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

[ColonelBrandonsBiggestGroupie]

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!

That is so funny because I picked 'Forever Amber' up in a charity shop the other day then put it down again as it was a bit tattered and they were still asking 2.50 for it. I then came home and stuck it into my Amazon box so I'd remember about it. Wish I'd bought it for 2.50 now!

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet - David Mitchell
The Kindly Ones - Jonathan Littell
England's Mistress - Kate Williams (biog, not fiction)
The White Tiger - Aravind Adiga

Can't get on with Mitchell. Read and really enjoyed White Tiger. England's Mistress looks v good - thank you.

Feeling a bit of lightweight now with my suggestions. Better up my game!

The Patrick Leigh Fermor was on my mental To Read list. Also the Alone in Berlin (given my love of Philip Kerr novels)

Never read the Ackroyd on Frankenstein, but loved the Dan Leno tome (a whodunnit) and started and never finished the ones on Sir/St Thomas More and London

Thought of:

If this is a Man - Primo Levi. A powerful must read
White Mughals - forget who (again sitting on the shelves...)
The floating brothel - Sian Rees (arresting title if nothing else!!)
The historian - Kostova (sp?) and obv. Dracula
Middlesex - Eugenides (thinking of the history angle...)
Laurie Graham's Gone with the Windsors, and The importance of Being Kennedy (ditto on the history angle)
A place of Greater Safety - Mantel (couldn't start it, in all honesty but it's BIG)
Between Silk and cyanide: a code maker's war - Marks (he worked in SOE)
The bolter - Frances Osborne - for the rich are different angle
Wide Sargasso Sea - not big, not historical but good
Cannery Row - Steinbeck - ditto

Oh dear - haven't really upped my game much. I read to relax and tune out, so heavy duty stuff doesn''t much appeal at the moment. Hope these might lead you to some titles or authors, or further recommendations.

Very intrigued as to what you will read next!

Thank you. :)

Read:
White Mughals - it's Giles Milton iirc
The floating brothel - quite interesting but she had to use quite a lot of superficial stuff to pad it out
The historian - Kostova (sp?) and obv. Dracula - read both / love both
Middlesex - Eugenides (thinking of the history angle...) - read and liked but liked his debut, The Virgin Suicides, even more
The bolter - read and liked
Wide Sargasso Sea - read
Cannery Row - read all of his I think

Will never read another Hilary Mantell again. Wolf Hall annoyed me and Beyond Black was so crap I wanted to burn it.

Googling the others - thanks again.

Also, have a look at the Otori trilogy by Lian Hearn. It's a historical fantasy set in ancient Japan, but not Japan iyswim.

Across the Nightingale Floor - part one, took me a little while to get into but absolutely loved it.

Grass for his Pillow - part two and I'm nearly finished.

Brilliance of the Moon - part three and next on my list.

Read them - adored them!

DH was wondering why I was typing so furiously and asked what I was doing. His recommendation is The Last Journey of William Huskisson - Simon Garfield. It's about the Liverpool - Manchester railway, but don't let that put you off. Lots about the politics and historial background.

Jenny Uglow - Lunar Men? nineteenth century - check. However I can't get into it and DH abandoned it as to slow!

Forgot about Agent Zig-zag and Operation Mincemeat. Former is a fab read - rolls along and is almost incredible.

Think I better stop with the recommendations now! Good luck with your next read.

Don't stop! I've read as much of the Lunar men one as I could cope with. The railway one sounds very me, so thank you to your dh! :)

You might want me to stop because a quick look at my Good Reads pages has reduced me to Jojo Moyes, Elinor Lipman, Kate Atkinson, Mavis Cheek et al. Probably not your bag I'm guessing.

I read an Ariana Franklin (Mistress of the Art of Death) historical crime, which although it rolled along did leave me wondering how the main protagonist avoided the ducking stool. Check the synopsis on Amazon and you'll see what I mean.

Do you like humourous books? Bill Bryson (loved Life and Times of the Thunderbolt kid) or Paul O'Grady's autobiog. I never watch Paul O'G on the telly, but loved his recounting of his life in Birkenhead. Great stuff. I acknowledge that they were both very quick reads.

Have read and loved all of Bryson's and have enjoyed to a differing degree all of the 'Mistress Of The Art Of Death' series so far. Can't be doing with Kate Atkinson and absolutely no to mavis Cheek and Paul O' Grady! Thanks again though.

Have you read Shadow of the Wind?

Tried and failed with it.

Mary Doria Russell - The Sparrow.

two recent good reads....

The 19th Wife - David-Ebershoff

five people you meet in heaven - mitch albom

I liked The Five People You Meet In heaven and didn't like The Nineteenth Wife. Will google The Sparrow, thanks CR.

A Fine Balance by Rohintron Mistry. One of the best books I have read. Infact it was over 8 years since I last read it. Think it's about time to read it again!

Doh Rohinton

Have you read Harry Thompson's "This Thing of Darkness"?

NEIL GAIMAN!!!!!

Fabulous fantasy writer.... I recommend Anansi Boys and American Gods (it's all steeped in legends and Pan, Odin and Anansi himself make appearances)

I read Neverwhere- was so hooked that I got his entire back catalogue read within 4-5months. Great fun reading.

second Alone in Berlin...

Have you read any Anya Seton? I was addicted a bit as a teenager! Katherine, for example, is about Katherine Swynford (who married John of Gaunt). If you like medieval, I really enjoyed Alfred Duggan's "God and my Right" about Thomas a Becket and Henry.

If you want a really really big book - Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell (esp if you also like Neil Gaiman. The latter's Neverwhere changed my experience of the London Underground!)

Also, if you like more recent history, Rosamund Lehmann's novels are readable and thought provoking re life for intelligent girls at the turn of the last century.

Also second Willa Cather - one of my all time fav authors. If you want well written, you can't go wrong with Willa!!

a big yes to Lehmann

Read all of Neil Gaiman's except his graphic novels - like 'American Gods' and 'Anansi Boys' a lot.
Read and loved 'This Thing Of Darkness' and have recommended it to everybody but only persuaded one other person to read it, sadly.
Just couldn't get on at all with Jonathon Strange etc - found it v v boring and then gave up.
Will look at the others - thank you.

I think I've confused people by mentioning history though - most historical fiction I can't stand, especially anything that might be deemed 'family saga.' I need a bit of mystery in it too, hence the CJ Sansom. Can't be doing with most of the Philippa Gregory-esque heaving bodice stuff.