Weirdest Places Ever Slept - Part 2

We've traveled for both personal and business reasons, profit and nonprofit. I'd say the majority more in the nonprofit lifestyle!

Haunted is easy, right? TV shows and spooks everywhere. We always joke about if Europe had those haunted Ghost shows they'd just walk down any random street with a camera and say ooo, I feel a cold spot since there've been people living, killing and dying in these towns for a long time.

In Hannibal, Missouri, the home of Mark Twain, we went for a Bed and Breakfast weekend. I think I got this free/discount as part of buying five boxes of Stash Tea. We get to this place and this little gruff man informs us he's watching it for the real owners. He's rough around the edges and maybe a little further.

He shows us around the victorian place, very cute, done nicely. Informs us we'll be staying in the seven bedroom mansion alone tonight since he doesn't live in, but he'll be back to make us pancakes in the morning. Turns out he's a former cop and is doing someone a favor.

On the way out, he says you're not afraid of ghosts, right? And he shows us a couple photos with fuzzy blobs in the stair well.  We look on in contemplation as we were supposed to do and he said a few folks had encountered it, but we'd be fine.

You gotta know, as a mystery writer, and a guy that likes to watch ghost shows on TV, we were absolutely thrilled. In a haunted Victorian Mansion of our own for the evening! And of course we acted like we were 12. We climbed all over the house looking at everything. In a dark corner where we couldn't find a light switch on the top floor was a door to the attic. Locked!!! Creepy, that's where they keep the ghost, I guess.

We settled down in the library (yes!) watched PBS mystery. Then my significant other much to my delight played Toccata and Fugue in D Minor on a small organ in the parlor(!) on a foot pump organ that of course had a delightfully rough sounds. My friend refers to this song as "Scary Frights" when she wants my man to play it. (Here's a posh version of it if you are curious.)

We slept well despite all the talk of ghosts, but my guy did say he heard things in the night -- maybe for my benefit since I slept like the dead and didn't notice. We explored Hannibal which besides having the haunts of Tom Sawyer-Huck Finn and the real life Twain is a delightful town with it's own oddities and delights to explore and find. You gotta go to the cave too if you go -- I don't remember the story exactly but it's got one of those someone got stuck in here spooky ones.

Reads of 2015

I  read a variety of genres last year and more audio books. I kept track of library borrows as well as audio. I find it interesting to see my own habits change and evolve with technology. I also read more sort of top books, probably thanks to library access and Audible credits. I felt like I read more, but the list says not so. I did draft a book in writing as well as move house last year, traveled more for work...so my hands weren't idle when they weren't in a book. Favorite reads on your list from 2015? 

Books 2015

1. The Hike The Missing Link to Transformational Leadership Copyright © Danise DiStasi Nonfiction business allegory ***

2. Is everyone hanging out without me?, Mindy Kaling, humor memoir, ****, audio

3. El salon  de ambar, germany, spain, portugal  in Spanish! **** matilde asensi

4. The weed that strings the hangman's bag, UK, post WW II, Alan Bradley, **** audio

5. The Joy Diet, martha Beck,nonfiction, started in 2014;this one is a process not just a book. *****

6. Gone Girl, gillian flynn, Missouri, hard to rate since I knew so much hype. Well written. Didn't like the end which colors your overall feel. 

7. For Women only, shaunti feldhahn, nonfiction, paper book, started in 2014

8. Murder in the afternoon, Frances Brody. UK after WW1, **** audio

9. Gung-Ho, leadership story, ****, Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles, audio

10. Cut and Run, carla neggers, holland and new york, *,  it was like a rough draft, needed editing, names spelled erratically, repetitive. 

11. Amy Pohler, yes, please, autobiography, *** audio, never quite finished even though I liked it. 

12. The  Antelope in the living room, Melanie Shankle, memoir humor, ***, library 

13. The Racketeer, John Grisham, ***, ebook, library

14. Dad is fat, Jim Gaffigan, memoir,*** audio

15. Dying to meet you, Patricia Scott, uk, fiction**

16. Rules of Prey, John Sandford, Minneapolis/St Paul, fiction, ebook, ***

17. The One You Love, Paul Pilkington, London, uk, fiction *** e book

18. The Four Hour Work Week, Tim Ferriss, nonfiction

19. The Husband's Secrets, Liane  moriarty, Fiction audio, Australia, ***

20. The shawshank redemption, stephen king, audiobook, rough language  ****

21. Dear Theo, Irving Stone and Gene stone, audiobook,  letters of Vincent Van Gogh to his brother Theo ****, this was really long but I enjoyed it. Incredible look inside his life.

22. Walking with God thru pain and suffering, timothy Keller, nonfiction, ***

23. King of Lies, John Hart, North Carolina, audiobook, fast read, ****, library 

24. The Kind Worth Killing, Peter Swansen, Boston New England, ebook, library ****

25. Gray Mountain, John Grisham, Appalacian Virginia and DC, NYC, audio, library ***

26. Last Man Standing, David Baldacci, DC virginia, audio book. ***

27. Paranoia, joseph Finder, Seattle? , *** audio

28. Suspect, Robert Crais, LA, ***

29. 80/20 principle, the secret to achieving more with less, richard koLch, nonfiction.****

30. The Girl on the Train, Uk, Paula Hawkins, audio****

31. Beyond Belief: jenna miscaivage hill, scientology, nonfiction ***, audio, very interesting 

32. Mr. penumbra's 24 hour bookstore, Robin Sloan, san francisco, audio. ****, present tense. 

33. Evelina, historical fiction, UK,  Fanny Burney, pub date 1778, ***

34. The Handmaid's Tale, alternate future USAish, top 100 books list, audio, ****

35. Deliver us from Evil, italy, Roberto Constantini, ***.5, didn't love the main character or it could have been 4 stars, plus second half had some typos probably from the translation. Library 

36. the Stranger, Harlan Corben, NJ, ****, library ebook

37. the Forgotten Garden, Kate Morton, Australia, Cornwall, mixed time periods, **** audiobook

Audio books and character clash

My blog readers will recall I mostly read fiction. I have in recent years disciplined myself to read more nonfiction, so I'll often read a nonfiction and a fiction book at the same time. I have almost never read two fiction books at the same time.

My brother last year got me onto audiobooks after a long time of not listening. I don't know why I quit doing audio books. It might have been the move overseas and no free ones hanging around at the library.

So my first audiobook in about 10 years was Steve Martin's Born Standing Up which he reads himself. I think I've listened to 13 audio books in less than a year. Clearly I'm back on the bankwagon. I found a way to check them out from my home library in Overland Park, KS even though I'm in Spain which is a huge boon, but also accidentally signed up for an audible account so you get your "free books" for having an account. This is actually you buying books because you pay for an account. At  first I randomly picked things but after a while I realized that I need to get the most financially out of the credits they give you.

I had wanted to read ebook or audio a biographical look at the letters of Van Gogh (a much more intellectual endeavor than normal!) This book in any form was expensive. I realized I could get it with one of my "free credits" and so I went audio. A very good read if you are interested in art, creativity, Vincent or the time period in the art world. Dear Theo by Irving and Gene Stone.

I usually do one audio book which the first few months on this new kick were all autobiograhical or nonfiction mostly. Somehow a couple weeks ago, accidentally, I started a fiction ebook from the library and I started an audio fiction book also from the library at the same time. It was not a conscious decision it just happened. I was struggling figuring out what I wanted to read at the moment. I'd started a book that while well written I had to put down --  the fishing theme was not engaging me.

So both of the new borrowed books were very compelling plots, both had main male protagonists. So I read about 10 chapters of the ebook and then got a massive migraine that drug on for days. I love audio books for this. I can put the volume where it doesn't trouble my head and I can keep my eyes closed. It also distracts me from the pain, so it's a great way to pass a couple hours lying down that aren't going to be sleep anyway. I'd started the audio book while cooking so I was a little ways into it at the same time as the ebook.

I burned thru King of Lies by John Hart on the audiobook quickly because one-it was a compelling good "read" and two-the migraine had me on the floor in front of the portable a/c unit for several evenings in a row. Enjoyed it. 

Migraine was gone and the audiobook over, so I went back to the ebook. The Kind Worth Killing, Peter Swanson. A very compelling plot, very. But I found myself attributing the motivations of the main character from the King of Lies audio book to this protagonist. I'd say to myself, "But he won't follow thru because this guy is so paralyzed by life…"  and then I'd realize it was the other book I was thinking of.

I'm not sure what it says aout my mind that I interchanged these, but a major plot twist took place in the ebook that has eliminated that little problem. I found it very interesting to see how the audio and ebook mixed with the characters in my mind. I imagine it won't stop me listening and reading willy-nilly but I might think twice next time or chose wildly different themes.

Culture Choque

Most the time living in Europe is a great. It's not being on vacation every day but you have random moments that are delightful or have a wow-factor because it's just not the place you grew up.

But there are moments where you lose your sanity -- because this is not a vacation. It is life and things have to happen and get done.

Recent moments of culture shock:

Frankfurt airport being so intense about following the rules, they couldn't help me make my flight even though my name was being called on the speakers. (Yes, I missed my flight)

A hotel toilet mounted so high on the wall in Holland, I could not touch the floor. You laugh, but it's not funny in the middle of the night. Okay, maybe it is funny.

Only coins can be used to do the on street parking in the center of my city here in Spain. There's a credit card area on the machine but no slot actually set up. No coins, no parking, no one cares if you are in a hurry. Thus, everyone double parks with their flashers. Being a good Midwesterner,  I have avoided it, but it is in serious consideration now.

It's okay to tell a customer that it will be ready Tuesday afternoon. Customer fights aforementioned parking situation, gives up goes to parking garage much further away, walks to shop only to discover the items aren't ready after all. This is okay and should not be cause for complaint.

Health analysis includes urinalysis. The urine must be collected first thing in the morning, not later in the day. You must go to a farmacia (not the place that takes the blood or the urine) and buy a special cup yourself. Should you arrive past 10 am, the cup cannot be delivered and you must go to the pharmacy and purchase another and try to arrive by 10 am again (despite the parking situation in the area). Please note, I did not pour the rejected urine on the front step though I was very frustrated. I go to this clinic to avoid the one where they took blood from my neck, but that's another story.

This is just the last few weeks. Most the time you take it in stride and shrug but every once in awhile it all stacks up just right and you lose your mind. I suppose it's like arriving at Disneyland and seeing the lines and price of the food after saving all year. It may be fun at times, but there's some major obstacles that you will not be able to avoid dealing with. You are going to pay.

Admiring the art and not the artist

We go to museums. It's one of the primary things travel guides talk to us about seeing when we visit other places. We went to a special art exposition in Madrid and it really juiced up my creativity, but it got me thinking about art and artists.

Museums are a major tourist attraction, right? A suave night out?  How about an art gallery premier or a special art show? We laud art but mostly we laud old art.

I've been plagued with some writer's block on my work-in-progress novel due to some kinks in the plot twists, so I was contemplating the challenge of being and artist and working in obscurity.

No one cheers you on when you drag yourself daily to a blank canvas or a blank page.  Reviewers often don't give you any attaboys even after the work is done.

In fact, people sometimes see you as eccentric, odd, a dreamer or maybe creative if they're being generous. No one thinks of you as rich. Mostly because you're not. No one thinks of you as a potential gold mine. Mostly because chances are you're not going to be.

As a young person who wanted to write novels, I had the implied and sometimes direct comment/advice, "Yes, but what will you DO? How will you make money?" Sadly, it has been true that I needed another profession besides novel writing to make a living. Fortunately, it has always related to writing and I've enjoyed it.

The truth is that no one looks at a young person who says they want to be a poet, an artist, or a writer and simply says, good. Not even me, truth be told. I'm full of personal advice like everyone.

Society is full of a je ne sais quoi regarding artists - not the art itself.  A faint disdain of the wholehearted pursuit of an artistic endeavor as a life exists. The implication is, "It's okay for a hobby but you know you have to have a real job."

Likely the real job is true, but does anyone decide to study business and the people respond, "Just don't try to go into business yourself, that's unrealistic and statistically likely to fail."

So on the one hand, people are encouraged to go to museums and art shows by society, but the not spoken reality is that we don't really respect the artists that might be the next Van Gogh or Andy Warhol in the making. I hope it's changing but I'm not sure.

In the late 1800s, the new art movement was happening that was derided by the press and the creators were mostly paupers: impressionism, my favorite. Then later cubists etc. etc. It just doesn't pay (pun intended) to be an artist.  Emotionally or financially. Most those artists who go on to be featured in museums seem to have died in poverty and sometimes obscurity.

It just struck me recently as fascinating why we both worship at the museums of art and look down on the present day artists or scoff at their efforts despite what history tells us on the walls of the famous museums today. Am I wrong?

Hot tea and other blunders

I realized today I make a consistently American request. I've lived in Europe for the better part of 10 years on and off. My significant other and I joke about being Euro trash but really we are contented expats who still like "Home" too.

But while I know I shouldn't care, I pride myself on often blending in. I like to eat like the locals and go places like locals etc. So how after so many years did I realize I keep ordering incorrectly on airplanes?

I ask for hot tea. Every time. Now, my US compatriots are possibly saying, "Yeah, so?" While my British friends are laughing at me. 

In the US, we have lovely BREWED ice tea. (I am an admitted tea-sob.) This is real tea (nothing powdered please) brewed mostly hot, but there are new cold brews, then it's served on ice. In the south this comes with a bucket of sugar in it. I don't like my tea sweet though. So in the US, it's not uncommon to hear an order like, "I'll have an sweet ice tea." 

I am a habitual daily hot tea drinker because I like it and I don't drink coffee. So I must specify what I want. I realized in Europe there is only (where I frequent) tea that is hot, no need to specify. There is a product in a can called "Nestea" and it is dreadful and bears no resemblance to tea in my snobby opinion,  but there are lots of people who love it. It is very sweet but it still does not taste like USA southern sweet tea. 

All of that to realize that I always say "hot tea" and that always marks me as -- not from around here. I don't care necessarily but to suddenly notice after so many years is interesting, like discovering a birthmark you didn't know about.

Now that I think about it, I was at a conference and I remember one of my British friends sort of mocking my "hot tea" request with a raised questioning eyebrow. I loftily pointed out the US custom of icing it. 

I think the same friend felt my using hot water from the faucet (the tap!) to fill my water bottle in hotels was also a faux paus of social norms. 

Clearly I will always carry my uncouthness with me as I drink my hot tea and snuggle my mediocrelly warm water bottle, but I'm having fun and trying not to be cold. Next flight I will try with all my might to order. Tea. Just tea and see what happens.

Discipline versus Desire

As a writer, I wrestle with these two ideas. A lot. I suppose everyone does in some aspect of their lives. It's like a constant catch-22 of wanting something but not wanting to do it. I hear running may be like that too but I wouldn't know. (snicker)

It's a constant ebb and flow. Things have to get done in life, right? Doctor's visits, groceries. So those are things you just do because you do, because you have to for living normally. Sometimes you do the normal things without really thinking about it and other times, you drag yourself kicking and screaming. Maybe you desire to eat so your discipline yourself to go to the grocery store.

With writing, I desire to tell a story. The stories just aren't as much fun roaming around in my head as when other people get to share in them. Stories are for sharing even though I immensely enjoy creating them in my head. So yes, I desire to get another book out to keep the inkling of writing career moving forward despite my day job.

But the application of the seat of the pant to the chair in order to type in a computer is another matter altogether. It is a discipline by all definitions. One must practice to improve and make progress! If I can muster the discipline to do it, I nearly always enjoy myself. I become lost in the story like I'm watching a movie.

Sometimes you hit a snag in the story and that makes it slower. Sitting and picking at it is the only way for me to unravel. This usually looks like me sitting at the computer scrolling, reading, and staring off into space.

I have seasons where I get in a grove and I walk in the house and sit down and write without thinking. Like some of those grocery runs that just occur without pain. But other times I like the idea of sitting to write but I don't get there without huge disciplinary effort of myself. I don't think books can get written on desire alone. I think all of them, if they are going to be good or decent, are going to require seasons of serious sitting, hammering, and red ink days.

It's the marriage of discipline and desire where things get produced out of love. There's another intersection where things get produced a lot too -- that is where discipline and the need to eat meet and we go to work for ourselves or someone else. Sometimes writing is in both those places.

One trick I use on myself when I'm resisting the big project, like I am now, is I promise myself just one hour. Only sit here for one hour and work on this, the promise goes, then you'll feel productive and get to do something else too. It works remarkably well for me. If you only do it one hour at a time though, you've got to do it regularly. Of course, the writing recommendation is to write every day. Sometime my life is like that and sometimes it isn't.

I heard a phrase and it's so true. I LOVE having written!

Books read in 2014

Again, I didn't read as much as I'd like, nor write as much as I wish this last year. I did re-engage with audio books thanks to my brother's recommendation of Steve Martin's memoir. I also read more nonfiction than usual which you may recall is not my favorite and often slows me down. That being said, The Gift of Fear was fascinating and I wish I could articulate even a smidge of Fast Thinking Slow Thinking. Perhaps you too will find something new to try. 

1. Six Years, harlan corben, New England, ****

2. Gift of Fear, gavin de becker, nonfiction ****

3. The torah codes, ezra barany, N ca and israel, **

4. A Duty to the Dead, Charles Todd, WWI, ****
5. Board Member Orientation, the concise guide, Michael Batts, nonfiction

6. Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand, **** nonfiction WWII

7. Maltese Falcon, dashiel hammett, 1950s CA, ****

8. Every Secret Thing, Laura Lippman, Baltimore, ***

9. The Attack,  Yasmina Khandra, Israel, Palestine, **

10. Chasing the Storm, Martin Molsted, Germany, greece, Russia, Cyprus ****

11. Be mine, Rick Mofina, **, san Francisco

12. Paradise of thieves' gk chesterton, italy, short story

13. Pillars of the Earth, Ken Follett, medieval UK***

14. Wings, Juliet Kincaid, fairytale mystery (beta read) ****

15. Where'd you go, Bernadette, Marie Semple, Seattle ****

16. Born standing up, Steve Martin, autobiog, ****

17. Gilead, Marilynne Robinson, Kansas and Iowa 1950ish, ****, not mystery, Pulitzer Prize winner 2005

18. A test of Wills, Charles Todd, after WW I in UK, ****

19. Bossypants, Tina Fey, biography,***

20. A Butterfly Forest,  Tom Lowe, Florida Ocala FoRest **

21. Shawshank Redemption, Stephen King, novella, *****

22. I feel bad about my neck, Nora Ephron, memoir, ****

23. Private, James Patterson & Maxine Paetro, LA/CA, ***

24. Thinking Fast, Thinking Slow, Daniel Kahneman, Psychology 

25. Healing thru Humor, Joke book, Charles Hunter

26.  Let's Pretend This Never Happened, a mostly true memoir, Jenny Lawson, **** hilarious but rough. Don't read this with your mom, unless she swears a lot. 

27. Monkeewrench, PJ Tracy, st. paul, mn, ***

28. In the bleak midwinter, Julia spencer-Fleming, upper NY small town, ****

29. Hurt people hurt people, Sandra Wilson, psychology nonfiction ***

30. Citizen insane, Karen Cantwell, USA, ***.5

Smoothie disaster

So I went last week to a hair place recommended to me for relaxing head massages. I need to learn to relax more, so I thought I'd try it. Turned out to be a really natural place. Everything they rubbed on my face and hair came from plants. One of which must have been capsaicin because it burned like crazy and they looked dismayed that I would have that reaction to the wonder of special plant juices rubbed on my head. 

Anyway due to some dietary issues, I'll save for another blog ( I know that excites you to tune in later!) I've been doing a lot of online research on healthy, natural voodoo junk. Okay, not really voodoo but I try not to take all the special vitamin powders too seriously. But I'd read about dermatitis and rosacea possibly being linked to food issues, so when the creams and potions lady relaxing my scalp said the same thing I listened. 

She recommended two herbs to cleanse my liver and no more meat. I looked up the herbs because it was a Spanish conversation and I thought I'd better make sure I'd understood. So one herb says it can be potentially toxic and you should be under an herbalists care. You see why I say voodoo? 

Anyhow, I asked the farmacia here about them and they said oh it's fine it's just plants. I once attended a seminar about poisons, yes on purpose. I know, weird. The expert said that herbs are a real thing and sited some overdose situations.

So I only bought the tea cleanser of the weaker herb to clean my liver.

Then I thought there's all kinds of smoothie cleansers and that seems real natural and heathier than gobbing down packages of dried I don't know what. By some freak chance I actually had all the ingredients in the house. If you've read my avoiding grocery shopping blog you'd know how odd this is. 

My blender is broke, so I used the food processor. Maybe I should have reviewed the ingredients but I went from memory. I think the parsley and the food processor didn't get along. The frozen berry mix had a lot of hard bits that didn't smooth out either. It needed a lot of sweetner and still tasted like purple parsley.  I picked bits of parsley and hard berry pieces out of my teeth for an hour and I had burning indigestion for 5 hours. 

AND I'm informed that it doesn't count as the sweetner wasn't natural. At this rate, my liver is doomed.

 Someone pass the Oreos.

Book list beef

Maybe because it's summer but I've been seeing a lot of book lists. 30 books to read before you are 30. The 100 books you must read before you die. Beach reads. Books to read before the movies come out. 14 books to read if you loved "fill in the blank". Etc, etc.

I don't mind lists and clearly I've been looking whether I fit the profile or not. Perhaps I'm nosy and wonder what books would have made me different in my 20s, right? Those lists often seem to full of grandiose ideas, accusations of intolerance, and books I've never heard of. Something must be odd about me.

I was on one of those lists of 100 something or others. It was not just classics but a mix and I felt very smug to discover that I had just started one of the books on the list. I also really love it when one of my favorite books is on a list as well.

The other thing I seem to run into is that books I tried and really disliked are on the list too. What do I do with that? It always makes me feel somewhat defective. If I were a REAL reader, I would love all those 100 marvelous important essential reads, right?

So the book in question that I saw this particular day was Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. It is a historical saga of the 12th century. Those who have read my blog may recall that even though I end up liking historical books once I get into it, they are not my immediate go to.

We had a friend who really liked Pillars of the Earth (pre-online lists) and I had picked it up used and left it on the shelf. This spring I had a massive amount of travel and read quite a few books on my reader and thought a paper book was in order as I would be in house for a while.

I usually read a novel in a week if I'm not super busy or a couple weeks if I'm writing as well as going to my day job. Historicals, nonfiction, and something that I'm not enjoying will take me much longer. I'm just not driven to see what happens next like I am in my beloved murder and suspense books. It took me forever to get thru Unbroken, that poor man was stranded forever and I just couldn't seem to help him get anywhere better as I read.

Well, Pillars is a HUGE book -- 983 pages. That was one issue. Then the theme from medieval times wasn't luring me back to the page daily. Then every time I picked it up someone else got brutalized and it was just too depressing. (I know, my significant other asks, and murder isn't? I can't explain how that works in my head.)

Now don't get me wrong. It is an epic book and it is well written indeed. I did finally cross the finish line after an embarrassing amount of time. The bad guy that I really wanted to get it big time just got fat and old. I did miss some of the characters when it was over especially as I had passed a long period of time with them in my slow reading. Just not my cup of tea.

Clearly somewhere I am in the minority because I've seen this on more than one book list. So I'm fascinated what brings a book to those great heights? Is it the epicness - the length? Long lasting sales? TV series? Clearly not because the lists also have a few obscure books that are brilliant but not in the limelight.

Amazon says re their top 100, "We had a few goals when we started out: We wanted the list to cover all stages of a life (which is why you'll find children's books in here), and we didn't want the list to feel like homework. Of course, no such list can be comprehensive – our lives, we hope, are long and varied – but we talked and argued and sifted and argued some more and came up with a list, our list, of favorites." Top 100

I was fascinated about the clamor surrounding Gatsby as the film came out. Even when I was younger and read it, I didn't get people's robust enthusiasm for it. He's not a character I enjoyed spending time with and I was relieved it was over.

Then there are books on the list in genres you just know you don't enjoy reading. What do you do with that? Sometimes I have read them -- but I often find that it's a struggle as it's not my taste and in the end I didn't like it. As I get more into the middle of life, I think I may run out of time to read all the amazing books out there and I'm not going to beat myself up about reading things I can see I won't enjoy.

It's cheating but sometimes when something becomes a huge phenomenon, a la Hunger Games or Harry Potter, I'll watch one of the films to get the idea of the story. I KNOW it's not the same before you shout that out, but it gives me the idea of the storyline and the characters that people are all abuzz about and I can follow conversations about it.

This has got me toying with the idea of what my top books list would be like or perhaps my to-read list would look like. I don't buy too much hot off the presses for financial reasons so I'm not the girl to do the "Best Books of 201X."

Lists I find helpful are if you liked this...you'll like this other one. Maybe I'll start polling people on some of my favorites and make lists for my own exploration based on the good ol' word of mouth (all be it virtual!)

What book is YOUR must read recommendation?

Top ones that come to mind: Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte (Classic); Rebecca, Daphne Du Maurier (Classic and Suspense); Where are the Children? Mary Higgins Clark (Suspense); A Year in Provence, Peter Mayle (Travelogue).

Know any like these?