Alright, people (and Missy, who helped me with the last one), I am nearing the end of Prep and I need a new book waiting in the wing the moment I am done with it. (It’s either that or I’ll watch even more television and we can’t have that.)
I’m really enjoying Prep. Prior that, I read Book of Illusions, by Paul Auster. I wasn’t crazy about it at all but I LOVED The Booklyn Follies, which I read right before Illusions.
The Internet helped me out before. Perhaps I should just see the older post? But I thought that maybe someone out there just read something that they want others (like me) to check out, like, right now. So, let ‘em rip. Pretty please?
The Looming Tower! Guests of the Ayatollah! I do recommend more television of the Up series variety.
I want to borrow that when you’re done.
i highly recommend Galatea 2.2 (http://www.amazon.com/Galatea-2-2-Novel-Richard-Powers/dp/0060976926) The description might sound like sci-fi, but it isn’t. It’s a hard book to sell though, so you’ll just have to trust me!
Neil Gaiman- pick one.. pick 2. they are nice and good. Enjoy.
If you want graphic novels read the Sandman series, if you want a nice story that is adventure type and will add to getting freaked out on subways read Neverwhere. The short story collections are very good.
Thanks, folks. I will check them out tomorrow when I visit the bookstore. Chandler, I trust you.
And to all you lurkers… the ones who are reading this and who aren’t making any suggestions… I pinch your tiny heads!
Or do you just not read. Maybe you just don’t read. Are you reading this? Does this make sense?
aquleka kaore I flaro porafleir
That’s what I thought.
At risk of sounding like a broken record..( I think this is the third time I am recommending this book to you) A Fine Balance by Rohinto Mistry.
Meghan
The two books I read last year that had the biggest impact on me were Michael Pollan’s “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” and Nina Planck’s “Real Food.” Now, both of them are obviously food-related non-fiction, so that may not be what you are looking for, but they are eye-opening. They completely changed the way we shop, cook and eat.
Fiction-wise, I just started “The Assistant” by Bernard Malamud, and I am enjoying it.
Meghan, yeah, I know. I’m sorry. Third time’s a charm, though!
I’m currently reading 安徒生童话。 (an tu sheng tonghua). It’s a collection of short tales. The first story (丑小鸭 – chou xiao ya) was an uplifting story about how a misunderstood baby duck grows into a beautiful swan!
Especially given your recent mood, I highly recommend it. All the stories seem to end happily!
No pressure Michele.
I shall de-lurk then… I’d feel guilty otherwise given that I work in a bookshop!
Richard Powers is amazing, but I’d recommend ‘The Time Of Our Singing’ which is definitely not sci-fi, but its one of the most brilliant books I have ever read. You have to have the time and energy for it, though, maybe a better holiday book than one when you’re busy and tired.
Jeffrey Eugenides is good, I’d go with ‘Middlesex’ but ‘The Virgin Suicides’ is also good (and short!)
Arturo Perez-Reverte writes very clever mysteries. I’m just finishing my third one of his books now – I can highly Seville Communion or The Flanders Panel.
“highly recommend”, that is…
Just looked at Prep on Amazon – in a similar vein, perhaps, ‘I Am Charlotte Simmons’ by Tom Wolfe. Don’t let the fact that President Bush enjoyed it put you off.
I am currently reading: How Soccer Explains the world: An unlikely theory of Globalization by Franklin Foer.
http://www.amazon.com/How-Soccer-Explains-World-Globalization/dp/0060731427/sr=8-1/qid=1168531125/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-9469734-5097629?ie=UTF8&s=books
I know it sounds kinda boring and such but it is quite an interesting and easy read. Especially if you like internaitonal soccer. Check it out I have learned a bunch about the history of rival teams, what hooligans go through as they get too old to fight, what it is like for Nigerians players to be the only black players for a team in the Ukraine, etc…..
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson.
I’m not quite done with it yet, but it is very good so far.
hahaha! Totally not from ralph wiggum. the i.d. stayed up from a previous post.
Awwww, it’s Nico’s alter ego!
I’m going to pick up what Ralph suggested as well as Meghan’s suggestion, methinks. That means I have to go to the city, tho. That blows.
Dammit, why does Oprah have to put her stupid seal on everything?
I’m ordering them from Amazon. We’re “prime”. So I can get it next day for nothing. :] So, I think I might get a few more suggested above.
Thanks guys!
I feel like my reputation is now on the line. What if you hate it? Will I be banned from Mihow.com?
M
did you ever get norwegian wood? or was that someone else who didn’t have it? i forget. i can’t give any suggestings, all i seem to read these days are textbooks and what kathleen calls “nerd books” (math, physics and electronics) ; )
I’d like to recommend “Lamb” by Christopher Moore.
I just got Gilead for Xmas. Housekeeping by her was brilliant.
i second ‘norwegian wood.’
I agree with jenblossom. Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan was powerful. I also was really affected by the Botany of Desire by the same author.
My favorite fiction author right now is Haruki Murakami. Really ANYTHING by him, short stories or novels. Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, Kafka On The Shore, and Wind-up Bird Chronicle are probably his most popular books. OK, and Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino is a must-read.
And I recently re-read Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich. Which this time, I loved.
Thank you, everyone.
Chandler, for the record, the book you suggested made me feel a little stupid just reading about what it’s about.