Suggest a book for me to read, bibliophiles!?

Question

I need a good book to read....but hold on!

Please don't say Harry Potter, or Dan Brown
Or teen books
Or sickeningly soppy romance
Or self help books (You can be A Champion too- Become a Winner in ten days....they scare the wits out of me!!!)

I need a good, interesting book, written by sane people for sane people, which makes me feel, "Wow, that was no waste of time!" when I finish reading it.

Something on the lines of Harper Lee, Wole, Nadine Gardiner, ...I loved Catcher in the rye, ...but not the same authors, because I've read most of their works...someone new please.

Thanks a lot.

Answer 1

Tortillia Flats, by John Stienbeck (My favorite book, it really shows what it's like to be down and out, but it's a short book if you don't have much time)
The Cider House Rules, by John Irving (A great story, by a great author, read this even if you've seen the movie, it's unrecognizable)
IT by Stephen King (Another great author who's film adaptation left out almost half the book...probably the most terrifying of King's books, and the most epic in it's heroism)
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry (I didn't care for westerns before this one...richly detailed characters, an epic story, and the ablility to feel what it was like to live in America before it was paved)
Corraline by Niel Gaiman (A children's fantasy, but dark. This is not Harry Potter...by the person who made the "Sandman" comic books. If you like Roald Dahl, you'd like this.)
The Curious Incident of the Dog at Night-time by Mark Haddon (I've never read another book like this one. Truly unique.)
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (What starts of seeming just like teen sci-fi is transformed into something much better by it's deep moral probing..the sequels, which follow the character's adult life are even better, but you have to start at the beginning.)
Wicked by Gregory Macguire (The story of the Wicked Witch of the West is a complex, interesting tale that takes the Oz mythology but expands on it in a way that is anything but childish)
Any Poirot mysteries by Agatha Christie (The genre of the mystery has become cliche'd. But Poirot rises above, because while he does fit many of the cliches, he is such a fussy little Belgian you'll forgive him for it.)

Well, those are some of my favorites, and they are scattered over a wide range of genres. Hope at least one helps!

Answer 2

You said 'good' which rules out Brown, Potter etc: these are the junk food of reading, the Tom Cruise movies that are 'blockbusters' for a few months and utterly forgotten a year later... as you've obviously realised.

Forget the best seller lists and go for the classics: Charles Dickens, George Orwell, Ernest Hemingway, Virginia Woolfe all write in a beautiful lucid style and their theme stand the test of time. For modern authors, I like James Elroy and John Marsden (he is NOT a teen author- despite his publisher pushing him into that niche for the sake of sales) and Tim Winton.

Or you could try some good non-fiction- the Blind Watchmaker by Richard Dawkins, Guns Germs and Steel is written in a rather 'heavy' style for my liking, but is good, or any popular history book (NOT historical fiction!) on a period in which you're interested- Paul Johnson or Eric Hobsbawm are both recommended. Connections by James Burke is also great and will definitely leave you feeling the 'wow' factor.

Happy reading!

Answer 3

Here are some "different" choices, they are all for adults:

1) "Daddy" by Loup Durand (thriller about a child genius being chased by the Nazis in WW2)

2) "Death From the Woods" (a French mystery novel, can't remember the author - the protagonist is blind, mute and parapalegic, and can only move her pinky finger - very original!)

3) "A Gesture Life" by Chang Rae Lee (wonderful book about an Asian man reviewing his life - very dark elements e.g. war, gang rape and murder, adoption and abortion, etc)

4) "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime" by Mark Haddon (a mystery from the point of view of an autistic teen-ager)

5) "Memoirs of a Geisha" by Arthur Golden (the book is very well-written, and much better than the movie - which did not get very good reviews)

6) "Presumed Innocent" by Scott Turow (again, the book was so much better than the movie, the character development was wonderful)

7) If you want some "modern" classics: "Beloved" (Toni Morrison), "Cry, the Beloved Country" (Alan Paton) and "The Good Earth" (Pearl Buck) are a few of my favorites

There are many more suggestions, but those are just a few. Let us know what you pick! :)

Answer 4

Plenty of choice for you here.

12 Angry Men,
A Farewell To Arms,
A Tale Of Two Cities,
To Kill A Mocking Bird,
A Wrinkle In Time,
Catcher In The Rye,
The Slaughter House Five,
Dawn By Elie Wiesel,
Grapes Of Wrath,
Gulliver's Travels,
Death Of A Salesman,
Hamlet,
Frankenstein,
House On Mango Street,
Julius Caesar,
Lord Of The Flies.

We have a wide selection of reports on Oedipus, Profiles In Courage, Of Mice And Man, Pride And Prejudice, Robinson Crusoe, The Old Man And The Sea, The Outsiders, Jurassic Park, The Rainmaker, The Scarlet Letter, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six, Where The Heart Is, Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, Wuthering Heights.

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Answer 5

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

more recently,
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields
The Corrections by Jonathan Franzel

And just in case you haven't read J.D. Salinger's short stories, you have to! Much better than Catcher in the Rye, IMnot-particularlyHO.

Answer 6

Check out, Under and Alone by William Queen.

It's a true story about a A.T.F agent who infiltrates an outlaw gang called the Mongrels, more infamous than the Hells Angels. The book will have you on the edge of your seat.

The story is being made into a movie staring Mel Gibson. So watch out for it.

Read the book, you wont' regret it.

Answer 7

I just finished reading Tracy Chevalier's "Burning Bright" and enjoyed it greatly. Check out her other great works like "The Girl With the Pearl Earring." I'm going to read "The Lady and The Unicorn" next.

Answer 8

I really liked "Midnight in the garden of good and evil" and "the birth of venus." If you're looking for a more intellectual read "the wealth and povery of nations" or "the future of freedom" are great books.

Answer 9

Anything by Zadie Smith.

Answer 10

slaughterhouse five - kurt vonnegut
cat's cradle - kurt vonnegut
of mice and men - steinback
shogun - james clavell
the great gatsby - f scott fitzgareled