Recommend a book

Cafe Society
1

I’m heading to the libary this afternoon, and I’m looking for book recommendations. I’m in the middle of Ray Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes, but I’ll probably finish that tonight. A few of my favorite authors are Graham Joyce, Margaret Atwood, China Mieville and A.S. Byatt. Mysteries are great; historical fiction is great; speculative fiction is great. I’ve been tearing through Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey/Maturin series at a rapid clip, but I’d like a break from that for awhile.

Share your wisdom, Dopers!

2

I like Robert Goddard (no, not the rocket guy) quite a bit. His stuff tends to be about the unraveling of events that happened in the past – not really mysteries, not really historical novels, but an interesting amalgam of both. For that matter, I’m not sure I want to call it genre fiction, more “lit-ra-chure.” No specific recommendation – see what they have at the library and take one that strikes your fancy.

My inevitable default recommendation: Matthew Kneale’s English Passengers. Every single person I have loaned this to has loved it. A whole bunch of intertwined stories about things happening in Tasmania and Manx and on the bounding main in the 19th century. Really good!

3

Can’t stand the title, but absolutely adored The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffennegger.

When I read the summary, I thought to myself, “Meh, does not sound that great.”

Then, at the bookstore, I picked up the paperback and leafed through it. I was hooked.
Everyone I’ve shared this book with has been hooked as well.
Niffennegger is a clever and imaginative writer structurally as well as descriptively.

4

If you are into historical and mystery novels try the Falco novels by Lindsey Davis.

The stories are about a down on his luck investigator in ancient rome. Very funny well written and unputdownable.

5

I’m not quite sure what you mean by “speculative fiction,” but here are some really cool books that involve various musings on what might be or what might have been:

Invisible Cities, by Italo Calvino

Einstein’s Dreams, by Alan Lightman

The Aleph and Other Stores, by Jorge Luis Borges. This one’s especially recommended if you have a fondness for math. Well, really, any of Borges’s fiction would fit in this category. In fact, you might really enjoy *A History of Infamy[i/], though that’s not fiction, really.

The Name of the Rose, by Umberto Eco (This one counts as a mystery, too.)

Anything by Julio Cortazar.

Fiction that combines history and/or memoirs with fantasy and/or speculation:

The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts, by Maxine Hong Kingston

The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas, by Machado de Assis. I haven’t read any of his other works, but from what I’ve heard, almost any of what he’s written could fit into this category.

Such a Long Journey, by Rohinton Mistry

Any of the novels by Clarice Lispector

The Tin Drum and Dog Years, by Gunter Grass. If the books seem bogged down in history for a bit, have patience–understanding the context laid out in the beginning pays off later.

Lots of stuff by Naguib Mahfouz. Check out Palace Walk, the first of a series (the second book in the series isn’t bad, either, but the last book is depressing and a bit polemic for my tastes. I’d skip it, if I were you.) Mahfouz’s Children of the Alley is interesting and hard to characterize (it’s a semi-allegorical, semi-fantastic reframing of the social histories told in the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the Koran. There’s also an allegorical retelling of more recent history. I’ll leave it at that.)

Men in the Sun by Ghassan Kanafani. This is a very well written and moving collection of short works–several short stories and a novella–about Palestinian exile and loss. You can read more on Amazon.com. The reader reviews say more than I’m prepared to write up here and now.

And, if you like Ray Bradbury, you probably enjoy good writing that focuses on the psychologically weird and/or fantastic. You might like writing by E. T. Hoffman, Carlos Fuentes, and Jose Donoso.

6

Have you ever read anything by Minette Walters, burundi? She’s my favorite mystery author! :slight_smile:

7

These are great suggestions! Many thanks, y’all.

Scribble, I’ve found that when I say I like fantasy, people recommend lots of sword & sorcery Tolkien rip-offs, when what I really want is, as you so much more eloquently stated, “good writing that focuses on the pyschologically weird or fantastic.” “Speculative fiction” is just a little shorter to write than “literary writing about the fantastic without any damn elves.” :wink: (I loved In The Name of the Rose and Einstein’s Dreams, by the way.)

moi, I haven’t read any Minette Walters. I’ll have to check her out.

8

I also like the writers mentioned in the OP, so I’m recommending Ilium by Dan Simmons (if you want big, fat-- but not bloated – SF) and The Winter Queen by Boris Akunin, an historical mystery.

And if you don’t mind being seen with mass market best seller type books, I just finished The Cabinet of Curiosities by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, and it was much better than I expected.

And since you like Margaret Atwood, you might like Margaret Laurence, another Canadian – I really enjoyed The Stone Angel and The Fire Dwellers.

Have you read Robertson Davies? The Fifth Angel is almost fantasy, and I thought it was just beautiful.

9

For some really strange but wonderful writing try Russell Hoban’s Amaryllis Night and Day. I thought I’d throw that in because 1. I love that book and 2. you like China Mieville so you can take a good amount of the weird.

10

If you like A.S. Byatt, I think you’d like Umberto Eco as well. He writes very well constructed, good, solid, entertaining and somewhat intellectual novels.

“The name of the Rose”: Philosophy combined with a detective story that takes place in medieval times.

“Foucault’s pendulum”: A critical take on secret societies, occultism and peoples fascination of the irrational. Same theme as “The da Vinci code” - just much, much, much better written! (as if that would be hard :rolleyes: )

Another one that you might like, is:
“An instance of the Fingerpost” by Iain Pears. It’s a philosophical, historical detective story, that takes place in Oxford around 1660.

11

I’m rereading Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series. Think of it as a romantic time travel novel, incredibly well-written, and I had to put the book down several times because I was either laughing so hard I was falling off the chair or crying so hard I couldn’t see the words.

Everyone I’ve lent the books to has loved it. Trust me…you won’t be sorry.

12

Margaret Atwood and A.S. Byatt are among my favorites as well.

I really enjoyed reading “Reading Lolita in Tehran.”

How about “The Amazing Adventures of Cavalier and Clay”

13

Oh ditto! And Pears’ The Dream of Scipio is fine too. I was reading it during the presidential campaign, and the concept of civic duty felt especially appropriate.

14

I have to second this recommendation. I tried to resist, I really did. I don’t read romances, I generally hate historical fiction, time-travel turns me off and on top of everything else, it’s both comedic and heart-wrenching. I had NO desire to read this crap. A friend forced them on me, and dammit, you can’t put 'em down.

15

This thread is perfectly timed. I just finished reading Christopher Moore’s Lamb subtitled The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal and I have been recommending it to everyone. If you don’t laugh out loud at this book then I think you might be dead. :smiley:

16

If you liked China Mielville, you should try [url=“http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0809532646/ref=pd_ir_imp/102-8449230-7113747”]City of Saints and Madmen[/url by Jeff Vandermeer. It’s very hard to describe what it’s about, but is stunningly well written.

17

City of Saints and Madmen by Jeff Vandermeer :smack:

18

Wow! These books all sound so good! I’m furiously writing down authors’ names.

I just back from the library with The Echo and The Sculptress by Minette Walters, English Passengers by Matthew Kneale, and Debt and Dishonor by Robert Goddard. That should keep me busy for some time.

ivylass and LifeOnWry, I really got absorbed in Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander books, despite my initial relcutance.

Dangerosa, I adore The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. I’m always trying to get others to read it. My boss also recommended Reading Lolita in Tehran, and it sounds intriguing.

august9, I keep reading the first 20 pages of Foucault’s Pendulum and getting stuck. Someday, I’ll read the whole thing, I swear.

Auntie Pam, your suggestions seem fabulous!

Pookah and Tapioca, bring on the weird. Oh, yeah! And the funny, melondeca.

Thank you so much, everybody!

19

Here’s another vote for Robertson Davies. I read his **Bred in the Bone ** and was fascinated and enthralled.

**Snow Falling on Cedars ** by David Guterson is terrific, too.

And if you haven’t already, read How Green Was My Valley, by Richard Llewelyn – an amazing read, but especially good if you can listen to it on tape read by Phillip Madoc, whose lovely Welsh accent brings the story to life.

20

I don’t have a book reccomendation…well I have a few, but I don’t think any of them are quite what you’re looking for, and my description wouldn’t do them justice anyways, but How did you like Something Wicked This Way Comes? Fahrenheit 451 is one of my favorite books, and I even created a poster of it and hung it up on my wall, but haven’t picked up anything by Bradbury after reading it. Would Something Wicked be a good place to return to Bradbury? .