Something that doesn't drag, is thought-provoking, preferrably with a cartharsis.
2006-08-16 14:22:07 · 18 answers · asked by Picard Facepalm 5 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
Songs in Ordinary Time-Mary McGarry Morris
Plainsong-Kent Harupf
The Jungle-Upton Sinclair
To Kill a Mockingbird-Harper Lee
The Year of Magical Thinking-Joan Didion
We Were the Mulvaneys-Joyce Carol Oates
Haunted-Chuck Palahniuk
Year of Wonders-Geraldine Brooks
Hope these help! I have lots more.........
2006-08-16 15:31:22 · answer #1 · answered by tgob 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have just read what may become my favorite novel (a novella, really). Everyone should go out and give it a try-- Silk by Alessandro Baricco is a very short book (so it doesn't drag) with powerful imagery and writing, and its ending should stir up feelings and your thoughts. I have to admit that the premise put me off at first, but when I peeked at the ending, it got me hooked.
The summary is something like this: in 1860's France, a married silkworm merchant sets off on a series of journeys to Japan to bring back silkworm eggs. In Japan, he meets and falls for another man's mistress. The two fall in love without even speaking to each other or ever physically consummating their relationship, although they come close in a proxy situation. This takes up most of the book, but the ending is what sucker-punched me into loving the story, and also, most importantly, what I think the story's message is about.
2006-08-17 01:54:04 · answer #2 · answered by Cat 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Gods Debris: A Thought Experiment by Scott Adams
Deception Point by Dan Brown
Tenderness by Robert Cormier
Anything by Michael Crichton
2006-08-16 21:37:12 · answer #3 · answered by Trey 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Perhaps The Secret Life of Bees or The Lovely Bones. Flyy Girl's fun. Forged by Fire by Sharon Draper is kind of cathartic, less classifiable as "chick lit" than my suggestions so far...The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri was good. I think any of Orson Scott Card's books are thought-provoking and most cathartic; I've read Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow plus his Women of Genesis series.
2006-08-16 22:19:41 · answer #4 · answered by Huerter0 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Divine Romance by Gene Edwards
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Christy by Catherine Marshall
2006-08-16 21:42:04 · answer #5 · answered by Puff 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mr. Monk Goes to the Fire House
Lee Goldberg
Mr. Monk Goes to Hawaii
by Lee Goldberg
$6.99
Mass Market Paperback
Based on the Hit TV Series
2006-08-17 01:30:43 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.
-thought-provoking with all the catharsis you want.
2006-08-17 01:10:35 · answer #7 · answered by >ScouT< 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The trilogy His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman. It is a modern retelling of Paradise Lost.
2006-08-16 21:33:12 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Magic Men by W. Korol Selley
2006-08-17 02:06:17 · answer #9 · answered by Call Me Babs 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I read "The Stolen Child" about a month ago and highly recommend it.
It meets all your criteria; the story moves, brings up a issues to think about and consider, and the end is thoroughly satisfying.
2006-08-16 21:56:52 · answer #10 · answered by Julie6962 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋