Looking for A Book(Novel)?

The walls of our house are lined with books. Together, Bethany and I probably have something in the neighbourhood of fifteen hundred or so, give or take. And yet, on any given day, I'll walk by the shelves, including the one that we use to hold current library books, and complain about not having anything to read. Sound familiar? 

So what I thought I do is ask you, the blessed and brilliant people who read this blog (see what I did there) for your help. I thought we could help one another find a few surprises this summer. (nothing better than being pleasantly surprised by an awesome novel) This is your chance to promote an authour or novel that you love, or perhaps one more people should know about. And for my fellow independent writer friends, this is a chance to shamelessly promote your own work. Do it!

Two Kinds of Novels

The publishing industry breaks down novels in different categories, but we usually refer to two. Literary books are perceived to be elite, with prose as important a factor as story. Genre books, your thrillers and romances and detective novels, are more interested in story, and the quality of the writing is usually considered to be less than one you find in a literary novel. 

Yeah, well, I hate those categories. They're boring and elitist, so I break novels down this way. 

You have the one written as a KNOCKOUT punch, the one that will change how you perceive the world altogether, the one you'll remember where you were when you read it. You'll never read it again, because it has done its job. 

And then there are your VACATION SPOTS, the novels you visit over and over, the ones that give you safe place to go when your life starts to go off the rails or you're just having a bad day. (This can be a series, too, or a particular author) Some books can cross between the two, The Catcher and The Rye comes to mind, but that seems to be relegated to children's literature. (Go ahead, prove me wrong in the comments!)

Here's my request: list three of your favourite Knockout Books, three of your favourite Vacation Spots, and three Other Favourites. (For my independent friends, this is where you pump your own material. Don't be shy!) Obviously, this is not a whole list, I’ve read numerous Knockout Books in my life, these are just the ones that came to mind.

I'll list mine, and just throw yours in the comments section. Happy hunting, fellow readers!

My Knockout Books      

                 

1.    Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald

2.    I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb

3.    The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

My Vacation Spots

1.    Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time Series (I have gone vacationing there a lot over the years. Especially the first one in the series.)

2.    Robert B. Parker’s detective novels, including Spencer and Jesse Stone (I have such an affinity for Parker’s series, that I still go to them quite a bit. Love all his characters.)

3.    Mike Lupica’s sports novels (If you haven’t read these, they’re all quite entertaining. A hilarious look at the bawdy side of professional sports.)

Other Favourites

1.    Second Blood by Stephen Burns (Coming in September, see shameless self-promotion

2.    A Boy in A Leafs Camp by Scott Young (Written in 1968, a kids sports book that I still love)

3.    Ninja by Eric Van Lustbader (Written in 1980, a very cool (and thick) novel about a man, half-Japanese and half-Caucasian, who trains to be a ninja. Fun.)