Book recommendations

This is the place for book recommendations, maybe a short review. No chat, and please include Amazon links.

The Green Mile. Simply a great novel.

Waiting for the Barbarians by JM Coetzee.

V. disturbing, but well written. Can lend.

I just finished The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon and loved it. It's long though.

Can also recommend Philip Roth's Human Stain--amazing depth and resonance of characters. Okay, wait. That's long too.

Lessee. . .

I know! Anything by David Sedaris. My fave is Me Talk Pretty One Day. It's a bunch of semi-autobiographical short stories that are so outrageously funny you don't know whether or not to believe him. I pick it up every now again for a quick belly laugh. Holiday on Ice is a good Sedaris book for the season. And I can loan to you when I see you at the GNO on Saturday.

I recommend "Zoya's Story: An Afghan Woman's Struggle for Freedom" by Zoya and "Who Moved My Cheese? An Amazing Way to Deal With Change In Your Work and In Your Life" by Spencer Johnson. I can borrow you the last one.

David Lodge: I would recommend one of his books called 'Thinks...'

2nd Bridget Jones book (The Edge of Reason).

'Passing Time in the Loo (volume 1)'.

It describes itself as follows: "[PTITL] offers two-page distillations of over 120 books".

...haven't read it myself...it hasn't even made it's way to the loo yet!!!

A load of stuff by David Lodge: booker prize winner that writes page turners as easy to read as Stephen King.

Latest book by Donna Tartt: Little friend (excellent) her debut novel 'Secret History' was the best book I ever read.

2 classics: Heart of Darkness (Apocalypse Now) by Conrad and Madame Bovary be Flaubert.

Also read a huge book by Dean Koontz and felt cheated: avoid at all costs.

If you are after a Bridget Jones type of book then try 'Water-Mellon' by Marian Keyes, it is a totally hilarious book, acutally most of her books are excellent but Water-Melon is one of the best.

For something a little more serious but equally as brilliant, The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory is just fantastic. I really could not put it down.

i ended up, in a trade, with a book called "Invisible Monsters" by Chuck Palahniuk, same guy who wrote "Fight Club". it's a very interesting and werid story, but i couldn't put it down.

also, i have "Memoirs of a Geisha" by Arthur Golden. i haven't read it yet, but i've had several people tell me it's great...not too short though.

Okay short and light books:

1) Girls Guide to Fishing and Hunting by Melissa Bank
2) Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin
3) Le Divorce and or Le Mariage by Diane Johnson
4) The Princess Bride (Good Parts Version) by William Goldman

Books I haven't read but get thumbs up from respected people who like the genre:

5) Any book by Marian Keyes
6) Get Your Tongue Out of My Mouth, I'm Kissing You Goodbye! by Cynthia Heimel--author of titillating titles such as But Enough About You, If You Leave Me, Can I Come Too? and When Your Phone Doesn't Ring, It'll Be Me. (and it was a guy who told me he thought this hilariously funny)

And, a book that's been in my Amazon cart for over a year now:
7) Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Macquire. But at 406 pages, it ain't so short. And I think it doesn't fit the light and easy requirements.

ermm... I have been re-reading adam smith's "wealth of nations"

felt I needed an injection of free market economics...

(PS: not a joke)
(PPS: in terms of more lighthearted reading, I recommend "the life of pi" by yann martel)

The Hurricane: The Turbulent Life & Times of Alex Higgins - Bill Borrows,
Addicted - Tony Adams,
Hitler: A Study in Tyranny
The Racing Post

Agree with Michnic, Sedaris is great.

Warming stories I've re-read and recommend lately: Cannery Row & Sweet Thursday, Steinbeck

The Da Vinci Code Dan Brown - The writing is crap but the story and background are brilliant and fascinating. Deservedly on the NY Times Best Seller list.

High Fidelity Nick Hornby at his best (also made into a superb movie though brits tend to get pissed that the locale was moved from London to Chicago). Anything by Nick Hornby is worth reading IMHO, but as a yank I just plain don't get Fever Pitch.

Demon Haunted World Carl Sagan - briliant. Should be required reading for all students.

"The Reader" by Berhard Schlink.It´s translated into I think 26 different languages.The original version is called "Der Vorleser".It´s a weird but really good read.Its deals with Vergängensheitbewältigung ( For those of u in the grey thats basically how the generation after 1945 dealt with the guilt of their forefathers ) and is also semi autobiographical. Its short enough, really interesting and not too demanding. Read it!

Come to Me by Amy Bloom is a collection of very excellent short stories. Some interelated, but all can stand alone.

Inventing the Abbotts and Other Stories by Sue Miller is also good.

Anything by Amy Tan makes good reading, fairly light, but not particularly quick.

John Steinbeck short stories are also wonderful. Read anything by him, long or short.

here's my picks for easy reading (which I've read in the last 5 years), over 150 pages (!), but easy to get through and interesting:

The Beach by Alex Garland (The Teseract is shorter)
The Winner by David Baldacci
Any Harry Potter by JK Rowling
The Tortilla Curtain by TC Boyle

For intellectuals who want real literature:

Cider House Rules
Secret History by Donna Tartt (this is also my favorite book, am having hard time getting into The Little Friend though which is a bad sign).
Cold Mountain (name slips my mind)
Snow Falling on Cedars (always get this guy mixed up with the Cold Mtn. guy, David something or other)

Has anyone read Middlesex? That might be my next turn.

Another book I would recommend is 1984 by George Orwell. It was one of the those books that people always told me to read, it being a classic and everything. I decided to take their advice and I really loved it. I did get a little paranoid afterwards thinking that Big Brother was watching, it sticks with you. Or maybe that was just me!

If you want a good laugh I'd recommend "Good Omens" by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaimen. It's an excellent read and especially if you're familiar with English life as some of the references (i.e. the M25 & driving in London) are hilarious.

The Exile by William Kotzwinkle. Brilliant, disturbing, but the most vivid and evocative prose I've ever read.

Oh, just remembered - Pompeii by Robert Harris.

Come to think of it, Generation X by Douglas Coupland seems rather apt for the whole TT thing.

big coupland fan myself, but would argue that "shampoo planet" is more entertaining in the genre. also recommend "microserfs"

Vineland
by Thomas Pynchon

Swahili for the broken hearted (de)

Australian bloke breaks up with girlfriend. Decides to bugger off to Africa and do the Cape to Cairo. This is a trip I was thinking of doing a couple of years ago but circumstances made it a non-runner.

Just finished the book. It's a great read, especially if you've been to some of the places that he visits along the way.

He has a sarcastic outlook and general attitude that I like a lot.

Mil Millington (uk, de)

The novel adaptation of his cult website thingsmygirlfriendandihavearguedabout.com

And another book of his, A Certain Chemistry (uk, de), is damn good too.

I liked The Human Stain (uk, (de) by Philip Roth. Ok, it's only funny in bits, but it's a good read.

Or Off the rails in Phnom Penh (uk, de) which I just leant to Hazza. Funniest thing I've read in ages.

Katrina mentioned this a bit back and I have to concur: Middlesex (uk, de) by Jeffrey Eugenides (Virgin Suicides). Well written and narrated, touching, some humor. I smiled a lot but it's not a comedy. The best book of the last few years.

Marian Keyes is a great author, Watermelon (uk, de) is one of her best books, it is hilarious and a great read.

Other than that can I recomend the Shopaholic (uk, de) series by Sophie Kinsella they are fantastic and so funny. I have read the three books twice this year, I just love them. You will not be disapointed.

Midnight's Children (uk, de) by Salman Rushdie made me weep with joy. Also bloody fantastically written.

A couple of strange, touching, funny books:

An Englishman in Paris - l'Education Continentale (uk, de) by Michael Sadler which is what I am reading now, very dry, witty commentary about being a Brit Abroad.

The Man Who Ate the 747 (uk, de) by Ben Sherwood - an utterly charming and funny tale about love and the Guinness Book of Records.

Eats, Shoots & Leaves (uk, de) by Lynne Truss, the subtitle "The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation" tells you more about the content, funny, witty but also very useful.

Just finished The Corrections (uk, de) by Jonathan Franzen and it was excellent. Definitely in the top 5 of the best books I have ever read.

Funny comes in many forms:

Russian Debutante's Handbook (uk, de) by Gary Shteyngart. Young NYC immigrant temporarily becomes Eastern bloc gangsta sets out to exploit the local (English -speaking) expat community. Funny Ha-Ha.

Catch 22 (uk, de) by Joseph Heller. A bit timely given current events. Central guy is an unwilling soldier stuck in WWII. Mostly Funny Sad.

A confederacy of Dunces (uk, de) by John O'Toole. Life and Times of an overweight, big ego, total slacker boy living with his momma in the big easy. Lots of on again/off again discussion about turning this one into a major picture. Warning: I think you may have to be somewhat familiar with the Lousiana culture to really "get" this one. Kinda like a long running Seinfeld episode...crazy characters doing mostly nothing yet it all comes together at the end. Funny. Plain Funny.

The Bear Went Over the Mountain (uk, de) by William Kotzwinkle. Bear steals manuscript from professor on sabbatical, Bear poses as a person and takes publishing world by storm. More Funny Strange than Funny Ha-Ha.

Lots of people like Tom Robbins... I've read some of his stuff like Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates (uk, de) and just can't get into it.

for funny i always head to something by PG Wodehouse: Jeeves & Wooster (uk, de) or Douglas Adams: Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy (uk, de)

i like em lots.

Italo Calvino: If on a Winter's Night a Traveller (uk, de)

and there is always mr hornby and also tony parsons although they are bridget jones for guys sort of authors

i agree with pg woodhouse total escapism

No Shitting in the Toilet (uk, de) by Peter Moore...

If you like High Fidelity with John Cusack you´ll like this. Very easy to read but you´ll be laughing all the way through. Good to pick up and put down whenever you want. Divided up into easily separated chapters... its a travel book really ... here is what amazon says about it...

I would definitely suggest that everybody (especially English people) read Good Omens (uk, de) which Terry Pratchet co-wrote with Neil Gaiman. Pure brilliance.

If you can find a copy of Around Ireland with a Fridge (uk, de) by Tony Hawks it's a lot of fun too. His other two are amusing but not a patch on the first.

A little while ago I read Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code (uk, de), and absolutely loved it, particularly the mathematical puzzles and the interesting take on Da Vinci and his masterpieces. Most definitely my kind of book. It's the only book by Dan Brown I've read, though.

So . . . has anyone read any other books by Dan Brown? Are his other books of a similar nature? In particular, has anyone read Deception Point (uk, de)? Would rather have a recomendation before i go spend money!

Can anyone recommend any books that are along the same lines as The Da Vinci Code?

Cheers.

Funny you mention it. Just finished reading The Digital Fortress (uk, de) by him on the train this evening. I enjoyed the "Da Vinci Code" but did find it a bit patronising at times, but a rollicking good read at the same time. "The digital fortress" is not ín the same league, but still good light reading. Another one by him Angels & Demons (uk, de) has the same main character and sounds similar to the Da Vinci Code.

I just got The Analyst (uk, de) by John Katzenbach which is good fun!

For summer time cool crime books try a bit of Raymond Chandler. Any of the Philip Marlowe ones:

The Big Sleep (uk, de)

The Lady in the Lake / The Long Goodbye (uk, de)

etc...

Any of them is worth a look.

Henning Mankel. Just finished The Dancing Master (uk, de) and can recommend. Dan Brown too, easy reading.

I read The Stingray Shuffle by Time Dorsey (uk, de) a month ago. The author was on crack when he wrote it - had to be. But, I just laughed myself silly out how out-landish it is. He writes about the crazies of Florida, so if you've ever travelled or lived there, enjoy! It's a really different book.

Sebastian Faulks - Birdsong (uk, de)

Bawled like a dogbitten baby reading that one.

Two good novels I've read recently:

1) The Life of Pi (uk, de) - Yann Martel
2) Snow falling on Cedars (uk, de) - David Guterson

Both these books are top-notch!!

Naked by David Sedaris ...

H.I.L.A.R.I.O.U.S

I haven't got the patience for full-length novels, but The Pugilist at Rest by Thom Jones is a great collection of short stories touching on topics such as boxing, Marines/Vietnam War, deep sea diving, and pesky brain disorders. While not what I would call humorous stories, I did find myself laughing a few times.

I'd also recommend Fight Club because it's a quick, entertaining read. It's arguably better than the movie... and a unique piece of fiction.

If u liked Catch-22... try Vernon God Little... dark humor... started off a bit slow... but is one of the best books ever... after Catch-22

I am reading Ravenheart by David Gemmell at the minute which is pretty good! I actually read the sequel Stormrider before I started this one! There is also 2 books before this which i will probably read!

Anything by Tom Robbins

Another Roadside Attraction
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
Still Life with Woodpecker
Jitterbug Perfume
Skinny Legs and All
Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas
Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates
Villa Incognito

try CHOKE by Chuck Palahniuk.

The guy wrote Fight Club. Need I say more?

Holidays in Hell - PJ O’Rouke (screamingly funny if you’ve travelled)
Prince of Tides – Conran (?) (sad, wonderful book)
Hitler, my part in his downfall – Spike Milligan (one of those books which make you laugh out loud, cry laughing, for ages, making people stare), a book you’ll read again and again.