Book recommendations

[Rojak]

DH has just been given £80 worth of Amazon vouchers and I am hoping to spend of it for him

Looking for some inspiration.

Books I have recently read (in between kids and work)

We need to talk about Kevin (loved this)
The Curious incident of the dog in the night time (loved this)
Empress Orchid (thought this was just ok - don't particularly like this genre)

Previous books which I've enjoyed
The God of Small Things
A Suitable Boy

Would welcome suggestions but not keen on chick-lit.

Thanks

The Shadow of the Wind - fabulous
The Kite Runner - pretty good

hmm... how about the glass palace although I see it takes 4-6 weeks for some reason. V. good and I thought fits with your suitable boy/ god of small things

I have just started reading two lives by vikram seth. It's completely different as it is biographical but quite interesting. I also really enjoyed vikram seth's equal music

I haven't read too much recent stuff as I have soo many books to get through I keep piling them up. For something different to the genres you've mentioned above I really enjoyed my sisters keeper and I have a pile of Jodi Picoult's other books to read....

Have looked up the reviews of My Sister's Keeper and The Kite Runner and they both look good.

Keep them coming - not fussed on whether it's recent or not!

If you've never read The Woman in White then give it a go. It's a great read. And you can buy it for a penny!

Anything by Jodi Picolt also if you want something very amusing and vrey quirky Jasper Fforde

How about Midnights Children (Salman Rushdie) or a newish one called Q&A, can't remember the author. Both set in India & wonderful.

I found Salman Rushdie a bit hard going (but then I was doing Satanic Verses as part of a university text) - is Midnight's Children in a similar vein?

No, I've tried a couple of his others, Grimus, Satanic Verses,etc. & they just didn't work for me but Midnights Children is lovely, bit fantasy, bit history, bit circus (I'm not selling this well am I...),really involving. And if you don't like it then it's only a bit of DH's windfall wasted . It was my favourite before I got to A Suitable Boy. The Q&A ia based on the Indian version of 'Millionaire' but don't let that put you off...

Ooh yes, just remembered A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry and The Raj Quartet by Paul Scott. The Raj is 'stiff upper lip pukka sahib' kinda stuff, but goooooood and heartbreaking in parts. Will take ages to read though but much better than A Jewel in the Crown from 20 years ago on TV.

Check out The Island by Victoria Hislop. I really enjoyed it, thought it was utterly compelling.

"The Kite Runner" - superb

"The Boy Who Loved Anne Frank" - raises lots of interesting questions and "what if"s

Have you read "The Time Traveller's Wife" or "The Lovely Bones"? - have not spoken to anybody who didn't love these 2

Some of Isobel Allende's are well worth a read - her non fiction especailly - one about the death of her daughter "Paula" is an amazing book. Her biography (think it's called "My Borrowed Country") is also very good

Douglas Coupland - cult classics; very 21st century but with an almost spiritual edge

Dead Simple - Peter James - a thriller and a fast paced page turner

"'A brilliant idea, superbly crafted. A terrific page-turner' - James Herbert"

Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky - worth buying the hardback if you can't wait until the paperback comes out next Feb. It is absolutely compelling and touched by the tragedy of the author's life.

Thanks for all the recommendations.

I have given DH a list. Does anyone know the title of a book (saw it on Amazon but can't remember what it's called now) about pushy parents? Think it's supposed to be a humorous look at pushy parents.

Thanks

That would be 'May Contain Nuts' by john O'Farrell, I reckon. It's v funny and so are his others esp 'The Best a Man Can Get'.

Would also recommend The Kite Runner - reading it at the moment and love it. Thought May Contain Nuts was badly written tbh....

If you want something non-fiction, Freakonomics is entertaining.

The latest Douglas Coupland - J-Pod - is good (but I love all his stuff)

May contain nuts - that's the one - kept doing a search under pushy parents on Amazon and coming up with a heap of self help books!

BIL is giving his copy of Freakonomics and I'm looking forward to reading it.