Recommendations again again

[papayahed]

Hey Kids It's that time again!!! Could someone please recommend something light, fun, engrossing, and easy???

And I mean it this time! Nothing that could be considered a classic, nothing russian, and no boy in the stryped pajamas (ehem - Scher).

Please help?

[Scheherazade]

and no boy in the stryped pajamas (ehem - Scher). Awww... Spoil sport!

Have you read that one, though?

:D

[JBI]

The Studhorse Man - Robert Kroetsch.

[Scheherazade]

How about The Wasp Factory (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wasp-Factory-Iain-Banks/dp/0349101779/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240353842&sr=1-1), then?

[Niamh]

How about the Bright Side by Alex Coleman?

[papayahed]

The Studhorse Man - Robert Kroetsch.

Hey! I just read the review you're trying to sneek a classic in!!!:lol:


Recognized as a classic when it first appeared, the novel's status as one of the finest pieces of Canadian fiction has only grown over the last three decades

[papayahed]

How about The Wasp Factory (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wasp-Factory-Iain-Banks/dp/0349101779/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240353842&sr=1-1), then?

Really???


"That's not to say it's a happy book because it most certainly isn't. The Wasp Factory is a darkly twisted first person narrative of Frank, a profoundly disturbed teenager whose principle sources of entertainment are torturing animals and bumping off unwanted cousins."

[Frankie Anne]

Only a few books have made me laugh out loud time and time again. "Don't Stop the Carnival" by Herman Wouk, "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman (I haven't seen the movie) and "Twisted Tales of Shakespeare" by Richard Armour are the first three that come to mind.

[bounty]

papayahed the first thing that popped into my head after reading your post was little lord fauntleroy

although...i suppose that might fit into the classic realm?

otherwise, how about the seven percent solution by nicholas meyer? a sherlock holmes pastiche.

[The Comedian]

Would you consider a graphic novel?

Blankets by Craig Thompson is a wonderful story, beautifully cartooned, and engrossing too. It's not a superhero story, if that kind of thing turns you off.

[annatak]

Stardust (Neil Gaiman)
Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (Sherman Alexie)

[zanna]

Is this read-on-the-beach quality, or higher grade than that? And what is normally your favorite genre? Are there any off-limits genres? (Horror is probably out already, but others?)

[SleepyWitch]

The Xenophobe's Guide (http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_w_h__0_6?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=xenophobes+guide&sprefix=xenoph) to the Germans/ Americans/ English/ French/Dutch....
it's a series of little booklets (~70 pages) about each of these nations. Of course, it's full of stereotypes and gross exaggerations :D
So far, I've only read the one about the Germans and it had me in stitches :lol:

anything by Bill Bryson

anything by Terry Pratchett, er well, the Discworld novels are fun and engrossing, I dunno about light and easy, though.

the Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer



Max and Moritz (http://www.amazon.com/Moritz-Timeless-Classics-Wilhelm-Busch/dp/0486201813/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240383874&sr=1-3) by Wilhelm Busch, 19th century comic strip about the tricks of two rascals. It's written in deliberately silly rhymes. The link takes you to an old translation. There's a more recent one (http://www.amazon.com/Max-Moritz-Other-Bad-Tales/dp/0918736188/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240383874&sr=1-1) but I haven't read it so I don't know if it's good.
Busch is said to be the inventor of the strip comic and apparently there were American versions of his works (Katzenjammer Kids ???)

[Mr Endon]

Hell, I'll just shout out an obvious one: The Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy

AND a personal recommendation of mine: Woody Allen's prose. I've only read Without Feathers, though I'm sure any book will do. Some of his stories are a laugh per sentence guaranteed.

Since you're obviously into literature, you might enjoy this one particularly: http://waitalia.tripod.com/short-uk.html (go on, it'll just take you 5 minutes!)

[Niamh]

The Xenophobe's Guide (http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_w_h__0_6?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=xenophobes+guide&sprefix=xenoph) to the Germans/ Americans/ English/ French/Dutch....
it's a series of little booklets (~70 pages) about each of these nations. Of course, it's full of stereotypes and gross exaggerations :D
So far, I've only read the one about the Germans and it had me in stitches :lol:
I have the german one. :brow: got it for free in work.

The Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer


I agree! She should read this...;)

[Wilde woman]

Hugh Laurie's The Gun Seller

[Michael T]

'Only when I Larf' by Len Deighton who wrote spy novels, history and cook books comes to mind. It may be hard to find but I believe it's worth the effort. It's about three con-artists (two men and a woman) working as a team and is both a bit romantic and very,very funny. The chapters alternate from the point of view of one character to another. It's not too long either.

[manolia]

How about something by John Irving? (Like "The world according to Garp")

[Apocrypha75]

How about some John Wyndham (Day Of the Triffids, The Chrysalids, Midwich Cuckoos) or perhaps the K-PAX trilogy by Gene Brewer (steer clear of the fourth book though!).

[Madame X]

Hmm, curious the number of people who appear quite disinclined to offer so much as a brief annotation as to why their esteemed objet d’art conforms to the demands of the topic at hand. :eek: And the moral to that story is: laziness begets more of the same! :smash: Ah well, sucks for me, I guess. :bawling:

[Scheherazade]

OK, this time it is serious: The Secret History by Donna Tartt (http://www.amazon.com/Secret-History-Donna-Tartt/dp/0449911519).

It is exciting, gritting and humourous at times (black).

I could not put it down.

[prendrelemick]

Terry Prachett's Gnome trilogy ; Truckers, Diggers and Wings. Absolutely superb.