"You May Have Missed" Mondays

As I said on Saturday in this post, I'd like for us to share with one another books that others may have missed that we have found to be quite good and worthy of recommendation. I will post about a few, then give you a chance to share thoughts or links to reviews for books you have read. (Please limit your book selections to those that have been published prior to 2009.)

One that comes immediately to mind for me is The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. This book is one that stays with you long after you have read it. It is a haunting book, yet one that draws the reader in and keeps you enthralled as the story progresses. I was talking about this book months after I read it, and when anyone asked for a recommendation of something to read, this one was the first one I would mention. It was that good.

Mr. Hosseini also wrote A Thousand Splendid Suns, which is also a good read. I'm hoping for more from this author. 

Although I'm not sure I liked the Kite Runner movie quite as much as the book, I would encourage anyone to see it as well (after you have read the book, of course!).

A few years ago, a friend told me about a certain author whom I've never heard of before. She knew I would like his books since I like suspense. She was right. I became immediately hooked.

His name is Harlan Coben, and I think that my favorite of his books so far has been one called Tell No One. Here is a summary from bookbrowse.com:

For Dr. David Beck, the loss was shattering. And every day for the past eight years, he has relived the horror of what happened. The gleaming lake. The pale moonlight. The piercing screams. The night his wife was taken. The last night he saw her alive.

Everyone tells him it's time to move on, to forget the past once and for all. But for David Beck, there can be no closure. A message has appeared on his computer, a phrase only he and his dead wife know. Suddenly Beck is taunted with the impossible -- that somewhere, somehow, Elizabeth is alive.

Beck has been warned to tell no one. And he doesn't. Instead, he runs from the people he trusts the most, plunging headlong into a search for the shadowy figure whose messages hold out a desperate hope.

But already Beck is being hunted down. He's headed straight into the heart of a dark and deadly secret -- and someone intends to stop him before he gets there.

You may recall this review I wrote on his latest book, Caught. Also, this post contains other reviews on Caught.  

There has also been a movie based on Tell No One. It was good, but they put too much harsh language in it to be totally enjoyable.

I have just begun reading the book The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott by Kelly O'Connor McNees. It reminds me of Alcott's book, Little Women. I have loved that book for many years now. I remember several times in my family when someone would quote the first two lines of the book (usually during a discussion of what we were going to do for Christmas, or maybe when we would be talking about how "poor" we were.):

"'Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents,' grumbled Jo, lying on the rug.

'It's so dreadful to be poor,' sighed Meg, looking down at her old dress."  

We did that a lot in our family, quoting from books or movies according to our present situation. I think that's one reason my children think I and my mother and sister are so strange. Oh, well. No matter. We still do it, and I believe my children actually enjoy it.

More great memories are also tied to the movie made from Little Women. However, if you decide to try it, I recommend the older version with June Allyson, Peter Lawford, Margaret O'Brien, and Elizabeth Taylor. Much better than the Susan Sarandon and Winona Ryder version, in my opinion.

Now it's your turn. Tell us about one (or more) of your favorite books published before 2009. I want to know what I "may have missed." Leave your recommendations in the comment section.

(Remember, you can click on the book title or the book image to read more about the book on Amazon. If you purchase a book after clicking on any of these links, I wil receive a small portion of the purchase price as an Amazon Associate.)