General Literature recommendations

[kathycf]

I think I am stuck in a rut.

I have specific tastes in reading and find myself mostly concentrating on mystery/suspense, horror and fantasy. I have read many classics too, which I suppose are almost in a category all by themselves, regardless of genre.

So, my question is this...I am looking to read some modern "general" books...those that do not fall into my comfort zone listed above. My dad gave me The Girl with a Pearl Earring (I think he thought it was a biography of Vermeer...) and I am going to read that, but I was wondering what else other folks might recommend for me.

a.) Please, no romances.
b.) Nothing terribly "intellectual". I want depth, but this is more of a reading for fun list.
c.) Something fairly modern...written in the past 30 or 40 years or so.

Thank you for your time and (hopefully) numerous suggestions!

[Moira]

I'm going to list a few books by contemporary authors that i liked a lot:

Jeffrey Eugenides - Middlesex; The Virgin suicides
Michel Houellebecq - Perhaps an island
Amelie Nothomb - Hygiène de l'assassin (not sure about the english translation); The Life of Hunger
Pascal Bruckner - The beauty stealers; The Divine child
Salman Rushdie - Fury

I hope they will not dissapoint you.

[Lote-Tree]

a.) Please, no romances.

LOL :-) I was going to recommend millions of Mills and Boons books to you :-)

b.) Nothing terribly "intellectual". I want depth, but this is more of a reading
for fun list.

It is when your intellect is engaged - you don't feel bored :-)

How about Imaginitive Works? Like Life of Pi by Yann Martel?

Or perhaps

God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy?

Regards,
Lote

[Haven]

I think I am stuck in a rut.

I have specific tastes in reading
modern "general" books...those that do not fall into my comfort zone listed above.

a.) Please, no romances.
b.) Nothing terribly "intellectual". I want depth, but this is more of a reading for fun list.
c.) Something fairly modern...written in the past 30 or 40 years or so.

Thank you for your time and (hopefully) numerous suggestions!

Okay this will tick all of your boxes, I promise! First Vol published 1998.

And these books are FUN as well as being incredibly written. You will fall in love with Eliza and half-cocked Jack - sorry will have to read to find out his nomicker origin...

The Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson Vol: 1 Quicksilver. Vol: 2 The Confusion and Vol: 3 The Systems of the World. Okay, stay with me on this one because I know that anyone could 'fall off the wagon' 'cos well it might seem not quite their style... ~BUT you are looking outside your 'comfort zone' but funnily enough these books will be, but they also won't be.

Now I'm going to make this fabulous adventure into the novel boring...basically because this man, Stephenson is so freaking smart, writes like and angel and is like the intellect of a planet: that I can't begin to deliver the wonderful characters that he magically introduces you to.

If you don't read the Cycle you'll never have this most wonderful experience. It's about discovery, science, history, romance, adventure, global travel, humour, enormous characters who interface [or not] with history, monarchy, slavery, foreign travel, the biggest cultural strides in history up to this point, but it is not a history book, it is so much more. Lovers, intrigue, greed, crime: I want to lure you in. Let's see what the publisher says... In the hugely ambitious, profoundly compelling novel, Neal Stephenson bringes to life a cast of unforgettable characters in a time of breathtaking genius and discovery - men and women whose exploits defined the age known as the baroque. Yeah, well yaddah, yaddah, would have liked to say Whew, pretty sexy. Publishers trot out the expected. [no offense to any on this site, just this guy did not do justice, and it is criminal] .Miss this trilogy it and you're the one that is losing out. Trust me.

[papayahed]

Some of my favorites are:

The Eight - Katherine Neville
Angel of Darkness - Caleb Carr
The Alienist - Caleb Carr
KoKo and The Thoat (or the one before it) - Peter Straub
Gates of Fire - Steven Pressfield
The Thin Man - Dashell Hammet

[barbara0207]

The following novels are "general", but full of suspense and rather new:

Frank McCourt, "Angela's Ashes" and "'Tis" (1990s)
Kazuo Ishiguro, "Never Let Me Go" (2005)
Ian McEwan, "Saturday" (2005)

Otherwise I'd second Lotetree, "The God Of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy. I couldn't leave it till I finished.

[kathycf]

Hmm, ok those look intriguing. Summer is going to be filled with books, so please keep me posted about what is good out there.

Papaya, Caleb Carr is very good. I liked both those books of his you mentioned, but I am trying to move away from mystery/thriller type books...at least for a little while. Eventually, I would like to read Hammet, I think The Thin Man was a great movie and as you know I love that time period. I do appreciate the suggestions though, thank you.

Miss this trilogy it and you're the one that is losing out. Trust me.

Ok, Haven you've convinced me!

[Morrisonhotel]

Alasdair Gray's Lanark - it is an absolute masterpiece of modern literature.

[Geoff Shipley]

The first thing that came to mind was Douglas Coupland's Shampoo Planet. Check it out, and see if its something that interests you.

[papayahed]

You might not want to read The Eight. It is a mystery/ Thriller as well, but I can't recommend it enough. It's set in several different time periods, and sort of Davinci code ish but way better.

Also:
Blindness - Jose Saramgo
I am Charlotte Simmons was pretty good (by Tom Wolf)

[Niamh]

Em i'm going to suggest a few Irish authors.
there is one book that i read last year that truely blew me away. That was "Hellfire" by Mia Gallagher. Its about a young girl growing up in Dublins innercity, and the effects that drugs and organised crime has on her life. I had never read a book like that before and it completely amazed me.

Another is the recent duel Irish Book award winner 2007 " The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas" by John Boyne. This is a wonderfully written book based during ww2. The Author wrote the book as if he was a nine year old boy. Quite sad.

The third one is called "Utterly Monkey" by Nick Laird (husband of Zadie Smith). This is quite a funny book about two lads that grew up together in northern Ireland. After many years one moves to london as a lawyer and suddenly his old school pal turns up at his door bringing a lot of trouble with him. Really good. Would actually make a good movie i think!

[Moira]

So, did we convince you?
Did you choose something?

[tudwell]

White Noise by Don DeLillo. Now, I know DeLillo is typically up there with the 'terribly intellectual' people you don't want to read, but this particular novel is pretty straightforward. It's got some big ideas in it, like all DeLillo, but it's terribly funny and has some beautiful writing in it.

And even more so I recommend Jonathan Safran Foer's Everything is Illuminated. It's definitely not overly intellectual and it's very captivating and hilarious and moving and just about any other positive attribute. There's several different stories going on at the same time, so if one doesn't do it for you, there's always another to get excited about.

[kathycf]

So, did we convince you?
Did you choose something?

I am making a list for the whole summer, so I'm not choosing just one. Thank you all for the great suggestions. I am going to be making a trip to the library, list in hand.

[Mark F.]

Paul Auster's "New York Trilogy" and "Oracle Night" - Quick, witty reads.
J.D. Salinger "The Catcher in the Rye" - Great modern classic.
James Ellroy "American Tabloid" - I konw this is crime fiction and you're looking for something more general, but check it out, you may be surprised.