can anyone recomend a good easy read book which isnt true to life

[misdee]

maybe soemthing totally obscure.

but not chick lit

def not mis lit.

am feeling very fed up looking at books lately.

all seem to be 'my father sold me for a mars bar and 10 fags' type stories.

havent read a good book in ages.

want something that i wont want to put down.

[sighs]

Sounds good cyteen.

So sorry misdee, I'm taking over your thread!

Just remembered another fun easy read - Milk, Sulphate and Alby Starvation, the tale of a paranoid comic-collecting small time speed dealer who comes to be mixed up with Chinese hoods, Brazilian hitwomen and the Milk Marketing Board. It's excellent.

Love in A Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford.

the belgariad

Easy to read and nice world to immerse yourself in.

misdee if you want to have a look at classics then Homer's 'Odyssey' is quite readable. It's the story of Odysseus's journey home from the Trojan wars - full of monsters and dodgy women either luring you to your death or turning you into a pig.

Very touching when he gets home and sees his old dog and his father.

Any of the Matthew Reilly books. Adventure mission type reads, very fast paced. His latest two, 7 wonders and 6 sacred stones are part of a different series, and sort of indiana jones-ish, but on a save the world scale.

Georgette Heyer

The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford is fab. Strictly speaking it's chick-lit I suppose, but from an era before the term was invented, terrifically well-written and very funny.

I was going to say Georgetter Heyer too.

PG Wodehouse? Saki short stories?

Could your local library recommend anything? They are generally good on popular boooks (i.e. good reads) which don;t make it to the newspaper reviews...

Or there's always YA fiction which is often good - like Ann Brashares' books

www.amazon.co.uk/Sisterhood-Traveling-Pants-Ann-Brashares/dp/0385735766/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&q id=1208789338&sr=8-6

A friend just lent me some books, two of which I didn't think I'd enjoy but actually got quite into

Labyrinth by Kate Mosse and
An Absolute Scandal by Penny Vincenzi(quite chick lit-y though)

I like reading other peoples books-means I read things I wouldn't normally pick up!

Judy Budnitz's IF I TOLD YOU ONCE

a completely literary (award winning) NON chic or fantasy lit, but very whimsical and based in folklore.

Labryinth is good.
have you read memoirs of a geisha? that was a good read!

Loved Labyrinth too. How about The House at Riverton by Kate Morton. Couldn't put this one down.

Another vote for Labrynth!

I love Anne Tyler Books,she's my favourite. Not super 'imaginative', but well written, with characters you really care about.

i've just read Atonement-i thought i expected too much too be honest. It was ok but not really mindblowing- took ages to read too (blush)

I have read "A History of Tractors in the Ukranian" this weekend and it was fab! Very funny (not really what the title suggests)

I literally could not put it down!

Any Tracey Chevalier book is good IMO - especially love Girl with a Pearl Earring, which I could read over and over again.

Also recently read Our Betty by Liz Smith - who plays Nanna in the Royle Family - it was FAB!! Not at all depressing or 'up your own arse'ish as autobiographies go!

Happy reading

Don't understand how anyone can recommend Labyrinth when she says she doesn't want a plot that jumps backwards and forwards.

i have lots of books misdee, you are welcome to come and borrow some

A friend just lent me 'May contain nuts'. Only read the first chapter but it is TOTALLY taking the piss out of up-their-own-arses competitive parents. It raised a smile so if it continues in the same vein it's worth a read.

Message withdrawn

I hadn't heard of him before - will look out for your suggestion if May contain nuts lives up to my expectations!