the Wind.

I think she would love the other two books written by Sara Gruen, Flying Changes and Riding Lessons.     Flying Changes is the sequel to Riding Lessons.   I read these books long before Water For Elephants was written and loved them.      They are wishlisted on here, but the list is not long.

my vote is for Middlesex....love loved it!

So Matt....what book is next? Inquiring minds want to know..hehe

From having read Water for Elephants and a few of the other suggestions here in a book club over the last years, I don't think that if Water for Elephants (WE) was a big hit, that a lot of these would be on ther Hit List.  I have read a lot of them, and particularly Devil in the White City and MiddleSex don't ring true as the book that would be LOVED by the same person who LOVED WE.  In my book club, it seemed that the lines were split and those that LOVED Middle or Devil (who were smaller in number) were not WE fans, and those of us who LOVED WE really didn't get INTO Devil or MiddleSex.  I'd say that those of us who LOVED WE really liked Anita Diamants RED TENT and Jodi Picouult's PLAIN TRUTH.

Not bashing any of the other suggestions, just thinking that if WE was a hit, that the other two are more non ficthon and a little less of a "grabber" than WE.

My two pennies...

I liked Water for Elephants AND Devil in the White City.  I put down Middlesex after about 100 pages and the reviews of The Red Tent don't appeal to me.  However, I liked Plain Truth.  Go figure!

I would second Snow Flower and the Secret Fan.

Vivian, Middlesex does spend a bit of time setting up the characters...I wish you would consider picking it up again sometime. I'mnot sure if the main character (Cal) is even in the picture at 100 pages.