can you reccmoned some novels fo me please( esp modern ones)

[CODalmighty]

htink i need bossykate - she likes books i do

ok have liked int he past:
secret history
Mitford biog
piers moron
that zoe heller
margaret forster
isabel allende
last king of schotland

etc

NO chick lit

NO dead babies or kids in horibel circstmancces( is we need to tlak abotu kevin terrible?)
no indian books
no farking grails

Agree - Anne Tyler not chicklit. The one where she walks away from her family is called "ladder of years" and everyone I know who has read it really enjoyed it.

purple monkey - i thought Until i find you was brilliant! one of his (nearly)best!

Right - my offerings are Secret River by Kate Grenville, Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro, Ship of Brides by Jojo Moyes.

sell em to me

Secret River - transportation to and settling of Australia, focuses on one man and his family - presents conflict between settlers and natives in a more subtle and thought-provoking way than usual and Australia itself is haunting. Stunning book.

Remains of the Day - originally read it to teach as an A level text but it's become one of my favourite books. Describes relationship between an emotionally repressed butler and a housekeeper set against backdrop of WW2 - so all these major events are going on round the edges of the novel while the reader is drawn into Stevens' preoccupation with the silver and the napkins, etc. Absolutely gorgeous to read and so so moving.

Ship of Brides - describes English girls (who married Australian soldiers posted over here in WW2) being shipped out to Australia to meet their husbands - barely knowing these men they were crossing the world to join. Fascinating to read and understand a bit more about that period.

Hi I am new on Mumsnet and a bit of a bookwork so I couldn?t resist posting.

The book that I have most enjoyed this year is the Kite Runner. It?s a bit harrowing but genuinely unforgettable.

Ian McEwan is wonderful. In fact I think I am a complete Ian McEwan groupie. If I were ever to meet him, I know I would embarrass myself.

Also Iain Banks. Iain Banks writes some really interesting novels but he also writes some scifi stuff that he publishes under the name Iain M Banks. I love him without the M, but don?t enjoy anything of his with an M in the author?s name.

Someone?s already voted for Margaret Atwood. She's fab, of course. My favourite of hers is A Handmaid's Tale.

A little-known modern(ish) novel that I really enjoyed is Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys. This is a fabulous retake on the madwoman in the attic.

Don't know if you'll like funky but how about Twelve Bar Blues by Patrick Neate? That's not especially well known but I couldn't put it down.

Also Angela Carter. Absolutely anything by Angela Carter. The Passion of New Eve is my all-time favourite. It's a bit surprising and unsettling so not a comfortable read.

Finally I do like Pat Barker and all the Regeneration books which are about WW1. I think of these as being honest books, which sounds ridiculous but I just had a feeling that they weren?t being written to please critics or to further some literary debate.

Definitely agree with any Jonathan Coe (House of sleep and what a carve up my favourites)

John Irving - great - Prayer for OM, Cider House Rules

Daphne Du Maurier - Rebecca def. the best (that I have read so far)

(Quattrocento - I have read and enjoyed TWelve bar blues - have you read anything else by him ?).

Oh, you'd probably like Anne Tyler. Very american, but kitchen sink stuff. Not chicklit, no.

David Mitchell is good, but quite experimental.

What about The Accidental? I loved that one.

I'm enjoying Book of Dave by Will Self atm ... can you stand him?

Oh, and Can We Talk About Kevin isn't a standard Dead Baby book, I don't think. It is gory, but good with it. IMO.

No, Wheelybug, nothing sorry. Should've done really. According to the bio details there is at least one more. His first novel is apparently called Musungo Jim and the Great Chief Tuloku. There may be more now. Hope so.

I am kicking myself for not mentioning DdM. Jamaica Inn. THat's just spifflingly full of blood and thunder. What about The Birds? I only read that really recently - totally unlike the film.

Anything by Rose Tremain. Her books vary a lot in subject matter, but all the ones I have read I have liked, especially The Way I Found Her and Music And Silence.

Just read some great books, Fatwa, and then the follow up. Has anyone read these??

My Cousin Rachel is brill.

The Broken Shore by Peter Temple is very good if an Oz crime novel would float your boat.

If you are interested in the Plath/Hughes saga, I am reading quite a good biog of Assia Wevill, "The Lover of Unreason"

If you want to read more about the Mitfords, there are various separate biogs available of Nancy and Unity.

TALK TALK by TC Boyle. Its really good, guarantee no dead babies.

Its about a woman who has her identity stolen, and tries to track down the thief.