# What should I read next? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 28, 2007, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-read-next/417270 "2007-08-28T21:10:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![powerjacob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f05b48/32.png) [@powerjacob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/powerjacob)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2007, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-read-next/417270/1 "2007-08-28T21:10:09Z")
I saw a thread similar and thought I’d give it a shot too. Here is a list of books I have read lately. Using this can anyone suggest what I should read in the near future. Dandelion Wine – Bradbury The Sun Also Rises – Hemmingway Love monkey – Smith Conversations with God – Walsch 1984 – Orwell Man without a Country – Vonnegut Fahrenheit 451 – Bradbury The Secret History – Tartt The Great Divorce – Lewis Four of the books of Narnia The Diaries of Adam and Eve – Twain I’m currently reading a collection of short stories by Vonnegut, but I’d like a book I can really get into. I’ve thought about reaing “Catch 22” but can’t get into the book. I’ve also considered something by Stephen King, but don’t really know what to choose from. As you could probably tell the books mentioned above were bought some time ago and I’ve managed to chip away at them over the past couple of years. As you can also tell a lot of the books I’ve been reading are older. The reason for this is due to my lack of knowledge of who all is currently out there. Any time I see something that may interest me in a bookstore the blurb written either in the jacket or on the back make anything by more recent authors seem undesirable. Any suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2007, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-read-next/417270/2 "2007-08-28T21:42:01Z")
I blended the titles in your list and came up with [Cloud Atlas](http://www.amazon.com/Cloud-Atlas-David-Mitchell/dp/0340822783/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-1288963-6108169?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1188337102&sr=1-1) by David Mitchell. However, if I had read the critical summaries first, I would have been too intimidated to try the book. I would have missed out on a great story, well-told, and very readable. ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2007, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-read-next/417270/3 "2007-08-28T21:54:07Z")
Do you have facebook? If you are interested, I can send you an invite and you can check out my virtual bookshelf. ---
**Author:** ![myskepticsight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@myskepticsight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/myskepticsight)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2007, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-read-next/417270/4 "2007-08-28T21:56:31Z")
I dug 1984 back in high school. Wrote my sophomore honors english paper on it. It’s one of those books that if you read it, you’ll understand more pop culture references. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2007, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-read-next/417270/5 "2007-08-28T22:00:16Z")
I recommend any of the following: Life of Pi - Yann Martel I Know this Much is True - Wally Lamb The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime - Marc Haddon Everything is Illuminated - Jonathan Safran Foer ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2007, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-read-next/417270/6 "2007-08-28T22:00:46Z")
[QUOTE=myskepticsight] I dug 1984 back in high school. Wrote my sophomore honors english paper on it. It’s one of those books that if you read it, you’ll understand more pop culture references. [/QUOTE] Were you recommending this or just commenting? Just wondering because it sounds like a recommendation, but in the OP he lists it as one of the books he has already read. I don’t get what you mean about understanding pop culture references… pop culture for the 40s? ---
**Author:** ![lilflower](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecccb3/32.png) [@lilflower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lilflower)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2007, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-read-next/417270/7 "2007-08-28T23:23:33Z")
[QUOTE=HelloNinja] The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime - Marc Haddon [/QUOTE] I just read this - it’s a quick read (I finished it in one afternoon). I loved it. The narrator is fantastic and incredibly well-written. ---
**Author:** ![myskepticsight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@myskepticsight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/myskepticsight)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2007, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-read-next/417270/8 "2007-08-29T00:00:04Z")
[QUOTE=Epimetheus] Were you recommending this or just commenting? Just wondering because it sounds like a recommendation, but in the OP he lists it as one of the books he has already read. I don’t get what you mean about understanding pop culture references… pop culture for the 40s? [/QUOTE] Ha! Yeah I wasn’t reading the thread carefully. Tired, at work. And what I meant was after you read 1984, you understand current things that reference the book. I personally, at least, have come across quite a few modern references to Orwell’s work. Most “classics” like this are referenced in modern culture sometimes, and it’s nice to catch a reference when it enhances your understanding of something else. Back to trying to respond to thread correctly: If you want to read some Vonnegut, try Slaughterhouse-Five or Mother Night if you haven’t already. Those are my personal Vonnegut favorites. Stephen King is one of the first ‘adult’ authors I got into as a kid. I loved The Shining, Misery, The Green Mile, etc. He’s written a lot of insanely popular books. ---
**Author:** ![powerjacob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f05b48/32.png) [@powerjacob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/powerjacob)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2007, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-read-next/417270/9 "2007-08-29T00:17:38Z")
[QUOTE=myskepticsight] Ha! Yeah I wasn’t reading the thread carefully. Tired, at work. And what I meant was after you read 1984, you understand current things that reference the book. I personally, at least, have come across quite a few modern references to Orwell’s work. Most “classics” like this are referenced in modern culture sometimes, and it’s nice to catch a reference when it enhances your understanding of something else. Back to trying to respond to thread correctly: If you want to read some Vonnegut, try Slaughterhouse-Five or Mother Night if you haven’t already. Those are my personal Vonnegut favorites. Stephen King is one of the first ‘adult’ authors I got into as a kid. I loved The Shining, Misery, The Green Mile, etc. He’s written a lot of insanely popular books. [/QUOTE] I’ve read almost every book I can get my hands on when it comes to Vonnegut. The few I haven’t read I pick up when I’m in the library or a bookstore. The only problem with the book stores is they normally don’t have a wide selection, at least not where I’m located. The only reason why I haven’t picked up anything from Stephen King is that I feel his books are a bit overly descriptive making it a little longer for me to really get into the story. I do enjoy his short stories though. The last book of his I read was “The Girl who Loved Tom Gordon.” I’ll have to look up some of the other recomendations, but keep them coming. If anythig it will give me a good reason to stock up on some new books. ---
**Author:** ![A.I.Wintermute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@A.I.Wintermute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.I.Wintermute)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2007, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-read-next/417270/10 "2007-08-29T01:18:10Z")
I know you said you can’t get into it, but I would recommend trying Catch 22 again once in a while. It took me three or four tries to get into it enough to finish it, but once I did I liked it a lot. I’m not sure how well our tastes match up, since I liked some of Bradbury’s stuff but I wasn’t sufficiently impressed by Slaughterhouse Five to seek out more Vonnegut, but for what it’s worth my favorite recent books have been Dostoyevsky’s later stuff and especially Lolita by Nabokov. I also enjoyed The English Patient, though I’ve never seen the movie so YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![powerjacob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f05b48/32.png) [@powerjacob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/powerjacob)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2007, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-read-next/417270/11 "2007-08-29T12:53:08Z")
[QUOTE=Epimetheus] Do you have facebook? If you are interested, I can send you an invite and you can check out my virtual bookshelf. [/QUOTE] No, Sorry. Not into face book. I do have a myspace page, but I rarely use it. ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2007, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-read-next/417270/12 "2007-08-29T13:02:43Z")
I’d almost given up on Terry Brooks, but found myself with time on my hands, no book in my purse so I stopped at a drugstore and bought _Genesis of Shannara, Armegeddon’s Children._ I’m halfway through it and I like it so far. (Mr. Brooks will be here in the Atlanta area on Saturday for the Decatur Book Festival - my sci-fi book club are going as our first field trip) Are you a memeber of [LibraryThing.com](http://LibraryThing.com)? I’recently joined - painless process. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2007, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-read-next/417270/13 "2007-08-29T13:02:51Z")
I liked a lot of those books, too. You might enjoy J.D. Salinger, try _Nine Stories_. Those are brief, though. For a longer journey try _Lonesome Dove_ by Larry McMurtry. That is _such_ a good book. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2007, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-read-next/417270/14 "2007-08-29T17:18:39Z")
[QUOTE=powerjacob] I saw a thread similar and thought I’d give it a shot too. Here is a list of books I have read lately. Using this can anyone suggest what I should read in the near future. Dandelion Wine – Bradbury The Sun Also Rises – Hemmingway Love monkey – Smith Conversations with God – Walsch 1984 – Orwell Man without a Country – Vonnegut Fahrenheit 451 – Bradbury The Secret History – Tartt The Great Divorce – Lewis Four of the books of Narnia The Diaries of Adam and Eve – Twain I’m currently reading a collection of short stories by Vonnegut, but I’d like a book I can really get into. I’ve thought about reaing “Catch 22” but can’t get into the book. I’ve also considered something by Stephen King, but don’t really know what to choose from. As you could probably tell the books mentioned above were bought some time ago and I’ve managed to chip away at them over the past couple of years. As you can also tell a lot of the books I’ve been reading are older. The reason for this is due to my lack of knowledge of who all is currently out there. Any time I see something that may interest me in a bookstore the blurb written either in the jacket or on the back make anything by more recent authors seem undesirable. Any suggestions? [/QUOTE] Another vote for SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE & MOTHER NIGHT, and additional ones for GOD BLESS YOU MR. ROSEWATER and THE SIRENS OF TITAN. The rest of the Narnia books AND Lewis’ TILL WE HAVE FACES Aldous Huxley’s BRAVE NEW WORLD (the “happy” version of 1984) Bradbury’s SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES and his collection I SING THE BODY ELECTRIC, particularly the title story ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2007, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-read-next/417270/15 "2007-08-29T17:27:25Z")
[QUOTE=AuntiePam] I blended the titles in your list and came up with [Cloud Atlas](http://www.amazon.com/Cloud-Atlas-David-Mitchell/dp/0340822783/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-1288963-6108169?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1188337102&sr=1-1) by David Mitchell. However, if I had read the critical summaries first, I would have been too intimidated to try the book. I would have missed out on a great story, well-told, and very readable. [/QUOTE] Definitely a favourite of mine. If you liked _Cloud Atlas_, you might also like Italo Calvino’s _If On A Winter’s Night a Traveller_ and _Invisible Cities_. ---
**Author:** ![BaneSidhe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c5a1d2/32.png) [@BaneSidhe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaneSidhe)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2007, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-read-next/417270/16 "2007-08-29T17:28:32Z")
I don’t know if this fits into your list, but “Memoirs Of A Geisha” by Arthur Golden was a wonderful read. I second “Lonesome Dove” as well. Excellent writing. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2007, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-read-next/417270/17 "2007-08-29T17:32:50Z")
How about Philip K Dick? Try _Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep_, _We Can Build You_, _The Man in the High Castle_, or _Clans of the Alphane Moon_ to pick four at random. It’s SF, but it’s closer to Vonnegut than to, say, Asimov. ---
**Author:** ![muzzynyc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@muzzynyc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muzzynyc)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2007, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-read-next/417270/18 "2007-08-29T17:37:02Z")
I just finished Galatea 2.2 by Richard Powers and loved it. Might be up your alley. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2007, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-read-next/417270/19 "2007-08-29T18:00:43Z")
[QUOTE=Malthus] Italo Calvino’s _If On A Winter’s Night a Traveller_ [/QUOTE] Thank you! A friend was reading this a few months ago and recommended it, and I promptly forgot the name of the book, except that it was an unfinished sentence of some sort. I’m going to pick it up this weekend! For the OP, I add my thumbs-up for **Life of Pi** , and I also suggest anything by John Irving ( **The Cider House Rules** and **A Prayer for Owen Meany** are my personal favorites). ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2007, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-read-next/417270/20 "2007-08-29T18:05:39Z")
[QUOTE=powerjacob] I’ve read almost every book I can get my hands on when it comes to Vonnegut. The few I haven’t read I pick up when I’m in the library or a bookstore. The only problem with the book stores is they normally don’t have a wide selection, at least not where I’m located. The only reason why I haven’t picked up anything from Stephen King is that I feel his books are a bit overly descriptive making it a little longer for me to really get into the story. I do enjoy his short stories though. The last book of his I read was “The Girl who Loved Tom Gordon.” [/QUOTE] Try **The Shining** or **The Dead Zone** , if you haven’t already. I also like his short stories best and find some of his books tedious, but both of those are excellent. Second the recommendation of anything by Philip K. Dick. I think he’s a natural addition to your list. Also, randomly, **World War Z** is the most absorbing thing I’ve read in a long while. I was gasping out loud the whole way through. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-read-next/417270.md?page=2)