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Original poster

If I tell you some books I have loved, can anyone recommend something I would like?

81 replies

BlameItOnTheBogey · 07/03/2009 15:10

Books that I have most enjoyed are; To kill a Mockingbird, Catcher in the Rye, 1984, A Town Called Alice. YOu get the picture. I really want to read a Good book. Not one that is forgettable as soon as you put it down.

Any suggestions?

OP posts:
janeite · 07/03/2009 19:47

The Wrong Boy is great fun, especially if you happen to be a Morrissey fan!

Hi Fidelity or About A Boy by Nick Hornby (don't bother with his others as they are rubbish!)

I'm a huge fan of Jane Austen so think you should give her another chance.

You may well like The Road by Cormac McCarthy or The Handaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, both of which are in a 1984-ish distopia vein.

Echo the recs for On The Beach and Steinbeck.

popsycal · 07/03/2009 19:46

do you like graham greene?

just glanced down the thread - not read our man in havana - may treat mysef to that....

popsycal · 07/03/2009 19:45

just glanced at recent posts - would second Steinbeck

popsycal · 07/03/2009 19:44

captain correllis mandolin if you havent read it
birdsong - same author

popsycal · 07/03/2009 19:43

some more from me
great gatsby
mansfield park
love in the time of cholera
the wrong boy by willy russell (a light read buyt i loved it)

oh you have to read owen meany

brimfull · 07/03/2009 19:42

it's fun isn't it
agree that it can be a bit wrong sometimes though

Nighbynight · 07/03/2009 19:41

Nope, sorry I give up. Patrick Sußkind is the nearest author to Enid Blyton

the only thing they have in common is that I loathe them both

HumphreyCobbler · 07/03/2009 19:39

ggirl that map is brilliant!

thanks

DeeBlindMice · 07/03/2009 19:38

Either the Grapes of Wrath or East of Eden by John Steinbeck, based on your previous.

You won't forget either, they are both brilliant. GoW is particularly apposite right now. East of Eden you can lose yourself in.

I also loved the Corrections, and Rachel's Holiday.

fishie · 07/03/2009 19:36

iris murdoch
evelyn waugh

Nighbynight · 07/03/2009 19:34

That literature map thing is fascinating - but some of the links are dodgy.

Marian Keyes is linked to Sophie Kinsella

BlameIt - another suggestion - Rachels Holiday by Marian Keyes if you havent already read it. Account of recovering from drug addiction, wrapped up as chicklit.

brimfull · 07/03/2009 19:33

A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry

TotalChaos · 07/03/2009 19:32

The Song as it is Sung by Justin Cartwright.

Blu · 07/03/2009 19:30

The Human Stain, Philip Roth.
The Rotters Club and The Closed Circle, Jonathon Coe

Original poster
BlameItOnTheBogey · 07/03/2009 19:29

x post with more people. Night nope haven't tried Boyle so will look at that too. ggirl, haven't clicked on your link yet but am really hoping it's going to give me loads of brilliant suggestions, so thanks v much!

OP posts:
Original poster
BlameItOnTheBogey · 07/03/2009 19:27

You see Our Man in Havana is one of those brilliant books that once you have read it you feel sad because you have finished it and can't ever read it for the first time again. The others I don't know and am adding to my list to research on amazon. Have read Birdsong and I did like it, but I didn't really love it.

Thanks for the recommendations though.

OP posts:
brimfull · 07/03/2009 19:27

al the authors closest to the middle are the most similar

brimfull · 07/03/2009 19:26

try the literature map it's fab

Nighbynight · 07/03/2009 19:26

Have you tried TC Boyle?
The Tortilla Curtain is brilliant.

also Dostoevsky.

SweetestThing · 07/03/2009 19:25

Birdsong by Sebastian Faulkes - superb

TotalChaos · 07/03/2009 19:23

Brave New World by Alduous Huxley

The Third Man or Our Man in Havana or The End of the Affair by Grahame Greene

Peyton Place by Grace Metallious

The Robber Bride or The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky

Small Island by Andrea Levy

Original poster
BlameItOnTheBogey · 07/03/2009 19:10

Oooh good more recommendations. Yes have read the Kite Runner and a Thousand Splendid Suns. Both are really fabulous and made me bawl. I haven't read Time T's wife and might look that up for my next read. I never really got on with Jane Austen for some reason. Cold comfort farm I have heard of and will also look up (and I clearly need to look at other N Shute's as well). Thanks so much for taking time to reply. I love reading and it's so hard to find a truly brilliant book.

OP posts:
mazzystartled · 07/03/2009 19:09

Tender is the night is fabulous
If not now when? by Primo Levi
The Corrections by Jonathan Frantzen

Have to say that I thought the Time Traveller's Wife was a steaming pile of hokum tho

Hassled · 07/03/2009 19:04

I second The Time Traveller's Wife - but be prepared for some serious sobbing.

Have you tried Jane Austen? You get used to the language within a couple of pages and they are great reads.

And I can't recommend John Le Carre often enough - he's a superb writer.

And some F Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby or Tender Is The Night for starters.

HumphreyCobbler · 07/03/2009 19:04

Round the Bend is my favourite Nevil Shute by a very long way.

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