Another newbie . . .

[Lilith]

Good question, Chris. I'm sure my "normal" won't be the same as anyone else's "normal" but I mostly read bestsellers and contemporary fiction, by authors like Greg Iles, Lisa Scottoline, Kathy Reichs, Robin Cook, Michael Crichton, both of the Kellermans, Lincoln Child, Douglas Preston, Jeffrey Deaver and many others but I'm sure you get the drift. That's my normal . . . for what it's worth.

Saffron, I appreciate your point of view but reading the reviews of her books, most of them contain the word "grotesque" which, to me, is a red flag that it is anything but "normal" and, frankly, her subject material is just not of interest to me. I'm sure some would call me narrow minded but in actuality, I do try to read as much as I can in various genres. I just find myself coming back to the same authors and genres so I guess I have found my comfort zone.

ralphinlaos, you and I will have to start a "Normal Books" thread - lol! Thanks for understanding.

anotheradmirer, I think we read many of the same authors. I like books with a purpose, as I have learned so much from reading. A good author, even fiction, does incredible amounts of research and provides a great learning experience. Even in my narrow-minded choices of books, I feel I am quite well-read, a result of the marvelous information I find in books. I have not watched any television since early 2000s (when "The X-Files" went off the air, so did I) so my world is books and NPR.

Thanks to all for the comments and questions, it is fun to get to know people even when we're not face to face . . .

[anotheradmirer]

Wow! Thank you so much for your reply. [I've just found out that there are many typo in my post to you, yet you still got the message. ]
I don't watch much television either. Soap operas are really popular in Thailand. I just don't "get" them, uncertain if I don't get the message or there isn't any to get. If you were here, you wouldn't have quit watching television in early 2000s. You must have never watched any television ever.
I'm still amazed at how you find words to express how you feel and think.

A good author, even fiction, does incredible amounts of research and provides a great learning experience.

I'm sure I'm a more narrow-minded reader than you are, and I do feel the same way about books. They open my eyes and broaden my horizon. We can't experience everything by ourselves. Some have to be experienced through books. Without stepping a foot out of the door, I've been to Afghanistan during the time of war. (Well, I've just finished Khaled Hosseini's "The Kite Runner." ^_^)

[Lilith]

aa (if I may call you that), you totally understand! I agree that The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns taught me as much about living in Afghanistan as any travel monologue or non-fiction account, but also gave me so much more than that. I recently read Interred With Their Bones (I think that was the title) - not a particularly well-written book and the plot was both tired and a bit unbelievable but, man oh man, did I learn a lot about Shakepeare. I learned about the Italian-American prisoner of war camps in the US during WWII from a novel by Lisa Scottoline. I learned some interesting tid-bits about the health care given to the President in a recent read called The First Patient (as well as a bit about nanotechnology).

I doubt you are narrow minded at all, your posts are very interesting and I admire anyone who is more than monolingual (my French wouldn't get me very far so I can't claim to be bi-lingual) and is willing to share thoughts about good books and whatever else comes up.

Thank you for your kind words.

L

[Ophelia]

Lovely avatar Lilith!

[Celinio]

hi and welcome aboard this forum.

Wow, the Grand Canyon state !!

May i ask you where in the Phoenix area are you exactly ?