Do me a favor... recommend some good books for me to read.

[BlondieK143]

I've found that our huge library downtown is my new place for solace. One problem, I need some new books to read and try out. I'm not really big on the whole Science Fiction thing, but other than that, I'm pretty open. Please no more political book recommendations(I'm STILL working on a list I got not to long ago from you guys), just something for pure amusement. I like reading things that aren't the typical 'norm' and something that I can really get into. I've outdone Shakespeare and so many other classics. I need something refreshing and new. Thanks in advance! :D

[MissMillie]

1. One of my all-time favorites:

John Irving's "A Prayer for Owen Meany"

[Debi]

9. Then tack Cider House Rules on after that.

Good, good, good books.

[Felix Mala]

25. That gives me the heebie jeebies...

[Trigger Hippie]

26. Yeah!

Owen Meany is my favorite book. I just reread it recently. Such a richness of characters. :)

[Telly Savalas]

29. Seconded.

We probably would have named our daughter Owen had she been a boy. (Well, that or Miles.)

[alarimer]

62. His new one is pretty good

It is called Until I find You.

[XNASA]

2. Tropic of Cancer - Henry Miller

It's the book I've been recommending lately.

[XemaSab]

3. Harry Potter

n/t

[Debi]

11. Just got done w/Half - Blood Prince

so, when is the 7th book coming out?

[BlondieK143]

13. I hear she's not going to start writing it until next year.

It'll probably be two years again.

[Debi]

15. I may have to go back and re-read the first five

I noticed that I had forgotten some things that had happened during this book.

[XemaSab]

18. I've been on the reread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=279x1025

[Debi]

42. I've given all my books away - guess it's time to hit the book store

just the last two - or do I need to start from square one?

[XemaSab]

48. There's a lot in the first few books

that connects with book 6.

[LRSU_Ghost]

20. Just finished it too...

What did you think? I'm sitting here pissed off, wishing the seventh book was in my hands right now! Do we really have to wait two more years? She should have written both books at the same time and she should release the 7th book next week. :)

[Debi]

33. She left so many loose ends

I really like that.

I do have to say I was hoping for more answers in the last couple of chapters.

Now I'll look forward to the movie coming out.

[LRSU_Ghost]

36. Me too...

I don't want to ruin it for people, but I am dying to know what other people think.

Do you think he really is gone? I have my doubts.

[Debi]

41. SPOILER

Yes, I do think he's gone and I think he knew it was time and let S do it so he could keep up the facade. He had to go to let H become the man he needs to be to kill LV.

PM me with your thoughts.

[XemaSab]

49. Spoiler thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=279x1025

[LRSU_Ghost]

53. I can't PM yet,

Sorry... Sounds like we agree. I was reading the spoiler thread (which I can't post to) and was thinking a lot of people have it all wrong (imho). He wasn't begging for his life, he was begging for him to do it, for the reasons you suggest I think. It makes sense that he is gone and I agree with you on the reasons, on the one hand. On the other, there are some clues that he will return. I'm conflicted on that, both make sense to me.

Wish I could PM you, I've been dying to talk to someone about the book.

Thanks...

[Mojambo]

For some light, fast moving, quirky fiction

try Jennifer Government by Max Barry. You should be able to finish it in a couple of days.

It felt very Catch 22ish to me.

[dbt]

4. Anything by Tom Robbins should amuse you,

especially Even Cowgirls Get The Blues!

:smoke:

[Felix Mala]

5. Anything by Charles Bukowski

That'll put a little curl in your hair.

[aden_nak]

6. A Confederacy of Dunces - O'Toole

[Saphire]

21. I second that. My all time fav book.

[Fleshdancer]

7. fiction or non-fiction??

I just re-read Memoirs of a Geisha. If you haven't read it, I recommend it highly. As far as novels go though, I prefer psychological thrillers like anything written by Jonathan Kellerman or Patricia Cornwell...good brain candy type books.

[BlondieK143]

10. Either.

I'm currently reading "Smashed: Story of a Drunked Girlhood" by Koren Zailckas. It's completely fascinating since she's close to my age.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

8. The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende n/t

[WeRQ4U]

12. Anything by David Sedaris will make you laugh out-loud

I'm reading "Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim "

So far, funny as hell.

[hibbing]

64. I second that

David Sedaris is seriously demented and soooooooo funny.

Non-Fiction recommendation- Botany of Desire, takes four
senses and looks at how humans have manipulated them,
Corn, Apples, Marijuana and Tulips

[Debi]

14. I'm in the middle of Lauren Bacall's, By Myself and Then Some

The woman knows everyone in Hollywood and on stage. The book flows as if you were sitting down having coffee with her. Fun.

[Jara sang]

16. The 80 Greatest Conspiracy Theories of All Time.

It's a good read, you can pick it up and put it down when ever you want. Stuff like the faces on Mars, MKULTRA, John Lennon assassination, Charles Manson and the Family, Jim Jones, OK City Bombing, Kennedy etc. But don't forget your tin foil hat! :tinfoilhat:

[jackster]

17. Heard this one on CD

and had to listen twice - it's her first book and it was wonderful!
Broken for You by Stephanie Callous. Highly recommend it.

I also recently finished The Falls by Joyce Carol Oates and loved it as well.

For just pure brainless fun on the beach - Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series.

[Squeech]

19. Jonathan Carroll

My favorite novelist these days. They may shelve him with the sci-fi, but what he really is is a sophisticated magical realist, like Isabel Allende with a top notch Western education, living in Vienna. Bones of the Moon is a good one to start with: a woman in New York starts having this connected series of increasingly elaborate dreams involving a quest on another planet, among people who seem to know her-- and then she starts to run into people on earth who also know about the dream planet. It's not all cotton candy either; she has to make hard decisions, and people die, in both worlds. Subtle stuff, hardly fairy-tale at all. I also like Outside the Dog Museum, and Sleeping in Flame. (His stuff is not easy to find.)

[RJRoss]

43. Jonathan Carroll

is an excellent writer. I recently read "White Apples" - great story.

Another author I really like (though I don't much agree with his politics) is Mark Helprin. "A Soldier of the Great War" is one of my favorite books.

[Wetzelbill]

22. Fools Crow by James Welch

1986 LA Times Book Award Winner. A classic by great man and a great writer.

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=ZU4QsxiBwi&isbn=0140089373&itm=2

http://www.edheritage.org/books/welch.htm

http://www.montanabook.org/OneBook2004Resources.htm

[SmokingJacket]

66. I second that pick.

Wow, what a great book! Also: Winter in the Blood.

I knew James Welch, dead now, what a sweetheart.

[ghostsofgiants]

23. "House Of Leaves" by Mark Z. Danielewski

"Survivor" (or anything really) by Chuck Palahniuk

And I haven't read it yet, but I've heard good things about "Jennifer Government" by Max Barry (even though it's kinda political, it's fiction, so I thought I'd include it).

[caty]

24. Any thing by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.

They write books together and separately. I read "The Cabinet of Curiosities" first and liked it so much I followed it with "Still Life with Crows". Then I read "The Ice Limit" and just finished "Brimstone". I've ordered "Dance of Death" and I can't wait to get it.:applause:

[cheeseit]

27. Anything by Tom Holt

Writes mainly historical fiction, but in a very witty, human and at times touching style which is a long way from most of what I've read in that genre. "Alexander at the World's End" is particularly good.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

28. I'd recommend two books by Mitch Albom...

"Tuesdays with Morrie" and "The Five People You Meet in Heaven." One is fiction and one non...but both are outstanding reads. Very spiritual. Short but chock-a-block with ideas to get you thinking. I believe they are both out in paper now. You won't be sorry!

:hi:

[BlondieK143]

31. Those are amazing books.

I read "Tuesdays with Morrie" in my sophmore honors English class. Most of my fellow classmates (the girls of course) shared many, many tears. As far as TFPYMIH, I LOVE it as much as I do the other! And the book was definitely better than the movie!

:hug:

[Bullwinkle925]

55. You're right Peggy - have read 'em both and enjoyed.

Do you belong to a book club?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

67. Actually, no, Bullwinkle...

No bookclubs for me! I already buy far too many books! In a second, I'll show you PART of my library!

[Bullwinkle925]

73. are you sure you didn't sneak into my house and take this pic?

I can sooooo relate. I belong to a book club and we meet every month - have wine, dinner, dessert and discussion. Fun group of women.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

74. Hehehe...how'd you know?

I've heard that book clubs are so much fun...What part of California are you in? I'm in SoCal...PM some details if you like!

:hi:

[barb162]

30. The Long Emergency by James Kunstler

[youspeakmylanguage]

32. Anything by Peter Straub...

Houses Without Doors will disturb you for a long, long time.

[sybylla]

34. Sklnny Dip by Carl Hiaasen

Just heard it read on my public radio station a month or so ago. I was glued. It's about a woman who survives the attempt by her husband to kill her on a cruise and then with the help of a new friend, harasses him until they have enough evidence to trap him. With great characters and an impossibly twisted plot, I have to say it is the funniest thing I've read (heard) in a long time.

[barb162]

35. forgot, read Saul Bellow

[BlondieK143]

37. Thanks all!

I'm off to search. You guys are awesome!

[LynzM]

38. Cryptonomicon

Just finished this a bit ago... a little tough to get into, but a crazy neat storyline.

Also, the "Outlander" series... Scots, romance, time-travel, what more does a girl need?

[SnowGoose]

39. Kotzwinkle rules the universe

If you like Vonnegut/Tom Robbins and the like, you can go a step quirkier and check out something by William Kotzwinkle ("Fan Man" is a classic, and "Midnight Examiner" is just funny as can be).

For lush beautiful prose, you might like Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni ("The Mistress of Spices" is a wonderful modern fairy tale for adults). Just damn beautiful.

Another prose master is Sherman Alexie ("The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven"). You will be able to tell immediately in this collection of short stories that the guy is really a poet rather than a novelist (even though he's best known for novels).

And since you say you've done the classics, I want to be sure you haven't missed the R. W. Emerson essays - yes, they show the prejudices of the day, but jimminy christmas they are nourishing.

And since I've slipped out of the fiction catagory... if you like science - even a little - you owe it to yourself to check out "The Botany of Desire" by Michael Polin (btw, I'm not sure about any of these spellings). It's about how plants and humans have been "manipulating" each other for thousands of years - really really fascinating. It's divided into four sections, each one the story of humanity's relationship with a plant: apples (sweetness), tulips (beauty), cannabis (intoxication) and potatoes (nourishment). It's the kind of book that makes you want to say to all your friends, "Hey, did you know....".

Have fun reading... I'm jealous of the fun you're going to have.

[bettyellen]

40. the lives of monster dogs

i forget who. kind of a freaky fable. amusing, strange and sad.
makes you wonder what it is exactly that makes us human.
and if you never read "the secret history" it's pretty damned good.
they are both just trashy/ weird enough to be kinda light, but still thought provoking.
:loveya:

[CBHagman]

44. Some thoughts.

If you're an Anglophile, check out Sue Townsend's Adrian Mole series -- i.e., The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13-3/4; The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole; and Adrian Mole: The Lost Years. The first two are the diaries of a teenaged boy living in the Midlands in Thatcher's Britain and are both screamingly funny and heart-breaking. The latter concerns the grown-up Adrian, now living in John Major's England.

I also like the Barbara Vine and Ruth Rendell mysteries, though they are rather chilly in terms of the depictions of the characters. She relies on suspense and the revelation of secrets, rather than harsh violence. Suggested title: No Night Is Too Long.

And it's out of print these days, but look for Elizabeth Jane Howard's Getting It Right, which is both funny and moving. It's a couple of weeks in the life of a painfully shy London hairdresser who still lives at home with mum and dad.

[zanne]

45. An oldie but a goodie....

Here's one with alot of suspense but no blood and gore; The Tenth Justice by Brad Meltzer. It's about a Supreme Court clerk who accidentally "leaks" the outcome of an upcoming decision. It's a great read. Mostly, it's fun.

[Merrick]

46. Master and Margarita - That's an order

a true masterpiece.

[Z_I_Peevey]

47. I've heard good things

about Goldie Hawn's new autobiography. "A Lotus Grows in the Mud," IIRC.

[peacefreak]

50. Christopher Moore--Lamb (or anything else by him)

gotta second that suggestion for The Master & Margarita
Boy's Life--Robert McGammon
With--Donald Harington

[Midlodemocrat]

51. I know this much is true by Wally Lamb is a great, great read.

[jane_pippin]

52. Middlesex by Jeffery Eugenides

Just finished it. Thought I would hate it, but I really liked it.

If you like short stories, try anything by Flannery O'Connor or Lorrie Moore.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

65. I really like Middlesex too

[Bullwinkle925]

54. I just finished "Above the Thunder" by Renee Manfredi.

I went into a new independent bookstore I happened upon last week to purchase my next book club selection when I ran into this author who was there to do a book signing. My curiosity overtook me and I purchased her book as well. Needless-to-say, I finished the book last evening and enjoyed it. Not your usual run-of-the-mill story. Interesting and thought-provoking novel.

Story centers around a gay couple, a woman who is united with her 10-yr. old granddaughter (who happens to communicate with the dead) and sundry other things going on in the storyline.

[nytemare]

56. "Wicked, The life and times of the Wicked Witch of the West"

I am reading it now, such a cute concept. It is the backstory of what made the wicked witch be viewed as being so wicked.

[RevolutionaryActs]

57. Catch-22

I really enjoyed it, you could check that out. :)


The Lionness Quartet by Tamora Pierce are good. I read them a couple years ago, really easy to just sit down and read them for fun.


The first book is called, Alanna: The First Adventure. :D

[spacelady]

68. Oh yes, read that about 5 times!

[Bullwinkle925]

58. Just remembered "Yellow Raft on Blue Water" - Michael Dorris.

I need to re-read that one myself.

[yellowdogintexas]

59. if you don't like sci=fi, do you like pure fantasy???

IF you do, have I got a treat for you:

author #1: George R R Martin...start his series now and you may be finished with it by the time volume 4 is released in November. Not like any other fantasy series I have ever read. Sort of a blend of political intrigue/historical saga/fantasy. The magic sort of seeps slowly into the story as it progresses. Magnificent characters!!!!!!!!!!!11

author # 2: Robin Hobb...Read the Farseer trilogy first.."Assassin's Apprentice" is the first one, then read the LiveShip Traders trilogy; the first one in that series is "Ship of Magic". The third trilogy is the Tawny Man series, and the first novel is "Fool's Errand". The books are interrelated, and sequential in time, so best read in order.

author #3: Guy Gavriel Kay...I have loved everything of his that I have read. Period.

Other types of fiction:
also: third on "Master and Margarita", and you can actually read anything by Carl Hiaasen and enjoy it thoroughly. I have not read "Skinny Dip" myself, but have read several of his other books and loved them all.

Anything by Jeffrey Deaver! His books are just excellent.

I love Patricia Cornwell, Jonathan Kellerman, Dorothy Dunnett, Janet Evanovich (another one that will make you laugh out loud)

Amy Tan writes wonderful books!!!!!
Martin Cruz Smith is another good writer: suspense fiction
also the late great Robert Ludlum, and the late great James Clavell.

[48pan]

60. Sorry. All I read is science fiction.

And PC magazine of course.

[welshTerrier2]

61. my favorite: The Magus

by John Fowles ... great story ... very intense .. Fowles is an incredible writer ...

i also loved Narcissus and Goldmund by Hermann Hesse ... a little tougher to get into but very insightful ...

[leftofthedial]

63. The Milagro Beanfield War

[spacelady]

69. This is a great post because I can reference it for reading materiel.

[spacelady]

70. The Inferno by Dante Alighieri

[spacelady]

71. Ship of Fools, I love to read!

[ForrestGump]

72. Carl Hiaasen

Good stuff, and not too heavy for those times (my whole life) when you need a break. His stuff is extra good if you're familiar with south Florida. "Skin Tight" is the first of his that I read and may still be my favorite. Heavy on the political-environmental outrage dressed up as satire of the best kind.