Ubiqui-lit.

I know it makes me un-hip and unoriginal to love some of these books that have been made into movies, or are probably used for your mama's book club, but I enjoyed them anyway. So there.

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. Just a great crisis-read, and the suspense builds towards the end. There is a lot in the book that was not used for the movie. Worth the time.

The Reader by Bernhard Schlink. This is a great mature read, and was also made into a movie, which I've never seen. If you like fiction set in other countries or times, you will love this. A young German boy has an affair with a mysterious older woman, and ... I can't tell you any more. It would spoil the surprises.

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. Must give this book a few chapters until you get into the characters and their voices. Like "The Help", the author writes from a different character's perspective for each chapter. Most genius is the voice of Adah, the hemiplegic, mute sister who is actually very intelligent. Breathtaking novel.

Girl With a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier. Never saw this movie either, but, if you are in the mood for a quick vacation or beach read, I would steer you toward this one. The story moves along nicely, and again, if you like to read book set in other times, this will be a good choice.

She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb. Oprah's book club. As long as it doesn't depress you read about depressed people, go for it. Great character development in this book. You know you're having a bad day when you buy an entire block of lunch meat and eat it all in one sitting. Yikes.