Book recommendations

[Gen 2,454]

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

[Jimbo 1,269]

The Green Mile. Simply a great novel.

[SparkaHck 2]

Waiting for the Barbarians by JM Coetzee.

 

V. disturbing, but well written. Can lend.

[michnic 11]

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.

[Guest]

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.

[JAM 1]

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!!!

[MysteryMan 16]

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.

[Tallicame 88]

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.

[Hellcat 3]

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.

[michnic 11]

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.

[jordigo 15]

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)

[flogger 17]

The Hurricane: The Turbulent Life & Times of Alex Higgins - Bill Borrows,

Addicted - Tony Adams,

Hitler: A Study in Tyranny

The Racing Post

[randy 141]

Agree with Michnic, Sedaris is great.

 

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

[DrivinWest 73]

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.

[Guest]

"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!

[Showem 868]

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.

[Elfenstar 1,676]

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.

[Tallicame 88]

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!

[Keydeck 9,246]

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.

[bluesky 0]

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