For any of you Richard Powers fans, I recommend THE ECHO MAKER. I found it to be cerebral, dense, laminar, engrossing – all his typical elements which make for a great read.
The Godfather. An offer you can’t refuse.
epistrophy - I have often found the more unsettled and/or disturbed by a book or film, that it has actually made more of an impact on me. I would agree with the last statement you made “I have the distinct feeling that this is a book that will stay with me long after I have finished it.” - I’ve yet to read the book, but the film (I thought) was well done, not perfect, but well done. Several books (and films) that I’ve seen made more of an impact than I realized until I began talking about them. I will read Revolutionary Road.
justa mom- I did read all of Lisa See’s acknowledgments and was very impressed at how well researched this book was. The book received a not so great review in the Wash. Post a few days ago which I don’t understand. Great piece of historical fiction.
My Stroke of Insight, by Jill Bolte
Former neuroanatomy researcher at Harvard, who had a stroke at age 37. Very good read.
The CC book thread must have a huge following. I sat down at the computer today with a list of about 25 titles I’d pulled from this thread. Although my library branch stocks all of them, every single title was checked out. Some had 60 or 70 holds (system-wide) on 6 or 7 copies. Dang!
46,327 views–that’s a lot of competition!
[Summer</a> Books and Summer Reading 2009 : NPR](<a href=“http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104067703]Summer”>http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104067703)
I just finished Cormac McCarthy’s Border Trilogy. I am seriously blown away by McCarthy’s work. Though I haven’t read it, I have seen nothing but raves about a book called The Book Thief.
^wharfrat2, I read The Book Thief. It’s excellent–very moving, but very dark.
Just finished two really good ones: "The Art of Racing In The Rain, by Garth Stein (esp good if you are a dog lover) and “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. Couldn’t put it down. Love this thread- thanks so much!
KandKsmom, Did you see last month’s thread discussing The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society?
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/722812-cc-june-summer-book-club-selection.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/722812-cc-june-summer-book-club-selection.html</a>
Hi Mary, No, but thanks for “sending” me over to it…I am an “on again, off again- sometimes days or weeks or months” CC follower! 
Serves me right in that I missed out on some of the best dialogue about Guernsey. I immediately thought Emma Thompson for Juliet, maybe Hugh Grant for Markham Reynolds and Colin Firth (pitter patter goes my heart) for Dawsey.
Mary- change that- not Hugh (unless he goes with an American accent)- George Clooney instead
^ If I were Juliet, choosing between Colin Firth and George Clooney would be tough! 
Dreamers of the Day is the subject of the July book discussion. Join us if you’ve read it (or even if you haven’t!)
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/739173-dreamers-day-july-cc-summer-book-selection.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/739173-dreamers-day-july-cc-summer-book-selection.html</a>
Lost on Planet China: One Man’s Attempt to Understand the World’s Most Mystifying Nation
by J. Maarten Troost , a quick but enjoyable travel narrative
The Art of War by Sun Tzu- classic and essential for anyone dealing with competition
I tend not to read heavy work as my own work entails a lot of intensity (I am a nurse manager on a dementia unit in long term care where rarely does one of my residents ever leave)…so perhaps my choices aren’t quite so literary but they were good - Jantzens’ Gift by Pam Cope and then Sunday afternoon I read Cokie Roberts’ updated edition of “We are Our Mothers’ Daughters” which was not what I expected and was very good. I am finally getting into The Kite Runner, a bit late but oh, well. Catching up.
“Still Alice” by Lisa Genova, PhD - a fictional, but entirely accurate account of one woman’s decline in the face of Alzheimers’ Disease … brilliantly written and a poignant and eloquent read. I couldn’t put it down.
S2 and I have been reading Winston Churchill’s My Early Life. I’d picked up a second hand edition a million years ago having seen the movie Young Winston years ago, but never got around to reading it. Since he had to read a European memoir this summer for AP Euro I suggested it. My son was hooked before the first chapter was over since it begins with his complaining about learning Latin. The style is delightful, Churchill makes a point of trying to recreate his point of view of the time. He’s a man of his times and of course sometimes that’s a bit distressing, but it’s a fascinating look at the life of a young army officer with connections in the early 20th century. Interestingly the book was written in 1930, so much of his “hindsight” is totally off. (He assumes that the War to end all Wars really did, for example.)