Readers: Any Fiction Reading Suggestions?

TeenaMarina
TeenaMarina Posts: 420 Member
in Chit-Chat
Give me your fiction suggestions please!

Looking for a new book to read... and I would love to hear your suggestions, on books you've read and liked, or are reading right now. Doesn't have to be a new book, and if you could say what kind of book it is, or briefly what it's about that would be helpful. I don't really do vampires or dragons, and I'm not huge on romance unless there's a wacky twist of some kind (or the romance is not the main theme of the book).

My suggested book is "Room" by Emma Donoghue. It's about a woman and her son who are prisoners in a small room. The story is told from the perspective of the 5-year-old boy, who was born in (and grows up in) this single room. Mesmerizing read.

Thanks in advance!!! x
«13

Replies

  • LittleMissNerdy
    LittleMissNerdy Posts: 792 Member
    I really enjoyed most of the Temprence Brennan novels by Kathy Reichs. I think there are 10 books total (maybe more or less). The books are what the show "Bones" is loosely based on but the book has different characters and Brennan is pretty "normal" compared to her "Bones" counterpart.

    They're crime novels for the most part with some romance drama thrown in but it's not overwhelming. I'm not big into romance but it's a nice balance.
  • RH_Brazell
    RH_Brazell Posts: 339
    I like Laurell K Hamilton The Anita Blake series or any of her book really
  • twinmomtwice4
    twinmomtwice4 Posts: 1,069 Member
    Are you a member of Goodreads.com? If not, and you love books, join the site. It's awesome and always recommends fabulous books for me!

    One of my most favorite books that I finished recently is Night Road by Kristin Hannah! I couldn't put it down!!! I also read Firefly Lane and Home Front by her and loved those as well.

    Another favorite author of mine is Diane Chamberlain. You'd probably like The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes. Again, could NOT put it down!!!

    I read Room and while I liked it, I preferred Still Missing by Chevy Stevens. It's a similar story line but told from the viewpoint of the woman who was kidnapped and held prisoner.
  • CaffeinatedConfectionist
    CaffeinatedConfectionist Posts: 1,046 Member
    If you enjoy contemporary mysteries, I really liked Tana French's The Likeness and Faithful Place.

    http://www.amazon.com/The-Likeness-Novel-Tana-French/dp/0143115626/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1332520931&sr=8-1
    http://www.amazon.com/Faithful-Place-Novel-Tana-French/dp/0143119494/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1332520931&sr=8-4

    I also enjoy most anything by Haruki Murakami. It's hard for me to categorize, or even describe, his stories, but its a mix of mundane day-to-day life with bizarre, mysterious, and inexplicable situations. Not for people who enjoy closure, though. I especially liked Dance, Dance, Dance and Hard-Boiled Wonderland

    http://www.amazon.com/Dance-Haruki-Murakami/dp/0679753796/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1332520985&sr=8-15
    http://www.amazon.com/Hard-Boiled-Wonderland-End-World-International/dp/0679743464/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1332520985&sr=8-4

    This Sweet Sickness, written by Patricia Highsmith who also wrote the novel that Hitchcock's Stranger on a Train is based on, is an interesting story about a man who is in love with a woman who lives in the same boarding house, and his graduaal mental disintegration.

    http://www.amazon.com/This-Sweet-Sickness-Patricia-Highsmith/dp/0393323676/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1332521851&sr=8-1

    I also really like Josephine Tey mysteries. They are older (1940s), but unconventional, as several of them aren't your typical whodunnits. Brat Farrar and The Franchise Affair are my favorites.

    http://www.amazon.com/Brat-Farrar-Josephine-Tey/dp/0684803852/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1332521507&sr=8-1
    http://www.amazon.com/The-Franchise-Affair-Josephine-Tey/dp/0684842564/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1332521507&sr=8-3

    You can tell I've been on a mystery kick lately, I guess. That's all I can think of at the moment, but I know there are many, many more....!
  • adamb83
    adamb83 Posts: 719 Member
    Lust for Life by Irving Stone.

    Or visit my book blog. :)http://roofbeamreader.net
  • TeenaMarina
    TeenaMarina Posts: 420 Member
    Thanks, everyone! I'm looking into the books listed. I'll also check out Goodreads! x
  • Meaganandcheese
    Meaganandcheese Posts: 525 Member
    Goodreads is the best.

    I love historical fiction, especially the Outlander and Lord John series by Diana Gabaldon. Also love Pillars of the Earth, the Sookie Stackhouse series, and pretty much anything by Anne Rice.
  • clydethecat
    clydethecat Posts: 1,087 Member
    my favorite book is "cannery row" by John Steinbeck, he also did "east of eden", "of mice and men", "the pearl" and many many others.. he brings you into these wonderfully detailed worlds, he writes clean, every word means something. i just love him..

    also if you're looking for a long read, the "fountain head", by Ayn Rand, is a great introduction to her philosophy of objectivism. basically, we're all responsible for ourselves.. she also has a book called "we the living" it is a short book about her general philosophy, the distinction between we and me.

    i also like George Orwell, "1984" is a great book, but you can get the same idea from the book "animal farm".. thats a great little read that really makes you think differently about whos in charge and what they're doing.
  • TeenaMarina
    TeenaMarina Posts: 420 Member
    I'm a big Ayn Rand fan :) Haven't read any Steinbeck or Orwell since my school days. May be time to revisit some of those old classics!
  • clydethecat
    clydethecat Posts: 1,087 Member
    i love the phrasing and the vocabulary in the old books.. they are so eloquent..

    i just thought of another, "brave new world" by aldous huxley (sp).. its science fiction and social commentary all in one..
  • Meaganandcheese
    Meaganandcheese Posts: 525 Member
    Pride and Predjudice
    Once and Future King
    Bleak House
    Tale of Two Cities

    Go back and look over the reading list you were assigned in high school. I have reread many of those books as an adult and enjoyed them so much more than back then. A new appreciation comes from electing to read things instead of being forced to - and they are classics for a reason!
  • Doreen_Murray
    Doreen_Murray Posts: 396 Member
    If you're in a daring mood...Fifty Shades of Grey. It's total chick porn, but tasteful (eh hem), and all of my girlfriends who are also huge readers like me could NOT put it down. It's on Amazon and the reviews speak for themselves! :bigsmile:
  • ScottyNoHotty
    ScottyNoHotty Posts: 1,957 Member
    If you like horror..try "House of leaves"
  • samanthateal
    samanthateal Posts: 18
    Goodreads is the best.

    I love historical fiction, especially the Outlander and Lord John series by Diana Gabaldon. Also love Pillars of the Earth, the Sookie Stackhouse series, and pretty much anything by Anne Rice.



    love love love pillars of the earth
  • TeenaMarina
    TeenaMarina Posts: 420 Member
    If you like horror..try "House of leaves"

    Oooh. That one sounds good.
  • ScottyNoHotty
    ScottyNoHotty Posts: 1,957 Member
    If you like horror..try "House of leaves"

    Oooh. That one sounds good.

    You'll have to re-read it many times ......
  • TeenaMarina
    TeenaMarina Posts: 420 Member
    If you like horror..try "House of leaves"

    Oooh. That one sounds good.

    You'll have to re-read it many times ......

    MANY times?!
  • CaffeinatedConfectionist
    CaffeinatedConfectionist Posts: 1,046 Member
    House of Leaves was pretty great! Though I used to read it on the bus and get strange looks from people as I turned it upside down or sideways to read things...

    Also, if you are interested in Steinbeck, I would recommend Travels with Charley, which he wrote in the 1960s in an attempt to rediscover what the U.S. was like, since he felt he had lost touch. Fascinating retrospective.
  • PeggyWoodson
    PeggyWoodson Posts: 337 Member
    "The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency" series by Alexander McCall Smith. They are awesome.
  • chanson104
    chanson104 Posts: 859
    Bumping this for when I'm finished with Hunger Games. Can't wait to check out some of these books!
  • Superstar_81
    Superstar_81 Posts: 88 Member
    Kathy Reichs books are great and I really like Lee Child's series of books as well!
  • LittleMissNerdy
    LittleMissNerdy Posts: 792 Member
    Oh! I enjoyed the books that "Rizzoli and Isles" is based on as well!

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tess_Gerritsen
  • marsellient
    marsellient Posts: 591 Member
    Bump!
  • TOYGRRRL
    TOYGRRRL Posts: 251 Member
    Ericka Lutz first novel just released to rave reviews "The Edge of Maybe"

    http://www.amazon.com/The-Edge-Maybe-Ericka-Lutz/dp/0982708459/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1332540345&sr=1-1


    I could not put it down once I started. You just want to know what happens.
  • ohnuts14
    ohnuts14 Posts: 197
    I really enjoyed most of the Temprence Brennan novels by Kathy Reichs. I think there are 10 books total (maybe more or less). The books are what the show "Bones" is loosely based on but the book has different characters and Brennan is pretty "normal" compared to her "Bones" counterpart.

    They're crime novels for the most part with some romance drama thrown in but it's not overwhelming. I'm not big into romance but it's a nice balance.

    WOW, I did not know that! I love that show, I had no idea about the books. I'm definitely going to give those a read now.
  • TexanThom
    TexanThom Posts: 778
    Anything be Nelson DeMille
  • Flixie00
    Flixie00 Posts: 1,195 Member
    Anything by Robert Goddard, he writes modern based mysteries with a historical slant and is difficult to second guess.

    Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky, contempory novel set in France at the start of Nazi occupation.

    And some of my fav classics - Brideshead Revisited, Bleak House, Dracula and Persuasion.
  • 3laine75
    3laine75 Posts: 3,069 Member
    Bumping this for when I'm finished with Hunger Games. Can't wait to check out some of these books!


    is this the same as 'Battle Royale'? - been thinking of getting them but it annoys me when somethings too similar to something else
  • 3laine75
    3laine75 Posts: 3,069 Member
    sorry OP, anything by Michael Connolly - love Harry Bosch and his brother the lawyer - can't remember his name (lincon lawyer etc)
  • LittleMissNerdy
    LittleMissNerdy Posts: 792 Member
    I really enjoyed most of the Temprence Brennan novels by Kathy Reichs. I think there are 10 books total (maybe more or less). The books are what the show "Bones" is loosely based on but the book has different characters and Brennan is pretty "normal" compared to her "Bones" counterpart.

    They're crime novels for the most part with some romance drama thrown in but it's not overwhelming. I'm not big into romance but it's a nice balance.

    WOW, I did not know that! I love that show, I had no idea about the books. I'm definitely going to give those a read now.

    My Aunt bought me the first five or so as a gift once and I blew through in no time!

Categories