I usually go for non fiction or historical fiction or short stories.

My favorite short story collections of all time:

Black Water (ed Alberto Manguel)
T.C. Boyle Stories (T.C. Boyle)

The nonfiction stuff that I read is all over the place.  Right now I am almost finished with 'Eyewitness to History' (Ed. John Carey), and halfway through the awesome collector's item 'The Circus' (Noel Daniel, Taschen Books, Germany), which is also a good way to keep up your German and French.

I like some really geeky stuff too.  I have, for example, hardbound reprints of the entire 1950s run of E.C. comics horror and scifi titles.  For a while I used to sit in front of a fire on winter evenings drinking Irish cream and reading those into the wee hours.

And of course my wife pushes girly stuff on me.  I quite like some of them.  Water for Elephants was good (definitely better than the movie).  She is also re-pushing 'The Help', which I have not read, now that there is movie coming out for that.

I shall start off on our book club list:
The Liars Club by Mary Karr

Come on boys and girls. Let us get crazy in the literary world!

XXX~Giselle

Oh, and anything dealing with Twilight or Catcher in the Rye is not permitted...

Start with "The Girl With The Dragon Tatoo" and continue from there.

The Art of Racing in the Rain
Short Story's by Annie Proulx
Compilations of Womens Erotica by Violet Blue

Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein- the first human born on Mars returns to Earth to start a sex cult. Great stuff!

Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke- first alien contact brings utopia to Earth, but what are they not telling us?

Anything by Phillip K. Dick, if your in the mood for a mindfuck. A Scanner Darkly is a personal favorite.

But us guys sometimes have to recharge, so:

"Stiff" by Mary Roach  (no...not that kind of stiff...the subtitle is "The Curious Life of Human Cadavers", and it's very interesting...not graphic or morbid.

AND:

"Bonk - The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex" by the same author.  (This is the one that should have been titled "Stiff")

Giselle:  We must have gone to the same high school...I read The Liars Club, and second your recommendation.

Night of Thunder....all I can say is Damn good freaky ass book!!!

Dirty White Boys....love that book.

Day before Midnight...really cool story, would have been a good screenplay(so would DWB)

I just started that one! It is a teensy bit slow but today is a perfect day to curl up in bed and finish it. If only I had a naked audience for a sexy read aloud...
XXX~Giselle

Burning Chrome by William Gibson or anything by Harlan Ellison is a good read. Larry Niven's Ringworld series is good. I found the Dosadi Experiment by Frank Herbert thought provoking.

I've always been a Stephen King fan and read most of his novels.  I have the "Cell" and "Duma Keys" on my iPad, but I haven't had time to read them yet.

Anything by Vince Flynn or Dale Brown.

Flynn for the adventurous life I could have led, if I had kept in shape, been handsome, sharp, athletic, quick-witted, etc. Being none of those, I confine myself to reading about James Bond-type heroes.... LOL

Brown because he's all about the new high-tech Air Force and I'm a USAF vet.

Sorry there's nothing sexy in my life, other than the hobby.

Little Birds by Anais Nin. A collection of short stories, one of the more memorable is about a painter married to a beautiful but prudish wife, she won't allow him to see her naked so he paints her nude in her sleep, then makes love to the painting!!!

C Street by Jeff Sharlet. A fascinating expose of the most powerful and dangerous evangelical political group ever. These guys bust unions, murder homosexuals, and give weapons to genocidal dictators... all in the name of Jesus of course.

Hells Angels by Hunter S. Thompson. As a motorcycle enthusiast I love ol' Hunter S writing about the joys of riding balls out down the Pacific Coast Highway. His approach to the Angels is balanced and fair, I found the counterculture connection particularly interesting, guys like Ken Kesey and Allen Ginsburg introduce the Angels to LSD and beg them to rethink the violence.

A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn. History is written by the victors, so Zinn wrote this history of the losers- the slaves, the Indians, the women, the poor. An interesting fact from the book: 50 percent of whites captured by Indians decided to stay with their captors rather than return home. Think about that one awhile.

For a whole two days to read all of these interesting recommendations.

Awww who am I fooling, it will take a week

Seriously though, intrigued and grateful for the poolside reads.

XXX~Giselle

The Girl With The Dragon Tatoo series is great. Gets very dark...  

As the day is long and my love for you is pure as the driving rain, which beats down upon my freshly blownout hair,which has turned into a wavy mess.  What a bummer.  I will read your book and hope to see you soon for a chat session.

Later Gator!

XXX~Giselle

Venus in Furs by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch (The man from whose name psychologists built the term "masochism," the literary flip side of Marquis De Sade)

Lysistrata (I wonder if women could force peace in this present middle east debacle by going on a sex strike...hmm)

Ethical Slut-a handbook for navigating polyamory (Giselle never stated fiction or nonfiction)

Stranger in a Strange Land (Already mentioned-Thanks Strokewriter!)

Who's Been Sleeping in Your Head (Kinsey asked "what are you doing sexually?" Kahr asks "what/why are you thinking?)

Unrepentant Whore-Collected Works of Scarlot Harlot

Classes will be held on the north side of Chicago proper. Failure to complete assignments adequately will result in a severe tongue lashing.

The Mark of an Assassin
The Marching Season
The Unlikely Spy
The Kill Artist
The English Assassin
The Confessor
A Death in Vienna
The Prince of Fire
The Messenger
The Secret Servant
Moscow Rules
The Defector

Amazon.com has reviews of each.

Highly recommended.

These novels deal with a private consultant to gambling casinos who tries to determine how they are being cheated. I think Loaded Dice was his first. Two books go together: The first is Deadman's Poker and then Deadman's Bluff following the same story line. It was strange to have the one book end in the middle of the story. Very interesting and well written books.

would do well to check out Jacqueline Carey. Her "Kushiel's Dart" series has great characters, an intriguing plot, and red-hot sex. The main character is a courtesan who spies in service to the throne. Awesome stuff.

Currently, I am reading:

'The Game of Thrones'-as I am following the series on HBO and like to be ahead of the show.

Just finished:

'Kushiel's Chosen' and 'Kushiel's Dart' by Jacqueline Carey...

I'd consider the last two to be required reading for anyone clueless about courtesans.

A new book by Bran Stoker's nephew, Dacre Stoker, called Dracula The Undead. Clive Cussler's, Polar Shift and a non-fiction by Max Freedom Long on Huna called The Secret Science Behind Miracles, Unveiling the Huna Tradition of the Ancient Polynesians.

I finished one and started chiandrea's so us chicks can get together and discuss. We will brunch and bond.  Next book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pursig???