If you like the O’Brian series, check out the Horatio Hornblower series. They’re a few decads old now, but still well worth reading. I thoroughly enjoyed them.
I’m not burundi, but have you read Bradbury’s short stories? Nothing wrong with Something Wicked (it worked for me as a teen but not so much when I tried a re-read much later), but Bradbury’s short stories really kick butt. I think everybody writing in SF, horror, and fantasy has borrowed something from him.
And those do hold up.
Russell Hoban has written a series of children’s books about a badger named Frances. So-so books I read aloud to my kids. I was amazed when i found the books he’s written for adults. “Turtle Diaries” was really great.
Another great and unusual book I read last year was “Life of Pi” about an East indian boy who is stranded in the middle of the ocean in a liferaft with a tiger. Fantastic imagination this author has.
I’ll hold you to that promise 
Another vote fo Jorge Luis Borges. His short stories are simply fantastic. Trye to read the collection named “Ficciones”:
“The secret miracle”, “Funes el Memorioso”, “El Sur”, “The library of Babel”, “The lottery in Babylon”, are among the best thing I ever read.
If you like historical fiction I will recomend you a magnificent series “The accursed Kings”, by Maurice Druon (check it in Amazon). It’s about the last capetian kings of France. Well written, great characters, it has it all and more. You won’t regret it.-
My favourite science ficition writer is John Varley. Gaea is a great place to start, you will also love millenium.-
Oh, Borges’s Ficciones! Yeah, definitely read that.
And I second the recommendation that you read The Life of Pi.
And, JoeSki–I haven’t read any Ray Bradbury in a while, but I remember really liking The Martian Chronicles and The October Country.
I don’t read fantasy at all except for Jonathon Carroll who I discovered by accident. One of the few genuinely unique voices in modern writing.
JoeSki, I heartily recommend Something Wicked This Way Comes. It’s beautifully written and delightfully creepy. I’ll have to look for Bradbury’s short stories, too.
The Accursed Kings sounds just up my alley, Estilicon.
I remember the Frances books! I’ll try to find Hoban’s adult stuff at the library.
don’t ask, Jonathan Carroll is great. If you like him, try Graham Joyce. His books remind me some of Carroll’s, but he has a very distinct voice of his own. My two favorites are The Tooth Fairy and The Facts of Life (which won the World Fantasy Award, despite the fantasy in it being rather subtle), but I’ve never read anything by him that I disliked.
Oooh, ooh! I forgot to mention Mary Renault. She wrote history-based fictionalized accounts of the life of Alexander the Great and others. My favorite is The King Must Die, which is about Theseus, who went into the maze to fight the Minotaur. She continues the story in The Bull From the Sea. Great stuff!
People who like Jonathan Carroll (and I’m one) would also like William Browning Spencer. I think he’s only written three books and a collection of short stories, and he’s not in print, but he’s worth looking into.
If you like Bradbury, then you have to check out some of the other “greats” in the Sci-Fi / Fantasy genre: Harlan Ellison, Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, Andre Norton and Philip K. Dick are just a few.
For historical fiction that is really readable and entertaining, I recommend Jean Auel (start with the first, “Clan of the Cave Bear” - perhaps more prehistoric than historic), Stuart Kaminsky’s “Toby Peters” series (a Hollywood Golden Age gumshoe, start with “Murder on the Yellow Brick Road” which more or less introduces all the characters in the subsequent books of the series), Ib Melchior, and Kenneth Roberts.
For Harry Potter fans, check out the trilogy (Golden Compass, Subtle Knife, Amber Spyglass) by Philip Pullman.
If you like the Lindsey Davis “Falco” novels, then you should also look at Steven Saylor’s roman-era mysteries (Roman Blood, Arms of Nemesis, and others)
**Other favourites: **
- The master of the Procedural is the late Arthur Hailey - “Wheels”, “Airport”, “Hotel” and all the others give some fascinating insights into how things work behind the scenes.
- Tony Hillerman’s Navajo mysteries (gradually coming to PBS)
- Anything by James Lee Burke
- Hard to find but worth looking for is CW Grafton’s “Beyond a Reasonable Doubt” - considered to be one of the best mysteries ever written. I managed to get a copy through an inter-library loan. CW is the father of Sue (A is for Alibi and so on) Grafton, and even his paperback reprints are selling now for $40.
- James Michener - try to find a copy of his short stories, “Tales of the South Pacific”, written from his experiences in WWII - they were the inspiration for the movie.
- Martin Cruz Smith - mysteries set in the old Soviet Union, starting with the movie inspiration “Gorky Park”
I’ve read everything Ray Bradbury has written, and agree about his short stories–October Country is a must.
Also agree about Mary Renault’s series. And yes, The Incidence of the Fingerpost.
Finally, one more push for The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.
I’ve read all of Gabaldon’s Outlander series, and it is good.
Niffenegger’s book is great. This book crackles with intelligence, creativity, and emotion.
You make a strong case for Niffenegger, Caprese. Plus, what a fun name! Niffenegger, Niffenegger, Niffenegger. I’ll put the book on my list.
I’m trying to think of some stuff that’s been out a few years, as I find that anything “recent” is impossible to pick up at the library without putting a hold on it.
I was really intrigued by The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead. How to describe it, hmm. The book takes place in some sort of alternative metropolis of an indeterminate time very similar to the mid 20th century. The main character is an elevator inspector, a job which in this universe is very professionalised and important, the elevator being a much more celebrated invention than it is in the real world. (The arguments for its architectural and engineering status in that world are thought-provoking, given how much elevators have changed city skylines and have enabled urban areas to grow up, not out. I found myself asking why we don’t care more about them). Anyway, in this world the field of elevator inspection is divided into to two philosophical camps: those who inspect elevators via technical criteria, and those who can “feel” how an elevator is working. The main character is involved in a mystery when one of the elevators she had just inspected plunges to the bottom of the shaft.
I know this sounds like the stupidest book ever, but it’s actually pretty cool and quite complex.
Actually, a short story is what turned me onto Bradbury. I was in one of my English classes some years back, and read a story about some guy who lived in a very technological advanced aged, but hated technology. Eventually a psychiatrist came over to talk to him about his hatred, and listened to his stories of destroying stuff, throwing a tv out of a window, etc. At the end of the story, the guy was deemed insane, and was carried away in a straighjacket. I can’t remember the title of the story, but it struck me as Douglas Adams esque for some odd reason, and I really enjoyed it. After that, I read about 3/4 of Fahrenheit in a Barnes and Nobles (not all in one sitting), bought it, and finished it at home. It still remains one of my favorite books. Is there a Bradbury book containing all of his short stories?
A good friend of mine has been suggesting The Martian Chronicles to me for a while now. I’ll pick that up sooner or later.
So be it. I’ll pick it up sometime next year. Sounds like it oughta be right up my alley after reading a amazon review or two.
I don’t know if there’s a single book with all his short stories; it’d have to be huge, but Dark Carnival was reprinted a few years ago by Gauntlet Press, and I’d argue that that’s a definitive collection.
If you are interested in Reading Lolita in Tehran, I think it helps if you’ve read Lolita, Pride and Prejudice, Great Gatsby and Washington Square/Daisy Miller.
Not necessary, but helpful. And they are all classics/