Read Any Good Fiction Lately?

[qwlauren35]

Sometimes I need a good escape novel. I'd love to hear suggestions.

[La_Serpiente]

1. Memnoch the Devil

or the DaVinci Code

[tedoll78]

2. Well..

I do read the New York Times once in a while..

[terrya]

3. "Myra Breckinridge" and "Myron"

I've been meaning to read these two Gore Vidal classics for a long time. I finally got these books at a used book store.

Revolutionary (for its time, 1968) both of these books are groundbreaking looks at gender and sexual identity. Plus, hilarious as well.

Terry

[Bozola]

4. "Live from Golgotha" is a guilty secret

also from Vidal.

[eleny]

5. Da Vinci Code

It's a fast read thriller.

[BigDaddyLove]

16. Yes, but is it good?

I just finished it as well, but only because it was a 'fast read'; I was really disappointed. If you want to read a REALLY GOOD book that has that 'historical thriller' angle, I'd recommend 'The Name of the Rose' by Umberto Eco.....now THAT's a good book.

[ming]

18. Just finished The Davinci Code

I had heard a lot of negative peer reviews of this book and I'm naturally suspicious of anything on the NY Times bestseller list (call me cynical). However, I've been fascinated by the topics covered in the book for years now and so I decided to borrow it from a friend.

I have to admit, I was very pleasantly surprised. Dan Brown turns a subject that can be deathly dull into a very fast paced mystery/thriller. Although there were some parts of the story that seemed a little forced (e.g. how the knight came to be bugged), I haven't seen this subject so well done in fiction since the computer game Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned, and even then GK3 focused on the Rennes le Chateau aspect of the story. I truly recommend it.

Currently I'm rereading Heinlein's Starship Troopers. I love Heinlein like a father, but damn! sometimes he can be the most extreme right-wing freeper out there. However, usually if I take the time to go over his novels again, I can usually gain a perspective into how a man that could be so tolerant and progressive could also be so right wing too. Also, Starship Troopers (which was nothing like that horrible film) seems sort of apropos at this time in history, especially with the Army's Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TATCOM) awarding a $2.5M contract to two companies to prototype a robotic battle dog. Perhaps in 50 years time, if I'm still alive, Gundam Wing will start looking like reality.

Next up is Haruki Murakami's Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. After reading The Wind Up Bird Chronicle last year, I came away from the experience with a lot of questions that kept me thinking for months. While fun stories like The Davinci Code are good, books that really make me think are what I crave.

[gator_in_Ontario]

6. From a Buick 8

by Stephen King is a good escape

[RebelOne]

12. Yes, excellent book.

But just about anything by King is excellent.

[ret5hd]

7. The Constitution (nt)

[SpaceCatMeetsMars]

8. I've been reading Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett books lately

The best. Love the atmosphere and dialogue, of course, but also fascinating social commentary. All the sleaze and corruption seems very apt today.

[grannylib]

9. I love Tom Robbins, Anne McCaffery, Mercedes Lackey, John Sandford

and Patricia Cornwell, to name just a few favorites.
Rumer Godden can be good too; I loved "In This House of Brede"

[AGiordino]

10. Arturo Perez-Reverte

The Club Dumas - (Tangential basis for the movie, The Ninth Gate)
The Fencing Master - also made into an excellent movie
The Nautical Chart
He is a Spanish author whose translated works have a wealth of description, action and rhythm.
Well worth the time . . . IMHO

[Flaxbee]

22. Yes! Perez=Reverte is fantastic!

My favorite is The Seville Communion, but I also thoroughly enjoyed The Club Dumas and The Flanders Panel. His books are terrific.

Henning Mankell is good if you like mysteries; his have been translated from the Swedish and are set mostly in Ystad, a small Swedish town. They're also good, and provide some feel for life in Sweden. Minette Walters is also an excellent mystery writer, her books are subtle psychological thrillers. The Sculptress, The Ice House and The Scold's Bridle (my favorite of hers) are good choices.

I was disappointed with The Da Vinci Code, and agree with the poster earlier who said Eco was much better, I thought The DV Code had horribly weak characters.


I've just started Middlemarch by George Eliot, it's a hefty book and certainly needs close reading (not a whiz-thru book like DV Code), but so far it's quite good. Many of the books I've read lately have left me thinking "I could do that if I was motivated enough" but Middlemarch has stopped me in my tracks (as all good books do). I'm in awe of Eliot's intelligence, reading Eliot, Twain, Dickens reminds one of what genius is.

[AGiordino]

11. Or you can grab a disctionary and try China Mieville

He writes intricately created and described Fantasy Worlds, but has an intensive inventory of arcane vocabulary hence the dictionary.
Perdido Street Station
The Scar
King Rat

[RebelOne]

13. Try some of Robin Cook's books.

He writes medical thrillers. Last one I read was "Shock." And I am a Dean Koontz fan, too. I just started "The Face."

[jimbo fett]

14. Darwin's Radio

I really enjoyed it. The sequel "Darwin's Children" wasn't as good.

[_seachange]

15. Anything Vonnegut.

I just finished Mother Night... not his best, but pretty good. :thumbsup:

[ploppy]

17. Agnes Browne Trilogy

by Brendan O'Connell. (or is it O'Connor?) Delightful reading!

[SiobhanClancy]

27. Those are wonderful little books....

written by Brendan O'Carroll:)

[Red State Rebel]

19. Cold Mountain - I enjoyed it very much!

I haven't seen the movie yet tho...

[hatrack]

20. "Oryx And Crake" by Margaret Atwood

Not exactly escapist reading, but the best dystopia I've read in a very long time.

[HuckleB]

21. The Rider by Tim Krabbe! It's AWESOME!

You can't put it down.

[ZenLefty]

23. The Man Who Killed His Brother

And its sequel The Man Who Risked His Partner. They're kind of dark private-eye novels, very unique for the field (normally I hate private eye novels). Not the best of books, but they're both short and very entertaining. And the mystery isn't too difficult to figure out on your own. I think a few sequels followed these too.

The author is Reed Stephens, which is a pen name for another famous author who I won't disclose here. These novels are so much different from his other works that it would almost spoil the surprise if I told you in advance. (but if you want to know right now, it's not too difficult to uncover on Google)

[Lestat de Lioncourt]

24. I'm currently reading "The Vampire Lestat."

:)

I just finished Interview With the Vampire and will be reading Queen of the Damned next. After that, The Tale of the Body Thief.:)

I've read these books before, though. I'm just re-reading them. Greatest set of books I've ever read. :thumbsup:

[sasquatch]

25. Oh...I thought you were asking about Media Whores.

Try John Grisham's 'The Bleachers'.

[Flaxbee]

26. If you haven't read Wallace Stegner yet...

get thee to a bookstore and pick up "Crossing to Safety". Can't believe I forgot it in my earlier post. It is a wonderful book, I need to reread it myself.

[LynneSin]

28. I've read this "miserable failure"

http://www.whitehouse.gov/president/gwbbio.html

[FunBobbyMucha]

29. If you've never read Nick Hornby

I could recommend any of his novels. My fave is High Fidelity.

I'm currently reading "The Time Traveler's Wife." It's a touching love story that has more to do with the nature of relationships than the scientific 'realities' of time travel. Think "Groundhog Day." I've read somewhere that Brad Pitt already bought up the movie rights to it, so you could get in on the ground floor. It was a Today Show Book Club selection, apparently, though I never watch and didn't gratefully know that going in.

"The Virgin Suicides" by J. Eugenides, and "The Lovely Bones" are two of my favorite non-John Irving books, btw.

[creativelcro]

30. Pattern Recognition (Gibson)

Must read... If you are into cyberpunk, that is.

[Tracer]

31. D'you Like a Good Potboiler?

A well-written one, that is.

I just read "The Havana Room" by Colin Nickerson in one fell swoop. Couldn't put it down.

I'll be on the lookout at the library for more of his books.