Recommendations from anyone who reads Anne Tyler and/or John Irving please

[Posey]

Last year on holiday I read A Prayer for Owen Meany and loved it. Which of John Irving's other books would you recommend?

Also have read a few of Anne Tyler's and liked them all (except not overly keen on Digging to America). Which was your favourite or recommended Anne Tyler please?

Thank you

another vote for Barbara Trapido.
Loved "Frankie and Stankie" and am part way through "Temples of delight". Fab so far.

I love all the Anne Tylers that I've read but would advise you don't read too many close together or they get very samey.

Carol Shields is also fab.
Anita Shreve - a bit hit and miss. I love most of the modern ones but not the historical ones so much.

Oh and to answer the question

"Ladder of Years" is my fave AT.

Another vote for Carol Shields. "Unless" is great.

Also loved "American wife"

"Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant" by Anne Tyler was my favourite of hers.

Agree about "Frankie and Stankie" by Barbara Trapido.

"Behind the Scenes At the Museum" by Kate Atkinson has a similar feel. NB She always seems to have something about child death/murder/deaths of mothers in her books, I had to give up on one because it upset me...

ohh I love all John Irving as well. Though not Anne Tyler. I loved Carter Beats the Devil by Glen David Gold which I thought was Irving-ish

I love Anne Tyler but once read about 5 in a row and it was like eating 5 chocolate bars in a row...too much. There is only so much familial Baltimore quirkiness and poignancy one can take in a short period. I like Patchwork Planet - and second Saint Maybe, Ladder of Years and Amateur Marriage. All of them in fact.

I came to suggest Jane Smiley as similar to AT - but someone already has... Mavis Cheek I think is in the vein as well albeit British and a bit more...cold.

I love both, especially John Irving.

Can I suggest Rose Tremain? Some of her novels are historical, and some modern. Restoration, The Way I Found Her and The Road Home are all fab.

Owen Meany is my all time favourite book. The Cider House Rules comes a close second. His more recent books aren't as great IMO.

bumpimg this up after loving john irving and picking up an anne tyler bok in a charity shop...

any recommendations for best anne tyer books.

The BookPeople have a very good deal for a set of Anita Shreve books at the moment.

....I love John Irving, too. He would like to see himself as a New England version of Dickens, I think. This isn't a bad reference point in my view..

I've never liked all of them though. Some seem to capture my attention straight away, and others simply do not. I don't know why, as superficially they all seem to be of similar ilk.

...the books that I love included A Son Of The Circus, Widow Of One Year, Garp, and Cider House Rules.

For some inexplicable reason I could never quite get the hang of Owen Meany, or Hotel New Hampshire, despite multiple tries.

...as for Anne Tyler there are a number of her books (as yet unread) gathering dust on the 'to read' shelf. Lots of folk seem to recommend them, hence the slow accumulation of tomes, and the lurking intention to indulge.

Maybe this summer I'll read 'em. Or maybe it'll be Vonnegut or Julian Barnes again.

(for those amongst you who like a bet, I wouldn't put it on Tyler. Just a little inside tip)

i have bought the amateur marriage for my hols once i finish the one i am on