Busy Mom Seeking Great Reads

If I could run a free advert in the local personals, it might read something like the title of this post. I am probably one of the most frequent visitors to our local library - but that doesn't mean I get to spend much time there.

As a busy mom with a baby and a toddler in tow, my library visits usually consist of dashing in the door with arms full, clumsily dropping books and movies on the counter, and desperately scanning the video and new book racks in a furious 2 minute search for something that looks remotely interesting. Then I juggle my kids and library selections to check them out, stuff the new material into a diaper bag or pocket, and balance my load back out to the car or stroller to get them all home before we have a meltdown.

What I would really love is to have a list of books that are guaranteed good reads, from which I can reserve a couple ahead of time and simply dash in to pick them up! So, here are my criteria for a good book. Must contain at least 2 of the following:

Gut-busting humour. Edge-of-your-seat suspense. Mysteries that stymie the intellect. Old fashioned and eccentric characters. A historical setting. Deep philosophical discussion. Inspirational moral of the story.

If you know of some must-read books that meet these criteria, PLEASE let me know the titles and authors. My slap-dash adventures in book-browsing have been yielding some pretty disappointing results (I can't believe how much crap gets printed these days!). My best find this year has been a big book of Sherlock Holmes mysteries, but I am long overdue for another book I can really sink my teeth into!

Comments

  1. Melissa DalgleishJuly 11, 2009 at 7:57 PM

    Anything by Charles Dickens, really. Count of Monte Cristo is also a favourite that fulfills many of your requirements. You might also enjoy Mansfield Abbey (Austen), which is her one mystery/mock-gothic novel. If you enjoy non-fiction, A Short History of Nearly Everything is a book that I recommend to everyone, and is hilarious, highly educational, philosophical, and fully of quirky historical characters.

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  2. The Happy DomesticJuly 12, 2009 at 7:25 AM

    Thanks, Melissa! I've read all of Dickens and Austen already, as well as Count of Monte Cristo, and enjoyed them thoroughly. Maybe I should re-read some of them. I will try to give A Short History of Nearly Everything a shot though. From the overview it contains some seriously flawed science (Darwinian evolution has been conclusively discredited), but the history of the characters sounds interesting.

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