Recommend some really great books (fiction/nonfiction) OUTSIDE my usual comfort zone

[franch]

Just heard Tim Smit (the Eden Project social entrepreneur) talking about the 'gang rules' of his company, one of which is to read 2 books (also go to 1 concert, 1 play and 1 movie) outside your normal sphere of interest, every year. I thought this was a great philosophy. To be absolutely honest I"m struggling to read 2 books within my sphere of interest a year at the moment, but would like to start a list of books beyond my comfort zone anyway, to spur me on.

Bit tricky this as you don't know me, but my comfort zone includes:
literary fiction - I'm an Annie Proulx / AS Byatt / Martin Amis / Raymond Carver type, if that makes any sense
very little non-fiction, but I guess most of my interests are fairly 'soft' / 'feminine' / 'artistic'

I know nothing about:
most of the arts beyond literature!
architecture
business
history
religion
science
politics
philosophy
geography
sport

I never read:
crime
sci fi
fantasy
horror
romance
'genre' fiction in general

Can you recommend anything good, then, that might stretch me a bit?

I'd recommend Patrick Gale and Armistead Maupin - they both happen to be gay writers but I wouldn't classify their work in a gay fiction genre...

Poppy Z Brite is fabulous

How about Alison Weir's biography of Eleanor of Aquitaine ('By the Wrath of God, Queen of England')

the truth about kevin - very eye-opening/odd

the haunting by shirley jackson- literary masterpiece

catcher in the rye - only if you didnt butcher it at school already

stephen king/dean koontz are always fun

for the equivalent of a horror tabloid anything by richard laymon,

memoirs of a geisha

nocturnes - a collection of very well written short stories with a scarey twist, highly recommended sorry cant remember authors name will google...

Truman Capote In Cold Blood is very good and a good snapshot of that period in the US. Plus has a story.

Wild Swans by thingy do dah about China and life through the revolution.

Freakonomics is a good read and as its about economics classes as outside any sane persons comfort zone

For a film try The Smartest Guys in The Room - its the Enron story and its fab.

oh and I loved the Michael Palin diaries. really interesting.

John Connelly wrote Nocturnes, currently from £1.35 on Amazon

for some biblical trans-gender mayhem
and a literary classic beautifully written

The Passion of New Eve by Angela Carter

just one more....Bringing down the house by Ben Mezrich...how 6 students beat the vegas casinos with a mathematical system - fascinating and apparently a real story

'Hidden Lives' by Margaret Forster. Social history/autobiography.

Crime - I still think Colin Dexter/Morse is great.

I second in cold blood, excellent book.
How about Patricia Highsmith?
or jay mcinenary?

History - The Victorians by A N Wilson - very accessible

If you haven't much time to read (I know the feeling) try Katie Fforde - light & fluffy but quite enjoyable, though no-one could accuse her of stretching your mind.
Crime - Ruth Rendell's Inspector Wexfords are quite good or the Jeffrey Deavers with Lincoln Rhyme - they made a film of one of them, The Bone Collector - (I find Deaver's other ones a bit weird). Michael Connelly is also good (US detective Harry Bosch).
For a real stretch try A Suitable Boy by Vikram somebody - it beat me, though I tried not to let it.

Biography is a great genre to start on if you normally only read fiction. I'm reading Bess of Hardwick by Mary Lovell at the moment. Also G I Jews by Deborah Dash Moore is about about 10 American Jews who become soldiers during WW II to fight Naziism in Europe.

The historian is good.

John Wyndham - Day of the Triffids, The Kraken wakes.

As history books go 'Reformation Europe's Houses Divided 1490-1700' (Diamaid MacCulloch) is quite a good read.

What a fantastic idea!

Okay - books -
Stephen King if you want something light-ish but different to normal

Bill Bryson for non-fiction - and if you want to go as far as "Science" type things his "Short History Of Nearly Everything" is pretty readable

Fantasy - have you read "The Lord Of The Rings"? If not, I'd be inclined to start with that.

None of these are "Literature" but they are all pretty well written and gripping.

I'm going to try this - perhaps I could add food to it as well? Eg: I've never eaten Caribbean food before so really should try that.

For history, I'd second Alison Weir's Eleanor of Aquitaine, and also recommend Antonia Fraser - her Mary Queen of Scots is good, and so is the biog of Guy Fawkes (called 'Gunpowder' iirc.

For sci-fi/fantasy (and I don't normally do genre fiction either) you could try Alistair Gray's 'Lanark' which is a most marvellous book, especially if you've ever been to Glasgow.

And how about 'The Moonstone' for a first foray into crime - I believe it counts as the first detective novel, doesn't it? And rather fab. Also 'The Woman in White'.

Finally, I'd recommend Gombrich's 'The Story of Art' as an introduction to Art - a really fabulous book.

Have fun.

Crime - definitely the master James Ellroy. The Black Dahlia, Clandestine, LA Confidential. Best ones are American Tabloid and then The Cold Six Thousand(sequel) - a fictional account of the JFK assasination, Bobby Kennedy, Jimmy Hoffa, the cuban missile crisis, the mafia, marilyn etc etc. It's written so well I sometimes quote it like it's really history.

Wow - great response everyone - thanks

OK, I'd judge the suggestions so far as:

Within my comfort zone (but really exciting suggestions!):
Maupin & possibly Gale (though I'd like to read both - have seen the Maupin TV series and am a fan of Michael Cunningham et al
We Need to talk about Kevin (is that what you meant voodoo?) - I was planning to read this & def will now
Catcher in the rye - love it
Memoirs of a geisha
Truman Capote - have been listening to In Cold Blood on R4, loving it - hope to read
Wild Swans (tho I'm not sure I ever finished it ...)
Angela Carter - tho the book you mention sounds challenging and very attractive
Highsmith - contradicting what I said, I know, but loved the Ripley film and understand she's a great writer - def hope to read
Suitable Boy - read it, loved it (pre-kids of course )

Striking out:
Poppy Z Brite - I'm very intrigued
Alison Weir - perfect
Shirley Jackson - sounds great
stephen king/dean koontz - I feel nervous ...
Laymon - horror tabloid??? Sounds horrendous!
Nocturnes - v promising
Freakonomics & Bringing down the house - exactly the sort of thing I had in mind!
Michael Palin
Hidden Lives
Morse - very much not my kind of thing!
AN Wilson - great choice
Katie Fforde - again very not me!!
Rendell et al
Jay McInerney - sounds great
G I Jews sounds fascinating - can't find on amazon tho?
Bess of Hardwick
John Wyndham (read triffids at school, agh)
Diamaid MacCulloch - oh my goodness, go easy on me

What a FABULOUS list - thank you so much!!!

Ooh, more posts! OK:

inside:
Moonstone & Woman in White - but good ideas
Bryson - have read one

outside:
James Ellroy - good idea
Alistair Gray - eek - I'm from Edinburgh - remember being repelled by Gray at school!
Gombrich - excellent suggestion tho I have read it (I don't always play it safe )
Stephen King - he does scare me a lot!!!
Short History of Nearly Everything - great suggestion
Lord of the Rings - have deliberately avoided all my life

And janeite - you must must must try Caribbean food (DH is Jamaican so I would say that ). Where do you live?

I know I've contradicted myself on Bryson

I always recommend this but I think it's a fabulous book, the humour sneaks up on you and in essence it's very political in a way that is incredibly familiar to anyone who remembers the Thatcher years
What A Carve-Up! by Jonathan Coe
I have recommended it so many times on Mn but I don't think anyone has ever taken me up on it!
Might be slightly inside your comfort zone, though.
Good political ones are Hard Work by Polly Toynbee (whom I generally loathe but this book is worth reading imo) and v similar but American, Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich.
Excellent book on female biology with a feminist-lite slant is Woman:An Intimate Geography by Natalie Angier.
Dress Your Children In Corduroy And Denim by David Sedaris for humour.

I second what a carve up, excellent book. I'm also , having realized how I spelt Jay McInerney ! (go for it, all these American writers have all been inspired by Carver, whom I love)

for a thriller / sort of what happened crime book, try michael collins, th ressurectionists. my typical reading looks v. similar to yours, franch, and i rally enjoyed this bokok. Someone earlier recommended angela carter, and she is fab, the passion of new eve is great but crackers, so if you want to read it try her book the magic toyshop, first, to ease you into her writing to then tackle the passion of new eve. if you want to tackle a gruesome crime, try mo hayder's birdman or tokyo. very gruesome but worth sticking with!

and if you want a book that's really hard work, try 'and the ass saw the angel' by nick cave, or 'rasputin, the last word' about that crackers (russian?) monk from years go by. i can't crack either of them!