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Can anyone recommend a book or writer not mentioned recenty in Adult Fiction?

56 replies

mmack · 20/06/2014 18:22

I'm an avid reader and I've read a lot of the books that have been recommended on threads here recently. I've read most of the old and modern classics too. Would anyone like to recommend something obscure or forgotten? Any genre.

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kaxter · 26/07/2014 21:49

I read Rachel Dupree a few months ago and while I really enjoyed it I was a little disappointed, I thought it ended very quickly - although it was the ending I wanted!

Willy Vlautin writes very sparsely and simply, and a couple of his books come with a kind of soundtrack on CD. I've heard him interviewed on the radio and he sounds like a good honest soul.
I'm really enjoying all the suggestions on this thread. Holiday coming up and I have a good list of books to choose from to bring with me now.

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mmack · 26/07/2014 21:21

Kaxter, Willy Vlautin looks very promising. It's a double recommendation for me because I love country music so I must also investigate his band on youtube.

Also, if you like My Antonia I would highly recommend The Personal History of Rachel Dupree by Ann Weisgarber. It's about a black family who settle in the South Dakota Badlands in the early 1900's.

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kaxter · 26/07/2014 20:36

I've been watching this thread and taking notes - My own suggestions include:
Willy Vlautin- 'Lean on Pete'
Chaim Potok 'My Name is Asher Lev'
Willa Cather 'My Antonia'
I also love Wallace Stegner, he was mentioned earlier. Angle of Repose is a beautiful novel, I should read it again. At the moment I'm reading 'Winter in Madrid' by Sansom. Its good but I'm not fully invested just yet. Maybe it's the heat..

ShooterMcGavin · 25/07/2014 16:28

Thanks mmack, I will check those out, as well as The Way the Crow Flies. Looking forward to discovering some new authors - it's easy to get stuck in a rut with reading so all these suggestions are wonderful.

7Days · 25/07/2014 15:59

I agree about Brooklyn too - would be dismissed as chicklit if an unknown woman had written it

Though I liked the turnaround for Eilis, that being the rebel and following her heart led her to the conventional small-town sensible path.

I've just started the Merrily Watkins series by Phil Rickman, supernatural crime similar to the Connolly books above. Set in a small English backwater though. Very entertaining

Original poster
mmack · 25/07/2014 15:26

Have you read A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing? I feel like I should read it but am worried I'll find it very heavy going.

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DuchessofMalfi · 25/07/2014 12:34

I know what you mean about Brooklyn, mmack. Lovely story, but quite lightweight. Wondering whether his next one will be like - due out in Autumn I believe.

Quite liked The Story of Before by Susan Stairs also. Another sad tale. Bit of a pattern forming here :o

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mmack · 25/07/2014 11:36

Shooter, Child of My Heart for Alice McDermott and Sanctuary by Jane Urquhart. East of Eden is one of my favourite books ever. Also, have you read Ann-Marie MacDonald The Way the Crow Flies? I think you would love it.
Duchess, I like contemporary Irish fiction too. Sebastian Barry would be my favourite of the ones you mention. I liked The Blackwater Lightship much more than Brooklyn. I don't think that Brooklyn would have been as critically acclaimed if someone other than Colm Toibin had written it. I also enjoyed the first few Benjamin Black books-John Banville's crime novels. My favourite Irish novel of the last few years would be City of Bohane by Kevin Barry. I've never met anyone else who has read it though.

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Panicmode1 · 25/07/2014 08:30

I've just read Someone at a distance by Dorothy Whipple, which I loved. It's a fairly simple story but her characterisation was wonderful ( I thought!).

DuchessofMalfi · 25/07/2014 05:47

Restoration is wonderful, as is its sequel Merivel. Definitely must reads. Sir Robert Merivel is incredible - at times bawdy, downright filthy, and at others wise, funny, clever. And absolutely unforgettable. They were books I just didn't want to end.

I read quite a few contemporary Irish novels, and particularly liked John Banville's The Sea. The writing is exquisite. Also recommend Donal Ryan - The Spinning Heart, and The Thing About December, Sebastian Barry's The Secret Scripture (sad, but beautiful), Colm Toibin - any of his books really but Brooklyn is good one to start with, The Blackwater Lightship for a more serious subject - very sad but was unputdownable.

ShooterMcGavin · 25/07/2014 02:06

mmack That's a hard question. I have really enjoyed Rose Tremain, The Colour and Restoration - actually, Restoration is great and I would venture to say a must read. An engagingly complex protagonist and very funny and unexpectedly moving story set in the Restoration period.

Others...

Donna Tartt
Haruki Murukami
Steinbeck (esp East of Eden)
Jonathan Franzen
Toni Morrison

I could probably list 50 more to be honest!

I have googled your other authors, can you recommend one specific novel each from Alice McD and Jane Urquhart?

hotdrinkandaliedown · 25/07/2014 01:55

Oh Wallace Stegner is AMAZING. Such powerful writing while being an amazing read. Every sentence so beautifully constructed. I also recommend The Spectator Bird.

Agree with Haruki Murakami, too. Norwegian Wood is one of my favourite ever books. So weird and cool.

MsUumellmahaye · 24/07/2014 22:29

Leon uris and agree with wally lamb.

Quangle · 24/07/2014 21:30

shooter I had never heard of Wallace Stegner but Justin Webb (who I love) chose one of his on R4's A Good Read (which I also love). It sounded v compelling so am going to look out for it now.

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mmack · 24/07/2014 14:14

I read The Inn at Lake Devine by Elinor Lipman last weekend and it was so enjoyable. It's very funny and well written. I couldn't compare it to anything I've read before-the thing it is closest to is probably a good Woody Allen movie. Thank you to the people who recommended her.

I think I'm with Capitola on the subject of Mitch Albom. I read Tuesdays with Morrie and I thought it was very shallow and clichéd. But I'm probably cynical from reading too much Lionel Shriver.

Shooter McGavin, I had never heard of Wallace Stegner before but he looks like my kind of writer. Who are your other favourites?

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ShooterMcGavin · 24/07/2014 04:25

Wallace Stegner, an American great. (1903-93) Writes so beautifully that I want to weep. Tackles being human - relationships, growing older, the rise and fall of life...

Try:

Crossing to Safety
The Angle of Repose (Pulitzer winner)

His nonfiction is supposed to be amazing too, but haven't tackled any of that.

I will check out your favourite authors, OP. I also love Wally Lamb and Lionel Shriver but don't know the others.

Capitola · 24/07/2014 03:45

Yy to Alice Hoffman.

God I loathed that 5 People you meet in heaven!

Badly written, schmaltzy & simplistic. Had I not been on a plane, I would've lobbed it out of the window.

Leicslad · 24/07/2014 02:56

Mitch Albom
The Five People you meet in heaven.

Amazing book.

minsmum · 16/07/2014 19:51

Thanks I will try the Dovekeepers. I am currently reading Dissolution by cm Sansom and then have the 4th game of Thrones book to read.

Original poster
mmack · 16/07/2014 13:35

I agree, The Dovekeepers was an amazing book. It would be one of my top 5 for this decade and I think it deserved to win a Pulitzer Prize. My other favourite of hers in Here on Earth. It's a loose updating of Wuthering Heights. I got it from the library when it came out first and I bought it a few years later to re-read and keep for my daughter.

I hadn't heard of We Are Called to Rise before, DaddyorChips, but it looks really good. I think my next book order will have to be this, the new Charlie Parker, a Robertson Davies book and a Russell Banks book.

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daddyorchipsdaddyorchips · 15/07/2014 10:02

I would second Alice Hoffman - especially The Dovekeepers.

Also - We Are Called to Rise - Laura McBride. It's a stunning first novel and was on Simon Mayo's book club last night! Thoroughly recommend it.

hollycomputer · 13/07/2014 20:45

mmack They're so well written, aren't they? I actually think it's hard to do supernatural well but Connolly manages it perfectly. The Wolf in Winter is a bit of a shocker - I don't want to spoil it for you so I won't explain any further. Thing is, I utterly love the books but when you read them in order you start seeing that sooner or later there's an end in sight for Parker. Part of me is desperate to see what happens and part of me doesn't want it to end.

LumpySpacedPrincess · 12/07/2014 16:23

Dorothy Dunnett, she was a wonderful writer.

Branleuse · 12/07/2014 15:36

haruki murakami. Norwegian wood or kafka on the shore

Original poster
mmack · 12/07/2014 15:35

I love the Charlie Parker books too, Holly. I read Every Dead Thing when it came out first and it's still the only book that freaked me out so much that I couldn't sleep. The Black Angel and The Unquiet are brilliant too. I haven't read The Wolf in Winter yet but The Wrath of Angels was very good. It's unusual to read such a long series that has remained so consistent. I haven't read his other books yet-must look out for them.

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