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Original poster

I am desperate and need you all to help me please!

239 replies

ColonelBrandonsBiggestGroupie · 30/04/2011 15:39

I have got one and a half history books left and then I am, once again, bookless. I have been to three different libraries in the last ten days and have failed to find even a single book that I fancied or hadn't read before.

I have some Nectar points to spend, so I could have a bit of an Amazon splurge - but what shall I get?

  1. Favourite writers are Jane Austen and Stephen King
  2. I like v well written fantasy (ie Tolkein) or v well written historical who-dunnit stuff (eg Doyle or Sansom) or quirky history books
  3. I am a snob and get very twitchy about shoddy writing but can't stand overly self conscious crap (step forward Ian McEwan)
  4. I am very, very fussy
  5. I read very, very quickly so the bigger the book, the better

Please help!

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Original poster
ColonelBrandonsBiggestGroupie · 30/04/2011 18:23

I give library books a 30 page trial - if I'm fed up of them at that point, I give up unless I have nothing else to read. I'm afraid that I find reading time at the expense of other things - would go mad without books.

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CointreauVersial · 30/04/2011 18:20

Funny, I have had a signed copy of Atonement on my bookshelves ever since it was published, and I never felt like picking it up. Now I've seen the film (and your comments), not sure if I'll bother.

I also can't tolerate bad writing; if I end up with something trashy by mistake I will speed-read it in literally minutes just to get through it.

I rarely get time to read much nowadays, except for holidays (sigh).

Original poster
ColonelBrandonsBiggestGroupie · 30/04/2011 18:16

Will have a look at The Children's Book - am a sucker for a pretty cover!

CV - I do the same but even worse is reading something and thinking it's rubbish then forgetting and getting the damn thing out again. I did this with Atonement - got about half way through again before I thought how familiar it was and how much I'd hated it!

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CointreauVersial · 30/04/2011 17:52

Grin Well, I know a fellow prolific reader when I see one!

Problem is, I gave up buying books a while back and just get them from the library, so I cannot always recall the good ones.

lalalonglegs · 30/04/2011 17:50

A S Byatt's The Children's Book, fantastically well-written historical novel set between 1890 and 1919, it concentrates on a quite small group of people (middle-class, left-leaning, Arts & Crafts acolytes living in and around Romney Marsh) but manages to take in the full breadth of the period - the morality, the politics, the aspirations. There is quite a big cast of characters but Byatt manages to control all of them so skilfully that you never feel that she has lost her way with them, they are all completely convincing and it is a very thought-provoking book. Just finished it and am tempted to start it all over again.

Original poster
ColonelBrandonsBiggestGroupie · 30/04/2011 17:40

Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow - Peter Hoeg - read it
Captain Correlli's Mandolin - Louis de Bernieres - read it
The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold - read it
The Little Friend - Donna Tartt - read it
The Name of the Rose - Umberto Eco - tried and failed but could try again
The Periodic Table - Primo Levi - will google

Not heard of those so will have a look, Phatcat.

Thank you.

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phatcat · 30/04/2011 17:34

would George RR Martin - 'A Song of Ice and Fire' and Dorothy Dunnett 'The Lymond Chronicles' be up your street. Both have been recommended to me recently and fit your well written historical / fantasy criteria

CointreauVersial · 30/04/2011 17:34

Moving onto smaller volumes, a few more modern classics I've enjoyed (trying to focus on the "good writing" bit):

Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow - Peter Hoeg
Captain Correlli's Mandolin - Louis de Bernieres
The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
The Little Friend - Donna Tartt
The Name of the Rose - Umberto Eco
The Periodic Table - Primo Levi

Original poster
ColonelBrandonsBiggestGroupie · 30/04/2011 17:33

Don't like Anne Tyler. Thanks though.

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Pancakeflipper · 30/04/2011 17:27

Tried any Anne Tyler? Digging to America was great. I have to be in mood for her but if I am it's a treat. Also like Laurie Graham - light hearted page turners.

Original poster
ColonelBrandonsBiggestGroupie · 30/04/2011 17:19

I don't go much beyond Tolkein for fantasy either, except for King's Dark Tower - most modern fantasy seems astonishingly badly written imho.

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Original poster
ColonelBrandonsBiggestGroupie · 30/04/2011 17:18

Thank you. We've got Wild Swans; have read the Alan Bennett. Will google Irene M. Tried and gave up on The Map Of Love.

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CointreauVersial · 30/04/2011 17:15

Well, I had a quick look at the fattest volumes on my bookshelf - can't help with the fantasy bit, as I don't go beyond Tolkein, but maybe move out of your comfort zone and try....

A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
Wild Swans - Jung Chang
Suite Francais - Irene Nemirovsky
The Map of Love - Ahdaf Soueif
Writing Home - Alan Bennett

Original poster
ColonelBrandonsBiggestGroupie · 30/04/2011 17:07

Gah - It is getting worse as I have just finished one of the history books and started the other. I am likely to have nothing at all to read by tomorrow and NOBODY CARES! :)

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