I've actually been rereading some of the classics that I didn't enjoy in high school and college and finding them much more interesting and entertaining now.  I just finished Great Expectations and loved it.  

 Love it! People think I'm odd in my reading tastes.

This summer I read 3 Jane Austen Books, yes people by choice!LOL I love jane Austen.

After that I read Caravans by James Michener. Then Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice.

The last book  I read was "Sugar Barons" a history of the sugar trade and slavery in the West Indies. 

I have devoured each one of Diana Gabaldons books.

This is why I don't give book recommendations to people.

Oh yes, everything by Jane Austen.  Persuasion is my favorite and it's fairly short.

 

For epic, sweeping historical fiction that will stick with you forever I recommend anything by James Michener or Edward Rutherfurd.  Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth and the sequel World Without End are also in that genre and I couldn't put them down.

 

Off to pick a new Michener novel to read...

 Loved Pillars of the Earth!  Read it about 10 years ago and was so excited when they made both of these into mini-series!

I scored about Michener novels in hardcover at an estate auction about 7 years ago for $2 each!! Did a big happy dance that day.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH  I need this thread closed so I can catch up!! 

Looks like Beth, Jen and I could share a bookshelf.  Just leave some room for Dickens and the Bronte sisters.

 

I also like mysteries / thrillers and the occasional scifi or fantasy.  I've read most of the books suggested here, but did pick up a few to add to my list.  I don't have any others  to recommend, but I will +1 Unbroken, The Passage, and The Twelve.

 

I have found that I like to listen to audio books of the classics while on my long runs.  I try to fit the book to the season.  For a part of last winter, I listened to "Wuthering Heights" -- it's easy to imagine the cold, desolate moor when I'm running on a dark, grey, cold January day.  Recently I just finished listening to "A Christmas Carol" -- seasonally appropriate.

 

(You can get free podcasts of the old classics at librivox.org)

 You need to read Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, if you haven't already. The first half is incredibly boring, but holy shit the second half makes up for it in spades.

I can't speak for others, but NO. I run while listening to audiobooks. I download them onto my blackberry. I have listened to the Harry Potter books, the Hunger Games Trilogy, the LOTR series, 11/22/63 and am currently on book 4 of the Songs of Fire and Ice series. Discovering audiobooks added an entirely new dimension to my running life. A three hour long run can go by pretty fast when you are caught up in a good story.

I have thought about downloading audiobooks for my long runs but I am just too cheap to pay for them.  I have downloaded some podcasts though and they certainly help make the runs go by quicker. 

I won't pay for audiobooks, either.  But besides what is available for free on librivox (no pirating here, they are free because the copyright has expired), my local library has audiobooks for lending. 

I was speaking to Mab about the fact that he never heard of the hobbit

Ohhh, I thought you were talking about the "running and reading at the same time" comment. My mistake - sorry!

Phil, I subscribe to a service called audible. It is offered by Amazon. You pay a monthly fee and the fee buys you credits that you can use to purchase audiobooks. I pay $ 14/month, which gets me one credit, which is what most audiobooks cost on the service. It's not free, but it's a pretty managable cost and their selection is good.

Many libraries also offer audiobooks.