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Recommend me some new books please!

7 replies

letsblowthistacostand · 28/08/2010 22:25

Do you ever feel like you've read everything? What am I missing?

Authors I've liked:
PG Wodehouse
JK Rowling
Tolkien
CS Lewis
Terry Pratchett
Agatha Christie
Dorothy Sayers
Margaret Atwood
Dickens but only Bleak House & Great Expectations
Charlotte Bronte
Emily Bronte
Jane Austen
Noel Streatfeild
Kate Atkinson
Janet Fitch
LM Montgomery
Louisa May Alcott
Toni Morrison

I tried the Twilight series but OMFG. Have just finished reading Harry Potter again and am slowly collecting all Noel Streatfeild books I can find on the internets. Any suggestions before I read Apple Bough for the 40th time?

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KurriKurri · 28/08/2010 23:54

Looking at your list, you like quite a few authors that I like so I can make a few suggestions based on that.

Daphne Du maurier
Josephine Tey
Robertson Davies
Ian McEwan
Pat Barker
Sebastian Faulks

Nicholas Nickleby and Little Dorrit for further Dickens.

George Eliot (esp. Silas marner and Millo n the Floss)

Elizabeth Gaskill (North and South, Wives and Daughters.)

Also I'd recommend literature map to give you more ideasSmile

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Jaybird37 · 29/08/2010 00:12

Hmm, let me think

There is some historical stuff in there, so possibly Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson. A historical novel that is fabulously complicated and packed full ideas. I loved it, but I have to warn you that it is one of those books that you have to take time to get into - I nearly gave up but was so pleased I persevered. Neal Stephenson is actually known as a science fiction writer, so that covers the Terry Patchett/ JK Rowling side.

On the historical side, how about Anna Karenina, which is wonderful, Precious Bane by Mary Webb or Someone at a Distance by Dorothy Whipple?

For the romantic, Louisa May Alcott side, I would recommend A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth.

And then there is the feminist stuff - the Toni Morrison/ Margaret Atwood bits - Telling Liddy by Anne Fine, Helen Dunmore (The Siege or A Spell of Winter), When I lived in Modern Times by Linda Grant or Maggie Gee.

To lose yourself in foreign lands can I add Winters Bone by Daniel Woodrell and Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name by Vendela Vida. Daniel Woodrell is also a good choice for detective stories.

For the Noel Streatfield/ children's literature side, I would suggest Goodnight Mr Tom by Michelle Magorian, Northern Lights by Philip Pullman (obvious I know), Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster, and I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith.

PG Wodehouse is one of a kind I am afraid.

Finally a wild card but a completely extraordinary book that is beautifully written and deals really intelligently with moral contingencies is The Cap or the Price of a Life by Roman Frister.

Hope there is something in there which you have not read yet.

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FreddoBaggyMac · 29/08/2010 07:54

I'm a fan of pretty much all of the authors on your list, and I would recommend the last two books I've read: 'The help' by Kathryn Stocket (takes a couple of chapters to get into it but then unputdownable) and 'The legacy' by Katherine Webb. 'The thirteenth tale' by Diane Setterfield is also a good read.

'The hunger games' by Suzanne Collins (and sequels)and 'The Declaration' by Gemma Malley (and its sequels) are young adult books which can be very much enjoyed by older adults imo!

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tillyfernackerpants · 29/08/2010 08:35

Hmm, I like quite a few authors on your list as well. I also like Isabel Allende - she does historical (Zorro, Island Beneath the Sea) as well as I suppose what you could call a fantasy series (City Of the Beasts, Kingdom of the Golden Dragon, Forest of the Pygmies)

Perhaps an obvious one is Alexander McCall Smith - the Ladies Detective agency is a nice read, haven't tried his others yet but plan to.

Kate Atkinson - Behind the Scenes at the Museum, Case Histories, When Will there be Good News

Hope that helps Smile

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letsblowthistacostand · 30/08/2010 11:35

Thank you very much ladies! I am off to the library with a new list!

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JeffVadar · 30/08/2010 16:38

I think you would like Margaret Kennedy too. Her most famous book is the Constant Nymph, but she has written several others too.

Also, Emma Smith, Maidens Trip - a very funny novel based on her experiences on a barge as a Womens Voluteer worker during the war.

You could also give Barbara Pym a go too. She was writing during the 1960 I think but she is (was) known as the 20th century Jane Austen.

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edeluna · 30/08/2010 20:54

I loved Sarah Waters's Fingersmith. Couldn't put it down. The plotting was just incredible and, as far as I could tell, flawlessly executed.

Also flew through Patrick Ness's The Knife of Never Letting Go, the first in a YA fantasy trilogy. Not perfect (one of the main premises sort of bugged me - but maybe it will be made more plausible in the remaining two installments), but it's very creative and wildly paced -- very hard to put down.

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