Reading Room Blog

Another book by James Howe that you may enjoy is The Misfits. The book is about four students who do not fit in at their small-town middle school and decide to create a third party for the student council elections to represent all students who have ever been called names.

Here are some other books you might like to try:

If you like books like John Grisham's that feature law, politics, international relations, and intrigue, you might like these titles.

Separation of Power by Vince Flynn
CIA counterterrorism operative Mitch Rapp takes on both Baghdad and Washington, D.C. to avert World War III.

If you liked East by Pattou, you might like these.

Beauty by Robin McKinley.

Kind Beauty grows to love the Beast at whose castle she is compelled to stay and through her love releases him from the spell which had turned him from a handsome prince into an ugly beast.

The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale.

Here are suggestions for books that pick up on the sword and sorcery, quest, and dragon aspects of "Eragon": 

Romance and lust and family dynamics feature prominently in "Rococo" by Adriana Trigiani. Some other titles that you might like:

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

The women of the Waverley family -- whether they like it or not -- are heirs to an unusual legacy... (B)ehind their Queen Anne home on Pendland Street in Bascom, North Carolina...an apple tree bearing fruit of magical properties looms over a garden filled with herbs and edible flowers that possess the power to affect in curious ways anyone who eats them. (from Barnes & Noble)

"An Unpardonable Crime" by Andrew Taylor best fits into the category of literary mysteries in a historical setting. This is a genre that I personally enjoy reading, especially if a real person from history is featured in the story. Here are some other good titles in this genre.

If you liked Message in a Bottle by Nicholas Sparks, how about trying:

Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller When Robert Kincaid and Francesca Johnson meet, magic happens. Kincaid, 52, a photographer for National Geographic, a mystical traveler of faraway land, feels out of harmony with his time. Francesca, 45, once a young war bride from Italy, nurses her childhood dreams. --catalog summary

We've pulled together a few suggestions for further reading. Some share the literary thriller aspect of Hoeg's book, some the Nordic atmosphere. 

To Kill A Mockingbird is one of my all-time favorites too. I do believe that it is one of those books in a class by itself - there really isn't anything else that comes close to it! Having said that, I do have a couple of suggestions for you. Some of these titles deal with race relations; others deal with growing up in the South. Hopefully you will find something here that you will enjoy.

Black and White by Paul Volponi
Three teenage friends confront racism during the summer of 1955 in a small Southern town.

Here are some other titles you might enjoy reading.

Dragon's Keep

by Janet Lee Carey.
In 1145 A.D., as foretold by Merlin, fourteen-year-old Rosalind, who will be the twenty-first Pendragon Queen of Wilde Island, has much to
accomplish to fulfill her destiny, while hiding from her people the dragon's claw she was born with that reflects only one of her mother's
dark secrets.

Ysabel

by Guy Gavriel Kay