A Girl...

I would recommend anything by Margaret Atwood, she is a Canadian author that most of us Canucks know of but very few Americans have ever heard of. I have a few favourites including the one I just finished called Alias Grace. The Handmaid's Tale is one that more people may have heard of because there was a movie made.
Another favourite author of mine is Anne Marie MacDonald who wrote Fall On Your Knees, it was on Oprah's book club, don't let that deter you. Her most recent book was The Way The Crow Flies.

Ooh, I like Margaret Atwood, which is really saying something considering I pretty much hate everything written after 1950. I read "Cat's Eye" in high school and loved it. Her poetry's not too bad either. Simon currently has my copy of "The Handmaid's Tale" sitting on his bedside table.

"The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd.
"She's Come Undone" by Wally Lamb.
"I Love You Like a Tomato" by Marie Giordano.

Though all savvy, I'd say #3 is the most 'fun'.

How proud am I that I've highjacked Leah's blog for my personal book-reading gain?! Seriously, keep them coming. I'm not a fan of the book that got picked this month for the book club I'm in ("Bitter is the New Black" by Jen Lancaster - goes from clever to whiny and back about five times per page) and I am dying to contribute a worthy book choice.

Glad I could distract you from cable, Leah! It is a wicked, wonderful evil. :)

i reread the handmaids tale when i need a good scare. i love that book. makes me shudder every time. oh, and in grad school, we were told of a paper the prof read about a students theory on the "historians" take and analysis of it. made it even creepier....

Hmm, well, I am delurking , but I have no interesting books to offer since I spend my days chasing my kids around. The last book I read was Alexander and the Terrible ,Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst. It's my daughter's current favorite.

Anyway, hello from New Jersey!

dude, i'm not a lurker...but hello anyway!

I think the donation is a wonderful idea!

I wish I had a recomendation, but since having my daughter last year I have been so behind on books....

Happy De-Lurking week!

Not a lurker either, but howdy. And thanks for helping me clue in that it's de-lurking week :)

Hey there, and a very merry de-lurking week to you all.

Fun and savvy, Missy? Hmm. I'd offer 'The Time Traveler's Wife' by Audrey Niffenegger, but I think it'd be a rare book club that hadn't read that already! (I am covering myself just in case, obviously)

So how about...'Cloud Atlas' by David Mitchell (or 'Ghostwritten' by the same author?

Thanks, Stuart! I will look those both up, and this is only the 2nd month for the book club, so we are open to any "Standard Book Club" read. :) I appreciate it so much!

Hello! I don't think I've posted before. I just finished reading Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels and I really enjoyed it. Michaels is another Canadian author. Oh, also Michael Ondaatje! I read In the Skin of a Lion recently and it's beautiful. Most people know Ondaatje for The English Patient.

Dang! I hate it when I'm busted at lurking! It's like you're watching me!

Book recommendation: I've got two of them - Renato's Secret and Secrets of Sant'Angelo. Both my Jeff Shapiro. Both of them about characters in a Tuscan village. Beautiful!

I am re-reading Fall on Your Knees by Ann Mari McDonald and my heart is pretty much breaking at its beauty. Seriously.

Some of my favorites:

Devil In The White City - Erik Larson

Kavalier and Clay - Michael Chabon

Summerland - Michael Chabon

anything by Bill Bryson, Ruth Reichl, Anthony Bourdain, and John Berendt

Behind the Scenes at the Museum - Kate Atkinson

Case Histories - Kate Atkinson

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Mark Haddon

The most heated and passionate discussion we ever had at my book club was over Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. It's one of my all time favorites.

I think anything by Carol Sheilds would be good for discussion too. Hapenstance especially.

Officially delurked!

I don't think it qualifies as de-lurking if I've just started a new blog, does it??

is $2 per unique comment a better idea?. . .

Hey there, I guess I should get out of the woodwork for the well worthy cause. I stumbled upon your blog a few months ago via Will the boy whom I stumbled across from some other blog etc etc.

I feel kind of stalkerish never having commented before but I usually don't have anything to say that you or one of your many followers haven't said before and in a much more articulate way. But at least now you know you have a fan in Iceland.

Ahhh book recommendations, my favorite thing. I definitely second the earlier recommendation for the Time Traveler's Wife. Also, I'd highly recommend the Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory. I just finished it, and I couldn't put it down. Also, I have recently been working my way through Christopher Moore's books. They are a little wacky, but very well written and absolutely hysterical.

I've lurked long enough...and check your blog practically every day. (I may be a closet stalker) As for books i've been going back to the basics. I do recommend House of Mirth by Edith Wharton. I've just started reading an 1896 version of Grandfather's Chair by Nathanial Hawthorne. So far so good...can't go wrong with the classics.

howdy! i would like to just say hello on this special occasion :) you are one of the 4 people i've bookmarked. there a lot of great blogs today and i just dont have time to read them *all*. so you are in my tops, just thought you'd like to know. -stephanie brown

I 3rd The Time Traveler's Wife - I simply love this book!

I'm not really a lurker either but wanted to throw my two cents in and say HELLO! I also had a dream about tea last night and it was soooo good but I don't drink tea so I have no idea what I was drinking in my dream. Weird.

Hi there - I think I may have commented before, but not often, so technically I may be a lurker. So hi! And - if you are into tea, you should probably check out Adagio tea. They carry mostly loose tea but the blood orange herbal is fantastic.

It was the photos, always the photos. Was playing the "follow-that-link" game sometime early last year when I came across your site. I added it to my list of blogs that I check every day (tabbed browsing is the greatest thing since something else really cool was invented)and I've been around ever since.

So there. I am delurked.

From a Canuck just north of Calgary, Alberta

Not really de-lurking, but it's for charity so here goes....

I would recommend anything by Salman Rushdie. Midnight's Children is my favorite novel.

I don't count as delurking.

Hello dammit!

Perdido Street Station - China Miéville

Honeymoon in Purdah: An Iranian Journey by Alison Wearing

Btw, thanks for the help the other day, Leah!

I fanatically love chai, myself, although my attempts to make it at home have been dismal failures, maybe I bought the cheap stuff.

Read Man of My Dreams by Curtis Sittenfeld over Christmas and really enjoyed it.

I've commented once or twice but here's a delurking anyway. The celestial seasonings madagascar vanilla red is v. delicious, and the perfectly pear white tea is decent. Although, I must admit at least 50% of the reason I purchased the pear tea is that the box art features a cat wearing a kimono.

Also, this is for Felicity - if you want to make chai at home that tastes like it does at coffee shops, they typically use either the liquid kind or the powdered kind - see here: http://www.oregonchai.com/products/ (concentrates and mixes). If you want to make it using chai teabags, brew it really strong and then add at least 1/3 milk and honey to taste.

I don't have have any book recommendations of the appropriate genre though, I mostly only read travel writing these days. Sorry!

I am de-lurking. An avid reader, I just finished a 4-6th grade read, A DOG'S LIFE:Autobiography of a Stray by Ann Martin who wrote the Babysitters series,not my usual fare. Am- moving on to Armistead Maupin's THE NIGHT LISTENER. Also,try Celestial Seasonings Red Zinger and Yellow Zinger - pretty straight-forward, but good nonetheless.
Thanks from Alabama,

I'm currently in the middle of 'Cloud Atlas' by David Mitchell and while it's a challenging read, I seem to recommend it to anyone who asks what I'm reading. It's a confusing journey, but startlingly original and beautifully written. Also, for something a bit different, try 'Fun Home' by Alison Bechdel, her drawings are evocative and her writing is honest. It's a different way to approach the memoir.

I clearly don't count as a de-lurker. However, I do have recommendations for you, missy.

THE EMPEROR'S CHILDREN by Claire Messud

Anything by Marjane Satrapi (PERSEPOLIS I, II, EMBROIDERIES, CHICKEN WITH PLUMS)

PERSIAN MIRRORS by Elaine Sciolino

And, my all-time favorite collection of stories by someone so brilliant and lovely and delicious and original (and yes, I had dinner with him once after he spoke in one of my contemporary literature courses in college, but that was after I read his work and had already fallen in love with his mind): FOR THE RELIEF OF UNBEARABLE URGES by Nathan Englander

I don't *think* I've commented before, which is totally lame since you are one of my favorites!

Helloooo. I am a cousin of kicky boots. I am de-lurking from vancouver, canada. You take some excellent photos!!~

I am a serial lurker, but couldn't pass up the opportunity to contribute (or have leah contribute) to charity!

Also I love to read.
The Ruins of California by Martha Sherrill was a book I recently read that has really stuck with me.
If you like Harry Potter try Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke, it is epic, but I promise you will get so drawn into her magical English world.
Since you said you love less recent writings I strongly suggest you check out Philip Roth, If you haven't read Goodbye Columbus go out right now and get it, also the Anatomy Lesson is amazing and American Pastoral is one of those books that after you read it you're sad it is over.

I've been (re-)reading only classics lately, which I'm assuming everyone's read... so if you haven't, enjoy Uncle Tom's Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Also Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen. And a little one called Child of the Jago by Arthur Morrison. Packed full.

Hey! I don't have any book recommendations- being that the only reading I do these days, is with my 1-year old daughter.

Her fave though, is "There's a Possum in the House". It's a cute Aussie children's book.

Love your blog!

I wasn't really lurking. I was just being shy...

Missy,

My recommendations, in order:

1. Atonement by Ian McEwan
2. Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
3. Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
4. Blindness by Jose Saramago
5. Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich

-Simon

Does it count as delurking if I comment all the time? I bet not.

For anyone into sci-fi/speculative fiction, especially people into stuff like genes and evolution, I recommend Darwin's Radio (and Darwin's Children) by Greg Bear. Just re-read those, love them!

Hello!
I recommend anything by Miriam Toews. She is awesome.

De-lurking from Utah!
Sorry Missy, I can't recommend any "book club" type books, but I'm sure you'll have plenty to choose from after everyone gets their favorites posted.

Hi Leah,
I have only commented twice, so this is my de-lurk. Can't remember how I got here but have been reading for ages - since before you met Simon, I think. Your blog is one of my favourites; you have an extraordinary way with words and your photos are stunning.
So ... hello from New South Wales, Australia =)

PS. As far as book suggestions go, Aussie author John Marsden is fantastic, especially the 'Tomorrow' series

this is sans style and grace, and lacking a book recommendation, but i'm saying hello anyway. yours is one of my favorite reads in a day and if you hadn't already, you won me over when you told me you thought i looked amazing post-birth of my baby ;)

loved your baby dangling post, by the way. despite the fact you kept saying you weren't in "the way" i kept hoping it would somehow change by the end of the post!

I'm not made to recommend books. Even though I read a lot. Recommending a book has pressure involved to me. ;]

And I wasn't lurking..I was just being shy.

I'm still lurking up here in Alaska. Here are a couple of good books I've read recently:

PopCo by Scarlett Thomas
The Complete Writings of Emily Carr
On Beauty by Zadie Smith

I'm not sure if I've ever commented before or not... so if not, I'm delurking now! And if I did... well then this is just to say hi. Hi.

Not new here, just saying HI!

Hello. Delurking because you made me. I've not done so before due a killer combination of shyness and laziness. Love your blog though.

As for books, I love Murikami, especially Kafka on the Shore.

I am SO going to be the coolest person at book club on Monday. :)

I don't have a clue if I am a regular alrealy but thank you anyway for helping me to find out that it's de-lurking week :)
Alina ( my real name)

Okay, FINE I will delurk but note that it is merely because of guilt, and charity and not of my own accord :) My name is Jen, I have been reading your blog for years, yes that's right I said years, since 2003 in fact. In the spirit of introducing myself, I have a penchant for over-analysis and am ridiculously good at it which makes for a worrysome personality. I am chronically early everywhere I go, and a morning person to a fault. I really want a puppy, I like psuedo-intellectual hipsters, small children like me which is why I was a pre-k teacher for a bit. I am overly fond of caffeinated beverages, and bubble wrap can entertain me for hours. I loathe control top pantyhose with a profound passion, and I survived all of high school and college without learning the proper usage of commas.

Interestingly enough, you wrote an entry about anonymity and how you could probably find Dooce's house in Salt Lake, and how you were even getting readers from all the way in Japan. Well, umm, that was me. I moved to Japan this year, and returned after six months. I was living in Hiroshima, so if your readership in Japan has ceased or decreased by one, yeah, that would be me.

Anyway, as a recovering English major I can do my best to provide a few titles, but you have probably heard of or read some of these already.

I second "Middlesex" by Eugenides, I just finished it, and really think it's an unprecedented work.

I am a total sucker for Haruki Murakami, I devour it, but if you want to just check him out in small short story doses do "The Elephant Vanishes" or for a novel try "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle."

I am currently reading "My Name Is Red" by Orhan Pamuk because I LOVED his nobel lecture in the winter fiction issue of The New Yorker. I underlined the whole damn thing, you should pick up a copy, I highly recommend it.

Umm, what else can I recommend? I also second the recommendation for "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time." For a fun light read I recommend "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar & Six More" but I didn't discover Roald Dahl until I was an adult, since I was far too busy reading and re-reading Mary Downing Hahn as a child. A few default writers that I pick up fairly regularly are Nabokov, Anais Nin and Vonnegut. I could add many more, but I will resist.

Happy reading in 2007!

De-lurking in the name of charity. I just recently found your blog and enjoy it. Thanks! I'm reading Case Histories right now and loving it. I think it would be a good book club read and it has discussion questions at the end, if you're into that sort of thing.

Maybe this isn't exactly Book Blub material but a book called Molecules of Emotion by Candace Pert kind of changed my life.

I also love Barbara Kingsolver and Caroline Knapp (she wrote some verrrry good non-fiction books about drinking, dogs, and anorexia).

I'm delurking by saying that you introduced me to roller derby - and I see it cropping up everywhere now! Love your blog. :)

cheers!

Holla!

hello...

Just to avoid another heart breaking '404 Page Not Found error'. Hi. Due to being around children most of the time my books recommendations mostly have pictures and bright colours. You should read the Lorax by Dr. Seuss though.

Hi,I am Kickyboots'mom and I am a lurker,I must confess.I found you through my daughter's link.I am from Saskatchewan,Canada,where today it is -28 degrees with a wind chill of -41 degrees Celsius(I am really bad at math so I can't convert that for all you Americans,but let me assure you that it is very,very cold!!)I really enjoy your photos.

lurk lurk lurk

just in case, I de-lurked on not one but three posts
and now i am exhausted and need a nap

i would recommend Calvin Trillin's "About Alice" which is a v. v. brief read made longer due to the need for near-constant wiping of eyes from the sobbing. bud loved him some alice. it is fabulous.

I recommend Bel Canto By Ann Pachett and The Humminbird's Daughter by Luis Alberto Urrea. I don't know if you like sci-fi but Neal Stephenson is hilarious. The first one I read by him ws the The Diamond Age and I feel in love. I have now read all of his books but most people just give me a funny look when I mention him because they have no idea who he is.

ALso, Atonement and Confederacy of Dunces are great books that, I think, would generate very interesting discussions.

I don't know if I count as a lurker. I do, however, read all your posts and only comment on a few, so we'll pretend I am delurking now. :-) I love the charity idea. Seriously.

Did I delurk already? Can't remember.

Anything by W.G. Sebald or Coetzee.

This is my first time to your site, so I guess it's not really lurking, but I'm here!

I third the motion for Middlesex and also recommend:
The Secret History (Donna Tartt)
Shantaram (I forget)
Until I Find You (John Irving)
The Shadow of the Wind (Zafon [I think])
the Kite Runner
Interpreter of Maladies
Moth Smoke
(I kind of have a thing for books about South Asia/South Asians for some reason.)

I also recommend Lady Grey tea, in case you were wondering. Perfect for your deciphering of flavors.

I lurk all the time. But I have de-lurked on several occassions before. I tell you everytime I do that I love your blog, writing, and photography, so I won't this time.
My favourite books tend to be sci-fi or fantasy so I'm going to recommend anything by Sheri S. Tepper. Everytime I pick up one of her books I'm awed anew by her insight into the human condition, the intelligence and relevance with which she writes, and her great surprise twists.

My MOM commented! Weird.

Lots of Tazo Sweet Orange here... I can send you, if you get desperate.

And I'd recommend anything by Flannery O'Connor, Dorothy Parker, or David Sedaris. Always.

I guess I am late to the delurking party.