I need a good book to read, can anyone help?

Question

It doesn't need to be fiction, I read all kinds...The setting needs to be Britain, I think and not containing too much romance.

Answer 1

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

It combines history and fiction to tell a really interesting tale, theres lots of travel and adventure and its beautifully written!

Heres a review from Amazon:
If your pulse flutters at the thought of castle ruins and descents into crypts by moonlight, you will savor every creepy page of Elizabeth Kostova's long but beautifully structured thriller The Historian. The story opens in Amsterdam in 1972, when a teenage girl discovers a medieval book and a cache of yellowed letters in her diplomat father's library. The pages of the book are empty except for a woodcut of a dragon. The letters are addressed to: "My dear and unfortunate successor." When the girl confronts her father, he reluctantly confesses an unsettling story: his involvement, twenty years earlier, in a search for his graduate school mentor, who disappeared from his office only moments after confiding to Paul his certainty that Dracula--Vlad the Impaler, an inventively cruel ruler of Wallachia in the mid-15th century--was still alive. The story turns out to concern our narrator directly because Paul's collaborator in the search was a fellow student named Helen Rossi (the unacknowledged daughter of his mentor) and our narrator's long-dead mother, about whom she knows almost nothing. And then her father, leaving just a note, disappears also.
As well as numerous settings, both in and out of the East Bloc, Kostova has three basic story lines to keep straight--one from 1930, when Professor Bartolomew Rossi begins his dangerous research into Dracula, one from 1950, when Professor Rossi's student Paul takes up the scent, and the main narrative from 1972. The criss-crossing story lines mirror the political advances, retreats, triumphs, and losses that shaped Dracula's beleaguered homeland--sometimes with the Byzantines on top, sometimes the Ottomans, sometimes the rag-tag local tribes, or the Orthodox church, and sometimes a fresh conqueror like the Soviet Union.

Although the book is appropriately suspenseful and a delight to read--even the minor characters are distinctive and vividly seen--its most powerful moments are those that describe real horrors. Our narrator recalls that after reading descriptions of Vlad burning young boys or impaling "a large family," she tried to forget the words: "For all his attention to my historical education, my father had neglected to tell me this: history's terrible moments were real. I understand now, decades later, that he could never have told me. Only history itself can convince you of such a truth." The reader, although given a satisfying ending, gets a strong enough dose of European history to temper the usual comforts of the closing words. --Regina Marler

Answer 2

Lots of good reading that takes place in England, or Britain in general. There is a series out there that is called the ADEPT series, but I cannot for the life of me remember the author. Very good reading and enjoyable too. And there doesn't seem to be very much romance in the books either, some, but not alot. If you find the answer, have fun. I think the hero is a Scot nobelman and it is a contemporary type books as it takes place in the now instead of in the past. Other than the Jonathan Gash-Lovejoy books, they are all very good reads. Might have been written by Katherine Kurtz, not sure.

Answer 3

a number of those are from lady perspectives, some may well be somewhat "girly woman" on your liking yet others could be ok. i've got left the two variety on and you will confirm. Meryll of the Stone (Brian Caswell) Picnic at remarkable Rock (Joan Lindsay) Stranger with my face (Lois Duncan) playing Beattie Bow (Ruth Parks) My Sister Sif (Ruth Parks) Hitch hikers instruction manual to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams) Holes (Louis Sachar) Lord of the rings / The Hobbit Eragorn trilogy Narnia The Golden Compass Interview with a Vampire (Anne Rice) Requiem for a Princess (Ruth M Arthur) finding for Alibrandi (Melina Marchetta) Angels Gate (Gary group) Sisterhood of the traveling Pants Pelican's Creek (Maureen Pople) The Diary of Anne Frank To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee) The Shiralee (Dárcy Niland) Into the Wild (John Krakauer) Chocolat (Joanne Harris) Harp interior the South; detrimental guy's Orange; Missus (Trilogy by utilising Ruth Parks) the place the middle is (Billie Letts) My place (Sally Morgan) Little women individuals (Louisa could Alcott) Rebecca (Daphne De Maurier) the three Muskateers (Alexandre Dumas) something by utilising the Bronte sisters or Jane Austen regardless of you do don’t run The December Boys (Robert Noonan)

Answer 4

If you haven't read Neil Gaiman, do it. And the two novels set in America (American Gods and Anansi Boys) are 2 of his best, so don't discount them. No gushy romance (I hate that too). Try Neverwhere, it's in Britain. Neil Gaiman is one of the most talented modern writers, can't be overstated.

Answer 5

There's a new medieval fantasy series in hardcover that you might like. The title of the first episode is THE BLACKGLOOM BOUNTY. It's 445 pages of action, adventure, magic, mystery and mayhem. If you're a fan of Conan, LOTR or Wheel books, this is one you'll enjoy. A Hollywood producer said it was, "Like Braveheart meets Lord of the Rings." (See other comments & reviews below.)

Publishers Weekly said in a rare STARRED Review:

"A fast pace, sly humor, amusing dialogue and a richly researched background lift Baxley's fantasy, the first of a new series set in medieval Britain. When Merlin's long-ago apprentice Kruzurk Makshare (aka the Boozer) receives a dreamlike visitation from the legendary mage, he learns he must destroy another former apprentice, the villainous Seed of Cerberus. To do so will require a visit to the demon-guarded Blackgloom Keep. Enter young Daynin McKinnon, who discovers a curious rune-covered headstone, which may be the fabled Blackgloom Bounty, and brings it to Kruz's attention. Kruz believes it will provide entry into the fortress, while Daynin hopes the sale of the stone will restore his family's fortunes. The colorful cast of good guys and ne'er-do-wells includes the Pictish ghost of Brude McAlpin liberated from his tomb, assorted pursuing Caledonians and a bemused Prior Bede, whose monastery serves as a hiding place for the Blackgloom Bounty. Suitable for fantasy enthusiasts of all ages."

Library Journal said:
"This series opener...is a good choice for fans of epic-style sagas and Scottish history."

Harriet Klausner, Amazon's #1 Ranked Reviewer said:
"This terrific medieval fantasy...will elate readers for its fast-paced, action-thrilled story line starring a strong cast."

Nancy McCulloch, PRWEB Article:
"Two thumbs up for a colorful cast of characters, nonstop, rapid-fire action and compelling storyline!"

Fantasybookspot.com Review:
"Taking place in Medieval Scotland, this tale of magic, adventure and love really captured my attention..."

Blackgloom @ Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1594144...

Online excerpts:
http://the-blackgloom-bounty.blogspot.com/

Answer 6

Iris Murdoch. Try The Black Prince or A Word Child, both set in London. She is excellent at writing about that city.

Answer 7

If you like good quality, well researched historical novels my wife would reccommend anything by Sharon Penman.
Adventure / crime set in England: Robert Goddard.
For a wonderfully funny, far out read - try Good Omens by Terry Pratchett.

Answer 8

i recommend handstands in the dark by janey godley you like memoirs

The story is set in 1960's-70's Glasgow. The East End is protrayed as having near Dickensean poverty in Janey's life. She struggles with child sexual abuse from her uncle and copes with family struggles which are hard to take at times. She has a dog which becomes her constant companion, and grows up to marry into a gangster family who introduce her to a new level of violence.

She witness's her mothers boyfriend rapidly deteriorate and escalate into a deeper violence, this results in her mother's murder. Janey then stays strong working in the family pub, gives birth to a daughter and struggles to yet again keep her family together in the face of violence in a bar where guns and threats can be deadly." oirs.

Answer 9

try "Redcoats" by richard holmes it is the history of the british soldier as told by the soldiers themselves from diary extracts etc
going back to the first proper british arny, the new model army , to the first world war. It is really engrossing and very easy to read for a history book

Answer 10

London by Edward Rutherford